As part of the Government Construction Strategy, all publically-funded construction projects must comply fully with the collaborative 3D Building Information Modelling (BIM) standards by 2016, with all project and asset information, documentation and data being electronic.

A blueprint for working together

Professor Swart is part of a task force called Behaviours for Collaboration (B4C) which has developed the new framework, titled ‘Professions Map’.

The Map covers guidance on key behaviours that will improve how construction projects are delivered: trust and respect, openness and communications, common goals and new ways of working, and leadership and interpersonal skills.

Initial user feedback encouraging

The launch event at the University, funded by our Public Engagement Unit, invited researchers and industry stakeholders to give feedback on the Map’s usefulness.

Attendees included Stride Treglown, Building SMART UK, Constructive Coaching, Constructing Excellence and researchers from the Universities of Bristol, the West of England and Salford.

Professor Swart, from the School of Management, where research was recently judged to be world-leading, said: “It was so encouraging to see the engagement of all the stakeholders at the event and to be made aware of how the profession map can support collaborative behaviours. It is also clear that the map can be applied to other research areas and research projects to monitor collaboration. This should lead to enhanced performance of all the stakeholders.”

Industry case studies on collaboration

The workshop audience also heard Professor Stephen Emmitt, from our Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering, and Dr Mark Shelbourn, from the University of the West of England.

The pair gave case studies from the construction industry and explained the theory of why collaborative behaviours are needed to make Building Information Management (BIM) work effectively.

Promoting new technologies, processes and collaboration

The B4C task force is chaired by Elizabeth Kavanagh, Head of Human Resources at architects Stride Treglown and it’s a partner to the Building Information Modelling (BIM) hub.

Both groups are driven by the Government’s Construction 2025 strategy and are part of a push to promote the use of BIM technologies, processes and collaborative behaviours to unlock new more efficient ways for different parts of the construction industry to work together.