BIM – How it is working for Manchester City Council

20 September 2011

In my opinion

BIM – How it is working for Manchester City Council

By John Lorimer, Capital Programme Director, Manchester City Council and Chair of the Constructing Excellence BIM Task Group

Integrated BIM means a fundamental change in the design, construction and facility management processes and at Manchester City Council we are using BIM on a very complex Grade II-listed building, the remodelling of our Central Library, so if it can work for us it can work for the whole industry.

We are convinced that using BIM will be beneficial and we have already used it on a housing scheme and a school. The City Council has already invested £100,000 on BIM for the housing project and we already have a gross return of £260,000 on the investment in the form of programme benefits, less waste and an improved product.

Using BIM will help everyone fully understand the design and provide greater certainty on site, thus reducing the risk of the project overrunning the budget and programme. Using BIM isn’t a contractual condition of this job, but to win a place on the framework that was used meant subscribing to the Council’s values, which included innovative ways of working.

With the energy and support we have had through the likes of BIS, the Cabinet Office and the NIEP I am sure that BIM is one of the answers to the Government’s call for a 20% reduction in costs to public clients – it’s not about slashing costs, it’s all about making savings through efficiencies and the elimination of waste and about us all working together as one team to maximise these savings on our projects.