2

Disclai mer

Whilst reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of
the information contained in this publication, the CIC nevertheless
would encourage readers to seek appropriate independent advice
from their professional advisers where possible and readers should
not treat or rely on this publication as a substitute for such professional
advice for taking any relevant actions.



** Cover image courtesy of Ronald Lu & Partners **






Enquiries

Enquiries on this report may be made to the CIC Secretariat at:

15/F, Allied Kajima Building
138 Gloucester Road, Wanchai
Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 2100 9000
Fax: (852) 2100 9090
Email: enquiry@hkcic.org
Website: www.hkcic.org


2013 Construction Industry Council.

3

Revi sion History


Version

Date Revision
1 23 September 2013 -




4
Table of Contents


Purpose ....................................................................................................................... 5
Executive Summary .................................................................................................... 7
BIM Definition ......................................................................................................... 12
1. Background ....................................................................................................... 14
2. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 16
3. Function of BIM ................................................................................................ 17
4. Review of the Adoption of BIM in Construction Industry .................................. 19
5. Driving Organisation and Approach in Worldwide ............................................. 25
6. Benefit Brought by the Adoption of BIM ........................................................... 29
7. Driving Force for the Adoption of BIM.............................................................. 32
8. Challenges for the Adoption of BIM .................................................................. 40
9. Disciplinary Operational Benefit and Concern ................................................... 46
10. The Roadmap and Strategic Implementation Plan .............................................. 48
11. The Steps Ahead ................................................................................................ 58
12. Going Forward .................................................................................................. 60

5
Purpose


This report, prepared by the Working Group on Roadmap for BIM Implementation
(Working Group) established under the Committee on Environment and Technology of
the Construction Industry Council (CIC), summarises the views of the Working Group
on the strategic implementation of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Hong
Kongs construction industry.

The purpose of this report is:

1. to share the experience of construction industry practitioners in their use
of BIM in Hong Kong;

2. to present the industrys views and concerns on the current adoption of
BIM in Hong Kong construction industry;

3. to realise the global trend of adopting BIM in the construction industry;

4. to summarise the benefits and constraints of adopting BIM in Hong Kong;

5. to facilitate industrial stakeholders to prepare themselves towards the
adoption of the BIM at their own accords; and

6. to propose the way forward for the strategic implementation of the BIM in
Hong Kong;

As this report is not meant to be a submission to the relevant government authorities
for seeking financial support or financial commitment on the adoption of BIM, no
vigorous quantitative analysis on the cost and benefit of adopting BIM in Hong Kong is
presented though reference is made to the experience of overseas countries which
have been implementing BIM for years. For instance, McGraw-Hill Construction has
recently published a survey and study on the business value of BIM infrastructure
projects for Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) in USA which provide
statistical information how BIM can bring about positive impact on the design,
construction and operation of projects. Cabinet Office of UK Government has also
published an Investors Report that illustrates measurable benefits of the BIM
adoption.
6

Facilities Management, being a complicated issue at this stage for its integration with
the design and construction phases, has not been included in this phase of the study
for the sake of simplifying the study and facilitating earlier release of the study result
that the industry stakeholders has been awaiting.

7

Executi ve Summary


Building Information Modelling (BIM) is not just a three dimensional drawing tool but a
new tool to holistically manage information relating to construction projects from
preparatory stage, to construction and operational stages. It is a new way of working,
using new technology to facilitate project management and execution, better
construction process control, cross-disciplinary collaboration, internal coordination,
external communication, problem solving, and risk management.

Fast Pace in Global Development

The adoption of BIM has already been a global trend, just naming a few examples
below:

USA

- The General Services Administration requires mandatory BIM
submission for government projects since 2008. They are
mature in using BIM and are leading BIM practice.

Singapore

- They determined national-wide implementation roadmap in
2011; and now require mandatory use of BIM from 2015
onwards.

United Kingdom

- Government requires mandatory use of BIM in public sector
from 2016 onwards. They target themselves to become BIM
leader in European region.

Mainland China

- BIM has been included as part of the National 12
th
Five Year
Plan (2011 2015) and is formulating a BIM framework.

Other 10+ Countries

- Majority of European countries, Canada and South Korea
require the use of BIM in public construction projects, and,
some of them set up agencies to manage national-wide
implementation and introduced good practices and standards.



8
Compared with international practice of BIM with respect to planning, adoption,
technology and performance, Hong Kong is lagging behind majority of developed
countries. Hong Kongs construction industry is strongly encouraged to take leap to
catch up the fast pace of the global adoption of BIM so as to maintain the
competitiveness of Hong Kongs Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC)
services in the region and even in the world. Without sufficient manpower with
suitable skill-set and associated facilities of BIM, Hong Kongs AEC corporate would be
difficult to compete for jobs and projects outside Hong Kong market in foreseeable
future.


Hong Kongs Construction Industry Is Getting Ready

BIM implementation in construction industry in Hong Kong is still in the primary stage in
terms of the scale of application. In fact, individual practitioners have been gearing up
themselves to prepare for the new era of BIM to different extents. Some are fast
movers and getting almost ready for adoption, while some are observers and keeping
close eyes on the utilisation of BIM. The current situation of major disciplines relating
to the adoption of BIM is as follows:

Private Developer

- Majority of major developers have adopted BIM to different
extents such as development project planning, setting the
use of BIM as a mandatory requirement for the design of
particular developments. The Real Estate Developers
Association of Hong Kong encourages their members to
adopt BIM.

Public Client

- Hong Kong Housing Authority, MTR Corporation, Hong Kong
Airport Authority have already been adopting BIM already;
and they are moving forward in fast pace.

Buildings Department has commissioned a consultancy study
on "Feasibility Study on the Implementation of an Electronic
Submission System in the Buildings Department" and BIM is
one of the electronic submission formats being evaluated in
the study.


9
Development Bureau is exploring the types of public
construction projects which can effectively apply BIM, and
initiating pilot projects to use BIM.

Architect

- Majority of architect firms are getting almost ready for the
adoption, some of which are even expertise in BIM.

Engineer

- Majority of engineering consulting firms are getting almost
ready for the adoption, some of which are even expertise in
BIM.

Surveyor

- In the stage of developing good practices for BIM adoption in
surveying; and considering offer value-added service through
BIM.

Contractor

- Majority of major contractors have been trying out the use of
BIM to improve site safety, work scheduling, cost control, and
constructability analysis.

Training Institute

- VTC has already included BIM training in their construction
related Higher Diploma programmes. Some universities are
offering optional BIM courses in their degree programmes.
CIC has incorporated fundamental BIM knowledge in some of
their training programmes for frontline site staff.


Recently, some organisations and companies in Hong Kong are taking a step forward
in the use of BIM e.g. 5-D BIM with the inclusion of time and cost of projects,
application for site safety, integration of BIM and GIS, etc, with a wider application of
Information Technology in the construction industry.

While individual stakeholders are preparing or have prepared to use BIM, they wish to
see a more organized and systematic way to move towards the industry-wide adoption
of BIM in Hong Kong through the concerted efforts of the whole construction industry.




10

Key Driving Force - Industry Led and Project Clients Commitment

Construction industry stakeholders generally consent that the construction industry is
expecting industry-wide catalyst to boost the use of BIM and industry leader to
blueprint, drive, gear up and engage the implementation.

In order to keep up the momentum of the industry in adopting BIM, project clients
commitment to construction advancement through the use of BIM is necessary.


Benefits Brought About by BIM from Project Clients Perspective

Project clients (e.g. property developers, Government, and public bodies) are generally
recognized as one of key stakeholders and drivers towards the adoption of BIM in
construction. From the project clients perspective, BIM can help:

(a) Provide multi-dimensional visual images and timely information of construction
projects;

(b) Allow testing on models and quickly generating options for better decision making
in respect of time, cost, process, and risk, etc;

(c) Detect design faults (especially clashes) and minimise design change;

(d) Improve site safety management and education;

(e) Enhance financial risk management and minimise financial claims due to variation
and delay;

(f) Facilitate better project coordination by bringing all relevant disciplines of
participants in the construction project to collaborate and achieve an integrated
design at an early stage;

(g) Facilitate third party and even public engagement by enhancing communication
with a view to soliciting the support of the community at project planning stage.


