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Sean Downey, Construction 4.0 Committee Secretary, outlines the National BIM Council’s first digital strategy for Construction
Last Thursday 7th December, the National BIM Council published the first digital strategy for Ireland’s construction industry, Roadmap to Digital Transition, launched by Minister Heather Humphreys.
The roadmap is available to download here: http://www.nbcireland.ie/roadmap.
The third national survey (November 2017) to benchmark the level of Building Information Modelling (BIM) adoption across the Architects, Engineers, and Contractors (AEC) of Ireland revealed that 76% (67% 2015) of the industry sample possessed confidence in their skills and knowledge to deliver BIM. 85% also called for a mandate.
Over the past 18 months, the council have consulted and researched, both domestically and internationally to offer a vision and direction for the sector that looks to achieve 20% reductions in cost, 20% reductions in programme and 20% increases in construction exports to 2021.
At the launch of the Roadmap to Digital Transition last week, the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys T.D. recognised the importance of BIM and its benefits, bringing together technology, process improvements and digital information “to radically improve project outcomes and asset operations.”
BIM together with the use of Lean Construction principles of project management can help to deliver what the Roadmap requires. However, more fundamentally, BIM will challenge traditional relationships and outdated modes of operation that need to be consigned to the past.
This industry roadmap advocates more productive ways of working with a view to improving competitiveness at home and overseas. The roadmap will also seek to support SME’s in embracing new technology.
CIF as a Federation encourages members to share their own knowledge to allow companies to move forward together. We are conscious that there will be some concerns as some companies have not begun their own digital journey. In 2018, CIF through the National BIM Council will be helping to establish how the roadmap will be implemented.
The Construction 4.0 Committee, established in December 2016, has 24 members from across the civil engineering, housing general and specialist contracting sub-sectors. The Committee was set up to prepare the industry for the digital transition and to help businesses meet the demands driven by technological advancements.
For more information on the work of the Construction 4.0 Committee, check out www.cif.ie or contact Orla Brady at [email protected] if you want to get involved.