OK, I am not here for a long post this morning. Just found it worthwhile to quote Brian Lighthart's golden statement which truely holds when addressing use of an integrated lifecycle-supporting collaborative Building Information Model by all actors in AEC/O. He has nonetheless articulated this in a general way also encompassing traditional formats such as dwg files:

I suppose the logic is "Why should I redraw this when that work is already done?". That logic is sound, but it ignores the contracts and the money involved.

... and the ensuing questions are not less stimulating and pertinent to contemporary debates in the field:

Do the agreements say anything about sharing drawings? Who decides what layers are visible, or included in the dwg as furnished? Who pays for the time to vet, assemble and convey the files, and deal with any communications problems or misunderstandings as to the content of the files?

Here is another piece of uncomfortable truth put forward by Dominic Seah (I can not confirm it):

At the moment, standard contracts in the UK, and i suspect in the US as well, prioritise the delivered 2D info over the BIM model.

I would like to come back to this later on. This is about somewhere in the industry where the boundaries are being pushed forward on a daily basis; and need to be done so, even at a faster pace in near future.

Source: LinkedIn

NKS: hopes and scruples

Now, it can be said with no hesitation that reconstruction of Slussen can no longer be entitled as the most spoken-about construction project in Stockholm. The New Karolinska Solna university hospital has recently been the source of a mass of both news and gossips, acclaiming, scrutinizing, criticising or harshly dissenting.

The New Karolinska Solna project (NKS) is defined as a public private partnership (PPP) with an integrated project delivery (IPD) approch: Swedish Hospital Partners (SHP) has undertaken design, construction, administration and maintenance of the buildings and facilities until 2040 together with the construction firm, Skanska and the British finance company, Innisfree. The County Council has assumed to pay a total amount of 52 billion Swedish Crowns in return. The project covers an area of 320 000 sqm. and will be completed by 2016.

According to recent news, the Stockholm County Council is considering possibilities for abolishment of the contract. This has triggered a complete state of shock, confusion and denial among those who are either engaged in or concerned about the project. As far as I am concerned, that will be pity and disappointing if a state-of-the-art and multi-disciplinary construction project as such is halted for any reason. NKS can in fact be a milestone in application of BIM in Swedish building industry. Ramböll consulting company is the administrator for provision of BIM strategies for NKS. Ramböll's representative and a promoter of Open BIM, Hans Lif, hopes this project would be a breakthrough in shifting from inefficient paper and PDF specification documents and drawings to standardized modern forms of data management in building industry.

We strongly subscribe to this point of view here at BIM Collaboration Lab!

Sources:

http://www.dn.se/sthlm/sll-overvager-saga-upp-sjukhusavtal

http://di.se/

http://www.svd.se/naringsliv/branscher/bank-och-fastighet/bygget-av-karolinska-kan-stoppas_7072151.svd

http://www.nyakarolinskasolna.se/

http://byggvarlden.se/nyheter/byggprojekt/article3092570.ece

http://www.netcommunity.se/201201165093/BYGG/BIM/Press/NVS-installerar-i-Nya-Karolinska-Solna-5093/menu-id-858
https://www.vardforbundet.se/Vardfokus/tidningen/2011/Nr-9-2011-9/Uppdrag-Byggaframtidens-vard/