National asbestos and risk management specialist, Lucion Environmental is bucking the construction industry trend by being well on its way to becoming Level 2 building information modelling (BIM) certified ahead of the UK Government’s October 2016 target to electronically validate BIM information delivered from supply chains. BIM is a mandatory building services accreditation which will apply to all centrally-procured government construction contracts.
Lucion has achieved the second stage of a four-stage certification process and is confident that full certification will be attained in April 2016. This is in contrast to the findings of a recent survey by the Electrical Contractors Association (ECA) which found that fewer than one in six building contractors say they are ‘fully ready’ to use BIM and many more are struggling with key elements of Level 2 BIM.
Level 2 BIM will apply to any Whitehall contracts procured for construction, regardless of their size or value, meaning that non-compliant building services companies will lose out on work. Principle contractors as well as their supply chains will feel the impact if they’re not prepared in time.
Lucion’s strategy to become fully BIM compliant is well underway with the development of new technology to link buildings plans and drawings with data from asbestos surveys and analysis information. Existing building plans are enhanced with 360º panoramic images and icons to locate hazards and safety equipment, which are then linked to web-based NexGen asbestos records.
Lucion is working to develop the specialist technology for facility managers, project managers and safety managers who need to clearly communicate, what, where and how to mitigate and asbestos safety risks. In its simplest form 2D plans are provided which for most buildings and facilities will be sufficient. Where the site is a more complex environment, a 3D sets can be created using existing 3D designs or by deploying the use of the latest 3D laser scanning techniques to build a model from scratch.
Charles Pickles, finance director at Lucion, said: “The race is on to be fully prepared for the legislation coming into force and we’re well on our way to achieving BIM level 2 certification. This means that we’re set up to receive and re-purpose BIM data, allowing us to create bespoke visualisations and communicate sites or facilities in a simple, visual and intuitive way.
“Building information models contain the design of a building and all of the data concerning the properties of its components, its construction and ongoing maintenance. At Lucion, we have a duty to ensure that clear asbestos information is provided to every person liable to disturb asbestos and BIM provides a quick and efficient way of doing that. Adopting a BIM approach can bring predictability to a project, saving both money and time while minimising environmental impact by cutting out wasteful processes and activities through making more informed decisions at the right time.”