Digitising Construction – What is the best approach for Ireland?

Digitising Construction – What is the best approach for Ireland?

The Construction Industry Federation have in 2016 established a new subcommittee consisting of 18 different member company representatives from across the different contracting disciplines.

One of the first tasks of this new group is to determine a present state analysis of BIM (Building Information Modelling) and to assist in the development of a contemporaneous policy position, from a contractor’s perspective.

With the recent announcement of the adoption of 3 new standards by the European Committee for Standardization it is time to get off the fence and determine the best way forward for Ireland. There has also been much focus on the introduction of the BIM Level 2 mandate for public projects in the UK and considerable debate about the need for a standard to be adopted here in Ireland.

As part of our analysis the new subcommittee will consider the application of PAS 1192 in an Irish context and what the adoption by NSAI of these new European standards will mean for the development of a roadmap for BIM here.

Chairman of the new subcommittee Eoin Vaughan, Chief Executive of Mercury Engineering stated,

“As a company we have already been involved in the extensive use of BIM and Lean processes on a number of private sector projects. I feel that in order for the industry to effectively progress to enable better digital delivery of projects from concept through to FM there needs to be a realisation of the current structure of the industry. From that we can establish a clear coherent framework for information management from client and design team through to every member of the supply chain. If we identify gaps in capacity or the need for support for the supply chain then we will have to address those or we risk creating a two tier industry. It is critically important that we provide access to support, education and are open to sharing our success stories so that we can fully engage SME’s.”

Sean Downey – Director, Specialist Contracting, CIF.