Don't Just Copy/Paste UK BIM Level 2 Standards

In the last decade or so, many nations have adopted BIM policies and standards at the national level and there are currently many nations in the planning stage of national level policies. This is hugely encouraging for the 'digital natives' and global industry in general as the construction industry is lagging way behind in the technology adoption and productivity improvements. I am sure you would have come across many research papers and graphs proving this point.

Image Credit: BICP Global BIM Study - Lessons For Ireland's Programme

Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, Hong Kong and Singapore have been some of the early adopters (and trend setters) of national level standards and / or mandates. UK, Scotland, Qatar etc followed the path and developed their own national standards / guidelines / mandates.

One thing is very common in the countries I mentioned above. They all have their own unique national level standard / guideline / mandate. And rightly so. Each country has its own procurement models, contracts, culture and in general...way of doing things. So simple 'copy and paste' will definitely fail.

Being in India for the last six months, I am noticing that there are many consultants promoting UK BIM Level 2 standards in this market and advising clients to simply copy/paste UK BIM Level 2 standards. I can understand why, because there is no national guideline or standards in place here. However, simple copy/paste will NOT work unless you are working on a project in the UK and supporting them from India. For projects in India, simple copy/paste will be a BIG disaster. Take my word for it.

To all clients, consultants, contractors, sub-contractors, public authorities, government bodies in India and my blog readers who are working in India, please consider the above point very seriously if you genuinely want to promote 'BIM way of doing things' in India.

UK BIM Level 2 standards are a great starting point as a reference, but I strongly believe that India must develop it's own BIM standards / guidelines / mandates that is suitable for the Indian construction conditions, procurement models, contracts, culture and 'way of dong things'. This is the only way to influence social, environmental and economical outcomes in a positive way enabled by digital technologies in the construction industry in India.

For those of you who are not familiar with the UK BIM Level 2 standards, you can visit http://bim-level2.org/en/standards/

I copy list of standards here for your ready reference too. All PAS 1192 series standards are not formal standards, they are Publicly Available Specification or PAS  that closely resembles a formal standard in structure and forma. 

The following BS standards are formal standards and to be honest they are my favorite ones in the BIM world except one (you know which one I am talking about!).

If you have any queries on any of the above UK BIM PASs or BSs please feel free to contact me and I would be happy to help as much s I can.

Unsafe Construction Site

 To: Brent Council

Last week I was out in a local shopping area in Wembley, London and had to park my car near Montrose Crescent where Formation Group PLC construction site is in operation.

As I was approaching the car parking pay meter, which was located right adjacent to the site boundary, I was shocked to see a heavy material dangling from a crane exactly above the pay mater WITHOUT any pedestrian protection walkway. Seriously? I haven't seen a construction site with such a poor safety planning for pedestrians in my working life before.

I had to wait for almost 30mins until crane operation is finished so that I can go to the pay meter and pay for my car parking. Also, there is a very busy bus stop next to the pay meter where a lot of travelers wait for the buses throughout the whole day, WITHOUT any safety protection walkway in place and WITH heavy materials dangling above them. Shocking!

As a common sense when heavy materials or equipment are being hoisted, some kind of hazard prevention (either protection walkway or safety nets) is necessary to prevent exposure to hazards associated with any kind of problem with the hoist or fall of material. Can you please investigate this site and get necessary measures in place?

To: Formation Group PLC

I notice that you are running a 'Safe Crane Campaign' on this site. Clearly it isn't working for the pedestrians. Do you care to improve pedestrian safety on this site?

If so, It would be useful to have a protection walkway provided for pedestrians to prevent potential hazards.

Larsen & Toubro

I am pleased to announce publicly that I have joined Larsen & Toubro Construction as their Head of BIM Strategy.

Look forward to collaborating with L&T supply chain, clients, BIM eco system and academia in Asia and Middle East.

To all #UKBIMCrew and #GlobalBIMCrew friends, as we are part of a CDE (Common Digital Eco-system) I look forward to continue our collaboration on all things #BIM and #DigitalEngineering. Also, I am very keen to bring world class Digital Engineering solutions at L&T so if you are interested in any 'BIM / Digital Engineering' collaboration opportunities at L&T then please feel free to contact me.

Change

I have heard some rumours about my role at Lendlease from internal as well as external well-wishers. Thank you for expressing your concerns about my role and future. This blog post is dedicated to you all well-wishers and of course my blog readers.

Firstly, some of you have guessed it right! I have resigned from my role of Head of BIM, Europe at Lendlease, finishing by the end of March 2017.

It's been a fantastic experience working at Lendlease getting involved with a lot of strategic initiatives as well as some of the most complex and quite challenging projects, i.e. Rathbone Square, Elephant & Castle, International Quarter London, Deptford, Wrexham prison, 150 Bishopsgate, 245 Hammersmith, Google HQ London to name the few. I was also privileged enough to get an opportunity to implement BIM and the required change programme from top-down as well as bottom-up and everything in between! 

My role at Lendlease posed some of the toughest challenges I ever had before. However, I was able to succeed in most of my initiatives mainly due to the following four reasons:

1. First and foremost, having the best internal BIM team. A great team (and not a group of people) with the right attitude toward driving the necessary change with passion, resilience and full energy. A massive thanks to all of you BIM’ers!  Keep up the good work!

2. A wonderful internal ICT team and their continuous support in meeting the demands of the required change programme. Thank you all in the ICT team for your kind cooperation and continuous support. 

3. Having some of the best (local as well as global) professionals, project leaders and colleagues around me supporting the BIM implementation with great enthusiasm and passion. Special thanks to the Rathbone Square project team. What a great team! 

4. Fortunate enough to work for some of the best Clients and work with some of the best supply chain members who are truly driving the BIM agenda in the industry. In particular, Great Portland Estates and their continuous leadership and support on project such as Rathbone Square as well as industry wide BIM initiatives. My experience on Rathbone Square has reinforced my belief on the importance of Client leadership and positive collaboration required to implement BIM and Digital. I can’t thank Great Portland Estates enough for their support and leadership.                  

Last but not least, I thank Lendlease for giving me such amazing opportunities during my time. I have gained invaluable experience and learned a lot from some of the best brains in the industry. I wish everyone at Lendlease and people I have worked with through Lendlease all the very best. 

So what’s my next home? Well, I am getting closer to my home so stay tuned! Have a great weekend.