BIM Survey for Public Clients and Policy Makers

As part of our 2024 activities plan, the EU BIM Task Group is publishing the public sector survey to obtain valid information about BIM implementation status in EU member states.

The EU BIM Task Group kindly invites all European public clients and policy makers you to fill out the on-line BIM survey on the EU Surbey platform here:
https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/EUBTG_BIM_survey_2024

The survey consists of two parts of questions depending on the type of respondent (public client or policy maker). With this survey we will collect valuable information about the main BIM approaches, achievements, and challenges among European public authorities and public sector organisations. This will contribute to the exchange of best practices, establishing a common approach, and synergy between the European public sector. Moreover, the results of the survey will help to make decisions based on data, as defined in the vision of the EU BIM Task Group.

That’s why getting as wide a range of responses from the public sector is crucial. Feel free to send the survey to other policymakers and public clients in your network.

We kindly ask you to complete the survey by the end of May.

After completing the survey, the EUBTG Steering Committee will analyse and evaluate the responses. The collected information will be available to all EU BIM Task Group members and the conclusions will be presented at the General Assembly. Afterwards the summart report from this survey will also be published on the EU BIM Task Group website.

If you have any questions or comments regarding the survey then please send them to admin@eubim.eu.

EUBTG General Assembly Dec-2022

On December 7th 2022 the EU BIM Task Group held it’s annual General Assembly meeting on-line which was attended by 32 people representing 20 countries.

The meeting was moderated by Souheil Soubra and opened with an introduction from Mrs Katharina KNAPTON-VIERLICH, Head of Construction Unit at DG-GROW.  Ilektra Papadaki and Pieter Staelens from DG GROW presented some of the European Commission initiatives supporting the digital transition of the construction industry. 11 members also presented their national perspectives regarding BIM/Digitalisation. During the meeting the EUBTG also elected a new management team consisting of Jaan Saar (Chair), Milena Feustel (Deputy chair) and Jaroslav Nechyba (Deputy chair).

Watch the recording of the meeting on our YouTube channel:

Agenda:

  1. 10:00-10:05 Welcome and introduction by Souheil Soubra, chair of the EU BIM Task Group
  2. 10:05-10:15 Introduction by the Head of Construction Unit at DG-GROW Mrs Katharina KNAPTON-VIERLICH
  3. 10:15-10:30 Appointment of the Chair and Deputy chairs. Process for new Steering Committee
  4. 10:30-11:00 Presentation by Ilektra Papadaki & Pieter Staelens (DG GROW) of the HLCF and the transition pathway along with logbooks and upcoming workstream on BIM and digital building permits (download PDF).
  5. 11:00-11:45 Presentation of national perspectives regarding BIM/Digitalisation
  6. 11:45-12:00 Suggestions for 2023 actions and AOB
    Participation to the BIM Global Network

Detailed recap of the GA meeting

1) Welcome and introduction by Souheil Soubra, chair of the EU BIM Task Group

Souheil Soubra welcomes the participants by explaining that the General Assembly (GA) is held online this year again, but it will probably be held in person next year.

He then presents the agenda which was adopted.

After acceptance of the participants, it was decided to record the GA so that the recording can be made public.

2) Introduction by the Head of Construction Unit at DG-GROW Mrs Katharina KNAPTON-VIERLICH

The introduction is then made by Mrs Katharina Knapton-Vierlich who has been appointed new head of the construction unit at DG-GROW recently. She explains that she has met several members of the EU BIM Task Group (EUBTG) in Prague, at the beginning of November and she has been impressed by the implication and the work already done by the group. She was before in charge of the Public Procurement’s unit in DG GROW. She notes that both construction and procurement struggle with digitalisation. Several projects have been launched in the procurement area by including BIM as digitalisation is a mean to several ends, including transparency, cooperation, calculation, etc. The exchange of views and projects made possible by the EUBTG, is very important, as the public sector needs to learn by example. In this way, the European Commission (EC) assists the public sector by putting in place training sessions, supporting the development of national strategies in several Member States (Spain, Estonia, Poland, etc.). She stresses that the EC will continue to support the Member States (MS). As an example, a webinar on the Public Buyers club was held yesterday and the initiative will be launched in February.

