Dissertation BIM

Building Information
Modelling (BIM)
The implications of using Building
Information Modelling (BIM) for
public sector projects
Tahir Caratella
P08181595
ADTP3002
December 2011

The implications of using Building Information Modelling (BIM)
for public sector projects
Tahir Caratella 2
P08181595
Abstract
In recent years Building Information Modelling (BIM) is becoming more mainstream
in the Architectural, Engineering and Construction industry. Although not a statutory
requirement, the Government is trying to push BIM adoption through its construction
strategy on all public sector projects. This investigation looks at the potential benefits
and challenges posed by BIM, in particular within the public sector. The investigation
looks at research already carried out on BIM adoption by means of a background
study, as well as analysing a case study within the public sector. It goes on to
incorporate an element of primary research which tries to indentify the views of some
public sector authorities on BIM adoption. These views are then summarised to try
and indentify the implications of using BIM for public sector projects.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank everyone who has supported me during the course of this
investigation, in particular my wife, children and parents. I would also like to thank
the academic staff at De Montfort University, especially Chris Watts and John
Stanley who have been supporting me throughout my course, even with their busy
schedules. Finally I would like to thank David Cragg, Building Design Manager at
Leicestershire County Council, without whom I would never have had the opportunity
to embark upon this course.

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Contents
1. Introduction........................................................................................................ 5
1.1. Building Information Modelling (BIM) and the public sector .......................... 5
1.2. Scope of the investigation ............................................................................. 6
1.3. Methodology.................................................................................................. 6
2. Background........................................................................................................ 7
2.1. What is BIM?................................................................................................. 7
2.2. The move to BIM........................................................................................... 9
2.3. BIM adoption by the AEC industry .............................................................. 12
2.4. Benefits of BIM............................................................................................ 16
2.5. Barriers of BIM ............................................................................................ 29
2.6. Conclusion of the background study ........................................................... 36
3. Case Study ....................................................................................................... 37
3.1. Introduction to the case study ..................................................................... 37
3.2. Why was BIM deployed on this project? ..................................................... 38
3.3. How does BIM work on this project?........................................................... 38
3.4. Conclusion of the case study ...................................................................... 45
4. Primary Research ............................................................................................ 46
4.1. Target audience .......................................................................................... 46
4.2. Method of research ..................................................................................... 46
4.3. Responses to the research ......................................................................... 49
5. Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 59
Bibliography ........................................................................................................... 63
Appendix A ............................................................................................................. 65
Appendix B ............................................................................................................. 66
Appendix C ............................................................................................................. 69

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Table of Figures
Figure 1 - Views of What BIM is (NBS, 2010) ............................................................ 8
Figure 2 - BIM Knowledge (Demian and Yan, 2008)................................................ 13
Figure 3 - Importance of BIM in 5 years (Bernstein, 2010)....................................... 15
Figure 4 - BIM use on projects (Bernstein, 2010)..................................................... 16
Figure 5 - Perceived ROI (Bernstein, 2010) ............................................................. 17
Figure 6 - Views on adopting BIM (NBS, 2011)........................................................ 18
Figure 7 - MacLeamy Curve (BSI, 2010).................................................................. 20
Figure 8 - Key stakeholders in the BIM process (http://www.revitportal.com/, 2012) 23
Figure 9 - The benefits of BIM (Demian and Yan, 2008).......................................... 26
Figure 10 - Level of business value of BIM (Bernstein, 2010).................................. 27
Figure 11 - Relative importance of internal benefits of BIM (Bernstein, 2010) ......... 28
Figure 12 - Barriers to implement BIM (Demian and Yan, 2008).............................. 32
Figure 13 - Views on adopting BIM (NBS, 2011)...................................................... 33
Figure 14 - Challenges of using BIM (Gould, 2010) ................................................. 35
Figure 15 - Manchester Central Library (Building.co.uk, 2011) ................................ 37
Figure 16 - 3D model of Manchester Central Library (Building.co.uk, 2011)............ 41
Figure 17 - BIM use among County Councils........................................................... 50
Figure 18 - BIM use by project type.......................................................................... 51
Figure 19 - Future BIM use by project type .............................................................. 51
Figure 20 - Perceived / realised benefits of BIM....................................................... 52
Figure 21 - Perceived / realised barriers of BIM....................................................... 53

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1. Introduction
1.1. Building Information Modelling (BIM) and the public sector
“Government will require fully collaborative 3D BIM (with all project and asset
information, documentation and data being electronic) as a minimum by 2016.
A staged plan will be published with mandated milestones showing
measurable progress at the end of each year.”
(Government Construction Strategy, 2011, p.14)
The above statement reflects the UK Government’s commitment to drive
forward the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) within the
Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry in the UK.
According to Paul Morrell, the Government’s Chief Construction Advisor, in
relation to public sector projects, there will be a phased rollout over five-years
beginning next summer, 2012, with a view to getting all appropriate projects
into a 3D collaborative environment by 2016. (Architects’ Journal, 2011)
The Government’s commitment on the use of BIM has been the main driving
factor and inspiration for the research question. It gives thought to what the
future can hold in terms of opportunities and challenges that this new method
of design procurement can bring to the AEC industry in the UK and especially
for those in the public sector. This investigation attempts to find out and
address the possible implications of using (BIM) for public sector projects.

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1.2. Scope of the investigation
The public sector covers a vast array of organisations ranging from the police
and local councils to the fire brigade and the National Health Service. For the
purpose of this assignment, the primary research element of this investigation
has been confined to county councils in England. This is due to time
constraints and the shear vastness of the public sector in the UK. Many
county councils in England undertake large scale construction projects,
especially when commissioning new schools or refurbishing older buildings
that deliver services such as libraries, museums or community centres. This
makes them a suitable target for the research element of this investigation
which looks at the impact of BIM on public sector projects.
1.3. Methodology
Before carrying out any investigations in relation to BIM in the public sector, it
is vital to try and establish what BIM is and how it has come about. BIM
adoption in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry is
investigated, as well as the data already gathered with regards to the benefits
and shortfalls of adopting BIM. Firstly a background study using various
sources is carried out to understand BIM in more depth. Secondly, a case
study, based on a public sector authority, is examined. The case study looks
at BIM in practice. The background study and case study will help to inform
the research element of this investigation, which is carried out through the
means of a questionnaire, which in turn provides a basis for debate on the
impact that BIM may have on public sector construction projects.

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2. Background
2.1. What is BIM?
There is often a misconception that BIM is about a piece of software, however
this is not the case. According to Demian and Yan (2008) Building Information
Modelling is a powerful set of design management tools that have been
highlighted by the AEC industry. It allows buildings to be modelled virtually
and stores information about the building in a central coordinated model
(Davidson, 2009). This view is confirmed by the BIM Working Party Strategy
Paper (2011, p.91) which defines BIM as a managed approach to the
collection and exploitation of information across a project. Other sources
define BIM on similar lines as a rich information model, consisting of
potentially multiple data sources, elements of which can be shared across all
stakeholders and be maintained across the life of a building from inception to
recycling. It is a technology that digitally represents a built asset and allows
extraction of data from it (National Building Specification (NBS), 2011;
Autodesk, 2011; British Standards Institute, 2010; Gould, 2010). A survey by
NBS (2010) asked participants to describe BIM. As a result the picture in
Figure 1 on the next page shows the type of words people chose to use when
describing BIM. The larger the word, the more often it was used.

