What is BIM and how does it effect the building industry?
In a nutshell, BIM stands for “Building Information Modelling”. The government wants to have this fully integrated into all government projects by 2016.
Is this going to happen? The answer is probably not but we need to ensure we understand what it is and be prepared for it.
The problem that building companies are going to face when tendering for government projects is when they are asked things such as “are you BIM level 2 ready?” At this, stage all we need to prove is that we are working towards it and, at the level of contract we go for, it will basically mean the ability to:
- Receive and send information electronically
- Produce 3D drawings
- Have software which integrates on the platform being used for BIM (which could be something as simple as an excel spreadsheet in some circumstances)
In some instances, if we can receive and open tender documents and send them back, we are proving that we can already integrate at a BIM level!
To date, the following link is the best I have found which should explain what BIM actually is:
www.bimaskgroup.org/bim-faqs