She finishes her speech by thanking the current chair and wishing good luck to the new team that will be appointed. She concluded by saying that the EUBTG is a privileged partner in developing strategies in digitalisation of construction and it can count on the collaboration and cooperation of her team.

Souheil Soubra thanks Katharina Knapton-Vierlich for her promising speech, the involvement of DG-GROW and her kind words about the group.

3) Appointment of the Chair and Deputy chairs. Process for new Steering Committee

Souheil Soubra reminds the participants that he has been acting as chair for four years. Knowing that the term of office of the Chair and the Deputy Chairs is two years and the term can be renewed only once, it means that he needs to step down and the group needs to appoint a new Chair and 2 vice chairs.

The Steering committee discussed this issue and have a proposition to make to the GA. After some discussions, Jaan Saar agreed to act as chair and Milena Feustel and Jaroslav Nechyba agreed to act as vice-chairs. Souheil Soubra says that he personally vouches for this option that will allow the EU BIM TG to have a great team as chairs.

The proposition is approved by the GA and by unanimity.

Ksenija Marc, Liana Anagnostaki and Pietro Baratono thank Souheil Soubra for his great implication.

Jaan Saar thanks Souheil Soubra for being chair for four years in difficult times. He also thanks everyone for the support for the new team. He is sure that it will be a team effort with Milena Feustel and Jaroslav Nechyba. They aim to reset the EUBTG and be able to meet in person again.

He finds that the EUBTG roadmap is a good document, but it was done a while ago and needs to be revisited as new actions have been launched at European level such as the Public Buyers club that could overstep the EUBTG actions.

Milena Feustel and Jaroslav Nechyba fully support the idea to give opportunity to new members who have time to be active in the SC and looking forward to many applications, as the EUBTG has to find ways to be more involved in actions launched notably by the DG GROW, which is one of the main partners.

According to Jaan Saar, the new application process to the SC will be put in place shortly in order to have motivated people involved who have time to contribute to the actions of the group. He recalls that it is a voluntary group up to now and it is difficult to ask to be active. That is why it is important to know what the members are doing in their daily work and see how it could be aligned with the EUBTG work. The precise process will be known very soon, and a form will be sent shortly after. An extraordinary GA will be held at the beginning of next year hopefully in person to endorse it.

4) Presentation by Ilektra Papadaki & Pieter Staelens (DG GROW) of the HLCF and the transition pathway along with logbooks and upcoming work stream on BIM and digital building permits.

Download presentation PDF.

Ilektra Papadaki congratulates the new Chairs and looks forward to continuing the great collaboration.

She then presents the construction transition pathway. Fourteen industrial ecosystems, which go beyond the concept of sector, have been defined in order to take into account more partners. The construction ecosystem is the second one in terms of size.

DG GROW is in charge of speaking with the industry through different initiatives such as a communication platform for example. It is very open to discussion and welcomes everyone involved in construction.

The construction transition pathway is a novelty. Scenarios were published last year in December followed by an important number of thematic meetings this year based on the stakeholders’ needs and European strategies. The publication of the roadmap will take place in February 2023 followed by a public presentation.

The main areas of the construction policy at European level are, as we know, competitiveness, resilience, green and digital transitions. The main action points focus on supporting SMEs and enabling the green transition. In this context, digitalisation is seen as an enabler and the EC have had extensive discussions on the role of BIM to play in this matter. The roadmap will have several chapters on skills and professionalization, safe building (including fire safety, asbestos, timber quality…) or needs and R&I.

Pieter Staelens continues the presentation on the Digitalisation of the construction sector by presenting three European initiatives.

Digital Building Logbook (D-Blog)

Some studies on this subject were made before and a Horizon Europe financing has been granted for demonstration.

A technical study for 2022-2023 has been launched recently to better understand what is needed in terms of format through tests in several Member States in order to be able to provide guidance for future implementation. The main goal is to create harmonization and move towards interoperability between current and future platforms (ex. DPEB platform or CPR).

