How does BIM Certification add value to your business?
Daryn Fitz
Building Information Modelling (BIM) has long shaken off any ‘nice to have’ connotations it may have carried for the cynics. It’s now core and central to projects across the construction sector and increasingly—and rapidly—high on clients’ agendas. As this happens, your BIM ‘credentials’ will be of particular interest to clients, as well as to other companies you will be working alongside. How you present and validate your capabilities and credentials will come under scrutiny. This is where BIM Certification comes in.
As architects, engineers and construction professionals accelerate their own shifts into the digital world, how data is managed—and digital tools deployed to deliver greater speed, accuracy, insight, and collaboration—requires consistency. Information siloes are no longer fit for the task in an industry where past, present, and future connect more and more through a digital thread.
Adherence to standard method and procedures as well as industry standards, essential in any BIM adoption and implementation strategy, make this consistency possible between AEC companies and their clients, and between the extensive value chain that comes into play in construction projects within both the public and the private sector. BIM Certification provides a clear message that you can participate confidently and competently in this virtual space; and it does a whole lot more.
Continuous improvement: the benefits of BIM Certification
BIM Certification is a mechanism for quality assurance, showing your clients that you have effectively done their ‘due diligence’ for them. Furthermore, by being certified, you will be subject to independent annual audits undertaken by the certifying body. Your business therefore is regularly proved roadworthy.
So, it’s not just about ticking boxes; it’s about embracing continuous improvement into the heart of how you run your business. Take this a step further and it’s your entry ticket to the digital club. Without it, there’s a chance you might not get in.
By becoming BIM Accredited, it means that you gain:
- Quality assurance — Demonstration that your organisation works to the core standards, principles, concepts, and management workflows of ISO 19650-2; that your processes are controlled and managed in the way that clients increasingly expect.
- Competitive advantage — Marketing your proven BIM capabilities will enable you to raise your organisation’s profile and appeal to a wider client base.
- Enhanced efficiencies — Detailed planning and collaborative communication will increase the productivity of your teams, enable you to deliver faster, and more accurately assess potential risks and issues that may arise both when bidding for and when delivering projects. As a result, you will also be able to reduce costs and improve safety by avoiding rework.
The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is currently reviewing the requirements and steps involved in BIM Certification and has stated: “Due to the fact that ISO 19650-2 does not constitute a certification scheme as defined by ISO/IEC 17065, it will be necessary for accredited Certification Bodies to have developed a ‘process’ certification scheme that satisfies these requirements and this will be evaluated as part of the assessment” . It is working with three independent certification bodies and intends to release the new scheme early in 2022. Symetri works in partnership with Lloyd's Register Inspection Services in the delivery of the ISO 19650-2 Accreditation process (formerly known as BIM Level 2 Certification). Lloyds is one of the three bodies involved in the UKAS process. You can find more detail on this here.
BIM Certification is evolving
Having explained why BIM Certification adds value to your business, in my next blog I’ll outline the essential steps to gaining it. Be ready to delve into every aspect of your processes with the goal of coming out the other side in the knowledge that, when your clients do the same, you’ll have left nothing to chance.
You can also book a free 30-minute appointment with one of our BIM Consulting experts to discuss your specific requirements or just to find out a little more about how we can speed up your BIM Certification journey:
