The Austrian Federal Chamber of Commerce (Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, WKO) functions as the federal parent organisation for the nine State Chambers and 110 trade associations for different industries within Austria’s economy. The WKO provides representation of membership interests at all levels of government. By law, governments are obliged to consult with Chambers on legislative projects and important regulation. In many laws a provision is made to involve Chambers in decision-making and administrative procedures.
The WKO’s website provides access to a study conducted by the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology and the Construction Office on the subject of the “Potential of digitization in the building industry”, looking at the benefits that BIM can bring. The website also contains several documents, videos and links to the local buildingSMART chapter, all of which provide additional information about current BIM adoption in Austria.
NATSPEC is a not-for-profit organisation that is owned by the design, build, construct and property industry through professional associations and government’s property groups. It is impartial and is not involved in advocacy or policy development. Its major service is the comprehensive national specification system endorsed by government and professional bodies.
NATSPEC aims to improve the quality and productivity of the built environment through leadership in the provision of specification information. It believes that digital information, including 3-D Modelling and BIM, will provide improved methods of design, construction and communication for the whole industry.
This website contains a broad range of information from the Australian body associated with producing standards. Its purpose is to provide the standardised practices for the exchange of digital building information. The website contains documents, tools, resources, tutorials and details of current R&D projects.
This Overview Report by the Australasian BIM Advisory Board (ABAB)’s Technical Working Group 1 is a first step towards developing BIM process consistency for the digital design, construction and operation of an asset – A Common Framework.
The Report reflects the collective experience of a number of public capital works delivery agencies, public policy makers, and asset operators from across Australia. Ideas were also sought from leading practitioners. Their experience, learnings and knowledge are critical to shaping BIM common practices and standards to be applied across Australia. Proven practices will establish the benchmark for BIM adopters, thereby enabling greater levels of BIM process consistency in its application across the construction sector and the supply chain.
The Report should not be read as a technical guide to BIM technology, its applications or standards as this information can be found in some other sources, including NATSPEC and buildingSMART. The use of other reports and documents from related BIM initiatives (such as the BIM Knowledge and Skills Framework from ACIF and APCC and the National Guidelines for Infrastructure Project Delivery from the Federal Government) is highly recommended in pursuit of a consistent approach within the industry. This document points to, and encourages, the use of these standards and applications to stimulate wider benefits across the supply chain from a public client’s perspective.
An archive version of this information article has been created if the original is no longer accessible (Archive information from January 2024)
The BIM Advisory Board was established by the Australasian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC) and the Australian Construction Industry Forum (ACIF), together with the key standard-setting bodies, NATSPEC, buildingSMART and Standards Australia. They have produced a number of resources, including a guide to the adoption of BIM. Two recent Australian Government reports (SmartICT and the Australian Infrastructure Report) recommended an integrated approach between government, industry and researchers for the development of BIM in Australia.
The Australasian Advisory Board’s membership consists of those organisations who have a pivotal role to play in influencing and leading the adoption and changes required for the optimum delivery of construction projects through BIM. It is a team of experts from government construction policy agencies, peak construction associations and standard setting bodies who share their valuable knowledge, skill and experience to set goals and deliver on the Advisory Board’s strategic direction.
The BIM Advisory Board has defined the strategic framework for BIM in Australia. Its vision includes improved productivity and asset outcomes. It is hoped to be achieved by the Board’s strategy to take a leadership and coordinating role in the consistent adoption of BIM and associated integration and collaborative processes. The website contains a download link to the strategic framework.
Smart Built Environment is a strategic innovation programme for how the public construction sector can contribute to Sweden’s journey towards becoming a global pioneer country that realises the new opportunities that digitalisation brings. Digitisation is one of the biggest societal changes ever. The Smart Built Environment programme implements a unique and long-term investment to develop more sustainable and integrated ways of building, with a vision of sustainable community building and maximum user benefit through efficient information management and industrial processes with digitalisation as a driving force.
A common information infrastructure is the key to change. An uninterrupted flow of information with business-driven applications in BIM, GIS and industrial processes creates benefits for companies, users and society. The unique thing about this programme is precisely the integration between BIM, GIS and industrial processes, which increases the potential to take advantage of all the possibilities of digitalisation. The efforts in the programme include research, development and innovation. They handle the digital infrastructure, business-driven applications in companies/organisations and integration of the processes. The programme creates new knowledge, skills, services and products, with all current information shared on the website.