The main steps of the study are the review of existing databases and resources; the establishment of a framework for an EU digital building logbook (semantic data model, dictionary…); the proposal for an EU gateway interface and a costs and benefits analysis on implementing the EU DBL framework.

To the question of Souheil Soubra on how the EU portal is linked to national initiatives, Pieter Staelens explains that, in fact, it is part of the study to implement a portal and a visual identity, but it is not in place for now. Links to national initiatives will be available and, if possible, we will be able to search on member states D-BLog.

Digitalisation of SMEs

The purpose of this initiative is to make it very simple to show to SMEs the advantages and the first steps in tackling these new technologies, notably through a website and trainings session until March 2023.

Digitalisation of the built environment initiative

It is an 18-month contract for 2023-2024. It consists of several steps:

– Digitalisation of building permits
– BIM analysis of EU27 through evaluation matric (SWOT analysis, BIM maturity, BIM use, bottlenecks, openBIM, actions toward SMEs, etc.), guidance for future actions and support through a Community of Practice put in place at the launch of the project
– Beyond DigiPLACE and towards an EU Data Space in order to further built the case by doing a cost and benefits analysis.

To the question of Jaan Saar on the Public Buyers club and how to connect with the EUBTG work, Pieter Staelens recalls that first, it was decided the creation of a community of big buyers, but the EC noted that the target audience was broader. From March 2023, the EC will provide this opportunity to support the community, but it will be self-governed. People will have to act as community leader or topic leader, moderation, etc. DG GROW is looking for partners to take some certain roles, and the EUBTG could be one of them.

According to Jaan Saar, it is important to connect the two groups and it seems necessary to have a dedicated meeting before to avoid overlaps.

Ilektra Papadaki adds that she understands why it raises some doubts among the EUBTG members around overlaps. Nevertheless, the group is not anymore for big buyers only but for all public buyers in order to also target individual public buyers (such as municipalities) whereas in EUBTG, the members are mostly from national agencies and ministries.

5) Presentation of national perspectives regarding BIM/Digitalisation

Souheil Soubra introduces the last session by saying that is important to make members know what is happening in all the European countries as this question is raised often and needs to be updated regularly.

EE: the main initiative highlighted is about a BIM based building permit in order to get structured data usable by more stakeholders (municipalities, owners, etc.). This can have a huge impact on speed and quality of applications’ review. With smart tools, it can be done effectively since municipalities do not have enough man load to do it manually currently.

IT: the main initiative is the revision of Public Procurement legislation as one of the Recovery and Resilience Facility targets. The new legislation put in place next year is based on four pillars: digitalisation, project management, risk management and asset management. BIM design will become mandatory, except for ordinary and extraordinary maintenance. Discussion about bridge BIM logbook and all infrastructures is also taking place. Download the draft coordinated text of Italian “digital” legislation (in yellow the modifications introduced by Decree 312).

DE: a real push on digitalisation has been made through federal plan and financing innovative projects. The idea is to achieve all milestones of the federal masterplan in 2025. In terms of actions, a BIM federal portal to find requirements for using BIM in PP process has been launched in October at federal level first and other levels further. Germany also focuses on the promotion of international standards. In 2023, a module on employees BIM requirements will be launched in Spring and others are coming.

Milena Feustel completes by indicating that construction and infrastructures sectors have a joint journey, which is very positive and more effective.

CZ: National BIM strategy allowed to move from “Why” to “How”. Several pilot projects have been launched to put in daily practice the use of digital tool, to collect inputs and create guidance documents based on standards.

The first step of legal procedure is ongoing to make BIM mandatory for buildings and construction sector through a law and the drafting of the corresponding requirements.

FR: After six months of development, a new tool named Orelie has been launched, at the end of 2021, by the French BIM Deployment Plan. This tool is a free platform meant to assist in the drafting of BIM specifications that has been co-built with the different stakeholders of the building sector. It is aimed at all clients, regardless of the size of their structure, their level of maturity in BIM or the type of their operations, whether in construction or renovation (https://www.orelie-bim.fr/).

