Barry McAuley

Public/Private BIM: An Irish Perspective

The current economic difficulties have affected most practitioners within the industry and, as a result, many firms and contractors are bidding for fewer projects, resulting in below-cost tenders. It is clear that, many firms and contractors are now operating on thin margins; which makes it increasingly difficult for them to commit to the introduction of new software applications and system upgrades. The transition to Building Information Modelling BIM from traditional 2D CAD by Irish firms and contractors has been a relatively slow process compared with the international colleagues. There are many reasons for this, including lack of resources, lack of awareness, ignorance, misunderstanding and adversity. The lack of BIM promotion and BIM training opportunities within the industry has meant that very few people possess the basic requirement to successfully embrace BIM at a level which would be considered efficient. BIM is the new way of operating and it is gaining momentum; the industry simply cannot turn a blind eye to the technology or it will be left behind. The industry must therefore adapt and change current working practices in order to compete with other established and recognized BIM nations. This paper will evaluate BIM in the international context and, investigate if these methodologies can be transferred to the Irish construction industry. This paper will also aim to identify obstacles and drivers for Irish firms, contractors and Government Departments with regard to BIM adoption, as well as the behavioral and cultural elements which are preventing BIM adoption in Ireland. It is hoped that the research findings will demonstrate a business case for the implementation of BIM, for both public and private sector organizations.

Addressing the Need to Reform Construction Public Procurement in Ireland through the Implementation of Building Information Modelling

Recommended Citation McAuley, B., Hore, AV., West, RP and Kehily, D (2012) Addressing the Need to Reform Construction Public Procurement in Ireland through the Implementation of Building Information Modelling, Proceedings of the 1st ASEA-SEC International Conference on Research, Development and Practice in Structural Engineering and Construction, Perth Western Australia, 28th Nov – 2nd Dec 2012 https://doi.org/10.21427/a98p-ae33

Leveraging Whole Life Cycle Costs When Utilising Building Information Modelling Technologies

Building Information Modelling BIM is now being increasingly used as a technology tool to assist design professions in conceiving, designing, constructing, and operating the built environment in many countries. The BIM model provides design professions with the framework to perform exercises in design, programming, cost and value management, and concept energy analysis, in order to achieve the most economical and sustainable building solution. The BIM model though sophisticated is not extensively used to provide estimation software with the data requirements for Life Cycle Costing LCC, such as, escalation of future expenditure and/or present value costs, discount rates, and study periods. Without incorporating LCC functionality within the BIM model or in an external application with a BIM interface a complete picture of the Whole Life Cycle Costs WLCC cannot be generated from the outputs of the model. The authors demonstrate the potential ability to customise traditional estimating packages with BIM take-off and database management interfaces, in order to find the best solution to provide complete Whole Life Cycle Costs Analysis WLCCA. A template was produced in consultation with one of the internationally established methodologies in Life Cycle Costing LCC and provides the user with the financial tools to select the most economical advantageous solution, possibly without investing in new estimating software.

BIM Innovation Capability Programme of Ireland

The Irish Government has requested that Enterprise Ireland, an organisation responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets to actively promote the use of BIM in Ireland. This promotion has taken the form of an opportunity for Enterprise Ireland clients to apply for a grant under their BIM Enable and BIM Implementation schemes and also through their funding of the BIM Innovation Capability Programme (BICP) of Ireland. The BICP is a two-year project (2016-2018) which seeks to capture the capability of the Irish Construction Industry and the Higher Education Institutes to respond to the increased requirement for BIM in Ireland. One of the primary responsibilities of the BICP research team is to collate data to assist the Irish National BIM Council (NBC) in the formulation of a National BIM Roadmap. To achieve this a global and local BIM study was undertaken in 2016. This involved extensive desk-top based research exploring the value proposition behind what governments and professional bodies are doing to advance BIM in their respective countries. The research identified a number of common themes or pillars that Ireland will need to further address before a roadmap is formally disseminated. After exploration of these pillars, within an Irish context, it was found that despite a lack of standards and contractual frameworks, it has not prevented the industry from deploying BIM on Irish projects

Establishing Key Performance Indicators to Measure the Benefit of Introducing the Facilities Manager at an Early Stage in the Building Information Modeling Process

The Facilities Manager occupies a unique position within the lifecycle of a building asset, as he/she is one of the only Architecture/Engineering/Construction AEC and Facilities Management FM professionals who is in a position to view the product of the entire design and build process and is responsible for the operational phase which incurs approximately five times the initial capital cost. Despite the potential benefits that the Facilities Manager offers, this profession still does not command the recognition it deserves within the AEC/FM sector. This is beginning to change through the introduction of Building Information Modelling BIM. In order for the BIM process to be maximised it is imperative that the Facilities Manager plays a much more important role within the design and construction process. Despite this, at present the role of the Facilities Manager within this process is still uncertain with no set Key Performance Indicators KPI or role designation being specified to date. This paper outlines how the Facilities Manager can play a pivotal role in the BIM process and, in particular, will aim to establish the basis for a number of KPIs by Facility Managers which will in turn lead to a more robust Lean FM practice.

BICP Global BIM Study - Lessons for Ireland’s BIM Programme

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Aligning BIM and Lean Methodologies within the Capital Works Management Framework in Ireland

In 2007, following continued dissatisfaction with the lack of cost certainty on publicly funded projects, the Irish Government introduced the Capital Works Management Framework (CWMF). This framework had stated strategic objectives of achieving greater cost certainty at contract award stage; better value for money at all stages during project delivery and, more efficient end-user delivery. The framework, in particular, sought to rebalance risk, so that there was an optimal transfer of risk to the contracting authority and the contractor through the implementation of fixed price contracts. Coinciding with the introduction of the CWMF, there was significant debate around the introduction of Building Information Modelling (BIM) internationally, in assisting with the delivery of greater efficiency and, cost certainty of Public Works Contacts (PWCs). In this paper the authors’ aim was to investigate how best to align the virtues of BIM methodologies with the stated aims of the CWMF. In particular, this paper will focus on the experiences of PWC teams working on two recent pilot projects where lean and BIM technologies were deployed.