Together with its partners, HOCHTIEF ViCon has been awarded the contract to implement the Building Information Modelling (BIM) road map on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure. As a pioneer of digital construction, ViCon will provide consultancy services to the Ministry until the end of 2018.
The target is to introduce the BIM road map in three consecutive steps. Following the preparatory phase (until 2017) and the pilot phase (until 2020), the use of BIM is expected to be mandatory for all new projects under the responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (Bundesministerium für Verkehr und digitale Infrastruktur (BMVI)). It is aimed at rendering planning and construction processes especially of large infrastructure projects in a more efficient, transparent, and controllable way.
ViCon will provide consultancy service to the pilot projects. In addition, experts will analyze to what extent BIM is already being used in Germany and determine a realistic performance level to be expected when BIM is introduced in 2020 for the public infrastructure sector. The consortium will define the steps required for nationwide BIM implementation and analyze matters relating to the legal and contractual situation. It will also work out recommended actions and provide market participants with guidelines, samples, and handouts. An integral part of consultancy services consists of systematic training of employees and decision-makers for traffic infrastructure projects in the respective federal states.
For many years, ViCon has been promoting the nationwide introduction of BIM in the construction industry via national and international research projects (such as Inpro or Insiter), committee work in national and international bodies, trainings (BIM certification), and its own BIM-related events. The company has accompanied more than 450 BIM projects across the world in the planning and execution phases and will contribute its practical experience to the implementation of the BIM road map. Among the major ViCon projects that have used digital computer models are the recently opened Elbe Philharmonic Hall in Hamburg and the Sydney metro, currently Australia's largest infrastructure project.
HOCHTIEF ViCon is a member of the "BIM4INFRA 2020" research team, which comprises "planen bauen 4.0", Ruhr-Universität Bochum, TU München, Kapellmann, Obermeyer Planen + Beraten, AEC3 Deutschland, Max Bögl, WTM Engineers, Erste Lesung, and interactive instruments Gesellschaft für Software-Entwicklung.