The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) is made up of representatives from various national standards organisations, and are responsible for setting international standards. On 21 January 2019 the ISO announced the publishing of the world’s first international standards for BIM, the ISO 19650-1 and ISO 19650-2. The ISO says these new International Standards were created “to enable BIM to flourish and benefit the construction industry as a whole”.
Forecasts say there could be growth of up to 85% in the global construction industry by 2030, and there is a real need for more efficient ways of working – enter BIM technology. The efficiencies of BIM are being realised worldwide, with some even calling it the ‘BIM tidal wave’ with many countries around the world mandating BIM to some extent such as The UK, United States, Dubai, Australia, Sweden and many more.
BIM Platforms such as 3D Repo offer a platform for Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the cloud. So instead of architects, consultants and contractors sharing massive proprietary files in a costly and time-consuming manner, they can simply point their web browser to an encrypted knowledge base in order to examine each project stage virtually.
The ISO has already released Part 1: Concepts and principles, and Part 2: Delivery phase of the assets, with other phases still to come. The ISO plan to release more standards in the series including Part 3 on managing the operational phase of assets and Part 5 which is dedicated to security-minded building information modelling, digital built environments and smart asset management.
The new ISO standards in 19650 have been developed on the basis of the British Standards BD 1192 and Publicly Available Specifications PAS 1192-2 which have already been shown to save up to 20% or more on construction costs. With the growing popularity of BIM technology, there is now a need for an international set of standards to allow teams to work more efficiently on projects across international borders.
What does this mean for the industry?
Regions with no guidance in place will likely begin to implement these as standard practice, and in future, we may see them adopted worldwide which would be a positive in terms of speaking the same language and having less confusion e.g. where different languages, terms etc. are being used. The UK will transition over to the new standards later in the year, superseding the previously used standards. Regions that already have some form of standard such as the UK will find the adoption/transition much easier to understand vs. those that have not had experience with any guidance or standards. Moving forward, businesses should look to invest in adopting and understanding the new ISO standards as it will definitely be the way of the future, enabling them to trade with other companies all over the world. Starting early would be beneficial as the ISO does plan to release more standards involving operational BIM and security.
What are the benefits of 3D Repo?
- On-Demand Data Access – Provide access to anyone with a web browser whenever they need it; No more lost files or emails.
- Productivity Increase – Increase overall project productivity and transparency with an overview of tasks that have been assigned to consultants and contractors.
- Complexity Reduction – Simplify project management, interdisciplinary collaboration and file management through an easy to use web app.
- Full Audit Trail – Manage all changes and updates from all stakeholders with the ability to roll back to any previous revision.
- Virtual Design Coordination – Organise design review meetings digitally over the Internet regardless of where the teams are.
- Advanced Encryption – Share your sensitive project information under the same level of encryption as with online banking.
Interested in implementing BIM in your next project? Sign up for a free 3D Repo account now, or contact one of our experts now to talk about getting your company set up with BIM.
