Rebooting EUBTG – General Assembly Meeting 1st March 2023

On March 1st 2023 the EU BIM Task Group held a General Assembly meeting on-line to update its strategy and action plan.

The digital construction landscape in Europe was very different when the EUBTG was founded about 7 years ago. Since then a lot of good standards have emerged and the European Commission has launched several initiatives to support the green & digital transition in construction. The main questions raised during the meeting were related to the mission and vision of the EUBTG, the role of public clients in digital transformation, the use of BIM in public procurements and life cycle management, stakeholder involvement, the organization of workshops and events, the membership of the task group, and the financing of activities. There were also discussions about the need for transparency and openness in the group, the involvement of experts from outside the public sector, and the topics to be discussed in future meetings.

Key takeaways from the GA meeting:

  • The EUBTG aims to work together to improve policies and standards, connect public clients, and provide advice and support to public procurers in different countries.
  • The EUBTG is a technical advisor and expert group for the European Commission, with a vision for smart European public clients who save resources, make data-based decisions, and contribute to EU policy.
  • The mission of the EUBTG is to support public clients responsible for the built environment to implement digital transformation in practice.
  • Three workshops are planned for 2023 in different countries, covering openBIM procurement practice, implementation of BIM at the organizational level, and common data environments (CDE).
  • Preparations will be started to organize a public clients BIM conference by the end of 2023.
  • The new vision, mission and GA members list will be published on the eubim.eu website.

The recording of the GA meeting can be viewed on YouTube:

 

EUBTG General Assembly Dec-2022

On December 7th 2022 the EU BIM Task Group held it’s annual General Assembly meeting on-line which was attended by 32 people representing 20 countries.

The meeting was moderated by Souheil Soubra and opened with an introduction from Mrs Katharina KNAPTON-VIERLICH, Head of Construction Unit at DG-GROW.  Ilektra Papadaki and Pieter Staelens from DG GROW presented some of the European Commission initiatives supporting the digital transition of the construction industry. 11 members also presented their national perspectives regarding BIM/Digitalisation. During the meeting the EUBTG also elected a new management team consisting of Jaan Saar (Chair), Milena Feustel (Deputy chair) and Jaroslav Nechyba (Deputy chair).

Watch the recording of the meeting on our YouTube channel:

Agenda:

  1. 10:00-10:05 Welcome and introduction by Souheil Soubra, chair of the EU BIM Task Group
  2. 10:05-10:15 Introduction by the Head of Construction Unit at DG-GROW Mrs Katharina KNAPTON-VIERLICH
  3. 10:15-10:30 Appointment of the Chair and Deputy chairs. Process for new Steering Committee
  4. 10:30-11:00 Presentation by Ilektra Papadaki & Pieter Staelens (DG GROW) of the HLCF and the transition pathway along with logbooks and upcoming workstream on BIM and digital building permits (download PDF).
  5. 11:00-11:45 Presentation of national perspectives regarding BIM/Digitalisation
  6. 11:45-12:00 Suggestions for 2023 actions and AOB
    Participation to the BIM Global Network

Detailed recap of the GA meeting

1) Welcome and introduction by Souheil Soubra, chair of the EU BIM Task Group

Souheil Soubra welcomes the participants by explaining that the General Assembly (GA) is held online this year again, but it will probably be held in person next year.

He then presents the agenda which was adopted.

After acceptance of the participants, it was decided to record the GA so that the recording can be made public.

2) Introduction by the Head of Construction Unit at DG-GROW Mrs Katharina KNAPTON-VIERLICH

The introduction is then made by Mrs Katharina Knapton-Vierlich who has been appointed new head of the construction unit at DG-GROW recently. She explains that she has met several members of the EU BIM Task Group (EUBTG) in Prague, at the beginning of November and she has been impressed by the implication and the work already done by the group. She was before in charge of the Public Procurement’s unit in DG GROW. She notes that both construction and procurement struggle with digitalisation. Several projects have been launched in the procurement area by including BIM as digitalisation is a mean to several ends, including transparency, cooperation, calculation, etc. The exchange of views and projects made possible by the EUBTG, is very important, as the public sector needs to learn by example. In this way, the European Commission (EC) assists the public sector by putting in place training sessions, supporting the development of national strategies in several Member States (Spain, Estonia, Poland, etc.). She stresses that the EC will continue to support the Member States (MS). As an example, a webinar on the Public Buyers club was held yesterday and the initiative will be launched in February.