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Figure 1 - Views of What BIM is (NBS, 2010)
Some sources go further to try and emphasise that BIM is not just a piece of
software, but rather it is an activity and process. Snook (2011, p.24) says that
BIM is about the intelligent interactions of data and not about drawings,
façade, interior renderings and visualisations which are only derivatives of the
process. Snook quotes Sir Edwin Lutyens, a famous British Architect, over 80
years ago as saying “A working drawing is a letter to a builder telling precisely
what to build and not a picture to charm” This seems very appropriate in the
message that Snook (2011) wants to convey. It is about BIM being more than
just about buying a piece of software which says “BIM” on the box. Another
source, Eastman et al. (2011, p. xi), also emphasises that BIM is an activity in
terms of Building Information Modelling rather than an object in terms of a
Model. The text goes on to say that it is not a thing or a type of software but a
human activity that ultimately involves broad process changes in design,
construction and facility management. Awareness of BIM across the public
sector will be varied, however the research element of this investigation tries

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to address the level of awareness amongst a selection of public sector
authorities through the use of a carefully constructed questionnaire.
2.2. The move to BIM
Over the years there have been many changes in the way that AEC design
technology has evolved. Until the mid-nineteenth century, the general method
of design did not change a lot. Engineers used simple tools (such as pen,
paper and ruler) to describe their buildings. However, with advances in
mathematics and building materials, the process of design changed and
improved rapidly. (Rabun and Blackmore, 1996; Stephenson, 1996 as cited
by Demian and Yan, 2008)
With the invention of the computer, 2D CAD as a new drawing tool was
adopted completely in the AEC industry in the 1980s (Phiri, 1999 as cited by
Demian and Yan, 2008). With the popularisation of personal computers, the
renowned software company Autodesk developed AutoCAD. Suddenly, all the
architects in the world started to learn and use this type of software to design
their project. (Leondes, (2005) as cited by Demian and Yan, (2008)) This
really took off in the 1980’s. The familiar layer metaphor that originated with
pin-bar drafting was easily adapted to the layer-based CAD systems of the
day, and within a few years a large percentage of construction documents and
shop drawings were plotted from computers rather than being manually
drafted on drawing boards. (Autodesk, 2002, p.1). These documents,
electronic or paper based, were presented as an unstructured stream of text
or graphic entities. This can be understood and checked by human beings,

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but the lack of structure and meaning in the presentation means that it is
inherently difficult to reuse or check. It cannot be used computer to computer
– in other words, it is not computable. In this traditional approach, computer-
aided drafting was used, but there was a complete absence of information-
sharing and collaborative working. Life before BIM was characterised by the
massive amount of documentation that had to be printed and stored (British
Standards Institute, 2010, p.4).
Slowly technology began to affect the process. Electronic file formats were
exchanged with consultants instead of physical underlay drawings. This
meant that information was directly conveyed about the building that would
not appear in the plotted version of the file. The use of CAD files was evolving
toward communicating information about a building in ways that a plotted
drawing could not. (Autodesk, 2002, p.1) According to Eastman et al. (2011,
p.15), these systems were further developed with the introduction of 3D
modelling bringing advanced definition and complex surfacing tools. As CAD
systems became more sophisticated and more users wanted to share data
associated with a given design, the focus shifted from drawings and 3D
images to the data itself. It can be said that this is now the ‘information’ part of
Building Information Modelling.
A detailed explanation of this new need for data is given by the British
Standards Institute (BSI) (2010, p.4) where BIM is described as introducing
the benefits of shared and structured information. ‘Structured’ information
includes databases, spread sheets and tables. Sharing involves bringing

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together sets of information produced by different organisations into a
common form. Information contributed by one participant is immediately
available to the others. BSI (2010, p.5) goes on to say that common shared
information allows an integrated, responsive value chain to be created.
Demian and Yan (2008) agree with this adoption of an intelligent data model
by saying that whereas 3D CAD modelling was merely collections of points,
lines, 2D shapes and 3D volumes, in the BIM concept, such geometric entities
can also have symbolic or abstract “meaning”, as well as quantitative or
qualitative data. One such example is a 3D model created in Sketchup, which
is merely a surface modeller and there are no attributes connected to the
geometric data.
What differentiates BIM from traditional 3D surface modelling is the use of
parametric objects, which form part of the information contained within the
model. In order to try and understand what parametric objects are, Eastman
et al. (2011) describes these objects as follows:
• Consist of geometric definitions and associated data and rules
• Geometry is integrated non-redundantly and allows for no
inconsistencies, whether in the 3D or 2D view.
• Parametric rules for objects automatically modify associated
geometries when inserted into a building model or when changes are
made to associate objects. For example a wall will automatically resize
itself to butt to a ceiling or roof.
• Objects can be defined at different levels of aggregation. Objects can
be defined and managed at any number of hierarchy levels. For

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example, if the weight of a wall subcomponent changes, then overall
weight of the wall should also change.
• Objects’ rules can identify when a particular change violates object
feasibility regarding size, manufacturability and so forth.
• Objects have the ability to link or receive, broadcast, or export sets of
attributes, for example, structural materials, acoustic data, energy data,
and the like, to other applications and models.
2.3. BIM adoption by the AEC industry
Bernstein (2010, p.4) observed that the versatility of BIM has only recently
been begun to be appreciated by the AEC industry in Western Europe. BIM
adoption levels are lower in Western Europe against North America. In 2010,
a little over a third (36%) of the Western European industry participants in this
research reported having adopted BIM. This can be compared to the 49%
adoption rate in North America during 2009. The same research revealed that
the adoption rate for BIM in the United Kingdom among construction
professionals surveyed is 35%. Adoption is led by architects (60%), followed
by engineers (39%) and contractors (23%). This research goes further to
suggest that within the UK, contractors have not fully embraced BIM. Only
23% of contractors have adopted BIM, and only 7% use it on 30% or more of
projects. Like in North America, there is an indication that BIM use will surge
among UK contractors with heavy use (>30% of projects) expected to
increase to over 50% by 2012 (Bernstein, 2010, p.11).

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Demian and Yan (2008) conclude from their survey that around 30% of
respondents knew nothing about BIM, around 60% knew a little and 5% had
fair knowledge about BIM, but none were claiming to be experts in the area.
Figure 2 shows the comparison between the US and UK on the subject of BIM
knowledge.
Figure 2 - BIM Knowledge (Demian and Yan, 2008)
A similar survey into the UK construction industry’s attitude towards BIM
conducted by NBS (2010, p.10) revealed that 43% of respondents were
neither aware nor using BIM, while 43% were aware of it and only 13% were
aware of and currently using BIM.
When asked about their understanding of BIM, 64% of respondents don’t
agree that BIM is all about the software. Only 18% thought that ‘BIM’ is a
synonym for 3D CAD drawings (NBS, 2010, p.12). So, according to NBS
(2010) this shows that more recently there is a good overall understanding of
BIM among the respondents that were aware of it.

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The research by Demian and Yan (2008) shows that most of the respondents
were confident that BIM will be more utilised in the future and many of the
design teams are planning to adopt BIM within 3 years. NBS (2010, p.12) also
conclude that there will be an increase in the use of BIM over the next 5 years
with 85 per cent of those who are aware of BIM seeing themselves adopting it
for at least some of their projects. The research carried out by Bernstein
(2010, p.10) shows that over a third of BIM adoption in Western Europe (34%)
occurred over 5 years ago. Since that time BIM adoption has been steady but
flat—averaging slightly more than 10% during each of the subsequent years.
However, in the past year there has been a slight surge, with nearly 20% of
adoption taking place since early 2009. This trend seems to support the
research carried out by NBS (2010) mentioned earlier with regards to the
increase in awareness of BIM over the last few years.
There appears to be a perceived increased in the take up of BIM for the future
according to research carried out. 26% of respondents said that they will most
probably take on BIM in the future, with 12% definitely taking on BIM and only
2% not considering BIM for future projects (Demian and Yan, 2008). The
survey by NBS (2010, p.12) reflects this increase. In the survey the number of
participants using BIM for all projects in 2010 was 4%, expected to increase to
36% in 5 years’ time. Similarly the number of participants using BIM for
majority of projects in 2010 is 6% rising to 27% in 5 years’ time. In the
research conducted by Bernstein (2010, p.13), about one quarter of non-users
(24%) believe that BIM will be highly or very highly important to the industry in
five years. However, more non-users (32%) actually believe that BIM will have