11

The Way to Leap

The Working Group on Roadmap for BIM Implementation established under the
Committee on Environment and Technology of the Construction Industry Council,
chaired by Ms Ada FUNG of Hong Kong Housing Authority, to define roadmap and
implementation strategies for achieving the market transformation with respect to the
application of BIM in the construction industry, recommends the following three major
actions to be taken by the industry:


1. ESTABLISHMENT OF STANDARD - to devise a set of common standards or
good practice or reference document for the use of BIM in construction projects to
facilitate those users who wish to adopt or widen the usage of BIM;

2. PROMOTION - to carry out more promotional activities targeting those industry
stakeholders who are not familiar with the usage and benefits of BIM, especially
allowing top management of major project clients, whom are regarded as the key
drivers on the user of BIM, to understand the benefit brought about by BIM; and to
plan their organisation to get prepared for adoption the BIM;

3. TRAINING - to build up BIM capacity by driving curricular change in construction
related programmes and computer science programmes of academic institutes;
and providing BIM training with respect to 3 areas: BIM model development,
management of BIM, and use of BIM model.


12
BIM Definition


The term Building Information Modelling (BIM) refers to the ability to use, reuse and
exchange information, of which electronic documents are just a single component.
BIM is much more than 3D renders or transferring electronic version of paper
documents. By implementing BIM, risk is reduced, design intent is maintained,
quality control is streamlined, communication is clearer, and higher analytic tools are
more assessable (AIA 2005).

BIM is the development and use of a computer software model to simulate the
construction and operation of a facility. The resulting model, a BIM, is a data-rich,
object-oriented, intelligent and parametric digital representation of the facility, from
which views and data appropriate to various users needs can be extracted and
analyzed to generate information that can be used to make decision and improve the
process of delivering the facility. The process of using BIM models to improve the
planning, design and construction process is increasingly being referred as Virtual
Design and Construction (AGC Guide to BIM).

At its highest level, a BIM model is an intelligent digital representation of physical and
functional characteristics about a capital facility. A BIM model has the following
characteristics:

1. A BIM model is a parametric, relational database that ties together multiple layers
of information about specific objects every object in the building. The model can
also store information far beyond design and construction details, and become the
owners operations and maintenance data source.

2. A BIM model is smart. A change to a component is reflected in all components it
relates to. By making change not only the view changes but also the information
in the database which drives the model, and those views and analysis all use the
same database.

3. A BIM model offers a constant 3D representation of the building. Because all the
information in a BIM model is 3D, a 3D view of a structure, from any angle, at any
section, can be generated at any time during the design process, and in the same
program the designers and engineers are already working in.

13
4. A BIM model is an intelligent tool that can be used for study and analysis across
multiple disciplines. Because the elements in a BIM model contain their attributes
and characteristics (e.g. thermal conductivity, geometry, surface materials, etc),
the model can be used to simulate a structures behaviour.

5. A BIM model is a permanent, living document. With BIM all the information is not
only in one place, but can be an active management tool and even adapt with the
structure.



14
1. Background


In view of a growing trend for using Building Information Modelling (BIM) in
construction works projects, the Committee on Environment and Technology
decided to define the Roadmap for BIM Implementation in Hong Kongs construction
industry.

A seminar titled Building Information Modelling for the Future was organised on 11
October 2011 to engage professionals and experts to share relevant project
experience with participants. The speakers, Mr. David MAK (from Housing
Department), Prof. LI Heng (from PolyU) and Ir. Francis LEUNG (from Hong Kong
Institute of Building Information Modelling) shared their insight and vision in the
future application of BIM. The seminar was successfully held with over-subscribed
applications which reflected the industrys concern.

The five challenges set out by Prof. LI Heng at the seminar are:

(a) Challenge 1: Building Information Modelling or Management?

(b) Challenge 2: Who owns the Intellectual Property?

(c) Challenge 3: Do we need to change the contractual arrangements?

(d) Challenge 4: Legal and Insurance Concerns

(e) Challenge 5: Lack of skilled BIM managers


At the discussion session of the seminar, there were quite some debates over the
Challenges.

In consideration of the great interest from the industry, the Committee on
Environment and Technology established a Working Group on Roadmap for BIM
Implementation to define the strategic implementation plan and set out the roadmap
at industry level.

Also the adoption of BIM had already been a global trend. Hong Kong construction
industry is required to take leap to catch up the fast pace of the global adoption of
BIM so as to maintain Hong Kongs Architecture, Engineering and Construction
(AEC) competitiveness in the region and even in the world. Without suitable
15
skill-set of BIM, Hong Kongs AEC corporate would be difficult to compete jobs/
projects outside Hong Kong market in foreseeable future.



16

2. Introduction


In consideration of the great interest from the industry on the BIM in Hong Kong, the
Committee on Environment and Technology considers the need to take forth the
implementation activities in a more systematic and strategic way. As the scope of
studies covers a wide range of topics from technical aspect, business consideration to
market transformation concern, the Committee on Environment and Technology has
decided to start off the study through taking a strategic overview on the industry-wide
adoption of BIM in Hong Kong with a view to determine a roadmap and strategic
implementation of BIM in construction industry in Hong Kong aiming to enhance
industry-wide productivity and efficiency, well understood and open BIM standard and
exchange.

The Committee on Environment and Technology set up a working group, namely the
Working Group on Roadmap for BIM Implementation (Working Group), with major
participants in the application of BIM as members to prepare the overview. The
Working Group focuses its effort:

(a) To define strategies for achieving the market transformation with respect to
the application of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in construction
industry.
(b) To identify the possible scope of application in local construction industry
and those factors affecting the suitability or causing limitations of BIM
application in local construction projects.
(c) To explore the potential impacts on the construction supply chain arising
from the adoption of BIM such as changes in planning and design
approaches, mode of collaboration among different entities of the
construction supply chain, training needs, etc.
(d) To identify the areas which require further and detailed investigation and the
needs of collaborative research or studies with relevant organisations or
appropriate research institutes.

Members of the Working Group are listed in Annex A.

The discussions, observations, findings and suggestions by the Working Group are
summarised in the following sections of the Report.


17
3. Function of BIM


Building Information Modelling (BIM) is not just a drawing tool but a new tool to
holistically manage information relating to construction projects from preparatory stage,
to construction and operational stages. It is a new way of working, using new
technology to facilitate project management and execution, better construction process
control, cross-disciplinary collaboration, internal coordination, problem solving, and risk
management.

A building information model characteristics the geometry, spatial relationships,
geographic information, quantities and properties of building elements, cost estimates,
material inventories and project schedule. This model can be used to demonstrate
the entire building life cycle (Bazjanac, 2006). As a result, quantities and shared
properties of materials can be readily extracted. Scopes of work can be easily
isolated and defined. Systems, assemblies, and sequences can be shown in a
relative scale with the entire facility or group of facilities. The construction documents
such as the drawings, procurement details, submitted processes and other
specification can be easily interrelated (Khemlani et al, 2006).

A model could be used for the following purposes:

- Visualization: 3D renderings can be easily generated in-house with lesser effort.

- Fabrication/ shop drawings: it can assist in producing shop drawing for various
building systems, for example, the sheet metal ductwork shop drawing can be
quickly produced once the model is complete.

- Forensic analysis: a model can be easily adapted to graphically illustrated, such
as direct sunlight study, natural ventilation, heat gain, evacuation plans, etc.

- Facilities management: can use a model for renovations, space planning and
maintenance operations.

- Cost estimating: Some BIM software has built-in cost estimating features.
Material quantities can be automatically extracted and updated when any changes
are made in a model.



18
- Construction sequencing: a model can be effectively used to provide accurate
information for material ordering, fabrication, and delivery schedules.

- Conflict, interference and collision detection/ checking: because BIM models are
created, to scale, in 3D space, all major systems can be checked for interferences.
As such, this process can be used to verify if piping does not intersect with steel
beams, ducts or walls.


19

4. Review of the Adoption of BIM in Construction Industry


During the presentations of Ms. Wendy Lee of a BIM tools supplier, and Dr. Calvin Kam,
one of the Director of Stanford Universitys Center for Integrated Facilities Engineering
(CIFE), at the first Working Group meeting, Dr. Kam evaluated the implementation of
BIM in the Hong Kong construction industry by using quantified measures of the Virtual
Design and Construction (VDC) Scorecard.

Global investment in capital projects is growing at a rate that will soon outpace GDP
growth, with a projected 67% growth in construction globally by 2020 [1].
Construction productivity growth is marginal or negative over the past two decades.
Adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM) is accelerating in reaction to this
problem, and is expected to reach 80% in some sectors this decade [2]. While CIFE
has been a world premier academic research centre for Virtual Design and
Construction for Architectural, Engineering and Construction Industry since 1988, there
was no proactive, objective mechanism to evaluate BIM maturity and its contribution to
construction value. Therefore, Dr. Kam started the research and development of the
VDC Scorecard since 2009, a methodical framework (Figure 1) focusing on qualitative
planning as well as quantitative performance metrics and other areas to track and
control BIM/ VDC use. Evaluations are benchmarked against other current projects
around the world, and the "scores, are used to identify areas of strength and
weakness to drive performance improvements.

