New standard for BIM

PAS 1192-2 – Information management for the capital/delivery phase of construction projects, was launched in March in support of the Government’s Construction Strategy which aims to reduce the construction cost of public sector assets by 20-30%. Adopting a consistent and best practice approach to BIM has been identified as a means of achieving these savings and hence the publication of PAS 1192-2.

BIM technology is considered invaluable to the delivery of a construction project since it provides a common single and coordinated source of structured information throughout the lifecycle of a project. The government has also mandated that all construction companies tendering for government work should achieve level 2 BIM by 2016.

BSI’s new standard, PAS 1192-2 has been sponsored by the Construction Industry Council (CIC). It is the first of two documents which will provide clear guidance about best practice implementation of BIM to organisations and individuals responsible for the procurement, design, construction, delivery, operation and maintenance of buildings.

Drive efficiencies

It has been designed with input from influential industry experts. The consensus-based standard challenges project complacency and promotes consistency and transparency of work processes between parties in order to drive cost savings and efficiencies through waste reduction and improved productivity.

The standard will need to be used by construction companies involved in public sector projects however it will have equal applicability to all companies within the construction supply chain including private sector building, civil, infrastructure, refurbishment and new-build projects.

Chloe Smith, Parliamentary Secretary said: “We are committed to making government construction faster, cheaper and more innovative. The new BSI BIM standard for the use of digital technologies, a pioneering UK-led ICT solution, means that businesses at all levels in the construction supply chain working on a government project will need to collaborate and openly share plans, so helping to strip out waste.

“The UK is now regarded as a world-leader in our approach to the use of digital technologies in construction and the new BSI standard, recognised here and internationally, will help to give companies working in the UK a competitive edge in the global race.”

“Demonstrating adherence to the requirements of PAS 1192-2 will be a precondition of winning government construction business from 2016,” said Shirley Bailey-Wood, Director of Publishing at BSI. “The standard encourages the use of a consistent management framework between different parties therefore mitigating any costs resulting from information that is inaccurate, incomplete or ambiguous.”

PAS 1192-2 has been developed with the views of influential representatives and experts from the following organisations: Government BIM Task Group, The Government Property Unit, Cabinet Office, Ministry of Justice, Bentley, Autodesk, ICE, Association for Geographic Information, Buildingsmart, RIBA, CPIC, Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists and Technicians, TFL, Skanska, Kier, Parsons Brinkerhoff, Atkins, URS Scott Wilson and Infrastructure UK.

A further document, PAS 1192-3 is to be developed later in the year, and will offer guidance on the use and maintenance of the Asset Information Model (AIM) to support owners and operators of assets.