She finishes her speech by thanking the current chair and wishing good luck to the new team that will be appointed. She concluded by saying that the EUBTG is a privileged partner in developing strategies in digitalisation of construction and it can count on the collaboration and cooperation of her team.

Souheil Soubra thanks Katharina Knapton-Vierlich for her promising speech, the involvement of DG-GROW and her kind words about the group.

3) Appointment of the Chair and Deputy chairs. Process for new Steering Committee

Souheil Soubra reminds the participants that he has been acting as chair for four years. Knowing that the term of office of the Chair and the Deputy Chairs is two years and the term can be renewed only once, it means that he needs to step down and the group needs to appoint a new Chair and 2 vice chairs.

The Steering committee discussed this issue and have a proposition to make to the GA. After some discussions, Jaan Saar agreed to act as chair and Milena Feustel and Jaroslav Nechyba agreed to act as vice-chairs. Souheil Soubra says that he personally vouches for this option that will allow the EU BIM TG to have a great team as chairs.

The proposition is approved by the GA and by unanimity.

Ksenija Marc, Liana Anagnostaki and Pietro Baratono thank Souheil Soubra for his great implication.

Jaan Saar thanks Souheil Soubra for being chair for four years in difficult times. He also thanks everyone for the support for the new team. He is sure that it will be a team effort with Milena Feustel and Jaroslav Nechyba. They aim to reset the EUBTG and be able to meet in person again.

He finds that the EUBTG roadmap is a good document, but it was done a while ago and needs to be revisited as new actions have been launched at European level such as the Public Buyers club that could overstep the EUBTG actions.

Milena Feustel and Jaroslav Nechyba fully support the idea to give opportunity to new members who have time to be active in the SC and looking forward to many applications, as the EUBTG has to find ways to be more involved in actions launched notably by the DG GROW, which is one of the main partners.

According to Jaan Saar, the new application process to the SC will be put in place shortly in order to have motivated people involved who have time to contribute to the actions of the group. He recalls that it is a voluntary group up to now and it is difficult to ask to be active. That is why it is important to know what the members are doing in their daily work and see how it could be aligned with the EUBTG work. The precise process will be known very soon, and a form will be sent shortly after. An extraordinary GA will be held at the beginning of next year hopefully in person to endorse it.

4) Presentation by Ilektra Papadaki & Pieter Staelens (DG GROW) of the HLCF and the transition pathway along with logbooks and upcoming work stream on BIM and digital building permits.

Download presentation PDF.

Ilektra Papadaki congratulates the new Chairs and looks forward to continuing the great collaboration.

She then presents the construction transition pathway. Fourteen industrial ecosystems, which go beyond the concept of sector, have been defined in order to take into account more partners. The construction ecosystem is the second one in terms of size.

DG GROW is in charge of speaking with the industry through different initiatives such as a communication platform for example. It is very open to discussion and welcomes everyone involved in construction.

The construction transition pathway is a novelty. Scenarios were published last year in December followed by an important number of thematic meetings this year based on the stakeholders’ needs and European strategies. The publication of the roadmap will take place in February 2023 followed by a public presentation.

The main areas of the construction policy at European level are, as we know, competitiveness, resilience, green and digital transitions. The main action points focus on supporting SMEs and enabling the green transition. In this context, digitalisation is seen as an enabler and the EC have had extensive discussions on the role of BIM to play in this matter. The roadmap will have several chapters on skills and professionalization, safe building (including fire safety, asbestos, timber quality…) or needs and R&I.

Pieter Staelens continues the presentation on the Digitalisation of the construction sector by presenting three European initiatives.

Digital Building Logbook (D-Blog)

Some studies on this subject were made before and a Horizon Europe financing has been granted for demonstration.

A technical study for 2022-2023 has been launched recently to better understand what is needed in terms of format through tests in several Member States in order to be able to provide guidance for future implementation. The main goal is to create harmonization and move towards interoperability between current and future platforms (ex. DPEB platform or CPR).