BIM Alliance Sweden is a sector-driven, non-profit association that works for better community building with the help of BIM and digital structured information management. The Alliance has a vision and purpose of promoting a digital uninterrupted flow of information through all processes in the public construction sector. This will be done by working for the implementation, research and development of digital processes for information and open standards among all stakeholders, as well as for competence in the area. The Alliance aims to drive the social changes needed for digital transformation and renewed business logic, to promote a positive and sustainable development in planning, construction and management.
The BIM Alliance Sweden’s board has identified seven strategic areas that are crucial in the coming years:
- Information dissemination / network
- Information standards
- Processes / organisation
- Law / procurement
- Research and Development
- Training
- Environment.
The website contains the latest information around current news, membership, projects and other documentation useful for the adoption of BIM.
The EU BIM Task Group completed the important work of looking at the cost benefit of BIM in public tenders. The document 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. It reflects the analysis performed during the project and the results obtained. It is conceived as an informative, easy-to-read guide meant to prepare the public stakeholders to apply the model developed for evaluating the costs and benefits of using BIM in public tenders.
The Cost-benefit Analysis (CBA) user Handbook is structured in five main chapters:
- Introduction to the topic, presenting the purpose of the handbook to public entities.
- Insights on the present status of BIM adoption in the public sector, through literature research, interviews and an on-line survey.
- Development of the CBA tool, describing the approach and methodology used to create it, including a step-by-step guide for using the tool.
- Practical implementation of the CBA tool in six case studies, representing various types of projects (small-scale infrastructures and buildings with differing budgets and covering diverse phases of the lifecycle), to show validation of the model.
- Conclusions of all the work performed.
The European Commission awarded the EU BIM Task Group funding for two years (2016-2017) to deliver a common European network aimed at aligning the use of Building Information Modelling in public works across the region. Europe’s public procurers, policy makers and public estate owners recognise the positive and transformative effect that digitisation brings to both public works and the construction sector. The Task Group’s vision is to encourage the common use of BIM, as ‘digital construction’, in public works with the common aim of improving value for public money, quality of the public estate and for the sustainable competitiveness of industry.
The EU BIM Task Group was formed to deliver a pan-European approach to best practice in BIM (building information modelling). It brings together national efforts into a common and aligned European approach to develop a world-class digital construction sector. The website highlights the current developments and outputs of the Task Group, including current news, events, documents and resources. It also offers the EU BIM Task Group’s Handbook for BIM implementation and the Cost Benefit Analysis for BIM. Publications are available in several languages.
BIM Forum Chile is an open and convening body, bringing together companies and professionals who can contribute their knowledge and experiences to the improvement of techniques related to BIM. It seeks to channel technical concerns, knowledge and information related to BIM. It is also an instance of development, dissemination and good practices for technological development in the construction sector. The purposes of BIM Forum Chile are technical and it meets under the coordination of the Technological Development Corporation (Corporación de Desarrollo Tecnológico, CDT) of the Chilean Chamber of Construction (Cámara Chilena de la Construcción).
BIM Forum Chile has many documents, events and other materials to support BIM adoption in the country. Its objectives are:
- Propose and encourage recognised good practices for the development of projects with the use of BIM throughout its lifecycle.
- Promote research, collect/select knowledge and technical information related to BIM in Chile.
- Generate instances of meeting, dissemination and technology transfer related to BIM.
- Promote alliances and articulations between national and international entities, favouring BIM initiatives that have a sectoral impact.
- Contribute to the formation of capacities, competences and skills related to BIM.
BIM in Action (Bim En Acción) is an initiative of the School of Construction Management (ECG), belonging to the Argentine Construction Chamber (CAMARCO). BIM in Action develops meetings, documents and articles for studios or companies to implement BIM. Its objectives include information exchange, collaborative work and the commitment of the different actors in the construction value chain. The various BIM in Action activities are promoted with the help and support of different companies and software developers.
The BIM in Action website contains past and future events alongside many documents and downloads focused on explaining specific BIM topics. Some of these resources have a more technical aspect. Events are shared on YouTube here.
