The UK Government has set a requirement that all public sector projects over £5 million must use BIM from 2016. This is part of its 2025 industrial strategy for construction that was designed to provide a vision for "long-term strategic action by government and industry to continue to work together to promote the success of the UK construction sector". This strategy was launched in July 2013.
One target of this strategy is to improve the efficiency of the construction sector with an aim for 50% reduction in length of time from planning to completion of project. This is where BIM comes in by saving time, cost and waste on a project from design and construction through to maintenance. It is also recognised that information generated from BIM will lead to fewer errors on site due to inaccurate and uncoordinated information.
Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a process for managing the information produced during a construction project, in a common format, from the earliest feasibility stage through to design, construction, operation and finally demolition, in order to make the best and most efficient use of that information. It involves the sharing of information to create a central resource, bringing together all of the different aspects of construction such as architectural, structural and engineering data.
