BIM and Geospatial Information Systems

1. Introduction

There has undoubtedly been a growth in the use of Geospatial Information Systems (often referred to as GIS) and BIM over the last few years. In the last few years the GIS market has evolved from technology that was once specialised to becoming part of the enterprise. As D.Duffy (2003) says,

It can be argued that there are a number of reasons for this growth such as:

• •

  The convergence of related technologies which benefit from location (spatial) information;

• •

  Realisation of benefits and efficiencies that are the result of a more collaborative approach;

• •

  Greater emphasis on managing information as an asset which is re-usable;

• •

  The traditional CAD/BIM and GIS silos moving closer together with the emergence of people with both skill sets working on common platforms

• •

  Interoperability barriers are starting to be removed; there is a more standards driven approach to data collection and storage which is helping to provide a framework for data exchange.

A building, however big, small or complex is one component of the wider built environment. Even as a single entity it creates a vast amount of information just by existing. Any works that are planned or any maintenance and operational schedules require information about the components which combined together make up the structure. In a true architectural sense a building is not designed as a single entity. Consideration is given to its context within the direct locality as well as the wider environment. It is not as simplistic as, BIM is inside the building and the geospatial (GIS) space is everything outside the building.

Figure 1.

Adapted from Arup BIM example of infrastructure and buildings operating as a system

Chances are the “building” is physically connected to a combination of “assets” outside which provide water, energy and communications. These “assets” are then connected to other buildings and assets and so the networked system continues. Looking at it this way it seems obvious that an integrated system would be the most sensible approach.

2. Collaboration

Collaboration is a phrase that has crept into the AEC vocabulary and is now part of the common vernacular. From the latin collaborare the definition is to “work together”. There is often agreement during a project inception meeting that project work streams should collaborate more combined with talk of using common systems and standards. What is sometimes lost at this point is why this is important and what the benefits are in terms of real measurable business returns. The short sighted approach is to ignore these ideas of collaboration to focus on the “deliverables”. After all, this is how performance is measured. You don’t often hear of clients being glad about costs spiralling upwards because the suppliers decided a BIM was required or a complex geospatial system would solve all the projects problems. Often the long game isn’t considered. As Simon Rawlinson (2006) states

The perception of low level collaboration will hinder the investment and development of the joined up BIM. This will be discussed later in this chapter.

Stepping back and consider the vision. Putting any known barriers aside what is the BIM and geospatial vision. You could sum it quite simply as “one version of the truth”; a single information portal which provides an accurate, query-able data hub relating to all aspects of the built environment. The data is provided, updated, used and managed by all of the stakeholders. The process begins as soon as the building is considered and used right through until de-commission.

In broad terms, some of the advantages of this BIM approach are summarised as follows: