Institute backs small business BIM initiative

Working group will focus on SME contractors and long-term strategy

The CIOB is sponsoring next month’s launch event for BIM4SMEs, a new working group-cum-networking initiative backed by the Cabinet Office BIM Task Group and Construction Industry Council, and chaired by Tim Platts FCIOB.

The group was formed last autumn with a remit to clear a path through BIM confusion for SMEs in the construction industry, focusing its attention on SME main contractors and supply chain members.

Since then, interest and membership has grown, and the core steering group is now welcoming SMEs and Chartered Building Companies to participate in activities and attend regular regional meetings.

Steering group members include BIM consultant John Eynon FCIOB, Gemma Lennon of Halifax-based Nu Construction (featured in CM March), and Alex Read of Wrexham-based Read Construction. The National Federation of Builders is also represented on the core group.

Platts said: “We’re trying to focus on SME contractors – the value proposition [of BIM] for consultants has already been made clear. After the launch, we will be meeting to plan a long-term strategy based on the feedback we get on the day.” The attendees will be invited to fill in an online survey to gauge opinions on the group’s future priorities.

The event is being held at the Building Centre on 15 April from 9.30am. However, Platts said there were plans to hold a second launch event outside London later in the year, attended by the government’s chief construction adviser Peter Hansford.

BIM4SMEs will also link up with other BIM-related working groups, such as BIM4Retail and the BIM2050 forecasting group of younger professionals. “We also want to make sure the BIM community is well-informed about issues affecting SMEs,” said Platts.

John Eynon FCIOB said the group’s aim was to “take the mystique and fear” out of BIM. “Most projects are reliant on SMEs to some extent, so their ability to engage with BIM will be key to BIM being taken up by the industry, so there’s a lot of education needed. A lot of it is simply getting people to talk to each other, and find case studies and best practice.”

“A significant proportion of CIOB members work for SME companies, or they’re in one- or two-man businesses. So the CIOB is keen to stay involved in the group’s work,” he added.

One early initiative is preparing a presentation on BIM that members can use at other networking or information-sharing events, featuring soundbites from members (see image).

Platts said the group would also consider producing an “SME’s guide” to the suite of BIM documents released by the BIM Task Group and others last month.

But Eynon drew an analogy between the new BIM guidance and the Building Regulations — they exist in the background but most people only have to know about the specific sections that apply to their business. “It depends on your role — if you’re involved in BIM management or coordinating the model, you’d have to know PAS 1192:2 inside out. But an SME contractor further down the line might just have to fill in data in a spreadsheet when it’s requested.”

Platts spent much of his construction career at John Laing and Laing O’Rourke, focusing on procurement and supply chain collaboration. He now combines his own consultancy business with lecturing at Leeds Metropolitan and Loughborough Universities, and he also chairs the BIM Academic Forum. He is also involved with the BIM Regional Hubs programme, also run by the CIC.