Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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244. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if consideration is being given to making the use of building information modelling mandatory in public procurement construction contracts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42144/21]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Building Information Modelling (BIM) has the potential to transform the processes surrounding project and data management on construction projects and can drive significant efficiencies.  It offers industry the opportunity to rationalise its working methods, reduce waste and explore opportunities for off-site production.  These all contribute to a leaner and safer project delivery making the industry a more attractive proposition from an investment and recruitment perspective.  For clients it can transform both the construction and operational phases delivering greater project certainty.

In July 2017 the Government approved a high-level strategy for the adoption of BIM on public sector construction projects to ensure a consistent and coherent approach to the application of BIM across the public sector.  The timing of any mandatory requirements for BIM adoption on public works projects is considered to be dependent on the level of supports available to both clients and industry to mitigate the disruption to project delivery that accompanies digital transition in any sector.

The National BIM Council’s ‘Roadmap to Digital Transition’ published in December 2017 highlighted the dependencies on the journey to digital transition including standards, training and procurement.

Since the development of the strategy in 2017 the International Organisation Standards (ISO) has published a range of standards for BIM.  The National Standards Authority of Ireland, through the work of its BIM mirror group, has developed the important national annexes that sit under the ISO standard to enable a consistent approach to the delivery of BIM in Ireland and for Irish businesses compete in a worldwide market.

Innovation and digital adoption have been highlighted as key to improving productivity by the Construction Sector Group (CSG) in their report ‘Building Innovation’ published in June 2020.  A range of actions were identified in the report which are aimed at driving digital adoption in the sector.

The CSG established the Innovation and Digital Adoption Sub-Group to implement the actions and one of the key enablers of digital adoption is the implementation of the Build Digital Project.  In December 2020 my department launched a competitive challenge-based grant call to deliver the Build Digital Project for the Construction Sector in 2021.  The process has almost concluded and an announcement on the organisation that will establish the Build Digital Project will be announced shortly.

Once the Build Digital Project is established an implementation strategy for a phased adoption of BIM on public works projects will be published.  The strategy will recognise the varying BIM skills that currently exist and will introduce a steadily increasing demand for BIM delivery to enable industry to upskill and recruit the necessary resources. BIM will be phased into public works projects over a four-year period commencing with the large-scale projects initially as the larger technical consultancies and contractors already have the capacity to deliver BIM.