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When the aims of the Government's Construction Strategy were first announced the targets seemed comfortably distant. By 2016, there must be adoption of building information management principles across all areas of public sector construction. It would unlock a new era of collaboration and information exchange throughout the building value chain, and not only enable better construction planning and project successes, but support the design and creation of more sustainable buildings for the long term. In order for the industry to reach a utopian state of integrated BIM it was evident that there would be many evolutionary steps along the way.

Today the deadline looms closer. Although exact compliance dates and conditions remain nebulous, the BIM Task Force states that 2016 is the time when "100% adoption" is expected, referring to Level 2 BIM, but the path towards that point is still hazy for many. Will the construction industry be ready in time? That question is being asked more and more often. For many a reality check is needed to assess the progress made to date and clarify the goals for 2016.

EARLY ADOPTION (OR IMPLEMENTATION) OF BIM
The 2013 National BIM Report by NBS showed that 39% of the construction industry in the UK is already using BIM, up from 13% in 2010; while those unaware of BIM has plummeted to just 6%. Of those who are aware 77% now say they will be using it in a year's time. So far, so good.

Architects and planners are making good use of tools like Autodesk Revit to create advanced 3D models from the start of new developments. Major construction contractors are leveraging BIM and advanced modelling techniques to capture and use information in new ways. Our own client BAM did exactly that when planning the Leeds Arena, a major city centre development which required huge precision in managing around existing structures, using BIM modelling tools in conjunction with our project management platform.

The benefits of BIM are being recognised by all players, including those whose remit lies beyond the original concept-to-occupation timeframe for BIM. The FM industry is now actively focusing on what it must do to secure the benefits of BIM in terms of manageability of buildings in the longer term, for example, using 3D models to plan maintenance and refurbishment in ways previously not possible with 2D floor-plans and maps.

The focus to date has been largely on 3D modelling and exchanging data in a different way. Participants have progressed from passing paper plans to sending floppies and emailing files to each other and cloud sharing. To progress further the industry and every player within it need to really engage with BIM now - faster, more fully, and more openly. The flip side of the positively positioned NBS BIM survey is that as of 2013 more than 60% of the construction industry is NOT yet employing BIM - it intends to, but those intentions must now become a reality. Training and development in BIM and on BIM-enabled solutions will remain a vital requirement, and, since there is no ready-made stock of BIM-experienced project managers, those must be trained and developed too to run future construction projects.

CAN SOFTWARE VENDORS HELP ENABLE THE NEXT EVOLUTIONARY STEP?
Many concerns about investment and the difficulty of adopting BIM remain. Not everyone is yet on the same page. Smaller practices in the NBS survey cited lower levels of adoption, had less enthusiasm, and perceived more barriers to BIM than larger concerns, for example. Those who are at the leading edge of adopting BIM are often doing so only in pockets, and are still exchanging and sharing files rather than evolving fundamental processes. Much of the exchange of information is now electronic, but a large proportion is simply an electronic substitute for what has traditionally been supplied on paper, rather than a fundamentally richer and more useful set of information.

Government and industry are demanding change to meet the challenges of BIM and it is up to IT vendors to show the way to supporting this change. Until the different software tools used in various stages or even those used in tandem are able to provide access to a common set of shared project data, there will remain significant barriers to collaboration. For example, if applications that are used to manage building schedules and those which model the building are not in tune as a project progresses, and changes to one are not reflected in the other, much benefit of the BIM concept is already lost. The fact that data cannot be exchanged freely stops workflows from being shared or easily extended, and thus supports continued silo working practices and thinking.

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