CIC’s BIM Regional Hubs celebrate first anniversary

CIC’s BIM Regional Hubs celebrate first anniversary of their launch

The Construction Industry Council’s BIM Regional Hubs, launched in partnership with the Government’s BIM Task Group in Newcastle last year, celebrate their first anniversary today, 25 September 2013.

David Philp, UK BIM Task Group, commenting on the occasion said: “As our industry becomes more technologically advanced it is inevitable that the construction sector will eventually move into a new digital economy. It is essential for the UK that we can stay at the vanguard of this digital revolution and lead on Building Information Modelling (BIM) and other Digital Built Britain initiatives.

The CIC BIM regional hubs have been a key enabler in raising awareness of this digital programme and the HM Government requirements. The BIM Task Group takes this opportunity to wish the hubs, their champions and the regional communities a very happy first birthday. We recognise all the hard work that is being done across the UK, often in members own time and take this opportunity to say a massive well done on all your achievements.”

Comments from four CIC BIM Regional Hub Champions:

Adrian Shilliday (Scotland): “The Scottish BIM Hub has been running a series of Structured Learning in BIM over the last 8 months - starting at Briefing then Design, Plan + Cost, Construct with the last in this first series being held on 7th October 2013 on Hand-over + Building Operation. These have been really successful breaking down BIM into manageable discussions that show how BIM works through the project Lifecycle, and connecting the Brief with the various BIM Standards, LOD, COBie, Uniclass, Costing, through to Construction and FM.”

Mark Stodgell (North-West): “The main milestone has been the spread of BIM knowledge outside of the consultant pool. We are holding a major BIM conference today at the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce where Peter Hansford, HM Government Chief Construction Advisor is a guest speaker, and we look forward to reviewing the mix of professions who attend”.

John Nielsen (North East): “In the North East we held a very successful event in March where a firm with a good knowledge of BIM had to get as many other disciplines in their supply chain with minimal BIM experience and spend a day developing a community centre under competition rules. We had a total of 4 teams with over 30 firms. The winners were presented with an award at the regional Constructing Excellence Awards ceremony. I have been liaising with the University of Northumbria and CENE to develop specific structured CPD for each of the disciplines along with assisting the University and a major local Housing Association to develop their BIM Capabilities”. Some quotes from attendees:
• Facilities Management professional – “At last we are involved in the process at the right time - at the start! It’s nice to feel a major part of the whole construction process again”
• Director of WSP – “I don’t know of any other medium or topic that could get this number of local firms in one room sharing ideas and moving the whole industry forward”
• Architect team member – “At the start of the day I was a BIM Troglodyte! At 14:59 on the day I was wondering where this was exactly going, at 15:00 it clicked and suddenly I saw how it was all fitting together. I will definitely be taking BIM back to the practice and pushing it forward. Exciting days!”

Sandra Manley (South West): “The South West hub has been active in organising events that disseminate BIM information and facilitate debate at a number of evening seminars, all of which have been attended by people from many different professional backgrounds. The latest event was on 10th September at the University of the West of England in Bristol (UWE) where Roy Evans from the BIM Task Group gave a talk on the Government Soft Landings Policy. All the events have been organised jointly by Elizabeth Kavanagh from Stride Treglown, architects and the UWE. This collaboration between practice and academia has proved to be a durable approach to developing the hub in the southwest.”