New BIM standard reduces asset management costs even further

30 September 2014

BSI, the business standards company has published BS 1192-4 Collaborative production of information Part 4: Fulfilling employers information exchange requirements using COBie – Code of practice. The UK Government published its Construction Strategy in 2011 aimed at reducing the cost of constructing public sector assets by up to 20% by 2016. To achieve this, the Government mandated that all companies tendering for Government construction work should be working at level 2 BIM (Building Information Modelling) by this time.

BS 1192-4 provides the foundations and principles of Level 2 BIM, and is one of seven deliverables that can help organizations reach Level 2. BIM models rely on the exchange of structured and accurate data throughout an asset’s lifecycle. For this to happen in a clear manner COBie (Construction, operations, building information exchange) can help.

It is required on all Government construction projects where information must flow into portfolio, asset planning and facility maintenance tools. COBie the standard format for sharing facilities information is designed to ensure that all the information needed to own and operate a facility/asset is available in a reliable format during the construction process.

BS 1192-4 provides users with recommendations on how to use COBie and supports the processes outlined in the previous BIM standards PAS 1192-2 and PAS 1192-3. COBie can aid Asset Managers, Facilities Managers, asset owners, Operations and Maintenance Service Providers significantly, but also impacts Designers and Contractors by giving them a structured format in which to  store information, ready to hand over at the end of a project. Benefits of COBie:

• Asset information can be collected as a construction project progresses and not in a panic at the end of a project
• It can make a difference to Facilities Managers from the very start of the operational stage – even before the contract is signed
• The contract pricing process is radically streamlined, with fewer stages and greater accuracy
• The owner/operator of a facility/asset no longer has to re-enter all building related information into a facilities management system. The information is provided at handover stage through COBie, and can be enhanced throughout the operational life of a facility/asset. This saves a great amount of time and money
• Operational costs can be budgeted using COBie information provided to the asset operator/owner
• Maintenance costs can be planned using COBie information provided to the asset operator/owner 
• Owners/operators can specify the information they require and keep up-to-date

Anthony Burd Head of Sector for Construction at BSI said: “Strong business relations are linked directly to good practice, and being able to demonstrate this forges trust and confidence, especially when winning new contracts. Tendering for Government funded construction contracts often requires an extra level of stringency and organizations who plan to tender need to be working at Level 2 BIM from 2016. It makes sense that they gain competitive advantage by using BS 1192-4 COBie which will help get them there.” 

The drafting of BS 1192-4 was funded by The Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS), and experts include construction consultants, infrastructure, BIM and software experts, asset and facilities managers, government and professional institutions also contributed as members of the steering group. 

Mark Bew, Chairman of the HM Government BIM Working Group said: “Standards play an important role in ensuring the wider adoption of BIM technologies, processes and collaboration by ensuring that the same accurate data can be accessed and shared throughout the supply chain. The standardization of Level 2 BIM is helping help HM Government and industry alike save significant sums and enable significant future industry growth. BS 1192-4:2014 is a key member of the BIM Level 2 package of documents and as such plays an integral role in the adoption of digital techniques in the construction industry.”