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low or no importance. Most non-users (44%) believe that BIM will have
moderate importance in the next 5 years. This contrasts with North America
where 42% of non-users believe that BIM will have high or very high
importance in the next 5 years. These results are shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3 - Importance of BIM in 5 years (Bernstein, 2010)
On the subject of future growth for BIM, Bernstein (2010, p.10) concludes that
there are differences in growth depending upon the users. Beginners are very
optimistic that they will expand BIM use quickly. While 54% use it on 15% or
less of projects today, only 20% expect to use it at that level in two years.
Expert users will continue to expand their use of BIM, with the percentage
using it on 60% or more of projects rising from 69% in 2010 to 84% in 2012.
Contractors expect the largest rise in BIM use, with 54% saying it will be used
on more than 30% of their projects in 2012, compared to 11% who used it at

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that level in 2010. The overall percentage use on projects is shown in Figure
4.
Figure 4 - BIM use on projects (Bernstein, 2010)
All the research featured has shown that there is an increase in awareness
and usage of BIM across the AEC industry, with users increasing rapidly over
the next 5 years. There are various reasons why this is so. These are
discussed in the next section.
2.4. Benefits of BIM
The recent increase in BIM adoption has been due to various factors. The
most important being a reduction in costs and hence a better Return On
Investment (ROI) for the user. There are many publications which highlight
the benefits of BIM. For the purpose of this background study, a small number

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of publications have been sourced which encompass the view of the majority
of BIM experts in the AEC industry.
Three-quarters of Western European BIM users (74%) report a positive
perceived return on their overall investment in BIM (Bernstein, 2010, p.11).
The perceived ROI for UK, France and Germany is shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5 - Perceived ROI (Bernstein, 2010)
Inevitably, when considering BIM adoption, ROI will be a key driving factor for
all public sector bodies.
In the UK users see the most value from BIM through reduced conflicts during
construction between Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing (MEP) and structural
elements (70%), improved collective understanding of design intent (69%)
and reduced changes during construction (60%) (Bernstein, 2010, p.11)

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BIM technology can support and improve many business practices in the
AEC/FM (facility management) industry by responding to the increasing
pressures on a building over its lifecycle (Eastman et al. 2011, p.20) These
pressures include such areas as sustainability, energy efficiency and general
maintenance of the building. This is especially relevant to public sector
bodies, where they have to continually manage and maintain a large property
portfolio. At present, the greatest value from BIM is seen in design
development, construction and preparation of construction documents and
fabrication (BSI, 2010, p.13). The survey carried out by Demian and Yan
(2008) revealed that the main benefit which users stated was that BIM
changes the process of design and build and thus realising savings on the
cost of design. A similar view, as well as other benefits of BIM, can also be
drawn from the research carried out by NBS (2011, p.14) shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6 - Views on adopting BIM (NBS, 2011)

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BIM brings preconstruction benefits to the owner through the concept,
feasibility and design stages. Before owners engage an architect, it is
necessary to determine whether a building of a given size, quality level and
desired program requirements can be built within a given cost and time
budget (Eastman et al. 2011, p.20). Building performance and quality can be
enhanced by developing a schematic model prior to generating a detailed
building model allowing for a more careful evaluation of the proposed scheme
to determine whether it meets the building’s functional and sustainable
requirements. (Eastman et al. 2011, p.21). This functionality of BIM can have
a great impact on public sector projects where sustainability is not only a key
factor relating to cost savings, but also ensuring that projects comply with
building regulations.
From the beginning of the design stage the project team can improve their
understanding of project requirements and extract cost estimates as the
design develops, while at the same time avoiding use of paper exchange and
its associated delays. At any stage of the design, BIM technology can extract
an accurate bill of quantities and schedule of spaces that can be used for cost
estimation (Eastman et al. 2011; Davidson 2009). Public sector bodies often
have run very tight budgets, and this aspect of BIM would help to evaluate
costs at every stage of the design. In construction, less time and money are
spent in process and administration because document quality is higher and
construction planning is better so more of the owner’s investment goes into
the building instead of administration and overhead in design and construction
(Autodesk, 2002, p.6) There is better understanding and control of costs and

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schedules, as well as management of change and limit (or even eliminate)
unforeseen costs and delays. BIM users report that design effort increases at
an earlier phase in the project but decreases later on. Integrated working
(whatever contractual form it takes) will save money by taking design change
to an earlier, less costly phase of the project. This pattern was forecast by
Patrick MacLeamy, CEO of HOK (a firm that is a keen user of BIM) in 2004
when he compared historical workflow and integrated project delivery
workflow. This forecast is shown in the McLeamy Curve in Figure 7 (BSI,
2010, p.15).
Figure 7 - MacLeamy Curve (BSI, 2010)
The ability to produce designs at an early stage which will not require changes
further down the line will produce significant cost savings for public sector
organisations, as illustrated by Figure 7.

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Automatic low-level corrections are carried out by the BIM software when
changes are made to the design. Parametric objects in the design ensure
proper alignment making the 3D model free of geometry, alignment and
spatial coordination errors. This reduces the users’ need to manage design
changes. The impact of a suggested design change can be entered into the
building model and changes to the other objects in the design will
automatically update. Some updates will be automatically based on the
established parametric rules, as defined by parametric objects which have
been explained earlier in section 2.2). Updating in this manner is extremely
error-prone in paper-based systems (Eastman et al. 2011).
Accurate and consistent drawings can be extracted for any set of objects or
specified view of the project. For example, if a door is moved in plan view,
then all sections and elevations will simultaneously be updated. This
significantly reduces the amount of time and number of errors associated with
generating construction drawings for all design disciplines. When changes to
the design are required, fully consistent drawings can be generated as soon
as the design modifications are entered (Eastman et al. 2011; Davidson
2009). The ability to extract consistent drawings from the building model
would help public sector bodies communicate with those outside the BIM
process such as the general public, media and other stakeholders who do not
use BIM.

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BIM technology facilitates simultaneous work by multiple design disciplines.
Working with co-ordinated models can shorten the design time and
significantly reduces design errors, omissions and help realise problems, such
as clash detection. This is much more cost-effective than waiting until a
design is nearly complete and then applying value engineering, such as
selection of materials, only after the major design decisions have been made.
Because the virtual 3D building model is the source for all 2D and 3D
drawings, design errors caused by inconsistent 2D drawings are eliminated.
Conflicts and constructability problems can identified before they are detected
on site. This speeds the construction process, reduces costs, minimises the
likelihood of legal disputes and provides a smoother process for the entire
design team (Eastman et al. 2011). Demian and Yan (2008) agree with this
benefit of BIM when they say that in the operation phase, Building Information
Modelling creates obtainable concurrent information on performance of the
project as the model is constantly being updated; and the economic aspects
of the project. With BIM, cross-functional project teams share intelligent
models to better plan, design, build, and manage building and infrastructure
projects. (Autodesk, 2011) BSI (2010) also points out that a powerful and
popular use of BIM is for clash detection: to identify if any elements of the
design are vying to occupy the same space in the building. Spatial co-
ordination via the BIM can also dramatically reduces costs by ensuring that
problems are resolved early on and not once construction has started. With
tight budgets and timescales, clash detection would benefit public sector
organisations immensely in term of cost and time savings. The need for
collaboration within the AEC industry when using BIM strengthens and