The main steps of the study are the review of existing databases and resources; the establishment of a framework for an EU digital building logbook (semantic data model, dictionary…); the proposal for an EU gateway interface and a costs and benefits analysis on implementing the EU DBL framework.

To the question of Souheil Soubra on how the EU portal is linked to national initiatives, Pieter Staelens explains that, in fact, it is part of the study to implement a portal and a visual identity, but it is not in place for now. Links to national initiatives will be available and, if possible, we will be able to search on member states D-BLog.

Digitalisation of SMEs

The purpose of this initiative is to make it very simple to show to SMEs the advantages and the first steps in tackling these new technologies, notably through a website and trainings session until March 2023.

Digitalisation of the built environment initiative

It is an 18-month contract for 2023-2024. It consists of several steps:

– Digitalisation of building permits
– BIM analysis of EU27 through evaluation matric (SWOT analysis, BIM maturity, BIM use, bottlenecks, openBIM, actions toward SMEs, etc.), guidance for future actions and support through a Community of Practice put in place at the launch of the project
– Beyond DigiPLACE and towards an EU Data Space in order to further built the case by doing a cost and benefits analysis.

To the question of Jaan Saar on the Public Buyers club and how to connect with the EUBTG work, Pieter Staelens recalls that first, it was decided the creation of a community of big buyers, but the EC noted that the target audience was broader. From March 2023, the EC will provide this opportunity to support the community, but it will be self-governed. People will have to act as community leader or topic leader, moderation, etc. DG GROW is looking for partners to take some certain roles, and the EUBTG could be one of them.

According to Jaan Saar, it is important to connect the two groups and it seems necessary to have a dedicated meeting before to avoid overlaps.

Ilektra Papadaki adds that she understands why it raises some doubts among the EUBTG members around overlaps. Nevertheless, the group is not anymore for big buyers only but for all public buyers in order to also target individual public buyers (such as municipalities) whereas in EUBTG, the members are mostly from national agencies and ministries.

5) Presentation of national perspectives regarding BIM/Digitalisation

Souheil Soubra introduces the last session by saying that is important to make members know what is happening in all the European countries as this question is raised often and needs to be updated regularly.

EE: the main initiative highlighted is about a BIM based building permit in order to get structured data usable by more stakeholders (municipalities, owners, etc.). This can have a huge impact on speed and quality of applications’ review. With smart tools, it can be done effectively since municipalities do not have enough man load to do it manually currently.

IT: the main initiative is the revision of Public Procurement legislation as one of the Recovery and Resilience Facility targets. The new legislation put in place next year is based on four pillars: digitalisation, project management, risk management and asset management. BIM design will become mandatory, except for ordinary and extraordinary maintenance. Discussion about bridge BIM logbook and all infrastructures is also taking place. Download the draft coordinated text of Italian “digital” legislation (in yellow the modifications introduced by Decree 312).

DE: a real push on digitalisation has been made through federal plan and financing innovative projects. The idea is to achieve all milestones of the federal masterplan in 2025. In terms of actions, a BIM federal portal to find requirements for using BIM in PP process has been launched in October at federal level first and other levels further. Germany also focuses on the promotion of international standards. In 2023, a module on employees BIM requirements will be launched in Spring and others are coming.

Milena Feustel completes by indicating that construction and infrastructures sectors have a joint journey, which is very positive and more effective.

CZ: National BIM strategy allowed to move from “Why” to “How”. Several pilot projects have been launched to put in daily practice the use of digital tool, to collect inputs and create guidance documents based on standards.

The first step of legal procedure is ongoing to make BIM mandatory for buildings and construction sector through a law and the drafting of the corresponding requirements.

FR: After six months of development, a new tool named Orelie has been launched, at the end of 2021, by the French BIM Deployment Plan. This tool is a free platform meant to assist in the drafting of BIM specifications that has been co-built with the different stakeholders of the building sector. It is aimed at all clients, regardless of the size of their structure, their level of maturity in BIM or the type of their operations, whether in construction or renovation (https://www.orelie-bim.fr/).

