The Australasian BIM Advisory Board (ABAB) met with Hon Paul Fletcher, Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities last week in Canberra ahead of its first Forum for 2018 to discuss how BIM can support the urban infrastructure and smart cities agenda.

“The prize for BIM adoption in construction is large. Reports forecast that the wider adoption of BIM will unlock 15–25% savings to the global infrastructure market by 2025. And it is this technology-led change that will deliver the highest impact to the construction sector that has previously had modest productivity gains[1]”, said Dr Michael Green, the Chair of ABAB, who is the Executive Director, Employment, Investment and Trade Policy, Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources.

“$7.5 billion in savings could be realised from the current Federal Government’s $75 billion 10 year infrastructure investment program if the wider adoption of BIM delivered a conservative 10% savings. That’s enough to pay for Sydney’s second airport or to complete the duplication of the Pacific Highway,” said Dr Green.

Population and budget pressures mean its never been more important to build more, better, for less, and with better stakeholder engagement.

The time has come for all Australian Governments to seize the opportunities offered by BIM.  ABAB advocates that all governments should:

• Consider adoption of BIM, across the asset life cycle, for major projects; and
• Exploit the integrated information created during the design and construction phases by requiring, at construction completion, handover of the asset data for operations and asset maintenance.

BIM is a digital form of construction and asset operations. It brings together technology, process improvements and digital information to significantly improve client and project outcomes and asset operations.

The BIM Advisory Board was established by the Australasian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC) and the Australian Construction Industry Forum (ACIF), together with the key standard-setting bodies, NATSPEC, buildingSMART and Standards Australia. The Board links industry leaders and expertise from government, industry and academia, and promoting best practice and consistent approaches to BIM practices, standards and requirements.

 

 

Media inquiries: Teresa Scott, Executive Director, APCC on 0402 137 315 or

James Cameron, Executive Director, ACIF on 0488 277 529 or Refer to: www.ABAB.net.au

[1] EU BIM Handbook, 2018, p4  http://www.eubim.eu/handbook/ and it references BCG Digital Engineering and Construction 2016 and McKinsey, Construction Productivity, 2017