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deepens existing partnerships—and forges new ones—between architects,
engineers, contractors, and owners (Autodesk, 2011) Figure 8 shows the key
stakeholders in the BIM process.
Figure 8 - Key stakeholders in the BIM process (http://www.revitportal.com/,
2012)
Most public sector organisations currently work with many stakeholders
outside the organisation. BIM would help to strengthen these partnerships, as
well as create fresh relationships, hence leading to better project co-ordination
and better quality projects.
The BIM building model can be linked to energy analysis tools that allow
evaluation of energy use during the early design phases. This provides many
opportunities to improve building quality (Eastman et al. 2011). BIM allows
energy analyses to be produced more efficiently and hence is driving greener
designs (Davidson, 2009). Autodesk (2011) also states that project teams can

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also use information contained in the models to perform a variety of
complementary tasks, including energy or environmental analysis,
visualization, construction simulation, and improving the accuracy of
documentation. This has many cost benefits for public sector organisations. It
allows them find the best method to tackle energy inefficiency, produce new
buildings that are energy efficient and also give them an idea of energy costs
and consumption across their property portfolio.
If the design model is transferred to a BIM fabrication tool and detailed to the
level of fabrication objects, for example a bespoke set of solar shading
louvers; it will contain an accurate representation of the building objects for
fabrication and construction. BIM reduces the need for large installation crews
and allows for faster installation times and less onsite storage space. This is
because the model already contains detailed information on the numbers of
components required and where they fit in with the construction process. BIM
contributes to the coordination between the general contractor and all
subcontractors to ensure that work can be performed when the appropriate
resources are available on site. It provides the basis for improved planning
and scheduling of subcontractors and helps to ensure just-in-time arrival of
people, equipment and materials which in turn reduces cost and allows for
better collaboration at the jobsite (Eastman et al. 2011).
BIM provides post construction benefits too. During the construction process
the general contractor and MEP contractors collect information about installed
materials and maintenance information for the systems in the building. This

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information can be linked to the object in the building model and thus be
available for handover to the owner for use in their facility management
systems. This information can be used to check that all systems work properly
after the building is complete (Eastman et al. 2011). Post construction benefits
are particularly significant to public sector authorities as they have to provide
facilities management across their property portfolios. The information
produced through the BIM process would also help public sector authorities
carry out better asset management of their properties, ensuring the property
portfolio is being put to its best use.
Demian and Yan (2008) state their research revealed that most BIM users
believe that BIM can reduce human resource during the entire operation
phase. This is because less people are required to extract information from
the model during construction. Autodesk (2002) already had this perception
when they say that using building information modelling, design teams get
more work done with fewer people. A smaller design team means lower costs
and less chance for miscommunication. This could fit in very well with the
large number of redundancies which the public sector currently has to make in
order to produce savings and increase productivity. Figure 9 is an extract from
Demian and Yan (2008) where BIM users were asked about what they
thought the benefits of BIM adoption were.

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Figure 9 - The benefits of BIM (Demian and Yan, 2008)
The advantage of BIM technology is greater than the sum of its parts. By
looking at each individual benefit of BIM it can be seen that each element is a
means to reduce cost, either directly through better designs and reduced
material usage, or indirectly through efficiency gains. Consequently, BIM
technology has the potential to go a long way in addressing the inefficiency
issues that exist within the construction industry (Davidson, 2009)
A significant majority (90%) of Western European BIM users say they see
value in BIM today but the full potential of its benefits has not yet been
realized. On the extremes, very few BIM users say that they are getting
everything out of BIM or getting no value from BIM—6% and 4% respectively
(Bernstein, 2010). Figure 10 illustrates these results.

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Figure 10 - Level of business value of BIM (Bernstein, 2010)
Bernstein (2010) reported on the subject of the internal business value of BIM
in Western Europe. Internal business meaning the way that processes and
procedures are carried out within the organisation. The report’s findings
showed that reduced errors and omissions in construction documents is the
top rated business value of BIM. As the level of expertise of BIM use
increases, so does the level of internal business benefits experienced. Better
multiparty communication and understanding from 3-D is seen as most
important to improving ROI on BIM. Other internal benefits are shown in
Figure 11

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Figure 11 - Relative importance of internal benefits of BIM (Bernstein, 2010)
The project value of BIM in Western Europe was also reported my Bernstein
(2010). The key findings showed that phases that experience the most BIM
value during a project were at Design development, where initial designs are
produced, and Technical design, where issues such as energy efficiency,
structural loadings and acoustics are discussed. Benefits that generate the
highest returns were improved collective understanding of design intent and
improved overall project quality.
Managing building information using a building information model can lead to
substantial cost savings, from design and construction through to
maintenance. The model saves time, extra coordination checks are largely
unnecessary, and waste on site; the information generated from the model will

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lead to fewer errors on site due to inaccurate and uncoordinated information
(Construction Information Service (CIS), 2011).
The British Standards Institute (BSI) (2010) also lists a number of benefits of
BIM adoption similar to those discussed by other sources. Project benefits
include entering data only once and reusing it throughout the lifecycle of the
project; blending geospatial and building information for planning; reducing
requests for information and change orders; reducing rework; improving
awareness of progress and current status; avoiding clashes; reducing cycle
times between reviews; creating a time-based simulation of construction
activities; reducing costs; ensuring lower whole-life costs for the asset through
sustainable design – tested out at the design stage.
So far the background study has highlighted that there are many potential
benefits to the adoption of BIM for everyone in the AEC industry including
public sector bodies. Many of the sources come to similar conclusions about
cost and time savings which are the key reasons for BIM adoption. As with all
new approaches in the AEC industry, BIM adoption will have its challenges.
These are discussed in the next section.
2.5. Barriers of BIM
There are a number of challenges which face users when adopting BIM. BIM
is “a disruptive technology”, unlike the adoption of 2D CAD which simply
automated a traditional process; BIM requires a whole paradigm shift and a
new way of working (Davidson, 2009).

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One barrier arises when dealing with collaboration. Determining the method
that will be used to permit adequate sharing of model information by members
of the project team is a significant issue. If the members of the project team
use different modelling tools, then tools for moving the models from one
environment to another or combining these models are needed resulting in
potential errors and time consumption. Such problems can be reduced by
using Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) standards for exchanging data
(Eastman et al. 2011). The IFC format is registered by ISO as ISO/PAS 16739
and is in the process of becoming an official international standard ISO/IS
16739 (BuildingSmart, 2011). This issue is not much different from that posed
by the interchanging of 2D CAD files between stakeholders in a project.
Currently many public authorities use the BS1192 standard to overcome such
issues when sharing drawings. The IFC standard would simply be another
standard which the public sector would use.
Legal and contractual concerns are presenting challenges, with respect to
who owns the design, fabrication, analysis and construction datasets, who
pays for them and who is responsible for their accuracy. An immediate issue
about BIM concerns the copyright and ownership of contributed designs.
Authorship becomes blurred (Eastman et al. 2011; Davidson 2009; Olantunji,
2010; Klimnt, 2011). This is an area where public authorities will need to set
clear guidelines as to data ownership and content responsibility.

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The most significant change that companies face when implementing BIM
technology is intensively using a shared building model during design phases
and a coordinated building model during construction and fabrication, as the
basis for all work processes and for collaboration. This transformation will
require time and education, as is true of all significant changes in technology
and work processes (Eastman et al. 2011). Research carried out by Demian
and Yan (2008) suggests that the greatest barrier to BIM adoption is people
barriers. According to the results of the questionnaire, about 40% of
respondents from USA and about 20% respondents from UK believe that their
companies have to allocate lots of time and human resource to the training
process. This could be a major barrier for the public sector at this time due the
vast number of cut-backs and redundancies that they are having to make in
order to achieve the savings set by Central Government.
An important point is made by Demian and Yan (2008) who say that one of
the barriers is social and habitual resistance to change, as lots of architects
are satisfied with traditional methods to design their projects and are
incredulous of the new functions and advantages of BIM. This could be a an
issue for public sector bodies, where it is well known that many people who
work for them have been working there for many years doing the same job, in
the same way for all those years. Figure 12 shows the respondent’s views in
Demian and Yan (2008) survey.

