British Approach to BIM – Standards and Protocols – Agile BIM Part 2/10

British Approach to BIM

In the previous post, we discussed the reasons behind the search for new solutions to enhance productivity in the construction industry. Continuing this topic, we will now present the British approach to BIM – standards and protocols that organize the investment and construction process in the United Kingdom.

This post is part of the “Agile BIM” series. Click below to check out other posts.

1. Why BIM? Origins of New Solutions – Agile BIM Part 1/10
2. British Approach to BIM – Standards and Protocols – Agile BIM Part 2/10
3. CDE in British Standards – Agile BIM Part 3/10
4. Why is CDE so important in BIM? – Agile BIM Part 4/10
5. Przykłady platform wymiany danych CDE – zwinny BIM cz. 5/10
6. What is BIM? – Agile BIM Part 6/10
7. BIM vs. Traditionally Managed Construction Projects – Agile BIM 7/10
8. Agile Project Management – Introduction to Agile – Agile BIM 8/10
9. Translating Agile Principles into BIM – Agile BIM Part 9/10
10. How to Make BIM Agile? – Agile BIM 10/10

Comprehensive Approach of the British Government

Undoubtedly, the British government has adopted a highly comprehensive approach to transforming the construction industry. The aim of BIM implementation was not only to digitize but primarily to overcome the sector’s low efficiency. The Government Strategic Document “Government Soft Landings” (GSL) and its equivalents in the BS 8536-1:2015 and BS 8536-2:2016 standards outline, among other things:

• Requirements of the British government as a party in the construction process (investor, property manager)
• Step-by-step tasks that should be completed to meet quality standards (energy requirements, operational costs, CO2 emissions levels, etc.)
• Encouragement for the involvement of end-users from the very beginning of the design process
• Extension of collaboration between the client, designers, and contractors through mandatory checks of how assumptions hold up in practice (e.g., operational costs, environmental impact), drawing conclusions, and applying them to future projects

Information Management Standards

In subsequent standards and documents, the British government presented its vision for a comprehensive approach to improving efficiency in construction work [1]:

• BS 1192:2007+A2:2016 “Collaborative production of architectural, engineering and construction information. Code of Practice”
  Establishes principles for managing the creation, distribution, and quality of construction information, including:
  • Standardizes the investment process (design, execution, property management)
  • Defines project development from the perspective of multidisciplinary teams, proposes roles and responsibilities of team members
  • Introduces the concept of a Common Data Environment (CDE)
• PAS 1192-2:2013 “Specification for information management for the capital/delivery phase of construction projects using building information modelling”
  Specifies aspects of information exchange related to investment preparation and execution in accordance with BIM Level 2 requirements, primarily introducing the requirement for Employer’s Information Requirements (EIR) and BIM Execution Plan (BEP). Defines responsibilities for producing project information, principles for integrating or consolidating information from various parties through direct information exchange acts, the obligation to deliver coordinated models, and the requirement for frequent data drops. This allows the client to actively participate in the project and provide frequent feedback.
• PAS 1192-3:2014 “Specification for information management for the operational phase of assets using building information modelling”
  Describes information management of the asset during the OPEX (Operational Expenditure) phase, from the moment of handover through the entire lifecycle of the asset.
• BS 1192-4:2014 “Collaborative production of information. Fulfilling employer’s information exchange requirements using COBie. Code of practice”
  Specifies best practices for the process of exchanging information about assets among stakeholders throughout the asset lifecycle.
• PAS 1192-5:2015 “Specification for security-minded building information modelling, digital built environments and smart asset management”
  Defines the approach to information security in construction investment, investment security itself, processes, and procedures necessary to counter data security threats and protect digital information.

Documents

• Supplementary Document: Digital Plan of Work
  Contains a structured work stage framework based on collected experiences from the construction industry, government, academic environments, etc.
• Classification System: Uniclass-2015
  A digital classification system for the construction industry tailored to BIM requirements.
• CIC BIM Protocol
  A document designed to help create amendments to construction contracts, defining roles, responsibilities, levels of detail of model elements (LOD, LOI), etc.
• AEC UK BIM Protocol
  A BIM protocol (manual) containing practical guidelines and best practices for implementing BIM processes.

The Future of BIM – Transition to ISO Standards

As seen in the above list, standards and documents specify principles related to:

• Information management,
• Communication,
• Data exchange and security during investment preparation,
• Design,
• Construction,
• Management of the built asset.

Special attention is given to project development from the perspective of multiple factors, such as multidisciplinary teams, role and responsibility organization, and the introduction of a common data exchange space (CDE), due to its alignment with Agile principles.

The above standards were prepared by The British Standards Institution (BSI), the same institution responsible for preparing ISO standards. The transition from the British 1192 series to ISO 19650 has already begun and will continue progressively.

“Introducing the new BIM standards series – ISO 19650 Implementing Digital Innovations” – © 2019 The British Standards Institution

British BIM standards are highly versatile. Moreover, the transition from British standards series 1192 to ISO 19650 is already underway. However, it is worth noting that the differences between these standards are minor, mainly concerning terminology and definitions. In upcoming posts, we will focus on issues related to the common data exchange space (CDE).

Literature:

[1] https://bim-level2.org/en/standards/