The overall VDC Score illustrates how the project is ranked among other projects in the
global market via a 5-level innovation ranking system in a range from "Conventional
Practice" (without BIM) to "Innovative Practice (industry firsts). The ranking system
continues at a deeper level of four Areas: Planning, Adoption, Technology, and
Performance; these areas are in turn sub-divided into ten divisions and over 50
measures.

[1] M. Betts et al., "2020, A Global Forecast for the Construction Industry Over the Next
Decade to 2020", Global Construction Perspectives and Oxford Economics, London,
UK, Mar. 2011
[2] N. W. Young et al., "SmartMarket Report on Building Information Modeling:
Transforming Design and Construction to Achieve Greater Industry Productivity",
McGraw Hill Construction, New York, NY, USA, 2008


20
Figure 1: Framework of VDC Scorecard



By using the 10 award-winning projects of 2012 Autodesk Hong Kong BIM award as
the representatives of the Hong Kong market, Dr. Kam presented the evaluation
results of these 10 projects using the 5-level ranking system of the VDCScorecard, the
Median Score indicated the BIM implementation of Hong Kong construction projects is
currently at Advanced Practice (Figure 2 and Figure 3). Noted that the median here
is suggested on the basis of statistical population limited to the 10 Hong Kong BIM
award projects only.

Figure 2: Median Score Breakdown of Hong Kong Practice Based on Hong Kong BIM Award Projects.



21

Figure 3: Overall Median Score of Hong Kong Practice Based on Hong Kong BIM Award Projects.



Leveraging the frameworks scalable score weighting system, Dr. Kams team
benchmarked these Hong Kong projects with the global database and observed that
when compared to global state of BIM practice, the Hong Kong median score however
shifts from Advanced Practice to the Typical Practice rank (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Overall Median Score of Hong Kong Practice Based on World-wide Projects.



Compared with international practice of BIM with respect to 4 areas, Hong Kong is
lagging behind majority of developed countries. However, recently, some
organisations and corporate in Hong Kong are taking steps to adopt BIM and even
pioneer in some areas, e.g. 5D BIM conforming to SMM4, application for site safety,
integration of BIM and GIS, etc.


22
Still, we could learn from several trends in the global marketplace (Figure 5):

Figure 5: Comparison of Leading Practice Countries and Hong Kong Practice.



BIM Practice by Leading Practice Countries

Planning: Leading practice countries have established national standards and
guidelines for BIM implementation, and governmental agencies or jurisdictions within
these leading nations may have individual BIM requirements for both public and private
projects.

Adoption: Leading practice countries have high rates of BIM adoption, due to both
governmental or owner requirements, as well as pressure to maintain competitive
advantage in an increasingly BIM-enabled marketplace.

Technology: Technology employed in leading practice countries is both broad and
mature. BIM are commonly used for visualization, documentation, performance
analyses, and increased automation of design and construction tasks.

Performance: Few countries have objectively demonstrated improved performance
with BIM adoption. Most assessments of BIMs contribution to increased performance
rely on subjective representations and few quantitative metrics, without benchmarks or
performance targets based on historical data.


23

Initiatives for Hong Kong Suggested by CIFE Stanford University

Hong Kong has the human and capital resources to become a world leader in use of
BIM and VDC implementation, as well as a profound need for rapid, economical, and
ecological expansion of the built environment. The government and commercial
corporate of Hong Kong have several opportunities to realize this potential:

Planning: Invest in shared BIM standards to harmonize BIM implementation across
a spectrum of design, construction, and operation disciplines. Establish performance
measures and target goals.

Adoption: Establish BIM and VDC education programs at all levels from executive to
apprentice to keep decision-makers informed of latest value propositions and
strategies leveraging BIM, and build skill sets of the Architects, Engineers, Contractors,
Owners and Operators (AECOO community) who design, deliver, and manage the
built environment. Incentivize beneficial use of BIM in public and private projects
through education grants, bonuses, and/ or benefit sharing agreements.

Technology: Engage implementation in all categories of BIM users from
visualization to automation, throughout the AECOO community, and in all stages of
project life-cycle from conceptualization to operation and recycling.

Performance: Develop meaningful corporate, industry, and national targets for
project and built environment performance; track how BIM contributes to realization of
these goals.

While all of these steps can contribute to raising Hong Kongs use of BIM, and more
importantly position Hong Kong to enjoy the benefits brought by superior
implementation of BIM and VDC methods, the most important first step is engagement.
Dr. Kam urges everyone in the Hong Kong AECOO community to reach out and take a
next step with BIM.








24
Types of BIM Users in Hong Kong

As a whole, BIM implementation in construction industry in Hong Kong is still in the
primary stage. Individual participants knowledge of BIM and capability to utilise BIM
are diversified. In Hong Kong, two extreme types of BIM users exist - one type is fast
mover and another one is observer.

Type of BIM User Examples (Note: including but not limited to)

(1) Fast Mover;
(2) Follower Getting Ready to
Move Fast
- Hong Kong Housing Authority
- MTR Corporation
- Hong Kong Airport Authority
- A number of major private developers
- A few government works departments*
- Majority of engineering and architectural
consultants
- Certain disciplines of surveying consultants
- Majority of major contractors

* Note:
1. Buildings Department has commissioned
consultancy study on Feasibility Study on
the Implementation of an Electronic
Submission System in the Buildings
Department which is scheduled for
completion in end September 2013.

2. Development Bureau is studying the types of
public construction projects which can
effectively apply BIM and initiating pilot
projects to use BIM.

(3) Observer - Majority of government works departments
- Some other private developers
- Some other consultants
- Some other contractors in particular the smaller
sized ones

25

5. Driving Organisati on and Approach in Worldwide


Quite a number of counties are working on enablement on BIM adoption. Their
driving organisations and key driving approaches for the adoption of BIM in
construction industry are as follows:

Country Type of
Driving
Organisation

Driving
Organisation
Driving Approach and Current Status
USA

Government General
Services
Administration
(GSA)
The General Services Administration
(GSA) is a pioneer in advocating the
adoption of BIM for public sector projects.
GSA has developed a suite of BIM
guidelines for submission for government
projects.

It has required mandatory BIM submission
for government projects since 2008.

Government Army Corp of
Engineers
It has required mandatory BIM for all its
projects.

Canada Association The Institute for
BIM in Canada
The Institute for BIM in Canada leads and
facilitates the coordinated use of BIM in the
design, construction and management of
the Canadian built environment.

United
Kingdom
Government The Cabinet
Office of
Government
Construction
Board

The BIM Industry Working Group and
Government Construction Board have
prepared a staged BIM implementation
plan to increase BIM use over a five-year
period by 2016. By 2016, the Government
will mandatory require pubic sector
centrally procured construction project
using BIM.



26
Country Type of
Driving
Organisation

Driving
Organisation
Driving Approach and Current Status
UK has published BIM Standards namely
BS1192:2007, BS ISO 29481-1:2010, BIP
2207.

Germany - No centralized
collaboration
The BIM software market is dominated by
home-grown products, and the widespread
adoption of BIM is yet to be determined.

Denmark The Royal/
Government
Individual state
clients
Danish state clients such as the Palaces &
Properties Agency, the Defence
Construction Service, and the Danish
University Property Agency require
mandatory BIM to be used for their
projects.

Norway Government Statsbygg The Norwegian government has stated its
commitment to succeed in BIM adoption in
2010.

2010: Requires the use of IFC/BIM for new
buildings.

Norway Government Norwegian
Defence Estates
Agency
The Agency is running three BIM pilot
projects.

Finland Government Senate
Properties
(property
services agency)
Finlands state property services agency,
Senate Properties, requires the use of BIM
for its projects since 2007.
2007: it requires IFC/BIM in its projects and
intends to have integrated model based
operation in future.





27
Country Type of
Driving
Organisation

Driving
Organisation
Driving Approach and Current Status
Netherlands Government Rijksgebouwend
ienst
On 1 November 2011, the
Rijksgebouwendienst, the agency within
the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial
Planning and the Environment that
manages government buildings, introduced
the RGD BIMnorm which it updated on 1
J uly 2012.

Iran Association The Iran
Building
Information
Modeling
Association
(IBIMA)
IBIMA shares knowledge resources to
support construction engineering
management decision-making.

Singapore Government Building &
Construction
Authority (BCA)
BIM submission for regulatory approval via
CORENET being implemented.
BIM as part of public sector building project
procurement.
2015: Mandatory BIM submission for new
building projects >5000 sm.

South
Korea
Government Public
Procurement
Service
South Koreas Public Procurement Service
made the use of BIM compulsory for all
projects over S$50 million and for all public
sector projects by 2016.

Australia Public
Organisation
Organizations
such as
Australian
Productivity
Commission, the
Australian
Construction
Industry Forum
BIM is starting to take off, but governments
and industry associations are being urged
to help speed up the process. The Sydney
Opera House is an excellent example of
how BIM is used in the management of
existing buildings.




28
Country Type of
Driving
Organisation

Driving
Organisation
Driving Approach and Current Status
(ACIF),
Australian
Procurement &
Construction
Council (APCC)
& Built
Environment
Industry
Innovation
Council (BEIIC)
are playing a
substantial role
in facilitating the
BIM
collaboration.

Mainland
China
Government - BIM has been included in the National 12th
Five Year Plan.

Academy Tsinghua
University
Formulate a BIM framework for China



29

6. Benefit Brought by the Adoption of BIM

Key areas that different participants to the construction industry along the construction
value chain consider themselves being benefited by the adoption of BIM are
summarised as follows:

No Participant Benefit Brought by the Adoption of BIM

1 End-user (Community) of
infrastructure

- improved efficiency of construction and hence
earlier to use the facility and less disturbance
during construction
- improved understanding of the expected
end-result through visualizations and virtual
prototypes
- improved safety and security during operation
through early identification of the adequacy of
relevant equipment provided

2 Infrastructure Owner and
Investor
- improved capital investment costs (lower costs
and better predictability)
- improved life-cycle costs (lower costs and
better predictability)
- improved project schedule
- improved quality-cost ratio (higher quality with
the same costs or the same quality with lower
cost) through better analysis and simulations
supported decision making
- improved marketing by better communication
and service for clients
- improved safety and security during operation
through early identification of the sufficiency of
various relevant equipment provided

3 Facility Manager - improved life-cycle costs (lower costs and
better predictability)
- improved quality-cost ratio through accurate
and up-to-date as-built and maintenance
information

30
No Participant Benefit Brought by the Adoption of BIM

- improved safety and security during operation
through early identification of the sufficiency of
various relevant equipment provided

4 Contractor - improved productivity by efficient information
processes within individual tasks and among
different tasks during bidding, cost estimation,
scheduling, procurement, site activities, etc
- improved quality-cost ratio through better
productivity and lesser errors
- mitigated/ avoided risks leading to economic
loss
- improved competitiveness by better
communication and service for clients

5 Construction Professional
(Architect, Engineer,
Surveyor)
- created positive impact on project schedule
and cost estimation
- improved productivity through lesser rework
because of changes and contradicting
documents
- improved quality-cost ratio through better
coordination of different disciplines
- overcame practical difficulties and avoid
contradictory design at early stage
- improved competitiveness by better
communication and service for clients

6 Manufacturer and Supplier
of Construction Material
and Component
- improved market segment through better
understanding by professionals of the
suitability for particular projects
- improved productivity and quality-cost ratio by
streamlining the information flows between
product requirement and manufacturing
processes



31
No Participant Benefit Brought by the Adoption of BIM

7 Software Industry - introduce willingness for system development
and enhance technology by widespread use of
BIM

8 Insurance Industry - improved quality-cost ratio by reduction of
financial risk through better information flow
and transparency


Note: The aforesaid table illustrates the benefits of the participants in general
construction value chain, the benefits for other stakeholders, for example: Council for
Sustainable Development, Hong Kong Green Building Council, Committee on
Revitalization of Historical Buildings, etc may consider to including in future study.


32

7. Driving Force for the Adoption of BIM


Adoption of BIM needs drivers that are composed of carrots or sticks, i.e.
encouraging or forcing, or both. Views of Working Groups Members on the driving
force to the adoption of BIM are set out below.

a. Increase in Productivity and Effectiveness

Project Planning and Decision-making Support

i. BIM is a cost-effective engineering solution, in whole life terms and at an
affordable level of capital investment, but also to minimize the
management costs, to reduce the time of delivery, to reduce waste across
the whole process and to minimize the cost of in-service management.

ii. Provide visualization to improve the clients understanding of the design.
BIMs visualization capabilities to display what the options actually look
like, not only upon completion but before and during the works, as a
means of building public support (e.g. District Board consultation, public
engagement, etc.) and to aid decision-making.

iii. According to Stanford University Centre for Integrated Facilities
Engineering (CIFE) surveyed that BIM helped to attain 7% reduction in
project time. Noted that the figures for local context may be explored in
future study.

Management Support

iv. Pull all project participants together so that all design decisions can be
made earlier. Design is no longer a sequential process, it is now parallel.

v. Become a tool for more efficient asset and facilities management. An
accurate BIM model provides the information for routine maintenance,
updated to reflect additions/ alternation/ modernizations, instantaneously.

vi. Enable more strategic use of prefabrication materials and systems to
speed construction and reduce schedule but maintaining quality.

33

Information Sharing

vii. Information is more easily shared, can be value-added and reused such
that enable faster and more effective working process.

viii. Architect and Design Engineer can also use BIM profitably. BIM enables
a better storage of all design data within a 3D model. 2D plans and
drawings can be automatically generated from this 3D model. Architect
and Engineer can integrate changes in the design easily, while drawings
and details are updated automatically. It seems that such a BIM-based
drawing production process would ensure that sets of plans would remain
consistent internally.

ix. With proper alignment of BIM with the method of measures, BIM can be
employed to generate the necessary quantity of materials.


b. Cost Saving and Reduction in Wastage

Reduced Requirement Change

i. Cost saving could be achieved by using BIM to check for structural,
architectural and building services clashes so as to reduce rework and
requirement change. Construction waste and claim opportunities would
then be reduced.

ii. As reduced in requirement changes and claim opportunities, clients
litigation cost and effort will be reduced.

iii. According to Stanford University Centre for Integrated Facilities
Engineering (CIFE) surveyed that BIM helped to attain savings of up to
10% of the contract value through clash detections. Noted that the figures
for local context may be explored in future study.





34

Sustainable Engineering Solution

iv. Promote sustainability goals with a robust platform for analysis. Using a
BIM model and simulation program to carry out full energy consumption
analysis in 3D in short lead time compared with long lead time in
traditional 2D modelling.

Streamlined Procurement

v. Facilitate cross-projects bulk purchasing and material inventory control.


c. Better Quality and Integration

Interdisciplinary Coordination

i. Offer potential for significant improvement in interdisciplinary coordination,
leading to reduction in errors, and fewer coordination-based changes
during construction. According to Stanford University Centre for
Integrated Facilities Engineering (CIFE) surveyed that BIM helped to
eliminate 40% of unbudgeted change. Noted that the figures for local
context may be explored in future study.

ii. New relationship models enable to work across and manage all the
interfaces which characterise infrastructure programmes and projects.
Multiple interfaces are the basis for the inefficiency. BIM offers the real
possibility of an approach that encourages cooperation across boundaries,
and indeed the potential to remove boundaries altogether.

iii. Facilitate complex architecture because of a seamless connection
between design and fabrication, expediting the manufacturing and/ or
fabrication of engineered structure components.






35
Providing Assurance

iv. As a project moves into the construction phase the richness of information
contained within the 3D model will improve the contractors ability to
understand and resolve details. It will also enable Engineer to check the
works against specification and validate any anomalies. The integrated
single model enables continuous review and testing of the design for
constructability, and potentially for maintenance and operation of the
asset.

v. Project proposals can be rigorously analyzed, simulations can be
performed quickly and performance can be benchmarked, enabling
improved and innovative solutions. It is essentially pre-built the project,
allowing problems to be resolved as found throughout the design.

vi. Consistent requirement, design, construction and operational information
can be used throughout infrastructure lifecycle.


d. Improvement of Public Understanding to a Proposal

i. Significantly improve project teams ability to elaborate their design, for
example: aesthetic, air flow impact, visual impact, traffic impact, sunlight
and shadow, etc, and construction intentions to stakeholders and the
public. Proposals can be better understood by laymen through accurate
visualization.


e. Better Management Control and Reduce Project Risk

Project Management

i. The use of BIM in the design phases makes it possible to monitor
requirement change and design change during the design process.

ii. BIM systems have capability of producing schedule of quantities and
enabling the construction sequence to be simulated to prior to
construction. This capability would suggest that cost management, cash

36
flow management, and programming activities can be readily brought into
management control.

iii. It is a challenging construction process for the whole project with multiple
interfaces of many disciplines and project interface. BIM can help each
party to better understand the built environment and facilitate clash
resolution among the works of different parties before the actual
commencement of the construction works.

iv. BIM provides previews of the site planning, construction works,
development of method statement and to enhance the understanding of
construction safety issues that may arise.