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Figure 12 - Barriers to implement BIM (Demian and Yan, 2008)
The deployment of BIM requires the traditional design processes to be
changed to suit the workflows associated with BIM. For example the architect
will be working with the MEP contractors from the beginning of the design
process via the building model, rather than producing the design first and then
consulting the contractors. This disruption of workflows is an inevitable aspect
of BIM deployment; however, Davidson (2009) maintains that the benefits of
BIM will soon outweigh the initial drop in productivity that this will produce.
Replacing a 2D or 3D CAD environment with a building information modelling
system involves far more than acquiring software, training and upgrading
hardware. Effective use of BIM requires that changes be made to almost
every aspect of a firm’s business. It requires some understanding of BIM
technology and related processes and a plan for implementation before the
conversion can begin (Eastman et al. 2011, BSI 2010). More effort is required
upfront to create individual models and the integrated BIM system. BIM also
requires more active management than CAD. Information development,

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integration, sharing and use may require the development of new information
management skills and policies. Creating new internal BIM procedures and
using BIM to achieve a worthwhile return on investment requires effort and
cost (BSI, 2010). These types of processes take time, and again the question
is whether the public sector can afford to spend time on changing processes
during this time of financial uncertainty.
Part of the research carried out by NBS (2011) tried to address the reasons
that are stopping organisations from adopting BIM. The recession has been
particularly hard for the construction industry and it is a reason. Almost half
say they need to get through the recession before considering BIM. Public
sector bodies will be in facing the same situation. Figure 13 shows
respondent’s views on why they may not be adopting BIM.
Figure 13 - Views on adopting BIM (NBS, 2011)
The primary reason that non-users give for not implementing BIM is the lack
of client demand. 55% of non-users surveyed indicated this was the number
one reason followed by the lack of sufficient time to evaluate it (49%) and

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software being too expensive (41%). Non-users also believe that their clients
are not using BIM–with 87% believing that clients are using it on 15% or less
of projects (Bernstein, 2010) In many cases the client will be the public sector
itself, so it is up to them to demand it on any projects they commission.
A survey into the challenges of using BIM was produced by Gould (2010)
which featured in the Construction Research and Innovation (CRI) publication
created by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) in 2010. Figure 14
shows the results of this survey, with the main challenges being training staff
on new processes and implementing these new processes. Once again the
issues of costs and training revealed in the survey can be applied to public
sector organisations.

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Figure 14 - Challenges of using BIM (Gould, 2010)
BIM software may have to be bought, presenting a barrier to smaller firms. At
the start of a project, unless the client sets out the platform to be used,
participants will need to establish how compatible their applications are. Using
software that complies with open standard formats such as the IFC standard
is fairest to all and does not impose costs on others. (BSI, 2010) Although
there are still other issues to overcome such as translation requirements,
exporting a BIM model from package and importing it into another. Ensuring
that all stakeholders are using the same software, same versions and even
protocols can be challenging.

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2.6. Conclusion of the background study
The background study has revealed that the rate of BIM adoption is only
recently increasing in Western Europe, including the UK. There are many
driving factors for BIM adoption and it brings with it many advantages to the
AEC industry. The primary benefit being a potential for cost and time saving
with considerable Return on Investment. But BIM also comes with its’ many
challenges. Initial costs relating to hardware and software procurement are a
major issue, as is the costs of training staff not only to use the software, but
also to adapt to the BIM process of working. This new way of design
management seems to be the future of the building design process. As NBS
(2011) says “BIM is the future. Those who are aware of it can see the
advantages of adopting it. It looks like it might pay to get on board sooner
rather than later.” Paul Morrell, the Governments Chief Construction Advisor,
seems to have adopted this view. As stated earlier, he has implied that BIM is
to be used on all public sector projects by 2016 (Architects Journal, 2011) so
it is not a case of whether or not to adopt BIM, but rather looking at what BIM
will bring to the public sector, especially if it will be worthy in terms of Return
on Investment.

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3. Case Study
3.1. Introduction to the case study
Thomas Lane, Assistant Editor (Technical), at Building.co.uk, a construction
industry magazine, has produced a case study, in October 2011, which
highlights the use of BIM by a public sector body. Manchester City Council
deployed BIM on the remodelling of Manchester’s Central Library (Figure 15).
The case study looks at why the client went for BIM, how BIM is used on the
project and also asks stakeholders on their views of BIM adoption on the
project. The study is a good source of information that examines the use of
BIM on a public sector project. According to the case study, John Lorimer,
capital programme director for Manchester City Council, said “We are using
BIM on a very complex grade II-listed building, so if it can work for us it can
work for the whole industry,” This is a very encouraging statement for those
who will be utilising BIM in the public sector, but the case study goes on to
identify the challenges faced by Manchester City Council.
Figure 15 - Manchester Central Library (Building.co.uk, 2011)

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3.2. Why was BIM deployed on this project?
The case study reveals that Manchester City Council have already used BIM
on a school and housing project, investing £100,000 on BIM on the latter
project with the expectation of savings. John Lorimer points out that these
savings were achieved. He says “We already have a gross return of £260,000
on the investment in the form of programme benefits, less waste and an
improved product,” As mentioned in the background study, the Return on
Investment was a vital factor in the decision process on adopting BIM.
Manchester City Council certainly got a good return on investment in on their
housing project.
With relation to BIM use on the library project, John Lorimer says “We are
using it because we believe once the building is finished and we take over the
model we can better manage it throughout its life. For us that is the real gain.”
This another benefit of BIM adoption, in its real form, which was highlighted by
the background study where the BIM model can passed on to the client and
used for facility management and maintenance over the life of the building.
3.3. How does BIM work on this project?
Thomas Lane’s case study explains how BIM is used on the Manchester
Central Library project. The existing library had to be surveyed, not in the
conventional 2D method, but a 3D survey was carried out which was then
imported into BIM software, in this case Revit from Autodesk, by the architects
Ryder. Although the survey cost £4,000 more than a 2D survey, much more
detailed information was captured by the 3D survey.

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Collaboration across the project is achieved by giving each member of the
team ownership of their model and using the other models as an external
reference. The models are updated against each other regularly and in order
to cover the hurdle of compatibility between teams, everyone was required to
produce their part of the model with the same drawing conventions. This was
something that is suggested in the background study, where IFC standards
are proposed for use across teams, in order to eliminate issues of
compatibility when sharing the model.
Thomas Lane goes on to ask stakeholders about their view on BIM use on the
library project, what advantages and disadvantages they came across and the
costs which were incurred.
Paul Mulcahey, the associate director for Mace, the Project Managers,
highlighted advantages of BIM “BIM use has promoted more efficient team
working and having easily understandable 3D visualisations has helped for
planning consultations.” He goes on to say that “BIM also makes it easy to
audit changes to the design.” With regards to disadvantages of BIM use on
this project, Mulcahey says “I’ve had the luxury of a really well drilled team
and I am not aware of any problems.” This shows a very positive attitude
towards the use BIM on this project. In relation to costs he says “The team
works out of a council-owned building that didn’t have enough bandwidth to
handle the BIM models. Making the office BIM-ready cost about £10,000.”
This type of cost is clearly one of the major impacts of adopting BIM

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Architects for the project, Ryder, based its architectural design on the 3D laser
survey of the library and were asked about the advantages they saw in BIM
use on the project. The case study reveals that Ryder regularly use BIM for
integrating architectural design with M&E, structure, clash detection,
programming, pedestrian flows and solar and thermal modelling. Ian
Kennedy, Ryder director, said “Another fringe benefit of having a single,
integrated model is design meetings are hosted around it, so everyone has a
clear understanding of what people are talking about,” This enforces the
benefits of collaborative working which were identified as an advantage,
brought by BIM use, in the background study. Ryder sees one disadvantage
of BIM use on this project “There isn’t one set way of using BIM. Everyone is
at different stages, so you have find a way of working that is beneficial for all”.
Again, this is one of the issues which can be overcome through close working
practices between stakeholders. In relation to costs the case study states it
took 18 months for all the people in the practice to undergo Revit training. The
costs of training, licences and PCs are £25,000 per person over a six year
period. Once again, this is clearly another cost involved in BIM adoption. Even
though many public sector organisations will outsource the architectural
element of a project, some in-house staff will nevertheless need be trained, as
well as the requirement to purchase new hardware and software.

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Figure 16 - 3D model of Manchester Central Library (Building.co.uk, 2011)
URS Scott Wilson, structural engineers, used Ryder’s 3D model (Figure 16) to
add their elements into the project. The case study discloses that Jim
McNally, technical director of buildings and infrastructure at URS Scott
Wilson, said “The benefits (of BIM use) will be fewer surprises on site. We will
get a much better fit of the structural members as everyone is forced to think
about the detail and the design is more fully developed. With 2D there is a
tendency to fudge things and then sort it out on site, which isn’t great if the
contractor has got 200 men standing around because something doesn’t fit.”
This ties in well with the background study which revealed that one of the big
“unique selling points” of BIM adoption is the ability to carry out clash
detection at an early stage in the design.

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Thomas Lane’s case study goes on to say that McNally is concerned about
copyright. Firms spend a lot of time building up libraries of elements that can
be quickly incorporated into drawings. When a model is shared, other
companies have access to this information. McNally says this issue has not
been resolved on this job. This is a major issue with BIM and is highlighted as
one of the barriers of BIM adoption in the background study. In relation to
cost, just like Ryder, URS Scott Wilson had to invest in training, hardware and
software. McNally says “It cost about £30,000 to get the team up to speed, but
it’s worth it. We would like all our engineers to get used to Revit as it is the
design tool of choice rather than AutoCAD. It is quite an expensive process,
though.”
M & E engineers, BDP, did not use any BIM software on this project directly,
although they were involved in the BIM process. The case study states that
BDP used the architect’s and structural engineer’s models but also relied on
original drawings and surveys, as the laser survey can’t see inside service
voids. These drawings interfaced seamlessly with the BIM model. Robert
Ferry, the environmental engineer director for BDP says “The benefits (of BIM
use) are pretty clear, you can visualise the 3D environment, which means it
aids co-ordination and clash detection. The biggest thing that comes back to
bite you are the clashes on site. Frankly, BIM has made problems at site level
disappear”. This is a further indication of the pros of BIM adoption which were
identified in the background study. Another advantage of BIM use on the
project, as realised by BDP, was the production of schedules with a press of a
button which helped with ordering equipment. This is one of the uses of the

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intelligent data in the model. One disadvantage which Ferry points out was
“Because not everyone in the firm is up to speed with BIM, some of the team
took a while to get used to the system, slowing the job down.” This was
another barrier to BIM adoption which was identified in the background study
where there is a need to change work processes and practices which takes
time. As BDP have been investing in BIM for the the last two years, there was
no extra costs for them on this project.
The main contractor on the library project is Laing O’Rourke who has used
BIM on many other projects, including Heathrow Terminal 5. Simon Lane,
Laing O’Rourke’s design manager, says BIM adoption will save contractors
money. He says “It’s given people a better understanding of the job and the
more they understand, the more detailed the package that can be sent out for
pricing,” he explains. “This means less risk is attached, which means less risk
pricing.” Lane goes on to say “Building the project virtually means most of the
problems that could crop up on site are ironed out and the job is less likely to
lead to cost and programme overruns.” Lane’s comments suggest that BIM
can produce cost savings as well as reduce construction time. According to
the case study, Lane says the disadvantages are more to do with perception
than reality. “There is a trust issue with the model. At every conference
someone raises the issue of who owns the model. It’s simple, everyone owns
their own model, you bring these together and overlay the information so this
isn’t an issue.” This view seems to be contrary to those which suggest there
are issues with copyright and data ownership, like the views of URS Scott
Wilson on the same project and those reviewed in the background study in

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section 2.5. This is perhaps something that certain stakeholders in the BIM
circle will have problems with, whereas others will not. One disadvantage that
Laing O’Rourke does see is the issue of compatibility of different software.
This is a known issue and the technicalities need to be investigated by those
providing the BIM software. The case study says that although Laing
O’Rourke do not carry out most of the modelling, which is done by the design
teams, they still invested in two workstations, training and support for the
team.
Specialist M & E Contractor, NG Bailey, already worked in 3D before being
involved in the library project, as they say 3D is perfect for co-ordinating
complex services. Tony O’Connell, NG Bailey’s design manager, says in the
case study “3D modelling’s ability to “see” how the building fits together is the
best way to ensure prefabricated modules can be fitted into buildings and is
handy for making sure there are clear routes through service corridors for
maintenance staff. Instead of drawing up exploded diagrams of how the
services fit together, the firm (NG Bailey) can walk clients through the services
using the 3D model.” Again, this shows how BIM is used for clash detection
before any construction takes place on site. One of the disadvantages seen
by NG Bailey is the need to produce 2D drawings for those in the supply chain
who have not adopted BIM. O’Connell explains in the case study “You can
spend a long time on the BIM model then spend a lot more time on the
production information in the 2D drawing,”. From this it seems that there
needs to be better way to extract 2D drawings from the 3D without having to
manipulate them once extracted. According to the case study because NG

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Bailey is further down the supply chain, it needs a lot of computing power to
work in 3D. This is because it has to work with the architectural, structural and
M&E consultants models at the same time. O’Connell says “If the graphics
card is more than a year old you’ve got a real problem.” Hardware
replacement seems the primary cost for NG Bailey.
3.4. Conclusion of the case study
The case study by Thomas Lane of Building.co.uk, has revealed that there
are many advantages with BIM adoption. These include early clash detection,
collaborative working, time and cost savings. However the case study has
also highlighted that there are various disadvantages too, especially around
copyright, training and initial high costs associated with ongoing hardware and
software upgrades. The main question was why BIM was used on this project
and it seems that the bottom line was the good return on investment as
expressed by John Lorimer.

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4. Primary Research
4.1. Target audience
As outlined in section 1.2, the primary research element of this investigation
has been confined to county councils in England. County Councils are
responsible for services across the whole of a county, like education,
transport, planning, fire and public safety, social care, libraries, waste
management and trading standards (Directgov, 2012) Construction projects
undertaken by or on behalf of the county councils include schools, libraries,
museums, offices and community centres. 35 Councils across England were
selected to take part in the primary research which is detailed in section 4.2
below. All these were County Councils, with the exception of Manchester City
Council, which was selected as part of the research due to the fact that the
authority was the subject of the case study in chapter 3. Due to time restraints
and the sheer extent of the public sector in the UK, it was felt that County
Councils would be an appropriate part of the public sector to sample in the
primary research. Appendix A shows the list of Councils, a total of 36, which
were sent the questionnaire.
4.2. Method of research
Drawing upon the background study and taking into consideration the time
limits of the investigation, it was decided that an appropriately constructed
questionnaire would be a suitable research tool in order to gather quantitative,
as well as qualitative data. The questionnaire was designed to address issues
of awareness of BIM, whether the authority has used it or looking to use it in
the future, the type of project BIM has or will be used on and also to gather

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the views of the authority in terms of BIM adoption. This would help to give at
least some views on what implications BIM use would have on public sector
projects.
In order to ensure that a response was received in a timely manner, the
questionnaire was sent out requesting information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. “The Freedom of Information Act gives you the right to
ask any public body for all the information they have on any subject you
choose. Unless there’s a good reason, the organisation must provide the
information within 20 working days” (Directgov, 2012) The Freedom of
Information request would also ensure a higher probability of returned
questionnaires. A copy of the questionnaire which was sent out is shown in
Appendix B.
The first question asks if the authority is aware of what BIM is. This is an
important question, as it would show the level of awareness of BIM across the
selected authorities.
The second question also relates to awareness, but this time the question
focuses on the Government Construction Strategy 2011, which states under
section 2.32 that “Government will require fully collaborative 3D BIM (with all
project and asset information, documentation and data being electronic) as a
minimum by 2016”.