NL: The work focuses on the development of standards to share data/information, the Digital twining and the modelling of BIM asset management. The authorities are also interested in all international developments through CEDR works for example. See PDF slide for more details.

NW: The second generation of building permit process is ongoing, but the documents are still in PDF format. It is a challenge to make the public services and the industry change their habits. The main problem is to be able check if the information is missing, which is possible through BIM model but not with PDF.

The implementation of automatic BIM checking is slow as it is complicated to convince people of the utility of this very technical tool.

EL (GR): The ministry has launched a strategic roadmap financed by the EC. It will be completed in April 2023 and it aims at the effective adoption of BIM in Greece. It is composed of several parts: three pilot projects, legislation, communication effort toward stakeholders, education programs, specifications and financial tools for companies to finance the digital transformation.

Two Greek projects including BIM are also mentioned such as the Ellinikon (https://theellinikon.com.gr/en/homepage/) and Athens Metro Construction Line 4 Section A (https://www.ametro.gr/?page_id=8643&lang=en).

ES: The national administration level supports the digital reform of the country through several means, in particular the launch next year of a BIM national plan and the publication of technical documents to support it, which include a general view on BIM to convince that BIM is useful, BIM requirements and BIM tenders. Some major investments in infrastructures are currently made including BIM requirements.

The spread of BIM technologies is not only at national level but also at local level. Currently, 300 PP contracts were made with BIM at national level (with the goal of 550 contracts to reach) and more than 100 contracts were made in the municipalities.

LT: The strategy developed for public procurers and focuses on standards, communication, requirements, quality control on construction site and education seminars for the public sector. Documents translated in English were recently published and includes (1) business requirements, EIR roles and responsibilities (2) CDE, BIM execution plan  (3) technical requirements (https://www.vni.lv/en/competence/bim-competence-center#bim-guidelines).

FI: Two initiatives are highlighted. First, concentrated effort to reformulate and modernize the Common BIM requirements to follow the ISO BIM standards with dedicated experts and budget. Secondly, the setting-up of new laws that would require the use of BIM both directly and indirectly on

– a BIM based building permit process
– a national information system to store permit stage models and as-built models
– a climate statement for building to meet certain carbon neutrality and circular economy goals, that should be quite tedious to compile without the use of BIM.

(https://ym.fi/en/digital-built-environment).

6) AOB: participation to the Global BIM Network

Jaroslav Nechyba presents quickly the purpose of BIM Global network, which is quite similar to what the EUBTG do, but on an international level.

They are creating a Playbook as a planned extension to the Global Network website to allow people to get more informed about what is already there. Playbook will be published free next year. One activity is already on the table and a workshop is organised on 15 December (https://www.globalbim.org/).

The main question is how can the EUBTG help? Everybody from GA can be involved given the fact the EUBTG is a Global BIM Network’s partner.

The GA is then closed with an information on the next Construction Classification International Collaboration (CCIC) public seminar organised as part of a 2-day working session to share knowledge, practical experiences, and future of CCI (link for registering: https://forms.gle/ns6TuNQyMTmtehhx7).

EUBTG Position Paper on BIM in Public Procurement

In December 2021 the EU BIM Task Group submitted a position paper titled “Accelerating the Green, Digital and Resilient Transition by Implementing Building Information Modelling in Public Procurement” to the Commissioner of the Internal Market of the European Union Mr. Thierry Breton.

At its General Assembly on 15 December 2020, the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) asked the EU BIM Task Group to propose recommendations on the adoption of BIM in public procurement following the announcements made in the framework of the European Renovation Wave Strategy. After several months of collective work within the Steering Committee, this note was adopted by the General Assembly on 3 December 2021.

In fact, since the European Directive for Public Procurement of 2014 encouraged public authorities to use BIM, the use of BIM has increased significantly and many countries in Europe have already implemented national BIM programmes. Digitalisation is happening at an ever-increasing rate and the amount of data needed to make decisions has grown exponentially. However, there is still a significant gap between this potential and the current way of the working.

