1. Recognise and critically appraise the role of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in collaborative built environment processes and practices.
Assessment title: Business Report
Assessment task details and instructions
Across the international construction sector there continues to be momentum to transform. This is often driven by the Government’s commitment to facilitate digital information delivery enabled through Building Information Modelling (BIM) on public procured projects to derive better outcomes from their built assets. This commitment to working with the industry in facilitating the transformation has led to the provision of a set of supporting standards, protocols, classification system, documentation, etc.; defined in the BIM mandate of the UK for example, which are now beginning to be developed for the international market.
In this context, this assessment has two options, which you are required to read through both before deciding on one of the options:
Option 1
You have been appointed by a Government Department as a project management consultant for the procurement of a new project. The design and construction consultants (architects, engineers, contractors etc.) for the project have not yet been appointed. You may choose any project type that is normally procured by a Government. For reference, a list of the UK Government Departments and what they do is available at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations. As part of your role, you have been asked to define the BIM related documents and amendments to existing documentation that would be necessary to manage and control this project in line with the Government’s current BIM recommendations. You should consider the standards, protocols, documentation, etc. necessary and explain their purpose, contents and requirements specifically to the delivery of the project in line with their requirements.
Content lists of major BIM documents should be provided as an Appendix to demonstrate your understanding of the purpose of these documents and the categories of information and decisions necessary to complete them. You should also provide a flowchart of the sequence of the documents and the interactions required in support of your discussion – 25% of the marks will be related to the flowchart provided.
Option 2
You have been appointed to review one of a private organisation’s existing projects against the current standards. This maybe a project you have worked on or have access to information on. You are required to indicate what has been instigated to meet the BIM requirements and where the project falls short with complying to the requirements. You should consider the standards, protocols, documentation, etc. necessary and explain their purpose, contents and requirements specifically to the delivery of the project in line with that defined by local BIM requirements.
A list of the relevant BIM documents with a brief description should be provided as an Appendix to demonstrate your understanding of the purpose of these documents and the categories of information and decisions necessary to complete them. You should also provide a flowchart of the sequence of the documents and the interactions required in support of your discussion – 25% of the marks will be related to the flowchart provided.
Assessed intended learning outcomes On successful completion of this assessment, you will be able to:
Knowledge and Understanding
1. Recognise and critically appraise the role of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in collaborative built environment processes and practices.
2. Interpret benefits in adopting BIM in projects and critically appraise the deployment of BIM on the collaborative project level.
3. Critically describe how BIM supports collaboration and sustainability during integrated construction processes.
Practical, Professional or Subject Specific Skills
1. Understand your role on a collaborative BIM project.
2. Demonstrate critical awareness of the key theories, principles and concepts of BIM and the digital built environment to deliver whole life value.
3. Demonstrate a high level competence in the critical appraisal of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in relation to delivering whole life value of the digital built environment.
Transferable Skills and other Attributes
1. A high standard of appreciation and understanding of collaborative BIM and produce new solutions to project problems.
2. A high level of competence in the critical appraisal and methodological ramifications of collaborative BIM.
3. A high level of independent research, design and problem solving skills.
4. A competence in applying theoretical and methodological concepts in integrated design projects.
5. Self-management and learning to analyse own personal strengths and weaknesses and formulating strategies for improvement.
Module Aims
The aims of this module are:
1. To develop a critical awareness of how BIM affects different roles on a sustainable collaborative project.
2. To provide a systematic and critical understanding of data structures and standards, to inform data exchange needs in different use cases.
3. To provide a systematic and critical understanding of various technological tools to facilitate the construction of sustainable buildings including communication with all project stakeholders.
Word count/ duration (if applicable) Your assessment should not exceed 3000 words and represent appropriately up to 40 hours of research application and writing. Only the first 3000 words (as defined above) will be marked. Any words you write in excess of this word count will be ignored.
