Australasian BIM Advisory Board’s successes to date, and more to come

The Australasian BIM Advisory Board (ABAB) held its first meeting for 2021 on March 12 commencing with a reflection on ABAB’s successes since its inception in 2016. Measuring against ABAB’s commitment to drive integrated best practice BIM solutions, consistent Australia-wide approaches and the provision advice and guidance on best practice, the score card is ablaze with green wins for both government and the building and construction sector. Highlights include

• Leading a single, national approach to the adoption of BIM through the development of the Australian BIM Strategic Framework. This has been recognised and adopted by the Board of Treasurers which provides the necessary motivation for industry to take a consistent approach to BIM implementation.

• ABAB’s role to champion and influence the widespread adoption of BIM. According to available data collected through ABAB, there is steady increase in government projects utilising BIM since 2016.

• ABAB is the peak body for the consistent adoption of BIM. All governments (excluding Tasmania) are represented on ABAB demonstrating the Australia-wide aspiration to implement BIM in a consistent and effective manner.

• From one in 2016, there are now six jurisdictions which have developed and are implementing a BIM Strategy.

• To optimise the unprecedented construction spend occurring through the various COVID induced stimulus packages, ABAB communicated with jurisdictional Ministers to encourage the consistent use of digital enablers.

Industry’s maturity continues to grow with BIM increasingly applied into the design, construction and operation phases where the benefits of BIM are fully realised. In this regard, ABAB has been instrumental in supporting industry, specifically with the release of its two Australian-first publications:

• Asset Information Requirements Guide—Information required for the operation of an asset.

• BIM Process Consistency: Towards a Common Framework for Digital Design, Construction and Operation.

Keeping pace with advancements in technology, the advent of Industry 4.0, and governments enthusiasm for Smart Cities and Digital Twins, in 2020 ABAB released the Digital Twins Position Paper.

“As Chair the Australasian BIM Advisory Board, I am honoured to lead and be part of a leadership forum that has achieved and delivered so much for government and industry in such a short time” commented Andrew Curthoys, ABAB Chair and representative of the Australasian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC).

“ABAB is viewed as the peak body driving BIM uptake and adoption in Australia. It will continue to lead in this vital area of productivity for the construction industry and produce a range of supportive tools to compliment the guidance materials”.

“This next decade will witness significant uptake of BIM and the introduction of machine learning and artificial intelligence to help governments and business deliver projects more effectively and efficiently”, Andrew Curthoys said. For 2021, such supporting tools include

• Asset Management BIM Generator (Stakeholder consultation stage)
Its purpose is to enable asset owners and operators to realise value from BIM enabled asset information, techniques, analysis and automation to increase the use of BIM within the Asset Management function.

• BIM Benefits Metrics (to be trialled across projects in 2021)
Applied across a range of different types and sizes of government projects to help government and industry deliver projects more effectively. The collation of national data and comparisons will demonstrate the value to government of investing in a client-led BIM framework and system.

• Digital Data Education Strategy
Driving a consistent education standard across all jurisdictions to ensure a globally competitive industry through integration and alignment with national and international standards, connecting research and technology strengths with academia, and foster emerging capabilities into the curriculum as our people, technology, and processes continue to advance.

• National BIM/Digital Engineering Prequalification and Panel
Driving consistency in how governments request the provision of BIM and Digital Engineering services by providing a seamless ‘provide information once’ approach for a provider wishing to work in multiple jurisdictions.

The Australasian BIM Advisory Board 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, promotes best practice and consistent approaches to BIM practices, standards, and requirements.  ABAB guidance materials are available at: www.ABAB.net.au