Comment
Education is our passport to the future Before spending time and money on software and associated training, companies must understand as an organisation what it is that their information can do if prepared in the right way. by Paul Woddy
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he volume of Building Information Modelling (BIM)related rhetoric has turned many people off the subject before they have effectively begun. It will be the true mark of maturity in the industry when BIM ceases to be a subject at all, but simply a factor in everyday life. So at the risk of offering yet another opinion on BIM adoption, I would like to raise a few points for consideration. Question: What is the shape of education in the AEC industry today? What do we even mean by this question? Different people will interpret this in different ways, depending on their expectation of an outcome. I spend my working life in the education arena, from 12-year-old school children working towards a GCSE in design and construction; through colleges and universities blending new technology and methodology into their existing courses; professional training centres offering software training; design practices upskilling their staff; SMEs scrabbling to understand the changing requirements; contractors maintaining their mandatory staff training. I see different challenges emerging in each of these sectors, but I also see common problems that need to be overcome. I have recently heard several debates on 30
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About the author Paul Woddy is technical director of White Frog Publishing Ltd. White Frog specialises in the strategic planning and delivery of BIM education.
whether we are ready for the UK 2016 BIM adoption deadline, and read surveys seeking to understand how widespread is the adoption of BIM methodology, but I find myself wondering if these questions are being correctly phrased to get to the hub of the issues we face? So what are these issues? Well in my opinion, we have to settle a number of problems before we can really progress towards the utopian advantages that we have been promised. •
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We have a developing set of standards and protocols, which are struggling to keep pace with changes in technology and best practice Technology without theory is only half the story The education focus needs to shift onto clients and asset managers Mainstream education needs to provide graduates with the skills sought by employers.
CDE? What about FGH? There are currently eight core competencies which form the foundation of Level 2 BIM adoption. Those documents outline the various processes that must be followed if we are to comply. The development of new standards and guidance on applying the existing set are emerging in a fairly regular flow, and it is fair to say that some of the existing set will need to be adapted before we are finished. What seems like a solid cornerstone one day is undermined by new developments the next. BS1192 Common Data Environment for instance has stood design teams in good stead for nearly a decade, but as we look to accommodate a longer data life by providing appropriate electronic information to clients and facility managers, then we will need to adapt the current model where the ultimate aim is to archive information. On a number of occasions, I have been asked to look at exemplar models provided by a client or contractor that show how they want their BIM data to be delivered, only to find that the models are simply that: 3D models with no information what-so-ever. This problem is endemic and is something that most surveys and industry reports fail to pick-up, not because anyone is lying, but because they do not realise that what they are delivering is not BIM. If you ask a hundred leading architectural practices in the UK if they ‘use www.AECmag.com
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