18 Nov 2011
0 comments

More government mandate for BIM

The government is set to invest millions in the construction industry to encourage the take-up of Building Information Modelling, reported Building magazine this week. Speaking at Autodesk's BIM conference in London this week, government construction advisor Paul Morrell said the government would invest 'seven figure' sums to encourage take-up in the industry.

The comments were made in light of the government's new Construction Strategy, launched earlier this year, which is pushing for a phased roll out of BIM before it is made compulsory on all public sector projects in 2016. While acknowledging that the money would not ease the transition, it 'would take some of the burden of risk away from construction firms', Building stated.

In further conference news, some of 'the biggest retailers in the industry will establish a BIM forum to share best practice and drive engagement with the industry,' reported Construction News. Asda's Head of Construction Modelling and Specification, James Brown told the conference that he would be working with Waitrose and John Lewis, architects HOK and engineer Ramboll.

Construction News also said that contractors can expect to see the first tender documents mandating BIM by March 2012 notably with a Ministry of Justice contract, announced Cabinet Office Head of BIM implementation David Philp.

'We are also working with different departments like the Highways Agency to make sure that this is not just about buildings. We want it to be a cross-section and to look at complimentary technologies like laser scanning as well,' he said.