Cost Management

v. Quantities of materials are automatically calculated by the model, giving
visibility to the cost impact of design changes.

vi. Performance is more predictable, lifecycle costs are better understood.

vii. According to Stanford University Centre for Integrated Facilities
Engineering (CIFE) surveyed that BIM helped to improve cost estimation
accuracy within 3% and reduce 80% time taken to generate cost estimate.
Noted that the figures for local context may be explored in future study.


f. Public Client Initiatives

It is generally considered that there should be a clear government policy to
encourage the use of BIM because it is believed that strong public interest and
funding can drive the private interest and funding in the same field. Public clients
should be early adapters and set proper demands in the market to drive the
implementation and development of the smart technology forward. Public
authorities must follow up with significant funding to ensure the proper long term
development and implementation speed. A free market approach may not
suffice to ensure the necessary open standards based foundation. Once
sufficient demand in the market is created by the use of public funding, a free
market approach is desired for sustainable development of BIM.

37

According to the experience of Hong Kong Housing Authority and MTRC, as
public body clients, BIM helps them:

i. provide multi-dimension picture and timely information of construction
project;

ii. allow test on model and quickly generate options for better decision
making in respect of time, cost, process, risk, etc. during the planning
and design phase to avoid site problems;

iii. detect upstream design fault (especially clashes) and minimise design
change downstream;

iv. better site safety management, risk management and safety
education;

v. better financial risk management and minimise financial claims due to
variation and delay;

vi. bring all relevant disciplines and participants in construction supply
chain at early design stage at which facilitates coordinated design;

vii. facilitate third party and even public engagement by improving
communication with visual assessment at planning and design stage.

Public Client responsible for small civil engineering works and small scale building
projects can also be benefited from the BIM with respect to:

- provide accurate 3D coordinates;
- strong repository of construction information for future retrieval;
- improve site safety;
- improve construction sequence and method;
- facilitate decision making and accurate information so as to reduce design
change, rework and wastage, and contractors claim;
- reduce information loss during handover from designer to contractor;
- facilitate consistent and standardised information exchange,
inter-organisational communication and team collaboration which could
minimise human mistakes;
- etc.

because the use of BIM does not depend on construction project nature but
depends on:



38
- project planning approach;
- risk management approach;
- project coordination approach;
- communication approach across disciplines and along construction supply
chain.


g. Private Client Initiatives

Clients are in a good position to bring together all the parties involved. All
consultants and contractors have the desire to do a better job for their clients and
establish a good reputation within the industry. BIM has brought significant value
in all phases of the project lifecycle, especially after project handover further
advantages can be gained. The clients will be given robust operations and
maintenance tools for their long-term facilitys needs. It is believed that BIM
could bring the following business benefits to clients:

i. BIM will become the vital link between asset creation and asset management,
driving efficiencies throughout the lifecycle to better use resources for critical
infrastructure needs.

ii. Optimal asset performance through early virtual prototyping, simulation and
the use of fed-back in use data aiming at reducing asset operation costs.

iii. Better business outcomes through early collaborative decision making
through clearer link between design decisions and cost implications.

iv. Increase predictability of performance through more detailed asset and
lifecycle planning.

v. Increase surety of investment and decision making through reducing the
need of reviewing different set of data for different stage of the project and
improve visualization with respect to clarity, confidence and risking
management.

vi. Reduce capital cost of asset (e.g. reduced overall review cycle, better
construction project outcome, etc) by reduction of waste in construction
process.

39

vii. The one-stop-shop approach in construction projects adopted by some
private clients may easily experience the benefit of using BIM.


40

8. Challenges for the Adoption of BIM


Challenges for the adoption of BIM are summarized as below:

a. Standard and Protocol

The power of BIM is the ability to communicate across the entire lifecycle of an
infrastructure (from conception to project to decade of use for asset management),
a standard is essential to facilitate the application of BIM througout the lifecycle.
However, there is:

i. Lack of common standard and protocol for data interoperability and data
management for which BIM models can be efficiently shared between
different disciplines in a project;

ii. Lack of capacity to ensure that all disciplines in a project are working from
the same data on the basis of the same standard, requirement, and
protocol.


b. Contract Requirement and Submission Requirement

Conventional contractual forms clearly define and allocate responsibility and risks
among contracting parties. For the adoption of BIM, changes may be needed to
reflect shared responsibilities in (a) generating information; and (b) aligning duties.
However, there is:

i. Lack of suitable or new form of contract to steer the collaborative use of
BIM along the construction supply chain within same construction
projects;

ii. Lack of suitable or new form of contract to steer the collaborative use of
BIM to bridge the gap between asset creation and asset management;

iii. Authority concerned is yet to accept submission of building plans in BIM
format/ presentation.


41

c. System Compatibility and Exchange

i. Existing BIM software does not support direct and straight forward cross
platform data exchange but works as stand-alone application.

ii. No regime and solution for common data environment.


d. Change of Culture and Mindset

Change for New Working Style

i. Participants may not be able to observe the value of collaborative working
together on a project and may not accept the importance of collaboration
of different parties in the same project through the project period.

ii. In general, current BIM application in Hong Kong seems to focus the BIM
application on design documentation, rather than changing the mindset to
trigger new design and construction solutions by BIM.

iii. There are individual government departments, developers and building
owners moving forward to the mindset change to their organisation and
project teams for a collaborative approach; whereas, it is expected that it
needs years to achieve. The change programme has still been on-going
in Hong Kong Housing Authority since 2006.

Discipline Value Change

iv. Participants may worry that their discipline may lose their value in
construction project. Instead, BIM may help participants carry out labour
intensive works (e.g. CAD drafting, quantity measurement); meanwhile
participants may focus on their value-added works with the help of BIM.

v. A framework to re-assign the roles and responsibilities of individual parties
through the construction supply chain for the adoption of BIM is therefore
necessary.


42

e. Change of Collaboration, Work Sequence and Procurement Model

New Work Sequence and New Work Mode

i. BIM model lives throughout the life cycle of a building; it can serve the
needs of multiple participants, at different times, and each with different
needs. It is very different from current practice, where documentation is
actually shared in printed form, and many details are replicated as
information passes through these different participants from design to
construction to facility management.

ii. The working process and the role of each participant in future environment
where BIM is fully integrated in all the relevant process will be different
from current practices.

Procurement and Change of Involvement

iii. BIM encourages a process where different participants have to do more
work during the early stage of the projects. In other words, different
participants in supply chain have to be engaged at early stage of the
projects. However, the current procurement practice does not support
engaging different participants at early stage.

iv. BIM may change the traditional definition of the design and construction,
and the sequence of involvement of different participants of a construction
project. Because of increased ability to share information over time,
traditional barriers will decline. The existing expertise, e.g. a structural
engineer or a construction manage, will still be required, but the nature of
their participation may be different with the use of BIM.









43

f. Legal, Rights and Insurance

Legal and Rights

i. The basis for a legal standard of care may evolve. Concern is given to
whether participants liability exposure for errors and omissions being
increased, and whether the fees and contracts properly reflecting this, and
whether participants even wishing to take this on.

ii. There is in lack of relevant contract terms and legal standards to reflect
the changes in data ownership, information confidentiality, risk allocation,
and procurement practices.

Insurance and Responsibility

iii. Projects that use BIM, the responsibility lines blur and thus it is hard to
adjust policies of the various participants of a project. The adoption of
BIM in project creates uncertainty in the financial risks from the view point
of the insurance industry. Without a clear delineation of responsibilities,
insurers may be hesitant to assume such imprecise exposure.


g. Investment, Time Cost and Effort

The use of BIM requires more initial investment cost such as staff time spent,
hardware and software investment, cost for training which are new costs in
management and administration processes. Although these new costs may be
more than offset by efficiency and schedule gains, they are still a cost that some
or all parties within the project team will have to bear.