NL: The work focuses on the development of standards to share data/information, the Digital twining and the modelling of BIM asset management. The authorities are also interested in all international developments through CEDR works for example. See PDF slide for more details.

NW: The second generation of building permit process is ongoing, but the documents are still in PDF format. It is a challenge to make the public services and the industry change their habits. The main problem is to be able check if the information is missing, which is possible through BIM model but not with PDF.

The implementation of automatic BIM checking is slow as it is complicated to convince people of the utility of this very technical tool.

EL (GR): The ministry has launched a strategic roadmap financed by the EC. It will be completed in April 2023 and it aims at the effective adoption of BIM in Greece. It is composed of several parts: three pilot projects, legislation, communication effort toward stakeholders, education programs, specifications and financial tools for companies to finance the digital transformation.

Two Greek projects including BIM are also mentioned such as the Ellinikon (https://theellinikon.com.gr/en/homepage/) and Athens Metro Construction Line 4 Section A (https://www.ametro.gr/?page_id=8643&lang=en).

ES: The national administration level supports the digital reform of the country through several means, in particular the launch next year of a BIM national plan and the publication of technical documents to support it, which include a general view on BIM to convince that BIM is useful, BIM requirements and BIM tenders. Some major investments in infrastructures are currently made including BIM requirements.

The spread of BIM technologies is not only at national level but also at local level. Currently, 300 PP contracts were made with BIM at national level (with the goal of 550 contracts to reach) and more than 100 contracts were made in the municipalities.

LT: The strategy developed for public procurers and focuses on standards, communication, requirements, quality control on construction site and education seminars for the public sector. Documents translated in English were recently published and includes (1) business requirements, EIR roles and responsibilities (2) CDE, BIM execution plan  (3) technical requirements (https://www.vni.lv/en/competence/bim-competence-center#bim-guidelines).

FI: Two initiatives are highlighted. First, concentrated effort to reformulate and modernize the Common BIM requirements to follow the ISO BIM standards with dedicated experts and budget. Secondly, the setting-up of new laws that would require the use of BIM both directly and indirectly on

– a BIM based building permit process
– a national information system to store permit stage models and as-built models
– a climate statement for building to meet certain carbon neutrality and circular economy goals, that should be quite tedious to compile without the use of BIM.

(https://ym.fi/en/digital-built-environment).

6) AOB: participation to the Global BIM Network

Jaroslav Nechyba presents quickly the purpose of BIM Global network, which is quite similar to what the EUBTG do, but on an international level.

They are creating a Playbook as a planned extension to the Global Network website to allow people to get more informed about what is already there. Playbook will be published free next year. One activity is already on the table and a workshop is organised on 15 December (https://www.globalbim.org/).

The main question is how can the EUBTG help? Everybody from GA can be involved given the fact the EUBTG is a Global BIM Network’s partner.

The GA is then closed with an information on the next Construction Classification International Collaboration (CCIC) public seminar organised as part of a 2-day working session to share knowledge, practical experiences, and future of CCI (link for registering: https://forms.gle/ns6TuNQyMTmtehhx7).

EUBTG Position Paper on BIM in Public Procurement

In December 2021 the EU BIM Task Group submitted a position paper titled “Accelerating the Green, Digital and Resilient Transition by Implementing Building Information Modelling in Public Procurement” to the Commissioner of the Internal Market of the European Union Mr. Thierry Breton.

At its General Assembly on 15 December 2020, the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) asked the EU BIM Task Group to propose recommendations on the adoption of BIM in public procurement following the announcements made in the framework of the European Renovation Wave Strategy. After several months of collective work within the Steering Committee, this note was adopted by the General Assembly on 3 December 2021.

In fact, since the European Directive for Public Procurement of 2014 encouraged public authorities to use BIM, the use of BIM has increased significantly and many countries in Europe have already implemented national BIM programmes. Digitalisation is happening at an ever-increasing rate and the amount of data needed to make decisions has grown exponentially. However, there is still a significant gap between this potential and the current way of the working.

The time seems right to put in place at a European level more incentives for the better use and integration of built environment data in public procurement to empower the digital transformation of the construction sector. To this end, the EU BIM Task Group proposes 2 measures:

  1. Increase DEMAND – Require the use of openBIM in all publicly EU co-financed construction and renovation projects. openBIM extends the benefits of BIM by improving the interoperability accessibility, usability, management, and sustainability of digital data in the built asset industry. At its core, openBIM is a collaborative process that is vendor neutral. openBIM processes can be defined as sharable project and asset information that supports seamless collaboration for all project participants. openBIM facilitates interoperability to benefit projects and assets throughout their lifecycle.
  2. Increase SUPPLY – Ensure funding for a permanent independent team of experts that will support public procurers and the European Commission in the development and implementation of standardized BIM requirements in procurement and implementation of construction and renovation projects and all other phases of the asset lifecycle. To be a partner for other stakeholders representing interests of European stakeholders.

Download and read the full Position Paper at the following link:
Accelerating the Green, Digital and Resilient Transition by Implementing Building Information Modelling in Public Procurement – an EU BIM Task Group Position Paper

EUBTG at BIM World Paris 2019

BIM World Paris 2-4 April 2019

An important event in the Building Information Modelling (BIM) calendar is fast approaching. Policymakers, business leaders, technological innovators, and builders of infrastructure will come together at BIM World Paris from 2 to 4 April 2019 to discuss the critical issues involved in the digital transformation of the construction sector.

Presenting the future of BIM in Europe

The EU BIM Task Group will attend too and introduce their vision of how BIM can fuel both innovation and growth in European markets. Souheil Soubra, Chair of the Group’s Steering Committee, and Milena Feustel, Co-Chair, will be leading a session on Tuesday 2 April (17:00-18:30), in which they will present the Task Group’s BIM roadmap. This roadmap charts the transition to the digitalisation of the construction industry, which could unlock a 15-25% saving for the global infrastructure market by 2025.

Achieving the best value for public money

The session run by the EU BIM Task Group aims to highlight the vast potential for public procurers to make savings thanks to the implementation of BIM. Alongside the reduction in construction and operation costs, savings could also be generated by social and environmental benefits. The Task Group therefore aims to facilitate the uptake of BIM in delivering the very best value for public money, in turn creating a more streamlined, competitive and sustainable construction sector.

Join Souheil Soubra, Milena Feustel and other members of the Steering Committee at BIM World Paris to learn more about the future activities and goals of the EU BIM Task Group.

 

GOOD TO KNOW
BIM World Paris will be taking place at the Paris
Expo, Porte de Versailles, 2-3 April 2019.
More info: https://bim-w.com/en

JOIN US
Look out for the EU BIM Task Group Conference,
Room A, 17:00-18:30 on 2 April.

 

Downlad the newsletter in PDF format: BIM-Newsletter-A4-2019-03-HD.

EUBTG group photo Dec-17 2018

The EU BIM Task Group sets its roadmap for the digitalisation of the construction sector. Souheil Soubra appointed Chair

The EU BIM Task Group aims at delivering greater value for public money while stimulating innovation and growth in both the construction and digital sectors in Europe. Soubra, a top expert in Building Information Modelling in France, will lead the group’s work.

Brussels, 22 January 2019 – The EU BIM Task Group is a pan-European network exchanging public sector expertise in the field of Building Information Modelling (BIM) from infrastructure and public estate owners, public clients and policy makers. On 17 December, the EU BIM Task Group held its annual General Assembly in Brussels to set its roadmap for the coming years and to elect a new Steering Committee, which will direct the efforts towards the digitalisation of the construction sector at the European level.

Building Information Modelling is a method which fosters the digital planning, manufacturing, construction and management of built environments based on their physical and functional characteristics. It is currently considered to be the most impactful technological development in the construction sector. Studies forecast that a wider adoption of this process will unlock a 15-25% saving for the global infrastructure market by 2025[1]. In a market as large as the European construction sector, which is worth over €1.3 trillion[2], even a 10% increase in efficiency would save the industry €130 billion. This impressive figure does not even take into account the potential social and environmental benefits of this paradigm shift, which could even be bigger; improved decision-making enhanced by BIM would support the efforts towards climate protection and resource efficiency, ensuring benefits for society at large.

In light of this, the main objective set by the EU BIM Task Group for the construction sector in the coming years is to achieve a sustainable and inclusive growth within Europe’s Single and Digital Single Markets by means of a wider adoption of Building Information Modelling. It is a challenging proposition, especially considering that the construction industry is currently one of the least digitised in Europe – therefore reaching this goal is key to ensuring the future competitiveness of the sector.

During the General Assembly, the EU BIM Task Group appointed the new Steering Committee, which will lead the group’s work towards this goal. Dr. Souheil Soubra has been elected Chair of the EU BIM Task Group for the next two years. He is Director of the IT department at the Scientific and Technical Centre for Buildings (CSTB). Moreover, he is actively contributing to the French Digital Transition Plan, supported by the French Ministry for Ecological and Inclusive Transition and by the Ministry of Territorial Cohesion, in order to prepare a large-scale deployment of BIM in the French construction sector.

Dr. Soubra is leading the EU BIM Task Group together with Architect Milena Feustel, German, who was appointed Deputy Chair during the General Assembly. The new Steering Committee includes Pietro Baratono (Italy), Dainius Čergelis (Lithuania), Diderik Haug (Norway), Brigitte Jacquemont (France), Benno Koehorst (Netherlands), Ingemar Lewén (Sweden), Adam Matthews (United Kingdom), Jaroslav Nechyba (Czechia), Jaan Saar (Estonia) and Jorge Torrico (Spain).

“I am honoured to take the lead of the Steering Committee of the EU BIM Task Group and truly grateful to be part of the ambitious and important plan to accelerate the digitisation process of the construction sector, especially now, in such a decisive moment”, said Souheil Soubra. “Building Information Modelling is currently regarded as the key method for the digitisation of the lifecycle of built assets, and we are now working to transform this awareness into a reality for the European construction sector. We are planning a number of actions to foster this development. For example, we are going to promote the creation of a common digital platform for construction, which would enable the automation of building lifecycle processes in the public and private sector. We are also going to propose a framework for the seamless exchange of digital information (based on open standards) and documentation of data information, which will enhance collaborative working environments. In short, we want to make built assets and infrastructure across Europe healthier, safer, smarter and more sustainable.”

The EU BIM Task Group, a network supported by the European Commission, was founded in January 2016 and rapidly grew to include 23 countries in Europe. Through this platform, public estate owners, infrastructure builders and operators, policy advisers and procurers from members of the European Economic Area (EEA) or European Free Trade Association (EFTA) can exchange best practices, stimulate co-innovation and draft strategies that will drive the construction sector towards a smarter, more efficient future. Learn more about the EU BIM Task Group on YouTube.

 

Contact details for press:
Marco Groppelli
Marco.Groppelli@icf.com +32 (0)2 333 59 50
ICF Mostra | Avenue Marnix 17, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

 

 Click here to download PDF version of this press release.

 

Note to editors:

If you are interested in setting up an interview with Souheil Soubra, please contact our press office.

[1] BCG, Digital in Engineering and Construction, 2016; McKinsey, Construction Productivity, 2017

[2] FIEC, Annual Report, 2018

Building Information Modelling: the Europe-wide strategy explained at infraBIM Open 2019

The EU BIM Task Group aims at delivering greater value for public money, while stimulating innovation and growth in both the construction and digital sectors in the European Union. Finland is at the forefront of this paradigm shift, which can generate over €3 billion worth of savings per year in the country.

Tampere, 8 January 2019 – The EU BIM Task Group, a pan-European network collecting public sector expertise in the field of Building Information Modelling (BIM) from infrastructure and public estate owners, public clients and policy makers, has announced its participation in infraBIM Open 2019. Taking place at Tampere Hall from 15 to 16 January 2019, infraBIM Open 2019 is the second edition of the key event for BIM at a global level, and is expected to contain over 60 presentations by internationally-recognised speakers. As a major player in the ongoing effort to digitalise the construction sector in Europe, the EU BIM Task Group will offer valuable insights on the state of play across the European Union, providing a glimpse of what the future holds for the industry.

