NATSPEC BIM Management Plan Template

 

The requirement for a BIM Management Plan

A BIM Management Plan is a formal document that defines how a project will be executed, monitored and controlled with regard to BIM. One of its main purposes is to make clear what members of the project team can expect from each other – who is meant to do what, and how, and when.
NATSPEC National BIM Guide clause 3.1 requires that at project initiation a BIM Management Plan be developed to provide a master information/data management plan and to assign roles and responsibilities for model creation and data integration.

A set of templates that work with other National BIM Guide documents has been provided for download.

NATSPEC BIM Management Plan Templates (Includes all the documents described below) [754 KB]     Download

Template descriptions

The Templates are editable Word files that can be customised to create a BIM Management Plan (BMP) to suit a specific project and respond to the requirements recorded in the Project BIM Brief* (See description at end of article). They can be used to document either a Design BMP or a Construction BMP in conformance with National BIM Guide clause 3.2 or 3.3 respectively. All of them include guidance to assist with their completion.

  • Combined Template (BMP_Template_Combined_v2.0.doxc): The Combined Template plus the Technical Appendix most closely resemble the first edition of the BIM Management Plan (BMP). As the name suggests, it can be used to create a Design BMP, Construction BMP or Combined BMP.

The Templates described below split the Combined Template into separate documents to reduce the amount of editing necessary to create either a Design BMP or a Construction BMP.
The split also helps address the different needs of project stakeholder groups. BIM Management Plans cover a wide range of material – breaking a BIM Management Plan into separate documents addressed to different stakeholder groups avoids overwhelmed each with a large volume of material that is not immediately relevant to them or to which they are unable to respond effectively, e.g. requests for decisions on detailed technical matters by non-experts.
This listing order of documents reflects the nature of their content; it moves from broader, more strategic considerations to more detailed procedural and technical considerations.

  • Executive Summary: A high level document covering goals for BIM, BIM Uses, project phases and procurement addressed to – and collaboratively developed by – Client, Project Managers, Principal Consultants, i.e. those with strategic focus and skills but limited expertise or direct involvement with BIM. It responds directly to the Project BIM Brief at a similar level of focus.
  • Design BMP: For Principals, Project Team leaders and Model Managers, i.e. those with a management focus and intermediate BIM skills, for use during the project’s design phase.
  • Construction BMP: For a similar audience as the Design BMP’s but for use during the construction phase.
    Technical Appendix: A document containing detailed technical information, schedules, etc for BIM Managers, Model Managers and Modellers, i.e. those with advanced BIM skills and/or knowledge responsible for the day-to-day modelling and management of project information.
  • BMP Schedules: An Excel document that includes all the tables and schedules found in the other documents but in a spreadsheet form. It is for those who prefer to work with this file format or want a format that can be more readily used for the digital exchange of data between software applications.

Using the Templates

Completing the Templates in the order noted reduces the tendency to get bogged down in detail before more fundamental issues are resolved. In practice, all documents are interrelated and a certain amount working backwards and forwards between them will be required during the development of the BIM Management Plan. The important point is that overall strategic considerations should be addressed before launching into detailed planning.
Even though each document is targeted at different groups, much of the content of each is still relevant to all. As they are intended to be read in conjunction with each other, their content must be consistent. The responsibility for making sure of this and coordinating their development should fall to a single person, such as the Lead BIM Adviser or Lead Consultant.

Selecting the most appropriate Templates

A number of documents have been included in the download file to cater for the differing requirements of projects and preferences of users. Some documents are alternatives to others, so every document will NOT be needed for a project.
Select documents based on the nature of the project and the team’s preferred method of developing the BIM Management Plan. As a guide: separate documents are generally better suited to complex projects with a large number of stakeholders. For a simple project with a team that has worked together well on other projects and is experienced in BMP development, the Combined Template might be a better fit.
The Combined Template may require more content to be culled but the separate documents will probably require a little more effort to coordinate and cross-reference properly.

Typical combinations of documents

ComTA

Or

ESDesTA

Or

ESConTA

Or

 ESDesConTA

 

*Project BIM Brief

A high-level document intended to be used early in the project when BIM is first considered, primarily for recording the client’s requirements regarding the application of BIM. It is directed at the client and members of the project team with intermediate BIM skills, i.e. Principals of each major Consultant and Project Team leaders, ideally with the support of a Lead BIM Adviser or Lead Consultant with BIM expertise.