The time seems right to put in place at a European level more incentives for the better use and integration of built environment data in public procurement to empower the digital transformation of the construction sector. To this end, the EU BIM Task Group proposes 2 measures:

  1. Increase DEMAND – Require the use of openBIM in all publicly EU co-financed construction and renovation projects. openBIM extends the benefits of BIM by improving the interoperability accessibility, usability, management, and sustainability of digital data in the built asset industry. At its core, openBIM is a collaborative process that is vendor neutral. openBIM processes can be defined as sharable project and asset information that supports seamless collaboration for all project participants. openBIM facilitates interoperability to benefit projects and assets throughout their lifecycle.
  2. Increase SUPPLY – Ensure funding for a permanent independent team of experts that will support public procurers and the European Commission in the development and implementation of standardized BIM requirements in procurement and implementation of construction and renovation projects and all other phases of the asset lifecycle. To be a partner for other stakeholders representing interests of European stakeholders.

Download and read the full Position Paper at the following link:
Accelerating the Green, Digital and Resilient Transition by Implementing Building Information Modelling in Public Procurement – an EU BIM Task Group Position Paper

EC webinars on public procurement and twin transition

Join EU BIM Task Group co-chairs Milena Feustel and Jaan Saar for the following European Commission webinars:

 

📢 Join us for a webinar on Building Information Modeling and Public Procurement – two allies!

With this webinar, organised by the European Commission’s High Level Construction Forum, we would like to announce the ‘BIM in Public Procurement’ community within the broader ‘Digital Public Buyers Platform’. This new group will be launched in beginning of 2023 and serve as a community of practice comprising public authorities and public procurers for construction and infrastructure project to share lessons learned and best practices when it comes to implementing BIM through public procurement. For example, by exchanging use cases of public projects using BIM for procurement and lifecycle management of built assets and infrastructure as well as on the introduction of openBIM.

📅 The webinar will take place 6 December 2022, 14:30 – 16:15 CET.

➡ Register, by signing up here: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/HLCF_registrations_UpcomingWebinars2022

 

Join the webinar “Actions ahead for the #green and #digitaltransition of the construction ecosystem” is taking place online (Microsoft Teams) on Wednesday 7 December 2022, 14:00 – 15:30 CET 🗓

✔️Are you a stakeholder from and interested in the #construction🏗 ecosystem?
✔️ Do you want to explore challenges and opportunities of the twin transition for the 🇪🇺 European #ConstructionEcosystem?
✔️ Are you looking at existing and future plans and projects by #EU institutions to support this industry?

🔗 REGISTER by Tuesday 6 Decemberhttps://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/ConstructionEcosystemWebinar2022

BIM-based building permits session at WDBE

Join EU BIM Task Group co-chairs Jaan Saar and Milena Feustel for the session “The (R)evolution of the Building Permit Process – From Paper to Digital to BIM” at the World of Digital Built Environment (WDBE) Summit on September 29th in Tallinn and on-line (Vimeo link will be added here before the event).

Utilizing Building Information Models (BIM) to automate the building permit process may be the “killer app” for BIM that many of us have been waiting for, especially in the public sector. Experiments and prototypes of BIM-based permit checking in countries like Finland, Estonia and Dubai have identified that a fully BIM-based digital process is faster and cheaper than manual processing. This session will explore the opportunities and challenges associated with the transition to a BIM-based permitting process.

During the session we will dive deeper into the following questions:

  • How can BIM-based permits be more efficient and what are the main benefits?
  • What are the prerequisites for developing a BIM-based permit process?
  • What is the role of classification, (open) standards and data templates in the building permit process?
  • Is the industry ready for BIM-based permits?
  • What have been the biggest challenges for early adopters?

The session is co-organized with the EU BIM Task Group and the ACCORD Horizon Europe research project.

Event website www.wdbe.org

AGENDA

Thursday 29th September 2022
09:30 – 11:30 CET

Introduction Moderated by Jaan Saar, Head of Digital Construction at the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs & Communications, Estonia
How the EU BIM Task Group is Helping Public Clients to Benefit from BIM Milena Feustel, Co-Cchair of EU BIM Task Group, Senior Advisor at Institute for Federal Real Estate, DE
ACCORD Research Project – Automated Compliance Checks for Construction, Renovation or Demolition Works Rita Lavikka, Senior Scientist at VTT and co-ordinator of ACCORD Horizon Europe research project, FI
BIM-based Permits – A Global Trend or aA Passing Anomaly?  Rick Klooster, Founder and CTO of Future Insight, NL
Rava3Project and the Outlook for BIM-based Permits in Finland Anna-Riitta Kallinen, Rava3Project manager and owner at ARKCON
Implementing a BIM-based Building Permit Process in Estonia Christopher Raitviir, BIM Project Manager at the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs & Communications, EE
Discussion panel + questions from audience Moderator + presenters (6)

VIDEO STREAM

Check back here to watch the LIVE video stream of the session on Thursday 29th September 2022 at 09:30 – 11:30 CET.

Send your questions to the pane at sli.do #wdbe

Condolences: passing of R. Petrie, CEO of bSI

It is with deep sadness that we akcnowledge the passing of Richard Petrie on April 17, 2022.

Richard was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of buildingSMART International (bSI) and leaves behind his wife Jane and three adult children, Michael, Maddie and Lottie. The EU BIM Task Group expresses its deepest condolences to Richard’s family.

Richard’s career has focused on improving performance for clients and contractors involved in the acquisition and operation of high value physical assets. He was a Chartered Engineer, with an MBA from INSEAD, France and was an internationally valued vocal advocate of BIM.

He will be missed.

EUBTG General Assembly, 3rd December 2021

Agenda for the EU BIM Task Group General Assembly on 3rd December 2021 at 9:30 to 12:30 CET.

    • 9:30-9:35 Welcome and introduction by Souheil Soubra, chair of the EU BIM Task Group
    • 9:35-9:50 Presentation by Fulvia Raffaelli, Head of Unit. Clean Technologies and Products. DG GROW
    • 9:50-10:45 (including Q/A) Progress on the Roadmap actions:
      • Information on the cost benefit analysis (A1)
      • Discussion about the position paper (B2)
    • 10:45-11:45 (including Q/A) Keynote speech
      • Ralph Montague – Roadmap to Digital Transition of Ireland’s Construction Industry
      • National perspectives
    • 11:45-12:30 Suggestions for 2022 actions and AOB
      • Suggestions for 2022
      • Future events

The event is invitation only for EUBTG members and will take place on-line. If you have not received an invite then please e-mail admin@eubim.eu,

Global BIM Network General Assembly

The Global BIM Network is proud to announce its First Annual General Assembly, which will be held on Thursday 2nd December 2021 with the aim to foster a more productive and collaborative global digital construction sector that delivers benefits for people and places.

At the General Assembly, Network members will share lessons learned from national digital transformation initiatives, consider how governments can tackle challenges collaboratively with industry, and discuss the guidance, tools and evidence to inform national and international policy on better infrastructure delivery.

By increasing the capacity and capability of the public sector as client, the Network aims to encourage the global construction sector to achieve shared goals for COVID 19 recovery, net zero and environmental sustainability, and socioeconomic prosperity.

Attendees will hear policy makers, public procurers, infrastructure investors and industry leaders from across the globe discuss the challenges of digitally transforming the construction and infrastructure sector, and identify solutions in a candid, straight forward manner.

Sessions include:

  • Global BIM Network Roadmap Launch
  • The Cost Benefit of Information Management: A Global Perspective
  • From BIM Strategy to BIM Implementation: Procurement Practices across the World
  • Government & Industry: Working together to drive benefits for People and Places.

View the agenda and speakers by visiting www.globalBIM.org 

Register Now

The Global BIM Network General Assembly will be delivered in Spanish, English, French and Japanese.
View the agenda and register for the General Assembly today.

Please contact international@cdbb.cam.ac.uk for more information.

Methodology for Cost Benefit Analysis for the Use of BIM in Public Tenders – ONLINE EVENT 31-05-2021

DOWNLOAD THE MATERIALS

Cost Benefit Analysis for the use of BIM_user handbook (PDF)

Cost Benefit Analysis model for the use of BIM (XLSM file in ZIP container)

 


The development of a methodology for a cost benefit analysis for the use of BIM in public procurement is one of the first deliverables of the Renovation Wave for the construction ecosystem. It aims to build the case for the introduction of BIM in public procurement for individual public projects, by demonstrating costs and benefits from the perspective of public clients.

