The Building Centre and bimstore.co.uk have joined forces to provide specifiers with a new, free way to access the latest BIM content and to offer building product manufacturers the opportunity to have their components modelled and distributed through specifinder.com, bimstore.co.uk and even their own websites.
Building Information Modelling (BIM) is the collaborative process of creating a digital, 3D representation of a project containing information on all of its physical and functional characteristics and those of its components, thus forming a reliable basis for decisions during its life cycle from initial concept through to demolition.
BIM has been around for a considerable time, but it has gained significant momentum in the UK since the announcement in May 2011, by the Government Chief Construction Advisor Paul Morrell, that collaborative BIM will be required on all Government construction projects of £5 million and over by 2016 – telling construction professionals to adopt BIM or be “Betamaxed out”.
Responding to demand
As a result, building professionals are looking to adopt this new technology now more than ever and they are increasingly expecting to see components from building product manufacturers to use in their modelling.
By providing BIM components, building product manufacturers can increase their chances of being specified because a specifier would rather drop a specific, detailed component into their model than a generic one. This, in turn, will result in an increased likelihood of future re-specification. Because BIM is a collaborative process, spanning the project’s entire life-cycle, if a manufacturer’s products and their specifications are contained within the model the manufacturer is much more likely to be the first point of contact when future repairs or replacements are required.
Another outlet
Adam Ward, Director at bimstore.co.uk, said: “The specifinder partnership gives specifiers and designers another outlet to find free quality BIM content for their projects while ensuring the quality. We will be working closely with specifinder and The Building Centre over the next year to educate manufacturers on BIM, making sure they are ready and have a solution to meet the government’s 2016 BIM targets.”
John Bonning, Commercial Director of The Building Centre said: “For the past 80 years the ways in which we have provided professional specifiers with building product information have constantly evolved through physical exhibits at the centre, literature distribution and more recently through our online product directory – specifinder.com and our mobile app. Our partnership with bimstore ensures we continue to evolve our services in keeping with what the industry demands.”