黑洞社区

Small and medium-sized firms could find themselves unintentionally 鈥榝rozen out鈥� from competing for tens of billions of pounds of central government contracts when the government鈥檚 2016 BIM deadline kicks in, according to a recent survey by the Electrical Contractors鈥� Association (ECA).

The ECA survey, carried out with industry partners and in conjunction with 黑洞社区 magazine, shows that over half of contractors (54%) with a turnover of less than 拢1 million are 鈥榥ot ready at all鈥� for BIM, while 3 in 10 firms (30%) with earnings between 拢1 million and 拢20m were in the same position.

The ECA has published the further results from the survey after 黑洞社区 . Full results will be released later this year.

With the government deadline for the mandatory use of 鈥楤IM Level 2鈥� on all Whitehall-procured contracts looming, 11% of larger M&E firms with turnover over 拢20m say they are not at all ready for BIM, with the majority either fully ready, or nearly fully ready.

The survey also found -

• Only 1 in 3 contractors (34%) with turnover below 拢1m have a 鈥楤IM champion鈥�, compared to almost 3 out of 4 firms (72%) with turnover above 拢20m.
• 8 out of 10 firms (80%) with turnover below 拢1m do not have a 鈥楤IM planning group鈥�, compared to just 1 in 3 larger contractors (36%), with turnover above 拢20m.
• Only 1 in 4 small firms said there is enough 鈥榩ractically useful and publically available鈥� information on BIM, compared to over half of larger companies (54%).
• Almost 7 in 10 of all respondents (69%) said they do not have a suitable BIM management process in place yet.

ECA director of business services Paul Reeve commented: 鈥淥ur survey shows that the majority of building services SMEs are not ready for BIM and could find themselves effectively frozen out from central government contracts.

鈥淭he ECA has developed a four-point action plan to help building services firms prepare for BIM Level 2, and we will be working with our industry partners to drive this plan forward.鈥�

The ECA has set out a four-point action plan to help drive BIM adoption:

• A 鈥楤IM readiness checklist鈥� will be released shortly, to help firms identify the necessary steps to ensure they are prepared for BIM Level 2.
• A 鈥楤IM jargon buster鈥� will also be made freely available, to help firms navigate through the maze of BIM terminology and acronyms and work out what BIM means.
• Case studies will be developed to broaden the understanding of what it takes to engage with a BIM project.
• Finally, the ECA will work with partners over a range of awareness, training and deployment issues, including efforts to develop a common approach towards the use of 鈥楤IM objects鈥�.

The ECA鈥檚 sector-wide 鈥楤IM readiness鈥� survey was backed by a range of partners and supporters across building services. They included the Chartered Institution of 黑洞社区 Services Engineers (CIBSE), BSRIA, 黑洞社区 and Engineering Services Association (B&ES) and SELECT (Please see Notes to Editors for full list).