During the online event on 31st of May RINA and B1P Group S.r.l. will present the handbook Calculating costs and benefits for the use of Building Information Modeling in public tenders – methodology handbook and the related work realized to develop a methodology for cost-benefit analysis for the use of BIM in public tenders.

AGENDA

Chair: Ilektra Papadaki, Policy Officer for Construction, European Commission

Introduction by the European Commission (15’)

Fulvia Raffaelli, Head of Unit for Construction, DG GROW
Natalia Martinez Paramo, Head of Unit for SMP/COSME Pillar, European Innovation Council and SME Executive Agency

Introduction by the EU BIM Task Group (10’)

Milena Feustel, co-Chair of the EU BIM Task Group, Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben

Presentation of the team and the work carried out during the project: the handbook (45’)

Alessandro Bozzolo, Manuela Gussoni, Matteo Proia(RINA Consulting S.p.A, B1P Group)

  • Purpose of the CBA and target groups
  • Background analysis (literature research and on-field data collection)
  • Presentation of the methodology and step-by-step guide to use it

Break (10’)

Training session with the participants (60’)

Edoardo Ardizzone, Sara Botto, Matteo Proia (RINA Consulting S.p.A, B1P Group)

  • Practical application of the CBA tool and handbook to a case study (building asset)
  • Questions and answers

Conclusions (10’)

Souheil Soubra, Chair of the EU BIM Task Group, Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment (CSTB)

DOWNLOAD THE MATERIALS

Cost Benefit Analysis for the use of BIM_user handbook (PDF)

Cost Benefit Analysis model for the use of BIM (XLSM file in ZIP container)

General Assembly 2020 recap

The EU BIM Task Group General Assembly for 2020 was held on 15th of December 2020 on-line. Below is a summary of the discussions and presentations.  

“Digitalisation of the Construction Ecosystem”

Fulvia Raffaelli, Head of Unit “Clean Technologies and Products” (DG GROW)
Download presentation

Fulvia Raffaelli starts her presentation saying that since the last General Assembly in 2019, there have been many policy developments in the area of Construction and digital construction particularly.

Indeed, as part of the European Green Deal many initiatives have highlighted the importance of the construction sector through notably the announcement of the Construction Products Regulation revision (in the Circular Economy Action Plan) and the Renovation Wave strategy.

The renovation wave aims at doubling the rate of renovations and decarbonising the European Building stock. It also aims at contributing to the green and digital transition in Europe from the side of buildings and construction. In that context, three areas of action mentioned in the Renovation Wave are of particular interest for the EU BIM Task Group members: the digital building logbooks, the digital building permits, and the spread of the use of BIM for public procurement and beyond.

Regarding the digital building logbooks, they will address the challenges of data availability in the construction sector and increase transparency, trust and informed decision-making. The Commission envisages logbooks as the single tool through which all building-related data, information and documents will be accessed in fair and European terms. Logbooks should be secure tools that allow owners to have control over their own data as well as digital and dynamic, able to keep and update a record of all events in the life of a building.

As mentioned in the Renovation Wave, Logbooks should make use and link to existing platforms and tools, including Energy Performance Certificates, the Smart Readiness Indicators, renovation passports and others.

In the years to come, the Commission will continue working on the further definition of the datasets and functionalities of logbooks, as well as on the interoperability between different tools and platforms. The goal is to digitalise the built environment, and grasp the benefits of data, not only for collaboration and convenience, but also for resource efficiency, safety and the creation of new business models and opportunities.

This also requires research and innovation, for this reason, Fulvia Raffaelli’s unit with other services and the Member states have been involved in the definition of the Horizon Europe Work Programme.

Another action announced in the renovation wave is the digitalization of the building permits. The discussions with construction stakeholders and authorities revealed that more research and innovation projects could contribute to an EU Framework.

Finally, through the Renovation Wave, the Commission expressed its commitment to accelerate adoption of BIM in public procurement. In the course of 2021 and 2022, the EU BIM Task Group will be called upon in order to develop and provide a Commission Recommendation.

