Community BIM aims to engage stakeholders affected by construction projects from the beginning of the design process. It shares socioeconomic and local knowledge to influence decision making. There are three levels that increase integration of community engagement and demographic data into the project planning and modeling. Using Community BIM can help gain community support for projects, address local issues, and create benefits for the community. Three scenarios describe how Community BIM could help address community concerns for a new housing development, a large retail project, and upgrades to a local sports facility.

1. Community BIM
The 6th Dimension of BIM
“No built environment decision about me, without me”

2. Community BIM – 6th Dimension
6D (the context
of the project)
5D (time)
4D (cost)
3D (dimensions
and
measurements)

3. What is the 6th Dimension?
• The contextual and community impact of the built
environment, i.e. residents, tenants, users, visitors,
customers, neighbours
• Best practice engagement for shared knowledge
resource relevant to local issues and requirements
• Knowledge and insight shared by all, not held in
isolation, in the spirit of BIM
• Sociographic: inclusion; local pride; social mobility
• Environmental: recycling; noise pollution; odour
• Community: childcare; public spaces; local business
• Usage: footfall; accessibility; dead spaces

4. What is ‘Community BIM’?
The main crux of Community BIM is to:
• engage the people who are, will be and could be
affected by a construction project
• engage target users and potential stakeholders
from the very beginning of a project. People who
are often played lip service to or forgotten
completely
• share the socioeconomic and local knowledge
completely to influence decision making
These people should have an important say in a
project and have a real effect on design decisions

5. When does Community BIM apply?
• The built environment affects us all. Every day
• Community BIM becomes real when the contractors
have finished on site and the skips have been removed.
It is the 5, 15 or 50 years when the building operates as
the useful, practical, attractive space it was designed to
be.
• And to do that, Community BIM has to be an integral
part of the project right from the very beginning
• Community BIM can be instigated by a Local Authority,
a developer, a principal contractor, a retailer, or the
community itself, because it uses the BIM objective of
delivering a shared knowledge resource

6. It’s Topical

7. The Evidence
• “Socially planned communities show a reduction in the
incidence of neuroses and minor mental health conditions”,
Mikellides et al
• “When dwellers control the major decisions and are free to
make their own contribution to the design, both the
process and the environment produced simulate individual
and social well-being”, Turner
• “Providing opportunities to observe all public or semi-
private spaces means antisocial behaviour will be
witnessed. This discourages vandalism, hooliganism and
littering”, Newman
• “It is the process which is responsible for wholeness, not
merely the form”, Edwards

8. The Costs of Not Using It
(that we all pay for)
• Crime and antisocial behaviour
• Community exclusion
• Litter, vandalism, hooliganism
• Mental health and neuroses
• Physical health and obesity
• Altered circadian rhythms leading to disrupted
learning, short temper and poor concentration
• Fragmented construction delivery team leading to
disputes
• Challenges to planning
• Community resistance or resentment

9. The Current Approach
• Principal contractor or independent agencies
gather insight for their own use
• Residents Consultations – to present the plans
• Planning Applications – to debate the plans
• Community Engagement – to show the plans
have been made available
• No structured integration of local engagement
into the plans

10. The Community BIM Approach
• Based on the healthcare commissioning model of
structured engagement with clearly identified audience
groups and pathway mapping
• Engagement toolkits with clear integration outcomes
• Plug-in that works with Revit modelling
• Training and consultancy
• Website providing national/regionalised data (from
existing sources such as Public Health England, Land
Registry, Acorn, etc) and allowing interested parties to
register their area(s) of interest

11. The Levels of Community BIM
Construction BIM Community BIM
Level 2 – Managed 3D environment with
data attached, but created in separate
discipline models
Level 2 – Access to website of active local
representatives and searchable database
of demographic and socioeconomic
insight
Level 3 – Single, online project model with
construction sequencing, cost and
lifecycle management information
Level 3 – Revit plug-in offering
manipulable single-source regionalised
data and toolkits for additional local
engagement
Level 4 – integration of stakeholders in
accordance with project budget, schedule
and quality
Level 4 – project lifecycle modelling
integrating demographic and
socioeconomic characteristics of the
Community
Level 5 -
Level 6 -

12. Where Will The Data Come From?
The community
Community Interest Groups
Charity and Third Sector Groups
Parish Councils

13. The Benefits
• Smoother planning applications
• Access to funding and investment, including
Community Investors
• Local champions and advocates
• Wider impact towards social issues that we are all
responsible for
• Catalyst for change
• Highest standard of built environment
• Increased value perception

14. Scenario 1
• A Local Authority has given permission for a development of new housing on
the outskirts of an existing town. In order to attract the developers, the
Authority has waived the Section 106 Community Infrastructure Levy.
• Under normal circumstances, local residents would rightly object to the plans
as they have not been involved or engaged in the development, and they fear
the negative impact that these new houses will have on their town.
• By utilising Community BIM, the Local Authority can make sure the developers
understand the existing identity and ‘personality’ of the town, the
demographic and socioeconomic factors of the community, and the key issues
that residents currently face
• In this scenario, the developers could address the need for a Community hall,
or tackle a local traffic congestion problem, or assist the town’s ambition to
achieve recycling targets, with a simple, cost-effective solution that creates
community advocates. In addition, it also creates harmony between existing
and incoming residents, making the new housing stock more popular.

15. Scenario 2
• A retail chain has secured land to develop a large new retail and
distribution warehouse, with access required for articulated lorries,
customer and staff parking
• Nearby residents and businesses have objected to the scale and the
design of the building, in addition to the negative impact it will have on
local small businesses
• By utilising Community BIM, the retailer can use their considerable buying
power to achieve benefits for the local community, identified through
comprehensive engagement activity
• In this scenario, the retailer could provide a roof-top allotment and nature
garden, or car-park space that reconfigures to create a basketball court, or
pop-up shops for local small businesses within the retail store. In addition,
they could become the catalyst for recycling or the creation of green
energy, supporting those in fuel poverty and uniting the local residents.

16. Scenario 3
• A community group is looking to improve the access and facilities of a
Victorian sports ground in their area. The stadium is not DDA compliant,
and it is very inefficient to heat and light.
• Before the community group begin fundraising or appointing developers,
they want to scope the best possible future for the stadium
• By utilising Community BIM, the community group can identify other
groups who might wish to use the facilities, understand the likely wear and
tear of facilities, support localised health and wellbeing plans, and
recognise additional revenue streams
• In this scenario, the community group could install green energy sources
that provide electricity to local residents in most need, or allow a pitch
design that offers other popular amateur sports and fitness during the
year, or a physio space that could generate additional commercial
revenue. In addition, they would be promoting the stadium and ensuring
that the needs of all interested locals are included in the plans.