The Government Construction Strategy sets out a plan to increase productivity in public sector construction delivering £1.7 billion worth of efficiencies by 2020. Building Information Modelling (BIM) is an important part of the strategy and is helping to increase productivity and collaboration through technological innovation.

As one of a range of tools that will be used to digitise the built environment and operations management industries BIM is a primary focus of the Digital Built Britain programme. It provides the most detailed analytical view of a built asset during the design and construction of a project. The Digital Built Britain programme is designed to transform how the UK construction industry approaches social and economic infrastructure through digital technology. This includes the way we plan, build, maintain and use that infrastructure, as well as the renewal, replacement and creation of new built assets. All of this should help us make better use of built assets and provide better social outcomes to the challenges of urbanisation and an increasing population.

The UK Government’s 2011 Construction Strategy defined 4 levels of BIM. This was done to help clients and suppliers understand how BIM and digital technologies should be used on projects:

Level 0 Projects: Use only 2D CAD drafting. There is very little collaboration. Any data that is exchanged is typically done so via paper or print.

Level 1 Projects: Use a mixture of 2D and 3D CAD drafting. They will use a common data environment for the electronic sharing of data. This may be shared among project participants and use some standard data structures and formats.

Level 2 Projects: Use intelligent, data-rich objects in a managed 3D BIM environment. All parties working on a project can combine their BIM and design data to collaborate and share information using a common data environment. The Government currently sponsors projects at Level 2. All centrally-funded government departments use this method, as set out in its Construction Strategy 2016-2020.

Level 3 Projects: Use a single, shared project view for data integration, which all parties can access and modify as allowed through process and security controls. They are fully collaborative. Level 3 is in development at present and is expected to be in use widely by the mid-2020s.

Digital Built Britain builds on the Level 2 BIM programme and aims to enable wider digitisation in construction and operations management as a step towards Level 3 BIM implementation. It aims to advance the skills of all participants so that they can confidently use technology to digitise their construction projects. It aims to promote innovation in the construction industry through the sue of technology with the aim of retaining and building on The UKs position as a global leader in the industry.

Driving Vision have developed a process that supports stakeholders in public sector construction projects by helping the identify BIM goals for their business, then ensuring that the infrastructure is available within the business to work to the Governments specified level 2 expectations. Once implemented we are on hand to support you with ongoing training, coordination of your BIM related activities and to enhance your understanding of the related IT offering. Get in touch to learn more about how Driving Vision can support your BIM project processes.

Implementing BIM can be daunting, but Driving Vision is here to help you at the pace you are comfortable with. Get started by getting in touch now