44

h. Data Accuracy and Accountability

Control Mechanism and Accountability

i. As different parties may provide data input to the BIM model during the life
cycle of a construction project, concern is given to the control on the
accuracy of data entry into the model and to the responsibility of any
inaccuracies in it. Requests for complicated indemnities by BIM users
and the offer of limited warranties and disclaimers of liability by designers
will be essential deliberation points that need to be resolved before BIM
technology is utilized.


ii. The integrated concept of BIM blurs the level of responsibility to the extent
that risk and liability may be increased. Considering the scenario where
the owner of the building files suits over a perceived a design fault. The
architect, engineer and other contributors of the BIM process look to each
other in an effort to try to determine who has responsibility for the matter
raised. The lead professional may be responsible as a matter of law to
the claimant, while having difficulty in proving fault of other parties who
also contribute data to the BIM model.

Data Definition and Technological Interface

iii. As infrastructure elements, cost and schedule are layered into the model,
responsibility for the proper technological interface among various
systems becomes an issue. At present, most of the project management
tools, modelling tools, etc have been developed in isolation. Solution and
responsibility for the accuracy, completeness and coordination of
infrastructure element, cost and schedule data import and export from/ to
these isolated tools and models must be addressed.







45

i. Localisation of System Solution

i. Since most of the BIM system solutions (software) are developed on the
basis of US or European standards; such that, any standards adopted by
the software relating to design aspects have to be reviewed and
customerised to suit Hong Kong practice. However, this process requires
long lead time and needs software vendors commitment and the
industry-wide consent. Otherwise, third party middleware may be
needed to bridge the gap.




46

9. Disciplinary Operational Benefit and Concern

The following table sets out in broad terms how BIM is perceived by various disciplines and participants in the industry.
Regul ator Cl i ent Architect Quantity
Surveyor
Ci vil &
Structural
Engi neer
E&M Engi neer Contractor Manufacturer/
Fabri cator
Facil iti es
Manager
I
n
d
i
v
i
d
u
a
l

D
i
s
c
i
p
l
i
n
e

O
p
e
r
a
t
i
o
n
a
l

B
e
n
e
f
i
t
s


- Set out roadmap
and strategy,
with the
industrys
consent to:

(a) facilitate
greater
efficiency and
effectiveness of
construction
supply chains,

(b) reduce
industrys asset
costs and
achieve greater
operational
efficiency,

(c) assist in the
creation of a
forward-thinking
platform on
which the
industry can
base to achieve
growth.

- Better tool for
coordinated
data across a
broad consultant
and contractor
team.

- Potentially, a
faster and less
expensive
design/
construction
process.

- 3D visualization
to enable
internal and
public
communication.

- A living model
for the central,
adapting library
for facility
management.


- Robust tool for
enhanced client
and team
understanding
of design
options.

- Integrated
platform for
interdisciplinary
coordination,
with much
stronger
potential for
catching
conflicts and
errors before
construction.

- Less rework,
because
everyone can
understand the
design earlier,
costs are known
earlier and
clashes are
detected earlier.


- Reduce time
spending on
measurement
&
quantification.

- Speed up cost
estimate, BQ,
taking off.

- Remove
inaccuracies
that creep into
human
measurement.

- Opportunity to
offer higher
value service &
more creative
service


- Visualization
tool enabling
earlier
collaboration
with architect.

- Significant
capabilities
and tools for
inter-disciplinar
y coordination.

- BIM model
forms basis of
analytical
programs,
speeding the
design
feedback
process.


- Visualization
tool enabling
earlier
collaboration
with architect.

- Significant
capabilities and
tools for
inter-disciplinary
coordination.

- Ability to
integrate
mechanical
systems and
maintenance
data.

- BIM model
forms basis of
analytical
programs such
as energy
studies,
speeding the
design feedback
process.



Main Contractor
- Ability to inherit
usable data which
can be sorted as
desired, and used for
quantity surveys,
estimates, project
management/ cost
records, etc.

- Platform for 4D
modelling,
construction
scheduling, and
constructability
analysis.

- Visualization tool for
subcontractor
marketing, bid
packaging, and
coordination.
Subcontractor
More usable
information during
bidding, transferable to
preparation of bids and
work planning.

- Ability to
integrate
existing data
with
manufacturin
g/ fabrication
technology,
saving
significant
data creation/
input effort.

- Platform for
4D
modelling,
construction
scheduling,
and
constructabili
ty analysis.


- Construction
ends with
true livingas
built.

- BIM model
becomes facility
management
database and
management
tool. Flexible
and changeable
over time.

- A living, more
accurate tool for
(i) code
compliance
checking; (ii)
asset
management;
(iii) capital cost
projections; (iv)
square footage
and space data.


47

Regul ator Cl i ent Architect Quantity
Surveyor
Ci vil &
Structural
Engi neer
E&M Engi neer Contractor Manufacturer/
Fabri cator
Facil iti es
Manager
I
n
d
i
v
i
d
u
a
l

D
i
s
c
i
p
l
i
n
e

O
p
e
r
a
t
i
o
n
a
l

C
o
n
c
e
r
n


- Can BIM truly
provide benefits
to the industry?

- What to achieve
through BIM?

- Will the software
development
obstruct the
development of
the construction
industry?

- Any proprietary
problem? arise
unfair play?
disrupt
competition?

- Will Hong Kong
AEC lose
competitive over
the global
competitors if no
BIM skillset?

- What to
complement the
industrys
expectation and
needs?


- Can the efficiencies
of BIM truly provide
budget and cost
control?

- Will the data be
maintained and
remain at high
quality? Was it
100% accurate to
begin with?

- Will my
consultants, and
then my in-house
staff, know hot to
use and apply the
technology?

- How can the BIM
model be used
within the clients
organization for
other activities,
such as workflow/
activity modelling in
the built spaces?


- Will yet more
project control
ceded to other
disciplines,
particularly
contractor?

- How are
traditional
contract
documents
coordinated and
produced?

- Using BIM to its
advantage
requires more
effort in early
stages. Will
this be paid, and
it so how?

- How does the
architect
manage
efficiently so
many additional
collaborators in
earliest design
phases?


- What & how
to develop
skill &
process
needed to
integrate BIM
& QA
process?

- Is there
method &
standard for
model
development
that requiring
sufficient
level of
details?

- Can model
be configured
to
construction
method for
which derives
meaningful
BQ?

- How to filter
model data
that they
comply with
rules?

- Will the
software
programs be
truly
interoperable,
allowing the
link for
analytical and
calculation
tools to be
seamless?

- Will the extra
effort required
in early stages
be
compensated?

- If structural
BIM data is
transferred to
manufacturers
and
fabricators,
what are the
contractual,
risk, and
compensation
effects?


- With the
migration of
data
responsibility
to contractor
will engineers
end up working
for the
contractors?

- Will the
software
programs be
truly
interoperable,
allowing the
link for
analytical and
calculation
tools to be
seamless?

- Will the extra
effort required
in early stages
be
compensated?



- Will the contractor be
able to obtain the
model data in a
usable format as a
basis for further
development (shop
drawings, etc)?

- What are the risks of
owning the data, and
will the contractor be
paid appropriately,
especially given the
inheritingof data
from the architect
and engineering
team and passing it
on to the facility
management team?



- Will
fabricators be
able to obtain
the model
data in
usable format
as a basis for
further
development,
especially
given actual
and potential
legal barriers
during the
bidding and
construction
phases?



- Will the facility
management
team inherit a
model that truly
reflects as-builts
and will they be
able to keep the
model updated?

- How adaptable
will the model be
in future years
as the model
must
incorporate
renovations,
maintenance,
etc? Will this be
expensive?


Source: BIM: A Marketing Primer and Call to Action

48

10. The Roadmap and Strategic Implementation Plan


The successful implementation of BIM requires attention to two key areas: the BIM
data model; and the BIM working processes. With a view to the value, benefit, issue
and concern, following initiatives are suggested for the successful implementation of
BIM. The timeline of the initiatives is intentionally not incorporated into this version of
the Study Report. The timeline could only be set out after industrys wide
understanding of the BIM.

A. Collaboration

Initiative No: A.1
Perspective: Collaboration
Initiative: To setup industry recognised co-ordinating body to foster collaboration
locally and internationally.
Activity: - Act as central body for leading change, facilitate the implementation
work and communication strategy.

- Promote the adoption of BIM throughout the construction supply chain
in Hong Kong.

- Realise the industrys expectation and requirement of BIM practitioners
and initiate curriculum change in academic institute to build up
industrys BIM capability.

