RIBIM: Re-Imagining BIM For the Homeowner

The Re-Imagining BIM project aimed at bringing the benefit of new forms of data and intelligence created during construction to the ultimate occupants of the homes created. The project builds on the idea that new forms of data will allow innovation in housing products and services. In highlighting the potential innovation, the project will help the construction sector make the case for the adoption of modern methods of construction, and particularly Building Information Modelling (BIM) which have struggled to make headway in housing construction.

With the Hackitt Report into Grenfell calling for a 'GoldenThread of Information' about housing, and with emerging NetZero obligations for our homes, the need for a 'whole-life' data framework for housing grows. BIM should be at the heart of this world. However, BIM has failed to gain significant traction in housing construction.

Research from BIM4Housing and the CDBB suggests that a key reason for the lack of take up is the presumption that there is no use for the data and intelligence created after construction has been completed. Our project makes the case that the homeowner should be viewed as a home's 'Facilities Manager' and could use the data if made available to them.

Secondly, the industry has assumed there is no mechanism to deliver data in a usable form to a homeowner. So there has been little thinking about how to include their needs when thinking about construction data. However, outside of construction, homeowners are rapidly adopting data, apps and service models from other providers (utilities, white goods, smart home providers etc) that could use data or whose methods could be copied.

Our project therefore intends to 'flip the debate' and start with the homeowner. We will look at activity around DIY, maintenance, operation and upkeep of a range of property types and examine where this can be supported with better data from construction or refit. We will:

_"put the voice and needs of the homeowner into the BIM Asset Model design stage"_

We will also look at the apps and services being used by homeowners and test the project assumption that property 'logbooks' or 'passports' provide a way to deliver construction and product data to homeowners in a meaningful and usable format. The project output will be a series of case studies, with supporting data models and software examples, plus recommendations for data creation in new build and retrofit housing.