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Question 3 asks: “Has your authority, or any contractors or sub-contractors
working on your behalf, used BIM for any construction projects for your
authority?” As many local authorities outsource their construction projects, it
was important to mention any contractors or sub-contractors who may have
used BIM on any projects carried out for the authority. This question helps to
put into perspective the use of BIM across the selected authorities.
Questions 4 and 5 aim to provide an insight on the type of project which the
authority has either used or using BIM, as well establishing the type of project
on which they may adopt BIM in the future. This gives an idea of the type of
project that BIM will / is being used on.
Question 6 gives the authority a list of benefits of BIM adoption which they
may have experienced if already using BIM, or envisage upon adoption of
BIM for future projects. The list was produced from a combination of criteria
used in the surveys carried out by Demian and Yan, 2008 and NBS, 2011
mentioned in section 2.4. They would have to select all that applied to them,
as well as giving them the option to add their own benefit if not listed.
Question 7 draws upon the barriers of BIM adoption which were revealed
during the background study. Again, the authority is given an option to select
all that apply and also add their own view of any other barriers which they
may have come across or envisage with BIM adoption.

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It was expected that some authorities will not be considering BIM adoption for
the time being. Question 8 tries to establish why this is. It draws upon the
same barriers of BIM adoption used in the previous question with two more
options, these being “High training costs” and “Lack of funding”. These are
key factors which need to be considered, especially in the current financial
climate were government spending is continually and significantly being
reduced.
The final question attempts to provide some qualitative data. The authority is
asked how they feel they will be affected by the requirement to use BIM on all
public sector projects by 2016. This is an open ended question and gives the
authority a section where they can comment on BIM adoption.
4.3. Responses to the research
Out of the 36 authorities that were sent the questionnaire, 29 responded. One
authority said that they did not hold any information which the questionnaire
was asking for, leaving 28 authorities who completed the questionnaire.
Appendix C shows the collated responses from the primary research.
All 28 authorities were aware of what Building Information Modelling is. 89%
of respondents were aware that that according to the Government
Construction Strategy 2011, all public sector construction projects will require
fully collaborative 3D Building Information Modelling (BIM) as a minimum by
2016. This shows that there is a high awareness of BIM and its requirement
as outlined in the Government Construction Strategy 2011.

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When asked about current, past and future BIM use, 42% or respondents
have not used BIM in the past, whereas 5 % have used it in the past. 16% are
currently using it on construction projects and 37% are looking to use it in the
future (Figure 17). The reasons for lower past use and higher future use may
be addressed by the questions regarding benefits and barriers of BIM use.
Figure 17 - BIM use among County Councils
With regards to the type of project where the authority is currently using or
used BIM in the past, school construction projects were the most popular with
37% of BIM use, followed by offices and then libraries (Figure 18). One
authority also used it on other types of construction projects such as fire
stations.

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Figure 18 - BIM use by project type
When asked about the types of projects where the authorities look to use BIM
in the future, school construction projects are clearly the favourite (Figure 19).
One authority said it would also be using BIM on a construction project for an
elderly persons home.
Figure 19 - Future BIM use by project type

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Question 6, which related to perceived / realised benefits of BIM revealed that
the majority of authorities agreed that BIM would help to identify clashes
before construction and improve visualisation. They also agreed that changes
in workflow would be / were needed when adopting BIM, however more
disagreed that human resources would be reduced, as opposed to those who
agreed (Figure 20).
Figure 20 - Perceived / realised benefits of BIM
Some authorities have realised or perceive other benefits too. These include
improved Facilities Management, programme certainty, greater integration of
project team and better information for future works to the building. It is
interesting to see that the majority of authorities are not sure about a cost
efficiency, perhaps this is something that still needs to be realised.
When asked “what barriers do you see/have seen from adopting BIM?” most
of the respondents agreed that high costs or software / hardware and training
were a major barrier towards BIM adoption. The majority also disagreed that

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there would be problems with collaborating between stakeholders on projects
(Figure 21). This is a good sign, as they do not see a problem with
collaborative working, which is a key aspect of BIM adoption.
Figure 21 - Perceived / realised barriers of BIM
A few authorities commented about the barriers facing them with regards to
BIM adoption. Buckinghamshire County Council’s response was “Personally I
cannot see that the investment required (assuming funding can be found in
the first instance) will ever be recouped on ‘smaller’ projects of the type we
generally get involved with. I can, however, see that on larger (say £20million
+) schemes there is scope for efficiencies. Also, I’m not clear what Public
Sector actually means in this context, we know that Central Government
projects are often wasteful in terms of resources and costs but in my
experience of Local Government we have to run a pretty tight ship as finance
is so scarce”. It seems the issue here is that BIM adoption may not be suitable
for small scale projects, and also the council is critical of Central Government,
especially in the current economic climate where councils have to produce

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significant savings through vast cut-backs. Another comment, this time by
Derbyshire County Council, said that there is “fragmentation of the industry
due to education and culture”. This is something that needs to be addressed
across the industry. In some way this is similar to the transition from hand
drawings to 2D CAD in the 1980’s as revealed by the background study in
Chapter 2. Two comments addressed the issues of training. Norfolk County
Council said “Training phase is time consuming but shows benefits later” and
Staffordshire County Council said “The main barrier is the time required to
train current staff whilst still maintaining service delivery (projects are not put
on hold whilst staff are trained)”. Somerset County Council commented that
“There is a problem with clients understanding that more work needs to be
done upfront of a project which means more risk of wasted funds if a project
ends up not going ahead.” Although one of the main benefits of BIM is to
assess feasibility of the project before construction, clearly there is an issue of
high initial costs.
Rutland County Council was one of the few authorities who were not aware
that according to the Government Construction Strategy 2011, all public
sector construction projects will require fully collaborative 3D Building
Information Modelling (BIM) as a minimum by 2016. They were also not
considering on using BIM for any future projects. Their primary reason was
the lack of awareness of BIM and lack of funding.
Question 9, which was an open ended question, asking about the authority’s
general views on the impact of BIM received many responses.

