The UK BIM Framework, launched in October 2019 to provide the overarching approach to implementing BIM in the UK, has been rebranded as the IMI Framework.
The initial framework was developed by the UK BIM Alliance (today nima), British Standards Institution (BSI) and the Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB). It expanded on guidance developed to support early UK building information modelling (BIM) standards – notably BS 1192 – in the 2010s. It was launched in October 2019 to support UK implementation of information management good practices following the publication of the first parts of the international ISO 19650 series of standards in January 2019, as well as guidance such as Government Soft Landings.
Since March 2022, when the CDBB completed its work (passing some of its responsibilities to the Connected Places Catapult), nima and BSI have continued to support the development of the Framework. Their work has included new guidance to support additions to the BS EN ISO 19650 series, plus new resources including Back to Basics videos, infographics and an AI-driven search tool trained on the guidance content.
The IMI Framework
BIM has become part of a wider and growing information management landscape. In October 2022, the UK BIM Alliance changed its name to nima to reflect the wider IM opportunities. And in late 2023, it began working with the Construction Leadership Council to develop a transformational Information Management Initiative (IMI) for the built and managed environment. The IMI:
invites organisations to sign up to some over-arching principles
sets a direction of travel for the sector, including a route-map through to 2030
requires organisations to create their own organisation-wide mandates
provides supporting resources – the IMI Framework – for organisations wanting to improve their data and information management practices
Fiona Moore, a nima vice chair, says:
“While we are still in the early months of the Information Management Initiative, it is important to help those who have already signed up to take their next steps. These early signatories will also help us to develop the IMI Framework so that it incorporates navigation to rules appropriate to their organisations and to their roles in the built and managed environment.”
Dan Rossiter, Built Environment Sector Lead at BSI, says:
“The IMI Framework provides an integral interpretation layer between the technical provisions of the standards and real world applications of information management. It does so through volunteer-produced guidance providing helpful insights and examples as well as the collation of tools, templates and third-party content. It helps a wide range of IM practitioners involved in delivery and through-life operation of our built environment.”
*Weblinks to UKBIMFramework.org will redirect to IMIFramework.org.
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