beegee
2004-10-23, 01:15 AM
In a recent article on The Builder Owner as a Catalyst for Change in the Construction Industry (http://www.aecbytes.com/viewpoint/issue_9.htm) I came across this reference to T5 and the Code of Practice for Production Information (CPIC ) (http://www.productioninformation.org/final/contents.html)
At a cost of £4.2 billion, Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in London, currently under construction, represents a huge program of construction works. The project owner, BAA (British Airports Authority), recognized at the outset that the risk associated with such a huge infrastructure project, coupled with the sheer complexity and scale of work involved, required a fresh approach to the way the project was to be managed if it was to be built on time and within budget. It devised a solution in the T5 Agreement.
The T5 Agreement is the legally binding contract between BAA and its key suppliers. Described as groundbreaking, it is unique in the construction industry. Through the agreement, BAA accepts that it carries all of the risk for the construction project. With this burden removed from contractors and suppliers, it enables everyone working on T5 to:
· focus on determining the cause of problems, not the effects if they happen
· work in truly integrated teams in a successful, if uncertain, environment
· focus on proactively managing risk rather than avoiding litigation
BAA has set itself a target to reduce the cost and program uncertainty associated with building procurement. "This is being achieved in large part by creating a single 3D computer model that BAA and its project partners will use to design, build and ultimately maintain the terminal building," explains Andrew Manington, BAA's T5 Production Support Manager. "To do this, the project team had to agree to use a common set of technology applications and to create a single building information model which coordinates the work of various design disciplines."
Lessons learned at T5 are being disseminated to the rest of industry. The Construction Project Information Committee has published the Code of Practice for Production Information (http://www.productioninformation.org/final/contents.html) (CPIC), which contains the processes and protocols developed for T5. The process is scalable, so that small organizations can take advantage of it too. The code is aimed at the 2D majority with the objective of making it easier for them to advance to 3D.
I haven’t finished reading it all yet, and as stated a lot of it relates to 2D CAD production, nevertheless, its worth looking at.
At a cost of £4.2 billion, Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in London, currently under construction, represents a huge program of construction works. The project owner, BAA (British Airports Authority), recognized at the outset that the risk associated with such a huge infrastructure project, coupled with the sheer complexity and scale of work involved, required a fresh approach to the way the project was to be managed if it was to be built on time and within budget. It devised a solution in the T5 Agreement.
The T5 Agreement is the legally binding contract between BAA and its key suppliers. Described as groundbreaking, it is unique in the construction industry. Through the agreement, BAA accepts that it carries all of the risk for the construction project. With this burden removed from contractors and suppliers, it enables everyone working on T5 to:
· focus on determining the cause of problems, not the effects if they happen
· work in truly integrated teams in a successful, if uncertain, environment
· focus on proactively managing risk rather than avoiding litigation
BAA has set itself a target to reduce the cost and program uncertainty associated with building procurement. "This is being achieved in large part by creating a single 3D computer model that BAA and its project partners will use to design, build and ultimately maintain the terminal building," explains Andrew Manington, BAA's T5 Production Support Manager. "To do this, the project team had to agree to use a common set of technology applications and to create a single building information model which coordinates the work of various design disciplines."
Lessons learned at T5 are being disseminated to the rest of industry. The Construction Project Information Committee has published the Code of Practice for Production Information (http://www.productioninformation.org/final/contents.html) (CPIC), which contains the processes and protocols developed for T5. The process is scalable, so that small organizations can take advantage of it too. The code is aimed at the 2D majority with the objective of making it easier for them to advance to 3D.
I haven’t finished reading it all yet, and as stated a lot of it relates to 2D CAD production, nevertheless, its worth looking at.