Driver Trett Digest Issue 25 - Flipbook - Page 13
DIGEST | ISSUE 25
We will focus on the following key sections:
BIM definitions from multiple perspectives in the
construction industry.
Current problems in the construction industry.
BIM benefits in a dispute resolution context.
Challenges of adopting BIM in dispute resolution.
BIM DEFINITIONS
For the sake of clarity, and to give the reader a better
understanding of BIM, the following are a couple of the most
utilised BIM definitions.
On the UK Government’s BIM Task Group website1, BIM
is comprehensively defined with a focus on collaboration,
intelligent 3D models, and information exchange:
The ultimate recommendation of Mark Farmer’s report
was to embrace BIM as a solution to the construction
industry’s problems. Farmer said:
“now is the time to allow the opportunities from digitisation
to offset the risks of continued reliance on labour intensive
techniques”.
In the Middle East, Dubai has taken the lead in the use of BIM
in major projects.
Dubai Municipality (DM) issued circular no. 196 on 18
November 2013 to all consultants and contractors in the
construction industry in Dubai to mandate the use of BIM.
In my opinion, more development in the Middle East is
needed to establish standardisation and guidance of BIM
applications.
“…value creating collaboration through the entire lifecycle
of an asset, underpinned by the creation, collation and
exchange of shared 3D models and intelligent, structured
data attached to them.”
Meanwhile, BIM has already been adopted in major
developments in the Middle East, such as the Dubai Opera
House, the Royal Atlantis Hotel in Dubai, the Midfield
Terminal Airport in Abu Dhabi and the Louvre Museum in Abu
Dhabi, Riyadh Metro and Doha Metro.
Another well-structured definition is developed by the
Government’s report, ‘Digital Built Britain: Level 3 BIM Strategic Plan’, which includes the following:
BENEFITS OF BIM IN CONSTRUCTION DISPUTES
“Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a collaborative way
of working, underpinned by the digital technologies which
unlock more efficient methods of designing, creating, and
maintaining our assets. BIM embeds key product and asset
data and a 3-dimensional computer model that can be used
for effective management of information, throughout a project
lifecycle – from earliest concept through to operation."
CURRENT MARKET SITUATION - UK AND MIDDLE
EAST
In the dramatically titled report, ‘Modernise or Die’, published
by Mark Farmer in 20162, Farmer reviewed the UK construction
labour model and stated:3 "It is time to decide the industry’s
future". Giving criticisms of the prevailing conditions of the
UK construction market, the report recommended that a
revolution needed to happen; otherwise, the construction
industry would be “seriously debilitated”.
Following on from Farmer’s report, many problems were
highlighted, including:
Low productivity due to a failure to adopt the technology.
The decreasing volume of the future workforce due to an
ageing labour force.
And most importantly, a lack of collaboration and
improvement culture being a significant problem that
prevents organisations from growing.
1 The Government’s BIM task group / Centre for Digital Built
Britain (CDBB) - www.bimtaskgroup.org / www.cdbb.cam.ac.uk
2 Farmer 2016, The Farmer Review of the UK Construction
Labour Model
BIM can provide two key benefits, namely dispute avoidance
and dispute resolution.
BIM TO AVOID DISPUTES
BIM can play a proactive role in dispute avoidance in the
following ways:
Enables a better understanding of the scope of work
between parties through the visualisation capability. This
helps to minimise and better manage changes, and to
reduce the probability of late issuance of change.
In the case of any change, BIM provides an effective
presentation of the change and its potential impact(s) on
project time and cost.
If the change has an impact on time and cost, then BIM
enhances how the related claim is submitted and assessed
through visualisation of the impact, and most importantly
the enhancement of communication, transparency, and
collaboration between the parties.
BIM TO RESOLVE DISPUTES
BIM may help to simplify disputes and minimise the time
and effort required to resolve them4.
The rationale of this is:
The process of dispute resolution should be accelerated
as a result of more accurate, easily accessible information
3 The UK has been chosen as an analysis model due to its
position as a global leader in BIM applications.
4 David-John Gibbs; Wayne Lord ; Stephen Emmitt ; and Kirti
Ruikar, interactive exhibit to assist with understanding project
delays.
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