BIM

We made a significant investment to ensure we have a network of BIM experts in every office who can advise and guide clients keen to embrace the visualisation technology at an early stage in the project cycle.

We are using BIM on lots of projects, including delivering £100 million of projects for Birmingham City University, the National Space Technology Centre in Oxford and three secondary schools in Liverpool creating nearly 5,000 places. We're currently using it to build a new home for the Met Office’s supercomputer in Exeter as well as national colleges for High Speed Rail in Birmingham and Doncaster.

One Central Square in Cardiff was built using BIM (right)

Find out what our customers say about BIM:

Level 1 & 2 experts

Each customer has access to a dedicated BIM manager for a ‘soft take-off’ on projects as they opt to use a technology that delivers reduced risk on their project as well as more cost certainty and better multi-team collaboration during construction of their asset.

Advantages of BIM Level 2

BIM allows design and construction teams to communicate about design and coordinate information across different levels that has been unseen before. This information remains with the project, from before beginning construction, right throughout its lifetime. It also helps to analyse any potential impacts. The use of BIM goes beyond the planning and design phase of the project, extending throughout the building life cycle, supporting processes including cost management, construction management, project management and facility operation.

We achieve the following efficiencies for clients :

• Quicker coordinated design and delivery
• Predictable planning

• Reduction in CAPEX, delivery, and operational costs

• Reduced risk and errors in design and rework on site
• Improved logistics through construction (4D Time) simulation
• Quicker valuation of design changes (5D cost)
• Quantity take off from the 3D model
• More efficient site team through task management tools linked to the model
• Reduced on-site waste

Use of BIM Levels by Willmott Dixon

• BIM Level 2: We have company-wide skills to deliver this on projects - each office has BIM experts.
• BIM Level 3: Moving the business to this level is a key part of our strategy, in line with the government's target for public sector projects of 2019.

Why is BIM level 2 important?

In May 2011, the UK Government published the Construction Strategy aimed at reducing the cost of public sector assets by up to 20% by 2016. To achieve this strategy, the government requires construction suppliers tendering for centrally-procured government projects to be working at BIM Level 2. As a minimum, they require fully collaborative 3D BIM (with all project and asset information, documentation and data being electronic). The requirement has been introduced to drive the adoption of BIM processes throughout the public and private sector. While this requirement was introduced initially for government projects, the benefits of utilizing BIM Level 2 processes and information management practices can also be realised by private sector clients and projects within the construction industry.

What are Willmott Dixon’s key BIM objective

Initially we wanted to focus on the softer side of BIM, rather than the technology side, and based on my discussions with senior employees about what they want out of BIM we set up a goal to embed a BIM process within the business to stimulate innovation, create efficiencies, improve profitability and ensure we are leading edge within construction. From there we established five key objectives that are now being embedded into the business: to develop BIM knowledge and knowhow; develop people skills to deliver BIM projects; create efficiencies in what we do; use BIM to improve the way we deliver; and make sure our business is BIM ready.

How is the Level 2 BIM mandate embedded into that process?

We have decided to take a march on the mandate with our major Scape framework, and committed to deliver BIM on 100% of projects from 2015. That really puts us in a position to make sure we are ahead of the mandate, especially as the framework covers three of our key businesses: construction, housing and interiors. We have some key targets associated with that. By 2017 it will 90% Level 2 and 10% Level 1.

Is BIM saving time or money on projects?

We have created a new software platform, called Mi Project, to measure all KPIs under Scape and give clients transparency on our contractual obligations. This month we updated it to capture and statistically measure BIM deliverables across all our BIM projects and non-BIM projects to compare their relative time, cost, reduced risk, cost certainty, quality and trends in reduced defects etc. We are now waiting to see what trends emerge.