BIM in Germany, an update on the situation
The German Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) has put in place an action for planning and digital construction that will impose a new culture of construction and operation to industry players. We are in the middle of the 2nd phase of this action, let’s make a point.
At the beginning of 2015, the BMVI founded the L.L.C. « Planen-Bauen 4.0 » which is a group of associations of the German building industry. This structure dedicated to BIM was created and developed on private funds. The stated objective of the Government is to ask the sector to intensify its efforts to define standards and new processes in the coming years.
On December 15, 2015, the BMVI presented its three-step plan for the launch of BIM in Germany.
The first step was a preparatory step: four pilot projects were chosen, while they were in four different phases. These pilot projects would be conducted using a BIM approach. The objective is to identify the benefits of BIM for the different phases of a project.
Pilot Project « The bridge over the lake of the city of Petersdorf »
For this project, the Owner Builder wanted to adopt a BIM approach after the design phase: the existing 2D plans were the basis for modeling digital mock-ups. This BIM project was interesting to follow because the teams made a panorama of the BIM solutions existing on the market.
Pilot Project « The viaduct of Auenbachtal »
The decision to use BIM was taken from the outset for the Auenbachtal Viaduct, however the objectives of such a method were limited as they related only to quantity estimation, cost estimation and visualization of the model.
Pilot Project « Filstal Railway Bridge »
For this project, BIM was used for the implementation phase. The digital model was linked to the construction schedule and updated in real time. This model (we speak of 4D) was the main tool for controlling the progress of work and budget monitoring.
Pilot Project « The railway tunnel of Rastatt«
The use of BIM has been from the planning phase to the building permit. The digital model – designed on the basis of 2D drawings – helped detect clashes and estimate quantities. This model was in 5D because it included information on time and costs.
Nowadays, the second phase of the plan is underway: other pilot projects have been added, they allow to test the BIM for all phases of a construction project. This phase allows the production of guides, checklists and schematics useful for future projects. All of these projects are in BIM level 1.
The third phase will focus on the study of new BMVI projects from 2020.
This third step is also essential since it will make BIM mandatory for all public infrastructure projects from 2020.
A BIM Competence Center for Germany
The BMVI is planning a BIM competence center in Berlin to support administrations and the building industry in their BIM approach. The knowledge derived from the observation of the pilot projects must be transmitted in the same way to the public and private sectors and to all the actors of the construction sector.
The missions of the BIM Competence Center will be as follows:
- Development of a standardization strategy
- Support from the Owner Builders of the various federal administrations in the awarding of construction contracts requiring BIM
- Creation of a BIM cloud to which both the Owner Builder and the General Contractor can access
- Organization of a dialogue forum on the digitization of the construction industry which will take place twice a year
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