Ingemar Lewén, a member of the Steering Committee of the EU BIM Task Group, will participate in the opening session of the event on Tuesday 15 January at 10.00 in the Small Auditorium. His keynote speech will describe the role of the EU BIM Task Group as its work enters a new phase. He will describe how it will bring the European construction sector closer to reaping the benefits offered by BIM as a strategic tool.

Building Information Modelling is a process which involves the generation and management of the digital representations of built environments, complete with their physical and functional characteristics. It is considered to be currently the most impactful technological development in the construction sector. Studies forecast that a wider adoption of this process will unlock a 15-25% saving for the global infrastructure market by 2025[1]. In a market as large as the European construction sector, which is worth over €1.3 trillion[2], even a 10% increase in efficiency would save the industry €130 billion. This impressive figure does not even take into account the potential social and environmental benefits of this paradigm shift, which could even be bigger; the improved decision-making enhanced by BIM would support the efforts towards climate protection and resource efficiency, benefiting society at large.

Finland is at the forefront of this push towards a wider adoption of BIM: efforts in this direction started as early as 2002[3], with governmental programmes aimed at making Building Information Modelling a key element for the building sector, and later for the infrastructure sector. This early start allowed the country to accumulate precious knowledge and first-hand experience in the field. Several projects have already been completed, and more are in progress, confirming that a 10% increase in efficiency is perfectly attainable[4] – and that there is room for improvement well beyond that threshold. Considering the yearly value of the construction industry in Finland, which amounted to €33.7 billion in 2017[5], a wide adoption of BIM could generate savings of over €3 billion per year.

“There is a reason why the most important BIM forum worldwide for the infrastructure sector takes place in Finland: the country is a true pioneer in the adoption of Building Information Modelling. The entire Nordic region has embraced this technological development early on, with public clients fully understanding the business and environmental advantages it could generate”, says Ingemar Lewén. “Awareness of the importance of BIM is now widespread, not only in the Nordic region, but across all of Europe. In order to fully reap the benefits of this method, we now need to develop a strategy and an action plan for mobilising the Europe-wide digital transformation of the construction sector. This requires a concerted effort, in which both public clients and companies play a key role. It is first and foremost a cultural shift; a shift that Europe is ready to make”.

Ingemar Lewén, who is a member of the Steering Committee of the EU BIM Task Group, acts as an Information Strategist with the responsibility for BIM at the Swedish Transport Administration (STA). He is Chair of the Nordic Road & Railroad BIM Collaboration.

The EU BIM Task Group, a network supported by the European Commission, was founded in January 2016 and rapidly grew to include 23 countries in Europe. Through this platform, public estate owners, infrastructure operators, policy advisers and procurers throughout the entire continent can exchange best practices, stimulate co-innovation and draft strategies that will drive the construction sector towards a smarter, more efficient future. Learn more about the EU BIM Task Group on YouTube.

 

Contact details for press:
Marco Groppelli
Marco.Groppelli@icf.com +32 (0)2 333 59 21
ICF Mostra | Avenue Marnix 17, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

 

 Click here to download PDF version of this press release.

 

Note to editors:

Ingemar Lewén’s keynote speech will be part of the opening session of infraBIM Open 2019, taking place on Tuesday 15 January at 10.00 in the Small Auditorium at Tampere Hall, Tampere, Yliopistonkatu 55. If you are interested in setting up an interview on-site, please contact our press office.

[1] BCG, Digital in Engineering and Construction, 2016; McKinsey, Construction Productivity, 2017

[2] FIEC, Annual Report, 2018

[3] https://www.geospatialworld.net/blogs/bim-adoption-around-the-world/

[4] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/4355673_Digital_Construction_through_BIM_Systems_will_Drive_the_Re-engineering_of_Construction_Business_Practices

[5] Source: The Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries RT