Women In Construction

#WomenInConstruction What do you do after having children?

The statistics in the image is not a good picture and there are many things to say on this issue.

However, I want to address the result from a survey #AECPeople conducted, with one of the questions asking what the top 3 issues are that prevent you from taking action and setting up your own business? Here are the issues:

Getting clients
Capital to setup a practice
Knowledge about Business setup (Admin, IT, Tax etc.)

And I want to point out that 9 out of 10 women who had children are facing issues in returning to work. But, only 16% of those women over-come these 3 issues and set up a business one their own.

What if point 1 could be assisted with and point 2 and 3 could be practically removed from your doubts and from your business “to do” list. And, you received technical and business training and support at no extra cost.

Would that help in increasing the 16% to 25 or 50 or 75%??

It’s #NotATrap and #NotAFunnel

Please do leave a comment or get in touch with any questions you might have.

Developer driven BIM

What is the difference between design team driven BIM and developer driven BIM?

BIM has finally arrived to where it belongs, with the developers them self. We are looking at a brighter future in-terms of reducing risks, increased financial gain and improved abilities to manage the built assets. But only if we implement standards and processes (BIM) in the right places and to its full potential.

Looking back at the experience we have gained since BIM Level 2 became official back in 2016. We have collected a lot of best practices and we have developed technology and solutions. But we have also learned what not to do and where the weaknesses and issues are with BIM. Even though gaining this experience has been challenging and frustrating at times. We can now apply BIM more effectively within the developers organisations with a focus on the business objectives.

Quick re-cap on what is going on with BIM in the UK.

From April 2016 BIM Level 2 was made official and its adoption has been gradually growing by roughly 10% per year since. This growth is mainly within the design sector and we are now looking at an 80% UK market adoption. So, the design sector should be ready to hand over the BIM torch.

The drive behind BIM in the UK is a Government led ambition intended to help improving its construction interest. We have seen a growth in the popularity across the industry both nationally and internationally and the BIM concept is proven to be beneficial. As a result, and timely coordinated with the UK governments plans for the future of the UK construction industry. The ISO 19650 was published in December 2018. In short, this ISO is derived from the UK BIM Level 2 process and focus on the developer’s ownership of the Information and BIM management on the projects. Meaning that BIM should favour the developer’s business objectives. As such, the adoption of BIM from 2019 should be tailored to the developers business needs.

What is the issue with BIM?

Over the years, in my experience, most of the BIM projects (50+) I have supported have been design team led. Sure, the upswing of the Information Manager (IM) function has helped to shift focus slightly to the client needs, but not sufficiently. Meaning that the design teams have defined the scope for BIM and advised the clients on what should/will be delivered and how. In many cases this type of design team collaboration has also been driven by software preferences and often solely focused on 3D coordination. Even with the appointment of an IM, projects are still very much design focused. Why is this an issue? Because, the developers are by-passed in the time and cost management of the design stages that are defined by factors such as collaboration, technology, process and abilities. The output (the design) is derived from these factors. And if the production of the output does not meet the developer’s business objectives. The risk, cost and time will not only increase during the design stages but also for the entirety of the asset life span. As it is now, the developers pay for this as an additional cost that was never considered.

Moving forward

It is not a difficult answer to; what we should do about the risk, cost ad time issues?

Implement the control of the standards, processes, technology and ability in the developers organisations and drive the project from the top and in advance of RIBA PoW Stage 1.

DDC Solutions

At DDC Solutions we implement standards, processes and technology directly in to the business and enable the client to instruct, advice and support the design team down the chain.

To prepare for developer driven BIM projects we have also adapted the BIM implementation for the contractors to work directly from the client’s business objectives and drive the design stages from the top.

For the design teams we have a completely different implementation approach. We prepare the design practice to be compliant with the developers or contractors requests and needs. And to be fully functional as an ISO 19650 coordinated team that can deliver what, how and when is required.

Meaning that the Architects and Engineers can focus on being Architects and Engineers. Leaving the developers and contractors to focus on their functions.

Get In Gear

Get in Gear

Front loaded BIM process, technology and delivery requirements are on its way.

Wow, what a year it’s been for BIM! CIC BIM Protocol, VR and AR applications, IoT, Upswing on IM requirements and the hype on ISO19650 has begun. And yet. . . it’s only the starting point on what is to come.

Ok maybe not that dramatic. Unless, of course, you are reading this from the front-line trenches. Then you are probably as excited as I am to take that BIM beach in 2019.

So, what is it we need to prepare for? Well, its not an overnight revolution of technology use and project process, but most likely a change over a longer period of time.

With the benefit of hindsight. Looking at the BIM Level 2 deadline in April 2016 and now almost 3 years later the industry is only compliant at 70%, as reported as a statistic back in May 2018. We can probably guess that we will see a slowish but steady increase in more robust BIM Level 2 requirements from developers, starting from 2019.

What is driving this change? Well, primarily, in the UK, it would be the government, in collaboration with the Centre for Digital Built Britain at Cambridge University. In the pipeline are plans for what the UK construction industry should look like in the future. It involves, amongst other things, how buildings and cities are to be developed and managed. This is not a new thing, we are already in the middle of it however, we are about to enter a new phase of this AEC vision. The architects and engineers should, by now, already be BIM Level 2 compliant (70% claim they are).

Question for the design practice: As well as having the right “Standards and Processes” in place, can the technology and systems that have been invested in and implemented, cater for the new demands?

What designers and developers should be gearing up for, is that the BIM focus will now shift from designers through to the developers, who will now have to take ownership of the BIM process on the projects.

For the design sector this probably means that in the near future, we will see new requirements from the developers on process and delivery. These requirements may, currently, not be catered for on the non-client led “BIM Level 2” projects. These projects, not always but often, only really involve 3D model coordination and collaboration between architects and engineers, guided by an un-official Pre-contract BIM Execution Plan template.

Strictly speaking there is nothing wrong with this, except we can’t call it BIM Level 2; but, if the teams can get the team work going and if it helps the project through project stages 2-4 and deliver information better, faster and safer. Then Great! (and it does, I might add)

But, what the Stage 2-4 “BIM” process, on design led BIM, does not cover, are actual client requirements driven by the client’s own business model as well as some standards and deliverables that are BIM Level 2 requirements.

Which brings me to the next point. ISO19650. We are currently waiting for the publication of this standard, and up to the time of publishing, we can only speculate on if there will be any unforeseen standards and processes; and what it’s effect will be on the UK BIM process.

However, from my experience and understanding of the new standard, it seems that the standard is very much based on the UK BIM Level 2 process and that the developer will be put in the driver’s seat. i.e. the points brought up earlier in this post.

I leave you with this:

BIM or not BIM compliant, over the years the BIM process have been proven to be beneficial, if only for the sake of coordination and delivery of 3D models. The fact is that the BIM Level 2 standard is taking foothold and will be adapted by developers at an increasing rate from 2019; and BIM is becoming an international standard with the ISO19650. We can’t control this. We just need to adapt.

What we can control however, is how this adaptation affect our businesses (and personal stress levels).

Learn about what BIM means and how it applies to your business. Then source the help required to meet your needs. Implementing BIM should not have to be a major investment of time or money. And. . . importantly! Your BIM implementation should not create a dependability on one person or service provider. Your BIM capabilities should be second nature to your teams, so you can better lead the project as a developer or provide a better service as a designer.

Thank you for your time.

Jimi Clarke

Tag: BUSINESS