If a client has not stated a requirement for the use of BIM, the increasing weight of opinion suggests it should nevertheless be recommended.
However, in the case of a consultant designer, a recommendation to use BIM will be a matter for their professional judgement. The designer must ask: for the needs of this client and this project, will BIM offer a more efficient and appropriate means to deliver designs, support accurate costing, and facilitate successful team integration, programming and risk management?
To answer this, a designer must consider the wider landscape beyond its own design contributions. Case law suggests designers “should be alert to the hazards and risks inherent in any professional task he undertakes to the extent that other ordinarily competent members of the profession would be alert”.
This requires an assessment of BIM by designers not only as a medium through which to create designs, but also as a means to deliver projects with less risk of defects, health and safety issues, and cost or time overruns resulting from any or all of the following:
- gaps or duplications between design contributions;
- misunderstandings between team members;
- problems in sequencing, including client responses to designs submitted;
- delays and other obstacles to third-party consents.
Telford Homes used BIM to develop Lime Quay in east London
Responsible assessment of the potential impact of BIM on a project as a whole goes even further than this, because of the declared intention of the methodology in assisting the efficient and safe operation of the completed building or other facility.
Where BIM is considered to offer a better way to identify a need for repair and maintenance, and parts of the completed facility that involve particular risks, requirements or sensitivities, the client will expect a designer to have these aspects in mind in determining their decision.
There may be projects for which BIM should not be recommended – for example:
- where there are established methods of working among an existing project team that would be disrupted;
- where an established project team does not have sufficient BIM expertise;
- housing projects where the long-term benefits of BIM in FM are marginal for homeowners;
- low-value projects where the cost outweighs the benefits.
The decision is daunting for any designer. They need to keep close track of BIM and respond to the current working environment.
Assad Maqbool is a partner at Trowers & Hamlins specialising in projects and construction