- Foster local collaboration across industry bodies and institutions in
order to develop and promote the necessary standards, protocols,
practices, legal frameworks, educational programme according to
industry accepted implementation plan, timeline and scale.

- Foster international collaboration on developing a global view of
standards such as best practice/ common practice.

- Integrate and reconcile stakeholders between Design and
Construction (who aim to move faster with the project) and Operation
and Maintenance (who wish to inject more items/ provisions into the
design).

49

- Operate a repository library for showcase, shared document and
standard, best practice, etc. under a single portal.



Initiative No: A.2
Perspective: Collaboration
Initiative: To promote project-wide collaboration along project supply chain
Activity: - Redefine the work process and role of each participant when BIM is
fully integrated in all the relevant process. The reimbursement to job,
role and responsibility changes should also be redefined accordingly.

- Integrated BIM will have impact on contractual and process issues.
Need collaborative efforts to study this impact and suggest solution to
tackle challenges present.



Initiative No: A.3
Perspective: Collaboration
Initiative: To assign a BIM Manager in the project team
Activity: - Consider the need of BIM manager in project who is responsible for
project BIM strategy, develop project BIM execution plan, audit the
BIM, coordinate interdisciplinary BIM, content creation and
maintenance, etc.

- BIM manager to facilitate and develop integration mindset and whole
life-cycle systems mindset to project participants.



50

B. Incentive and Proven Benefit

Initiative No: B.1
Perspective: Incentive and Proven Benefit
Initiative: To promote public and private clients to take the lead
Activity: - Allow top management to understand the benefit brought about by
BIM; and to plan their organisation to get prepared for adoption the
BIM.

- Allocate resources/ engage service to help key organization and
construction firms to kick start BIM.

- Kick start pilot projects (including, at least but not limited to, civil work,
building work, and design and build work) with BIM in all participants of
construction supply chain in whole project lifecycle.

- Provide credits for use of BIM in tendering of public works and
incentives in private sector projects



Initiative No: B.2
Perspective: Incentive and Proven Benefit
Initiative: To build-up a collection of clients initiatives with proven benefit
Activity: - To collect an accurate picture of the clients experience and
expectation on BIM in project and asset management.

- Demonstrate the benefits of adopting BIM quantitatively with respect to
project cost as well as operating cost of an organization.

- To illustrate how BIM can work in a project in terms of standard,
procurement, collaboration, work process, benefit and issues, etc.

- Enable clients ability to define specific BIM requirements and engage
BIM enable team.



51

Initiative No: B.3
Perspective: Incentive and Proven Benefit
Initiative: To render support to small scale companies
Activity: - Encourage the use of BIM by small scale company through the
provision of Government seed funding for the transformation.

- Coordinate with authority to provide subsidized technical training
programme of BIM hand-on skill set.



C. Standard and Common Practice

Initiative No: C.1
Perspective: Standard and Common Practice
Initiative: To establish delivery standard and common practice
Activity: - Build a reference document aiming at providing a unified BIM standard/
methodology/ convention/ required level of details that can easily be
easily adopted to suit different projects with reasonable modification.

- Build a reference document providing guidance on implementation of
BIM (at project level only; whereas it is not expected to use the same
standard across the industry) in a project throughout its project
lifecycle.

- Define family of BIM components and their attributes for quantity
surveying and analysis (but aim not to develop components library
across industry).

- Bridge the Hong Kong standard and common practice with those from
regional practitioners (e.g. Standards from Singapores Building and
Construction Authority).



52

D. Legal and Insurance

Initiative No: D.1
Perspective: Legal and Insurance
Initiative: To review procurement practice and contracts provisions
Activity: - To review current contract agreements, procurement system, scope of
works of each discipline to enable the co-operative mode of BIM
operation can be implemented among different parties of a
construction project.

- To review the Standard Method of Measurements (SMM) to tie in with
the BIM.

- Need to define the extent of BIM data to be included in construction
contract.

- Need appropriate clauses to incorporate BIM data and model into
construction contract.

- Review the procurement practice, approval and payment practice for
work in progress.




Initiative No: D.2
Perspective: Legal and Insurance
Initiative: To review IP right and data ownership
Activity: - Review legal principle of Intellectual Properties (IP) right as it applied
to information held in BIM environment.

- Review data/ information ownership and sharing.

- Review accountability of the use/ update of data/ information.

- Review ownership and usage as well as liability of BIM information
which may affect insurance policy.

53


E. Information Sharing and Handover

Initiative No: E.1
Perspective: Information Sharing and Handover
Initiative: To establish a management framework to facilitate collaborative production
of architectural, engineering and construction information
Activity: - Given single repository (single model) of BIM data for the whole supply
chain of an individual project may not be practical (AEC(UK) BIM
Standard), as each discipline only requires its own BIM model to
deliver its contractual obligation. Instead of a single model for
common use, it is better to set up a common data environment for a
project with respect to BIM data exchange. Information for each
discipline is created in their own Work In Progress area. Once
checked, approved and signed-off, the individual BIM models are
released to the shared area which is accessible by all other parties
participating in the project.

- Suggest mechanism to control and manage the inter-disciplinary
model referencing for common data environment.

- Maintain information/ data (data integrity, up-to-date) is an important
aspect of retaining its value and benefit to users of the information.
Proper data storage, data sharing, access permissions to data and
updating of data should be considered in detail. Guidelines are
needed to help participants maintain and manage data in order to
retain accurate and up-to-date asset records.

- Develop data exchange methodology for all participants along the
construction supply chain to: (a) improve the process of information
retrieval and exchange; (b) enhance the quality and scope of
information delivered by supply chain; (c) raise data integrity.



54

F. Promotion and Education

Initiative No: F.1
Perspective: Promotion and Education
Initiative: To offer institutional support and promotional activities
Activity: - Professional organizations can help the implementation of BIM by
promoting the idea and opportunities to clients.

- Professional organizations can help the implementation of BIM by
promoting the idea and opportunities to their members, and
marshalling their members response to BIM challenge and adoption.

- Forge consensus and support of these organizations for the
development of BIM with a view to soliciting joint endeavour to achieve
further development in industry capacity and capability.

- Concept of BIM should reach top management of clients, who are in
the best position to drive the use of BIM. The benefit of the use of
BIM to their corporate should be well explained.



Initiative No: F.2
Perspective: Promotion and Education
Initiative: To expedite the building up of BIM capacity and capability
Activity: - University/ training institutes to provide sufficient training courses (with
different aspects, like: BIM management, R&D) for various levels in
long run, for example: BIM CPD course, BIM certificate course, BIM
diploma course, etc. They may consider adding BIM course to their
degree courses and diploma courses curriculum.

- Extend BIM training from construction related programmes to other
engineering and computer science programmes.





55
- Design and offer suitable trainings to three types of functions, they are:
(a) BIM model development
(b) BIM model management
(c) use of the built BIM model.

- Offer comprehensive and systematic training courses for new BIM
roles especially BIM Manager and BIM Modellers.

- Initiate train-the-trainer program to cascade the training effort to
individual corporate.

- Sponsor and steer long term research on necessary initiatives.

- Fast track BIM training program for in-service professionals and
management staff to understand the BIM from management side
(instead of technical side).

- In-service professionals should be trained to use BIM directly instead
of leveraging on separate BIM consultants.



Initiative No: F.3
Perspective: Promotion and Education
Initiative: To expedite the building up of capacity and capability to integrate
infrastructure project management and infrastructure asset management
Activity: - University/ training institutes to provide sufficient training courses in
long run. They may consider adding infrastructure project
management and infrastructure asset management course to their
degree courses and diploma courses curriculum.

- Fast track training program for in-service professionals and
management staff to understand the integration from management
side (instead of technical side). For example: cross training and
rotational scheme in helping different teams better understand each
other.



56

G. Sufficient Digital Capability and Vendor Support

Initiative No: G.1
Perspective: Compliant BIM Tool
Initiative: To enable and assure sufficient digital capability and vendor support
Activity: - An integrated BIM depends upon the compatibility of data format, i.e.
ability to merge models from various sources (especially different
brand of BIM systems), efforts to develop open technology (or
middleware) and data format to improve this process is called for.

- Software providers to ensure the standards adopted by the software
relating to design aspects are localized to suit Hong Kong practice.

- Software providers to ensure the modelling capability to facilitate users
of BIM to produce final construction documents within the BIM tool
itself.

- Software providers to facilitate integration between BIM and
downstream system application to fulfil the needs of frontline staff of
facilities management and maintenance.

