The commercial director of HS2 is urging contractors and consultants to respond to a survey it is conducting with consultant Mace to help gauge whether the potential supply chain is ready to work to Level 2 BIM.
BIM Level 2 will be required for all central government projects after 2016 and HS2 will be one of the first major public infrastructure projects to use it from the start procuring and managing data for the design, build, operation and maintenance of the new high speed rail link.
The survey is open to any company planning to bid for work on the £42.6bn project, but is not a formal part of the procurement process. The aim of the survey is to identify areas where HS2 can work with suppliers to help them get ready for the new requirements.
Beth West, commercial director of HS2 Ltd, said: “BIM allows our contractors to work collaboratively to find the best solutions for the project as a whole and share crucial information on design data, stakeholder interactions and asset information before, during and after construction.
“The survey we’re launching…is all about getting to know whether the potential supply chain is ready to use BIM and what we need to do to get them up to speed.”
HS2 has appointed Mace to run the survey as part of a larger BIM Up-skilling Study. Questions in the survey include companies’ investment plans for BIM, education and training and whether they have someone responsible for managing BIM.
The deadline for completing the survey is 17 April and the results will be published in the summer.
Asked how HS2 would respond to the results, a spokesperson said: “HS2 will work with the government’s BIM Task Group – to assess the response and agree what the need is, what resources are available and what the most appropriate response would be.”
The wider HS2 BIM Up-skilling Study, which is also being carried out by Mace, will include an electronic BIM capability scorecard for potential suppliers to complete, together with a series of interviews, meetings and events designed to capture views from the supply chain.
You can complete the survey here.
There is also a free symposium next Wednesday.
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