The project will challenge the presumption that there is no use for BIM data in housing after construction.
Software specialist Xbim and property logbook supplier Chimni have been awarded an InnovateUK grant for a ground breaking project to rethink the use of building information modelling (BIM) in house-building.
The project – prompted by concerns about the low take up of BIM in house-building – will examine ways to turn the construction data created during the building process into useful information and services for homeowners.
Chimni managing director Nigel Walley said: “Our project makes the case that the homeowner should be viewed as a 'facilities manager' and could use the data if made available to them in consumer friendly ways.”
The project therefore intends to subvert the normal process of BIM model creation and start with consumer research into the homeowner. Nigel Walley said: “We will look at activity around DIY, maintenance, operation and upkeep of a range of property types and examine where this can be supported with better data from construction or refit.”
The project will create a series of user cases with accompanying data models that can be incorporated into an asset information model.
Xbim director Andy Ward said: “Creating a homeowner-friendly way to expand the uses of BIM data has to benefit the whole of the new-build and retrofit housing industries. Linking BIM data to consumer friendly web apps like property logbooks means we can expand the potential of the OpenBIM approach and dramatically increase the ways in which BIM data can be shared amongst users.“
The aim is to produce case studies and recommendations for data creation in new build and retrofit housing.
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