Recent surveysof members of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) have assessedthe industry’s readiness for implementing BIM.Current(2019-20)results have been relatively patchy. Many civil engineering companies are currently on-track to achieve government-set BIM targets. However, other firms are still lacking in having any detailed knowledge to deliver a BIM-related project.Given this, the Director of a civil engineering company that is currently lacking in BIM wants to now take action to address this.
I am the Director of that company, involved in both design/consultancy and build/contracting aspects of civil engineering. Here,I want to commission you, to provide me with a short Position Paper on BIM, highlighting why this is so important to my business; effectively to convince me to invest in BIM.Please Note:This is the sort of task that graduates are typically asked to undertake in companies.Structure ofthe Part 1 CourseworkYou must:
1.Prepare me a document 6pages in length, to follow the structure and style of the following two ‘sample’TEMPLATE management information papers, in VITAL with this Briefing Sheet:•‘Leveraging the Relationship between BIMand Asset Management’(prepared by the ICE);•‘BIM for Zero Harm’(prepared by Balfour Beatty Construction).
2.Provide a Context section to your document (as introduction), referring to the brief you have been set(please see above), and also providing an overview of BIM in the built environment.
3.Ensure that the majority of the document communicates evidence / information that will answer the ‘What’, the ‘Who’, the ‘When, the ‘Where’, the ‘Why’and the ‘How’ questionsassociated with the title of the paper.In this you must communicate your:•Understanding of what is BIM, its origins, its main functions, etc.
•Appreciation of the multiple uses (by who, when, where) of BIM within construction; simply not giving limited examples, but instead highlighting practical industry applications.
•Consideration of the reasons why BIMhas become important for civil engineering (i.e. its impact on the industry), and also what drivers / influences are bringing about this change (i.e. its wider adoption) across the built environment profession.
•Understanding of how BIM can be implementedin a construction company, thus showing an appreciation of Principles to be aware of when adopting this into the organisation.
•Exploration of the advantages of implementing BIM, so as to convince the reader (i.e. me, as Director of the civil engineeringcompany) of the potential Benefitsof their investment.
•Acknowledgement that there will be disadvantages to implementing BIM, and so you must not be naïve by only addressing benefits. Instead, you must indicate Barriers / Challenges.
34.Conclude your document with a summary set of possible Recommendations–these as realistic and convincing actions for me to take as leader (Director) of the company.
5.Use a reasonable set of references in your document. Remember:You have not been asked toput together afull academic article. Instead, you are writing a Position Paper (i.e. a briefing document),to convince a senior member of a civil engineering company that investing in BIM will be beneficial to their business; now and in the future.So, it will be useful to have only a few KEY up-to-date references from varied sources, these from more of a government-related or professional / industry perspectiverather than being highly academic.
For this Part 1 of the coursework, you will have to make amajor choiceto allow you to answer the question insufficient detail. You can either focus on BIM implementation across the whole civil engineering project lifecycle, or you can communicate about BIM in any area of consultancy or contracting in which youhave an interest or experience. This is free for you to choose; but the available marks will be the same no matter what you decide to choose.
You can also include a number of images or graphics, to reinforce the main messages being communicated in sections of your document, as well as to enhance its appeal, readabilityand presentation style.To confirm–The maximum length of this Part 1 coursework document is 6pages in total.(Please seek to use all 6 pages to make a convincing case in your Position Paper).
Additional Guidance on VITALTo guide you further –beyond the 2 ‘sample’ management information papersprovided on VITAL(‘Leveraging the Relationship between BIM and Asset Management’ and ‘BIM for Zero Harm’)–also included are SAMPLEstudent coursework submissionssimilar to your task here.
These are categorised into a ‘GOOD’, ‘MODERATE’ and ‘MODERATE-POOR’ submission, to help you gauge the standard of submission required for this Part 1 of the coursework.Also, there are is a set of BACKGROUND LITERATURE.
For these you can gain an overview of relevant information from simply reading the Introduction and Conclusion sections of each paper; and ignoring a lot of the detailed methodology and results that make up these p