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Buckinghamshire County Council was not so optimistic about the future due to
the vast spending cuts. They commented “Who knows what the future will
bring? Will we even have a capital programme? “. Derbyshire County Council
responded on similar lines by saying “We will not be able to afford to install it
due to reduction in funding to Local Authorities and reductions in likely
number of large Capital Projects”.
Costs were a major impact of BIM adoption as commented by the authorities
in the research. Some of the comments received are shown below:
“Investment of time and money is required now to achieve this”
(Norfolk County Council)
“It will improve visualisation but could increase time and cost”
(Surrey County Council)
“This may have an impact on cost but the expectation that there are
improved efficiencies to be gained may offset this”
(West Sussex County Council)
“…overhead costs may be significant related to the amount of larger
projects the authority procures”
(Gloucestershire County Council)
Another issue which stood out from the responses received was that of
project scale. Some of the authorities think that BIM will only be viable on
larger projects. Their responses were as follows:
“The value of our schemes between £1m and £5m are low to ensure
efficient use of BIM with existing resources” (Devon County Council)

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“Scale of projects is the crucial matter. We are currently involving
ourselves in awareness raising & knowledge acquisition from the larger
construction companies with whom we have contact and who are
already adopting BIM on major projects in the private sector”
(Essex County Council)
“Hopefully, it won’t (have an impact) as BIM is only applicable to
projects of £5M + and it is unlikely there will be any. If it does, then it
may have a significant effect on the supply chain used and a potential
to increase costs.” (Leicestershire County Council)
In spite of the comments above, there were some positive comments about
BIM adoption too. Manchester City Council, who have already adopted BIM,
as outlined in the case study in Chapter 3, commented that the statements in
the Government Construction Strategy “Will speed up adoption in the
industry”. Nottinghamshire County Council who has just started implementing
BIM says “the requirement for its (BIM) use on all public sector projects
should not have a negative impact. Rather, the use of BIM should yield
positive benefits”. Staffordshire County Council also has a positive insight on
BIM adoption. They say “There are many advantages to the use of BIM. Not
just for production stage, but for construction and FM, however use of the
software requires a major step change for designers and significant resource
deployment and investment in training. This cannot happen overnight and can
only be introduced on an incremental basis”. Worcestershire County Council
is another authority who has already implemented BIM on its construction
projects and will be using it for future projects. They commented by saying

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“Using BIM on all our future projects will ensure that our assets can be more
efficiently managed and looked after in the future, as well as all the other
benefits that it brings to the design and construction process”.
Somerset County Council, which is already implementing BIM on construction
projects, gave the most detailed comment with regards to the impact of BIM
adoption on their authority. They said “BIM software (ArchiCAD) is in use at
the Authority by the Architectural Team and is used for 3D modelling and very
basic BIM but there is no-one insisting every discipline to use it, i.e. M&E
Engineers, SEngs, QS’s etc. The way Government Construction Strategy
2011 is worded, it isn’t going to be “all public sector projects” that will be
forced down the BIM route but only directly funded Government projects.
Local Authorities have been strongly urged to use it. With the LA cutbacks in
spending there is little forcing the LA’s into using BIM Software, both with the
cost of improving software and hardware and no training budgets. At this time
of Local Authority cut-backs there is no incentive to put the training into using
BIM to its full capacity. Unless it is legally binding then nothing will be done
about using BIM”. Again, from this comment, costs are seen as the major
barrier towards BIM adoption by public sector authorities. A very important
point is raised by Somerset County Council in that it is not legally binding to
use BIM. With the contraction of public sector authorities, it seems everything
is being cut back to a point where authorities can only afford to carry out
statutory duties, and BIM could be something that is sidelined for the time
being.

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A few of the authorities were either unaware of BIM, or were unsure what
impacts its adoption would have on their authority. Some of the comments
received included “Do not know enough about BIM to comment” (Cornwall
Council), “Authority not geared up for BIM” (Durham County Council), “Don't
know” (East Riding of Yorkshire Council), “Until NYCC have assessed BIM we
cannot comment on this question” (North Yorkshire County Council).

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5. Conclusion
This investigation set out to address the possible implications of the use of
(BIM) on public sector projects. The background study revealed that adopting
BIM presented many challenges that included issues of copyright,
collaborative working, high training costs and suitability for projects to name
just a few. In spite of these challenges, BIM adoption has presented many
benefits too. These include better visualisation, identification of clashes before
construction, better quality information and the ability to use BIM to manage
the building over its lifecycle.
The BIM case study, which was based on Manchester City Councils
remodelling of the Central Library, reflected some of the benefits and barriers
addressed in the background study. The case study revealed that there was a
largely positive attitude from the stakeholders interviewed towards BIM use on
the project. John Lorimer, capital programme director for Manchester City
Council, showed a very positive attitude towards the use of BIM on the library
project, which was reflected by the comments made my Manchester City
Council during the primary research element of the investigation.
The primary research element focused on County Councils across England
who were sent a BIM based questionnaire under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000. The questionnaire was designed to obtain the views of the
authorities in terms of the barriers and benefits brought about by BIM
adoption. The questionnaire also tried to establish the level of awareness
amongst authorities in relation to the Government Construction Strategy 2011.

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The results showed that overall there was a good awareness of BIM and its
relevance in the Government Construction Strategy 2011. The research also
revealed that some authorities who had already adopted BIM exhibited very
positive attitudes towards its use on construction projects. Many of the
councils were looking to use BIM on future projects, with the majority being
school buildings.
The viability of BIM use on smaller projects was a main issue, while the major
barrier identified through the research was that of the initial cost of BIM
adoption in terms of hardware, software, training and time. At a stage when
government spending cuts are high and authorities have to make huge
savings, costs are a vital element for public sector authorities to consider
when looking at BIM for their construction projects. It seems that those who
have adopted it, like Manchester City Council, have realised considerable
savings with a good return on investment, while those who have not adopted
it are not so sure of the potential return on investment, that is if they have the
funds to begin with. The issues of project scale and cost were discussed with
Paul Morrell, the government’s chief construction advisor, in an interview by
the Architects’ Journal in June 2011. When asked “Will it affect every sort of
public project or will some be exempt?” his reply was “There are no
preconceptions about setting a limit in value or size below which the use of
BIM is inappropriate. Although it will eventually be the industry’s normal way
of doing business, the objective for the time being is to realise its value in
public procurement. If the imposition of BIM has a negative effect, there will
need to be a sensible approach to address that.” (Architects’ Journal, 2011)

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This statement indicates that BIM use may be appropriate for all project
values / size. When Mr Morrell was asked about costs he replied “I would be
far more worried about the cost to practices that do not adopt BIM. Every
study conducted shows that there is a rapid return on investment in BIM. I’m
sure there will be niche practices that can stay out of the swim, and of course
genius can always write its own rules, but any practice that can’t operate in
this environment will quickly feel as disconnected as one without email.”
(Architects’ Journal, 2011) This highlights the importance of BIM adoption,
where Mr Morrell sees higher costs of not adopting BIM, perhaps in terms of
loss of business to those who offer BIM compatibility in their design teams.
Although the statement regarding BIM in the Government Construction
Strategy 2011 is not legally binding, the implications of BIM use on
construction projects in the public sector are immense. In Paul Morrell’s
words, ‘There will be spectacular change – we are only just beginning to
understand the scale of what can be achieved and the amount of waste that
can be eliminated from the system.’(Architects Journal, 2012) BIM adoption
by the public sector would have significant effects on the private sector too.
By demanding BIM on public sector projects, private sector architects,
contractors and engineers would need to be BIM ready in order to gain a
competitive advantage. The scope of this investigation was restricted to
County Councils, however there is potential for extended research which
could cover other areas of the public sector such as the NHS, Fire Service
and district councils. Only time will tell how BIM will impact the whole of the
AEC industry, but one thing is for sure that Building Information Modelling is

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here to stay and Central Government is trying to drive it forward in the public
sector.

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Appendix A
List of Councils sampled in the primary research.
Buckinghamshire County Council
Cambridgeshire County Council
Cornwall Council
Cumbria County Council
Derbyshire County Council
Devon County Council
Dorset County Council
Durham County Council
East Riding of Yorkshire Council
East Sussex County Council
Essex County Council
Gloucestershire County Council
Hampshire County Council
Herefordshire Council
Hertfordshire County Council
Isle of Wight Council
Kent County Council
Lancashire County Council
Leicestershire County Council
Lincolnshire County Council
Manchester City Council
Norfolk County Council
North Yorkshire County Council
Northamptonshire County Council
Northumberland County Council
Nottinghamshire County Council
Oxfordshire County Council
Rutland County Council
Shropshire Council
Somerset County Council
Staffordshire County Council
Suffolk County Council
Surrey County Council
Warwickshire County Council
West Sussex County Council
Wiltshire Council
Worcestershire County Council

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Appendix B
Sample questionnaire

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Appendix C
Responses to primary research

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