In the meantime, in collaboration with the Chair and co-chair of the Group and through a service contract, a model to conduct cost-benefit analysis for the use of BIM in public procurement is under development. This model will be made available to all public procurers across Europe by May 2021.

Digitalization of construction depends as well on the industry. As part of the Digital Europe Programme there will be support for Digital Innovation Hubs and Testing and Experimentation Facilities, which subject to the commitment and orientations of the Member states can contribute to the digitalization of construction SMEs and the industry in general.

During 2021 and 2022, DG GROW will be working particularly on the development of a digital maturity scan for construction SMEs, an interactive guidebook and on site trainings to help SMEs network, become aware of the possibilities, receive support and digitalise.

As a conclusion, Fulvia Raffaelli underlines the fact that the diverse situation across different Member States is something to look into, and through the exchange of good practices can become our strength. As part of the European Construction Sector Observatory, a new Analytical report will be produced on the digital transformation of construction, looking at both the transformation of industry and public administration.

Election of the Chair, Deputy chairs and new Steering Committee

The possibility of having two Deputy Chairs proposed by the Steering Committee is unanimously adopted.

A drafting amendment of the governance document is proposed by Spain to replace the one presented and approved by all the members:

“… up to three of its members to respectively act one as the Chair and up to two as Deputy Chairs of the EU BIM TG. The term of office of the Chair and the Deputy Chairs is two years. The term is renewable once.”

The following Steering Committee’s proposal for the nomination of the chair and Deputy-chairs:

  • Souheil Soubra / Chair of the EU BIM TG
    Director of Information Technologies at CSTB (Scientific and Technical Centre for Buildings)
  • Milena Feustel / Deputy Chair of the EU BIM TG
    German Institute for Federal Real Estate
  • Jaan Saar / Deputy Chair of the EU BIM TG
    Head of Digital Construction – Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications

Is accepted by unanimity.

The Steering Committee’s proposal for the nomination of its members:

  • CZ: Jaroslav Nechyba
  • DE: Milena Feustel (Deputy Chair)
  • EE: Jaan Saar (Deputy Chair)
  • ES: Susana Espana (Jorge Torrico)
  • FR: Sara Angotti
  • IT: Pietro Baratono (Cinzia Gatto)
  • LT: Dainius Cergelis
  • NL: Benno Koehorst
  • NO: Ramnath Falch Ambathy
  • + Chair: Souheil Soubra

Is accepted by unanimity.

The Steering Committee’s proposal to appoint Liana Anagnostaki, TCG’s Head Directory of Public Relations, International and European Affairs (GR) as a new member of the Steering Committee is also accepted.

Tarmo Savoleinen’s application (FI) for the vacant position is also accepted during the session.

Regarding the United Kingdom’s situation in the European Union, all the members of the General Assembly support the proposal to continue the close cooperation under special partnership and to mandate the Steering Committee to finalise the special partnership agreement.

Progress on the Roadmap actions

Presentations are made to update the following topics (download presentations):

A1 – Cost Benefit Analysis
by Milena Feustel

See also detailed presentation “BIM in Public Tenders: Methodology for a Cost-Benefit Analysis” by RINA Consulting.
Milena Feustel thanks in advance the members who agreed to answer the questionnaire sent by the Italian consulting company Rina before the end of January.

Finland would like to propose one out of the planned 6 use cases.

C3 – Common Classification System
by Jaan Saar

Spain will get in touch with CCIC to exchange views on the development of a Spanish classification system for railway infrastructures.

E1 – Unified Digital Platform (H2020 project DigiPLACE)
by Claudio Mirarchi (Polimi)

Follow this link to become a member of DigiPLACE Community of Stakeholders.

Suggestions for 2021 actions and AOB

Germany suggests, in the framework of the renovation wave cooperation action with DG Grow, to extend BIM to already existing buildings.

Charlie (Luxembourg) also suggests extending it to demolition and deconstruction processes.

A specific Task Force will be launched about renovation and deconstruction. The SC will send proposal to the GA for the organisation. Charlie is already interested.

UK announces that the next Global BIM Summit will take place online on 17 March 2021 (https://www.globalbimsummit.org/) and that contributions could be requested from the EUBTG members.

 

List of pariticpants: