Digital Construction SiteClauses and sources, every sentence checkedClause by clause, every sentence sourced
BIM, ISO 19650, the common data environment and what is mature on site. Then the rules: England’s golden thread for higher-risk buildings, and Ireland’s BIM milestones for public works. Every sentence carries its source and the date we read it.
A number in square brackets leads to its source at the foot of the page. This page is not a regulator’s, and it is not official guidance or legal advice: the rules change, which is why every source carries the date it was read.
Rules are stated for England and Ireland only, the English-speaking jurisdictions whose law or official page we read ourselves. For the United States, Canada and Australia we found only secondary sources, so we state nothing about them.
The dates on which the rules this page covers began to apply, or will.
England’s procedures for higher-risk building work come into force, the golden thread facility among them.[1]Source 1: The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/909, reg. 1
Ireland’s first BIM milestone: design teams on public works over €100m.[2]Source 2: Capital Works Management Framework (Ireland), Public Sector BIM Adoption Timeline[3]Source 3: Capital Works Management Framework (Ireland), BIM adoption timeline table, milestone 1
The duty on the accountable person of an occupied higher-risk building in England to keep its information is fully in force.[4]Source 4: Building Safety Act 2022, s. 88, commencement information
Ireland’s last BIM milestone: the contractor and supply chain on public works under €1m.[5]Source 5: Capital Works Management Framework (Ireland), BIM adoption timeline table, milestone 12
How the European Commission’s construction sector observatory understands it, and what some of the technologies it covers are.
The European Construction Sector Observatory understands the digitalisation of construction as more than BIM alone: it also covers data acquisition, the automation of processes, and digital information and analysis.[6]Source 6: European Construction Sector Observatory, Digitalisation in the construction sector, 2021, §1.1
The observatory’s 2021 report studies twelve digital technologies.[7]Source 7: European Construction Sector Observatory, 2021 report, §1.2
The same report counts construction among the least digitalised sectors of the economy.[8]Source 8: European Construction Sector Observatory, 2021 report, §1.1, the least digitalised sectors
How mature each technology is, according to the observatory’s 2021 report.
Sensors have the highest level of market maturity and technological readiness.[15]Source 15: European Construction Sector Observatory, 2021 report, executive summary: sensors
3D scanning is increasingly used. The Internet of Things is not yet widely adopted, although it is developing rapidly.[16]Source 16: European Construction Sector Observatory, 2021 report, executive summary: 3D scanning and IoT
Drones are increasingly used, while robots and 3D printing are still at the development phase and used only for very specific, limited tasks.[17]Source 17: European Construction Sector Observatory, 2021 report, executive summary: drones, robots, 3D printing
Digital twins are for the moment limited to a few pilot projects.[18]Source 18: European Construction Sector Observatory, 2021 report, executive summary: digital twins
Virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence are still at development stages and not yet market ready.[19]Source 19: European Construction Sector Observatory, 2021 report, executive summary: VR, AR and AI
What public bodies and the standards say these terms mean, and how far BIM had spread by 2021.
BIM, Building Information Modelling, is a digital form of construction and asset operations.[20]Source 20: European Construction Sector Observatory, 2021 report, glossary: BIM
Ireland’s public works framework describes BIM as a process for creating and managing information on a construction project throughout its whole life cycle.[21]Source 21: Capital Works Management Framework (Ireland), BIM: what is BIM
In 2021 the EU observatory found BIM more and more used in construction, but often limited to the design phase of large projects.[22]Source 22: European Construction Sector Observatory, 2021 report, executive summary: BIM
ISO 19650 is the international series of standards for organising and digitising information about buildings and civil engineering works, BIM included.[23]Source 23: Information Management Initiative framework (BSI and nima), standards list: BS EN ISO 19650-1:2018
Ireland’s framework names the ISO 19650 and 12006 series as the standards that define the BIM process and its data structures internationally.[24]Source 24: Capital Works Management Framework (Ireland), BIM: the ISO 19650 and 12006 series
A common data environment, or CDE, is a system for managing data and information.[25]Source 25: EU BIM Task Group, Handbook for the introduction of BIM by the European public sector, 2017
Which buildings the rules reach first, then what they require of the information about them.
For building work, in general a higher-risk building in England is one at least 18 metres high or with at least 7 storeys, and of a description set out in regulations.[26]Source 26: Building Safety Act 2022, s. 31 (Building Act 1984, s. 120D)
The regulations set out three descriptions: a building with at least two residential units, a care home, and a hospital.[27]Source 27: The Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/275, reg. 2
The part of the Building Safety Act that deals with occupied higher-risk buildings defines one as at least 18 metres high or with at least 7 storeys, and containing at least 2 residential units.[28]Source 28: Building Safety Act 2022, s. 65[29]Source 29: Building Safety Act 2022, Part 4, s. 61(1): overview of the Part
So the golden thread duties below apply to these buildings, not to every building in England.[26]Source 26: Building Safety Act 2022, s. 31 (Building Act 1984, s. 120D)[27]Source 27: The Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/275, reg. 2[28]Source 28: Building Safety Act 2022, s. 65
For higher-risk building work, the client must arrange for an electronic facility, created and maintained by the client or on its behalf, to hold the golden thread information.[30]Source 30: The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/909, reg. 31(1)
That information must be kept in an electronic format, be transferable electronically without being lost or corrupted, be accurate and up to date, be secure from unauthorised access, and be changed only under procedures that record who made each change and when.[31]Source 31: The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/909, reg. 31(2)
The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023 came into force on 1 October 2023, and they apply in England only.[1]Source 1: The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/909, reg. 1
Under that same part of the Act, the accountable person for a higher-risk building must keep prescribed information to prescribed standards, and keep it up to date so far as possible.[29]Source 29: Building Safety Act 2022, Part 4, s. 61(1): overview of the Part[32]Source 32: Building Safety Act 2022, s. 88(1)
That duty has been in force since 16 January 2024, in so far as it was not already.[4]Source 4: Building Safety Act 2022, s. 88, commencement information
Those standards include an electronic format that can be transferred to others without the data being lost or corrupted, accuracy, security from unauthorised access, and changes made only under procedures that record who made them and when.[33]Source 33: The Higher-Risk Buildings (Management of Safety Risks etc) (England) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/907, reg. 7(1)
Earlier, in 2011, the UK government said it would require fully collaborative 3D BIM, with all project and asset information, documentation and data electronic, as a minimum by 2016.[34]Source 34: Cabinet Office, Government Construction Strategy, May 2011, para. 2.32
How the public works framework brings in BIM requirements, from the largest projects down.
From January 2024, consultants engaged to design and oversee public works contracts worth over €100m have BIM requirements in their scope of service.[2]Source 2: Capital Works Management Framework (Ireland), Public Sector BIM Adoption Timeline[3]Source 3: Capital Works Management Framework (Ireland), BIM adoption timeline table, milestone 1
Over four years the requirements extend to consultants and contractors on projects worth less than €1m. At that point every public works project carries BIM requirements.[35]Source 35: Capital Works Management Framework (Ireland), Public Sector BIM Adoption Timeline: the four-year extension
The last milestone, on 1 January 2028, covers the contractor and supply chain on projects valued under 1 million.[5]Source 5: Capital Works Management Framework (Ireland), BIM adoption timeline table, milestone 12
The framework puts the public sector at no less than 25% of construction activity, and uses that buying power as part of a government strategy to digitalise the construction sector by 2030.[36]Source 36: Capital Works Management Framework (Ireland), Public Sector BIM Adoption Timeline: the public sector share
In 2021 the EU observatory already listed Ireland among the countries with partial BIM requirements, often set by particular public authorities.[37]Source 37: European Construction Sector Observatory, 2021 report, §3.2.2: BIM in public procurement
In the observatory’s 2021 survey, 16 of the 27 EU Member States had policies covering or targeting the digitalisation of construction.[38]Source 38: European Construction Sector Observatory, 2021 report, executive summary: policies
The thresholds the rules above use, and how construction fares in Eurostat’s measure of digital intensity.
at least18metres
The height at which a building in England meets the size test for a higher-risk building, if it is also of a description set out in regulations.[26]Source 26: Building Safety Act 2022, s. 31 (Building Act 1984, s. 120D)
at least7storeys
The storey count that meets the same size test: either one is enough.[26]Source 26: Building Safety Act 2022, s. 31 (Building Act 1984, s. 120D)
a period of4years
The time Ireland gives its BIM requirements to reach every public works project, down to those under €1m.[35]Source 35: Capital Works Management Framework (Ireland), Public Sector BIM Adoption Timeline: the four-year extension
at least25per cent
The public sector’s share of construction activity, by Ireland’s framework: the buying power its BIM requirements use.[36]Source 36: Capital Works Management Framework (Ireland), Public Sector BIM Adoption Timeline: the public sector share
| Construction, Ireland | |
|---|---|
| Construction, EU | |
| All enterprises, Ireland | |
| All enterprises, EU |
All enterprises in Eurostat’s sense: without the financial sector, agriculture and mining. Here, lower is better.
So construction trails the economy as a whole by more than 12 percentage points, in Ireland and across the EU alike.[39]Source 39: Eurostat, isoc_e_diin2, construction (F), 2024[40]Source 40: Eurostat, isoc_e_diin2, all enterprises, 2024
What, according to research, drives the digitalisation of construction, and what holds it back.
The World Economic Forum wrote in 2016 that engineering and construction had been hesitant to embrace new technology, and that its labour productivity had stagnated accordingly.[41]Source 41: World Economic Forum with BCG, Shaping the Future of Construction, 2016
The same report estimated that a 1% rise in construction productivity worldwide could save 100 billion dollars a year.[42]Source 42: World Economic Forum, Shaping the Future of Construction, 2016, introduction
The observatory names the need to improve productivity and cut costs, and market demand, as the main drivers.[43]Source 43: European Construction Sector Observatory, 2021 report, executive summary: drivers
It names the cost of equipment and software, the lack of a skilled workforce, and the lack of awareness of digital technologies as the three main barriers.[44]Source 44: European Construction Sector Observatory, 2021 report, executive summary: challenges
The terms the rules and the standards use, as they use them.
No. Its duties attach to higher-risk buildings. In general, for building work, that is a building at least 18 metres high or with at least 7 storeys that has at least two residential units, or is a care home or a hospital. Once occupied, in general it is a building of that size with at least 2 residential units.[26]Source 26: Building Safety Act 2022, s. 31 (Building Act 1984, s. 120D)[27]Source 27: The Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/275, reg. 2[28]Source 28: Building Safety Act 2022, s. 65[29]Source 29: Building Safety Act 2022, Part 4, s. 61(1): overview of the Part
Yes. For higher-risk building work the client must arrange an electronic facility to hold it, and the information must be kept in an electronic format, transferable without loss, accurate, secure, and changed only under procedures that record who changed it and when.[30]Source 30: The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/909, reg. 31(1)[31]Source 31: The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/909, reg. 31(2)
In stages. Design teams on projects over €100m from January 2024, down to the contractor and supply chain on projects under €1m from 1 January 2028.[2]Source 2: Capital Works Management Framework (Ireland), Public Sector BIM Adoption Timeline[3]Source 3: Capital Works Management Framework (Ireland), BIM adoption timeline table, milestone 1[5]Source 5: Capital Works Management Framework (Ireland), BIM adoption timeline table, milestone 12
No. ISO 19650 is a series of standards for organising and digitising information about buildings and civil works, and it includes BIM. Ireland’s framework names it, with the 12006 series, as the international definition of the BIM process and its data structures.[23]Source 23: Information Management Initiative framework (BSI and nima), standards list: BS EN ISO 19650-1:2018[24]Source 24: Capital Works Management Framework (Ireland), BIM: the ISO 19650 and 12006 series
This page is published by EMALINO. EMALINO is not a regulator, and this page is not official guidance. Nothing on it says that EMALINO keeps a golden thread, meets ISO 19650, or is a common data environment.
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