- Introduce more BIM system provider in Hong Kong so as to provide
more choice of system, promote competition aiming to (a) avoid
hostage by engaged vendor; and (b) quality of service and system.

- Authority concerned to accept submission of building plans in BIM
format. CAD manual may need to be revised.



57

H. Risk Assessment

Initiative No: H.1
Perspective: Audit and Risk Management
Initiative: To adopt strategic risk management for BIM implementation
Activity: - Commission risk assessment to BIM implementation at project level
and corporate level aiming to proactively identify possible areas of
risks and how they can be mitigated individually and collectively to
reduce and marginalize potential problems with the employment of
BIM enabled technologies and collaboration.

- Commission legal service to draft BIM-specific contractual provisions
(avoiding aggressive use of disclaimers, indemnification, non-reliance
clause) that aims to eliminate, limit or manage the risks associated with
BIM.



I. Global Competitiveness

Initiative No: I.1
Perspective: Global Competitiveness
Initiative: To maintain Hong Kong AEC competitiveness among worldwide
competitors equipped with higher productivity and new technology
Activity: - Carry out surveillance on global trend and latest construction
technology; and keep Hong Kong construction industry update;

- Facilitate exchange between international market and Hong Kong
market.


58

11. The Steps Ahead

In order to address the needs of the stakeholders with higher priority for taking forward
the wider adoption of BIM in Hong Kong, the following possible actions are suggested:

No. Major Concern to be Addressed Possible Action

1. Some of the clients do not have
knowledge to define deliverable,
state the expectation, and scope the
requirements of the BIM in their
projects.
Provide industry standard/
specification/ common practice/
reference document to let the industry
to follow. Hong Kong Housing
Authority, MTRC and some developers
may wish to share their standard/
requirement for industrys reference.

2. The use of BIM is mainly driven by
the demand of clients. However,
some major clients have no plan on
adoption of BIM.
Major clients need to familiarise with
BIM and to get prepared for adopting
the BIM.

3. Quite a few of top management of
AEC companies, developers and
some government departments
might not fully understand the nature
of BIM or what benefits could be
brought by BIM.
Promulgate the benefit of BIM and
cultivate understanding of BIM to top
management.


4. The academic needs to know the
following in order to devise suitable
educational programme:

a. the industrys expectation and
requirement of BIM Manager/
Modeller;

b. the role and responsibility of BIM
Manager/ Modeller in work place
or in a construction project.
Initiate curriculum change in academic
institute to build up industrys BIM
capability.

CIC is requested to work closely with
the academic institutes to drive
amendments in the current curricula of
relevant courses.

59


In response to the suggested actions, two key tasks are recommended to be taken
immediately:

(a) To devise a set of standards or specification for the use of BIM in construction
projects to facilitate those users who wish to widen the usage of BIM;

(b) To carry out more promotional activities targeting those industry stakeholders
who are not familiar with the usage and benefit of BIM or who are observers or
beginners for the adoption of BIM.

Accordingly, a task group has been set up to take imminent action to focus on
identifying and steering the preparation of the standards, specifications, common
practices, or reference documents which are essential or beneficial to facilitate the
industry to better adopt BIM. Membership List of the Task Group on Establishment of
Industry Standard is set out at Annex B.

Besides, the CIC can collaborate with the active BIM participants to promote BIM such
as producing publication to disseminate the news about the BIM, to update the working
progress of the industry stakeholders on BIM, to organise events (e.g. seminar/
conference) on BIM and to arrange visits and exchange with overseas BIM
organisations.



60
12. Going Forward


The Report summarises current knowledge and experience shared amongst the
Members of the Working Group in the use of BIM.

While relevant stakeholders are invited to make reference to the initiatives set out
afore-mentioned for follow-up actions as they consider appropriate, further reviews or
discussions on some focused areas or topics with reference to the suggested
initiatives and activities which outline the framework for such review and discussion
can help promote the adoption of BIM in Hong Kong.

Annex A
61


Membership List of the Working Group on Roadmap
for BIM Implementation


Chairperson
Ms. Ada FUNG Hong Kong Housing Authority


Members Representative of:


Mr. Willis AU YEUNG The Hong Kong Federation of Electrical
and Mechanical Contractors

Ir. CHAN Chi Ming Hong Kong Institute of Vocational
Education

Mr. CHEUNG Kwong Wing The Association of Architectural Practices

Mr. Clement CHUNG

The Association of Consulting Engineers of
Hong Kong

Mr. Desmond CHOI Chu Fan Hong Kong General Building Contractors
Association

Ir. Ronan COLLINS British Chamber of Commerce

Mr. Freddie Tuen Tai HAI Hong Kong Institute of Architects

Mr. Simon KWOK Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors
(Land Surveying)

Mr. J ones LAI Highways Department

Mr. LAM Kuen Development Bureau

Mr. Francis LEUNG The Association of Consulting Engineers of
Hong Kong

Prof. Heng LI The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Annex A

62
Members Representative of:


Mr. Stephen J ohn LUMB Hong Kong Construction Association

Mr. David MAK Hong Kong Housing Authority

Ir. NG Chun Keung

Hong Kong Institute of Utility Specialist
Mr. Andrew MEAD/
Mr. Wilfred YEUNG
MTR Corporation


Dr. Steven Shi Fan POON Hong Kong Institution of Engineers

Prof. S.M. ROWLINSON University of Hong Kong
(Department of Real Estate & Construction)

Prof. Marc Aurel SCHNABEL The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Dr. Stewart WAN Hong Kong Institute of Building Information
Modelling

Dr. Wei PAN University of Hong Kong
(Department of Civil Engineering)

Mr. Ronnie WONG Buildings Department

Mr. J oe Kam Fai WU Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors
(Quantity Surveying)

Mr. Raymond WU Architectural Services Department

Mr. David Kai Cheung YAU The Real Estate Developers Association of
Hong Kong

Mr. YIP Yin Yung Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors
(Building Surveying)

Mr. WONG Chi Kwong Hong Kong Institution of Engineers



Annex B
63


Membership List of
the Task Group on Establ ishment of Industry Standard


Members

Representative of:
Mr. David Chi Keung CHAN The Association of Architectural Practices

Mr. Clement CHUNG

The Association of Consulting Engineers
of Hong Kong

Mr. Michael KWOK Hong Kong Institute of Architects

Mr. LAM Kuen

Development Bureau
Mr. Francis LEUNG The Association of Consulting Engineers
of Hong Kong/ Hong Kong Institute of BIM

Mr. David MAK Hong Kong Housing Authority

Mr. J oe Kam Fai WU Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors
(Quantity Surveying)

Mr. Harry WU MTR Corporation

Mr. David Kai Cheung YAU The Real Estate Developers Association
of Hong Kong

Mr. WONG Chi Kwong Hong Kong Institution of Engineers


Convenor and Secretary


CIC Secretariat








64

Annex C

References

AEC (UK) BIM Standard (2009).
AEC (CAN) BIM Protocol (2012).
Australian Institute of Architects, Consult Australia, Autodesk, BIM In Australia
(2010).
BIM User Guide for Development and Construction Division of Hong Kong
Housing Authority (2009).
Cabinet Office, Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, UK Government
(2011), BIM: The UK Government Value Proposition.
Center for Integrated Facility Engineering, Stanford University (2008),
Applications of BIM and Hurdles for Widespread Adoption of BIM.
Center for Infrastructure and Construction Industry Development (2012) RIVANS
for TAM Workshop.
CRC Construction Innovation (2007), Business Drivers for BIM.
David Matthews (2011), Rise of the Machines: BIM and QSs.
Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, UK Government (2011), A Report
for the Government Construction Client Group BIM Working Party Strategy
Paper.
The Government of the United Kingdom (2012), Industrial Strategy: Government
and Industry in Partnership.
Hang Li, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2011), Challenges of Using
Virtual Construction to Improve Productivity.
Howard W. Ashcraft, J r. Esquire Implementing BIM: A Report from the Field on
Issues and Strategies. The 47
th
Annual Meeting of Invited Attorneys.
McGraw Hill Construction (2012), The Business Value of BIM for Infrastructure.
National Institute of Building Sciences (2007), National Building Information
Standard.Salman Azhar, Michael Hein and Blake Sketo (2007) BIM: Benefit,
Risks and Challenges.
Singapore Building and Construction Authority (2011), BCA BIM Roadmap
Ted Sive and Matt Hays (2007) BIM: A Marketing Primer and Call to Action.
http://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk (2011), BIM? Never Heard of it.
http://www.bimtaskgroup.org


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