“In the future Clients will need to understand how to extract value from data”
BIM Director, David Gawley discusses the future of BIM.
Please tell us a few words about your company and your role there.
Pentagon is a unique solution provider focused on integrating technology, data management and processes for our customers. We operate over many sectors including Healthcare, Government, Utilities, Pharmaceutical, Manufacturing and Construction to name a few.
My role is to lead our BIM Consultancy team to work with our customers to help develop, implement and execute BIM. We have a team of Consultants who are experienced from industry. Projects often span many areas such as Information Management, FM integration, Data Management, and process improvements.
What do you see as being the biggest obstacles facing BIM currently?
There is a gap between Client Tender Teams, Capital Project Teams and Operation, and Maintenance Teams. The main challenge we find is BIM not being prescribed from the project start and applied retrospectively at later stages. In all these cases it is difficult to identify benefits which cause frustration to all stakeholders. BIM should be a means of eliminating waste through rework and reducing costs. It is often included as a ‘line item’ in a tender or an additional requirement rather than an integrated process.
What does the future hold for BIM and where do you see it going in terms of different sectors and companies?
BIM is growing into many areas as we see innovation in technology and roles/processes developing. The Geospatial sector needs a greater inclusion as there is an opportunity for better integration with multiple projects to connect with Smart Cities. In the future Clients will need to understand how to extract value from data. As an example, some of the projects we are innovating in data analytics to identify quality issues, risk or opportunities for improvements. In some workflows, we have identified savings up to 49% in the handover procedure through accelerated workflows and automation.
Do you think BIM models will actually be used by clients after buildings are completed? Will clients find it difficult to engage with BIM?
Yes, Clients have an opportunity to maximise the benefits by utilising operationally ready data from handover. However, this can only be achieved when correctly prescribed.
We have worked with Clients who have achieved ‘measured benefits’. One key element is that a Client’s BIM journey starts prior to project definition as it is strategic to the business. A Client needs to understand how the asset data will be integrated and managed by their current systems such as FM, BMS, data management etc.
Finally, tell us a bit about your session at BIM Belfast on 13th February 2019 – what can we expect?
Projects consistently fail because the quality is not considered or monitored. The session will discuss innovative techniques in data management and data analytics in business-critical areas.
