The purpose of the EU procurement rules, underpinned by the Treaty principles, is to open up the public procurement market and to ensure the free movement of supplies, services and works within the EU. In most cases they require competition. The EU rules reflect and reinforce the value for money (VFM), focus of many new procurement policies. This requires that all public procurement must be based on VFM, defined as “the best mix of quality and effectiveness for the least outlay over the period of use of the goods or services bought”, which should be achieved through competition, unless there are compelling reasons to the contrary. This Directive (Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC – Text with EEA relevance) establishes rules on the procedures for procurement by contracting authorities with respect to public contracts as well as design contests, whose value is estimated to be not less than the thresholds specified.
The European Public Procurement Directive includes encouragement for BIM in the procurement of public works to support the modernisation of procurement processes, improvements to cost efficiency of public funding and to increase consideration for whole-life costing in public works. The Directive establishes the need to use software (media data and tools to model the building) in processes for contracting construction work, services and supplies. Among other effects, it is expected that there will be different levels of electronic information and that evaluation of offers in procurement should take the full asset’s lifecycles into consideration rather than focusing only on direct costs, in line with the BIM objectives.
The Directive is available in 23 languages.
The European Federation of Engineering Consultancy Associations (EFCA) has launched a report called ‘Which way to go? Strategic scenarios for consulting engineers in times of high uncertainty’ aimed at business leaders making critical decisions in difficult times, such as following the Covid19 global pandemic. The EFCA’s Future Trends Committee, together with the Center for Strategy and Scenario Planning at HHL Graduate School of Management, Leipzig, explored the future and examined possible strategic developments.
A way of providing direction in times of uncertainty is to start with scenarios that show how the future might unfold in completely different ways. The report describes four scenarios for the consulting engineering industry, based on ‘critical uncertainties.
Although digital technologies have turned a lot of our processes and work behaviour upside down, they are no longer regarded as ‘uncertain’. We know we need to continue with digitalisation. What we are less aware of, or at least, less able to accept as a direct impact on our performance, is the mixture of external challenges: the daily threat of climate change, over-indebtedness and highly pressured global financial systems, an increasingly discordant European Union, even war, conflict and refugees affecting our borders. Such issues can directly, and jointly, impact consulting engineers. But how? The future is foggy, and visibility is poor. Where will the changes end? Which trends will prove to be decisive in assessing the future? What will our industry look like in five years´ time? Which key drivers will be formative for our market? How can our companies stay successful in a changing environment? These questions are not easy to answer in the increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world. This report aims to highlight some potential scenarios which may exist in the future related to these challenges.
An archive version of this information article has been created if the original is no longer accessible (Archive information from January 2024)
In 2018, four major European industry federations, CECE, Construction Products Europe, EBC and FIEC, organised a joint event under the framework of the “EU Industry days” to discuss a common approach towards digitalisation for the construction industry.
By working together with other organisations from the construction value chain the document ‘Smarter Construction, Stronger Economy, Inclusive Society: The European Construction Industry Manifesto for Digitalisation’, was published.
It was supported by 23 European industry organisations, representing a whole range of stakeholders within the construction value chain.
The manifesto outlines why the digitalisation of the construction sector must be one of the main priorities of the EU political agenda because:
- the European Union must take the political lead on digital construction
- an appropriate regulatory framework on data policy is necessary
- the new EU budget must focus on digital skills, R&D and deployment of IT infrastructure.
An archive version of this information article has been created if the original is no longer accessible (Archive information from January 2024)
The European Commission awarded the EU BIM Task Group funding for two years (2016-2017) to deliver a common European network aimed at aligning the use of Building Information Modelling in public works across the region. Europe’s public procurers, policy makers and public estate owners recognise the positive and transformative effect that digitisation brings to both public works and the construction sector. The Task Group’s vision is to encourage the common use of BIM, as ‘digital construction’, in public works with the common aim of improving value for public money, quality of the public estate and for the sustainable competitiveness of industry.
The EU BIM Task Group was formed to deliver a pan-European approach to best practice in BIM (building information modelling). It brings together national efforts into a common and aligned European approach to develop a world-class digital construction sector. The website highlights the current developments and outputs of the Task Group, including current news, events, documents and resources. It also offers the EU BIM Task Group’s Handbook for BIM implementation and the Cost Benefit Analysis for BIM. Publications are available in several languages.
Visit Red BIM de Gobiernos Latinoamericanos’ website
Red BIM de Gobiernos Latinoamericanos (Red BIM Gob Latam) is a network of representatives from the public sector in Latin American countries. Its members currently include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay.
Red BIM Gob Latam aims to increase the productivity of the Latin America’s construction industry through digital transformation, accelerating BIM implementation programmes through collaboration and knowledge sharing. The network diffuses and promotes common guidelines, commercial exchange and knowledge transfer across all countries with the support and financial backing of the Inter-American Development Bank.
You can view a Seminar on the progress of the implementation of BIM in the region on its YouTube channel, which was streamed in November 2020. Representatives of the Gob Latam BIM network introduced their national objectives and presented their BIM implementation strategies.
A pan-European collaboration of public sector organisations across 21 countries, this handbook was funded by the European Commission Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG-GROW) and the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which was the lead coordinator of the programme.
The handbook addresses the increasing challenges faced by governments and public clients to stimulate economic growth. It advocates the wider introduction of BIM to deliver better value for public money, encourage competitiveness in international markets and meet sustainability goals. Hurdles to be overcome include climate change, resource efficiency, increased demands on social care, urbanisation and immigration, and an ageing infrastructure.
The wider adoption of BIM is set to deliver cost savings, productivity and operations efficiencies, improved infrastructure quality and better environmental performance. Governments and public procurers in Europe and around the world are recognising its benefits and potential to enhance decision making for buildings and public infrastructure across their whole lifecycle, from new projects to refurbishment of existing assets.
A European-wide strategic approach led by governments and public sector organisations will offer leadership and create with the private sector an open digital construction market that supports the European goals and is competitive in international markets.
An archive version of this information article has been created if the original is no longer accessible (Archive information from January 2024)
