by Brianna Crandall — June 3, 2013—A new survey on building information modeling (BIM) for commercial office buildings published by the British Council for Offices and carried out by architectural firm HOK concludes that building occupiers are missing out on lower costs due to a lack of awareness of BIM and low levels of integrated cross-disciplinary working.
According to the Building Information Modelling for Commercial Office Buildings report, although BIM is transforming how buildings are designed, constructed and operated, at present the greatest value being realized from BIM in the commercial office sector is through reducing risk in the construction phase. The BIM process delivers fully coordinated design at an earlier point in the process, significantly reducing uncertainty in the construction phase and allowing faster construction with less waste of material and time, explains the BCO.
However, researchers claim that the potential for BIM to add value across later phases of commercial office development, in particular leasing and occupation, is not being utilized, and a number of groups, such as developers and occupiers, are missing out on potential benefits of BIM. The report highlights the fragmented nature of the office development industry as the main barrier. Alignment of interests between those involved at the outset and those involved later in the process, such as tenant and investors, is reportedly fundamental to the long-term value proposition for BIM in commercial office development.
Occupiers particularly stand to benefit from access to a digital model of a prospective property, notes the report. The ability to view a digital model in this way could greatly simplify the process of evaluating a property, and BIM also has the potential to create powerful marketing tools for commercial office developments. These tools would enable potential tenants to proactively explore a building long before the physical structure is complete.
The report recommends that real estate agents should be at the forefront of working with occupiers and developers to develop these tools; however at present there is little familiarity with BIM in the agent community. The research suggests that those developers willing and able to provide agents and in turn occupiers with this information should enjoy a competitive advantage.
The U.K. Government has recognized the potential for BIM to transform the construction industry as a whole and is pursuing a strategy to ensure that this takes place. Government support for BIM is acting as a catalyst providing an impetus to the development of standards and protocols that are an essential part of the BIM process.
As the U.K. office sector’s representative body, the BCO pledges to promote BIM for use by all those who occupy, design, build, own or manage offices in the U.K. and to articulate standards and processes that should be adopted to effect best-practice outcomes, possibly in the form of a BCO specification for BIM.
BCO members can download a copy of Building Information Modelling for Commercial Office Buildings for free. Those who are not BCO members can read about the benefits of membership and sign up online.
