We talk about standardizing design information, however standardizing undertaking administration is equally necessary, significantly in BIM-based tasks. Bane NOR‘s Jorge Domenech and Norconsult‘s Inge Handagard introduced on the InfraBIM Open 2025 convention in Tampere, Finland, highlighting a client-initiated strategy to reaching this.
Bane NOR is Norway’s authorities company liable for working, sustaining, and setting up railways and stations nationwide. The company has been eager on digitalizing building tasks and has developed and carried out requirements to extend information high quality and consistency, automate guide work, enhance safety, and save money and time by decreasing rework.
From BIM mandate to standardization
Over a decade in the past, Bane NOR began requiring its suppliers to offer 3D fashions for his or her tasks. In 2024, the company launched KIM, an IFC 4.3-based BIM customary for naming mannequin properties and attributes to make fashions extra worthwhile. A couple of weeks in the past, it additionally modified the way it collaborates by BIM.
“Since we carried out BIM, we’ve been utilizing the instruments offered by the suppliers. It’s troublesome for our assets engaged on completely different tasks to turn out to be acquainted with the completely different instruments. There may be additionally an absence of management over them, with restricted entry usually,” Jorge Domenech defined.
To handle this dilemma, Bane NOR carried out Novorender, a visible platform that integrates with fashions from a number of codecs. It offers a unified interface for the shopper and suppliers to view and handle fashions all through the asset lifecycle.
Testing early involvement in a pilot undertaking
Jorge and Inge introduced a case research of Grorud Ventespor, a building undertaking to pilot next-generation VDC and a single supply of fact ideas. The undertaking includes making a siding monitor for Oslo’s Grorud station, incorporating over 15 engineering disciplines.
Historically, Bane NOR offers suggestions on tasks’ first design deliveries as soon as they’re accomplished, which might result in modifications and revisions. Within the new mannequin, the company needs to be concerned in undertaking design and resolution improvement at an early stage. That is doable by the collaborative use of standardized BIM.
Consequently, Bane NOR ought to be capable to approve 80% of all doc deliveries on the primary try and have higher management of the method and prices all through the design part.
Key methodologies and frameworks
The Grorud undertaking implements a number of frameworks to make collaboration and management environment friendly:
- VDC—Digital Design and Development—is the general framework for a digitalized undertaking. It permits the contributors to visualise and simulate the development course of, determine potential points early, and enhance general undertaking effectivity.
- PIM – Undertaking Data Mannequin as outlined by the ISO 19650 customary. It’s a single supply for all undertaking info and ensures consistency and accessibility.
- MMI – Mannequin Maturity Index, a Norwegian equal of LODs. It’s used to judge a BIM mannequin’s accuracy and degree of element at completely different undertaking levels.
- KIM – Bane NOR’s Necessities for Data Modeling ensures all information is standardized and meets the shopper’s high quality standards.
- ISO 19650 Necessities for Data Administration
The undertaking is split into work packages, every with particular duties or deliveries, and Data Supply Milestones (IDM).
The implementation
Inge Handagard mentioned the sensible implementation of the methodologies within the undertaking. He argued that the 4 important parts of undertaking execution–undertaking management, work processes, info administration, and expertise–are sometimes unconnected and that completely different individuals and organizations are liable for them. The pilot undertaking goals to combine these areas.
Inge confirmed how, for instance, the undertaking schedule incorporates the work packages, IDMs, job groups, and deliveries. The deliveries are additional damaged down right into a timeline, with the maturity of every supply listed by week. Mixed with KIM, this permits the monitoring of design progress by mannequin elements.
The CDE, Frequent Knowledge Atmosphere, incorporates BIM and GIS viewers, file-sharing capabilities, visible undertaking plans, automation, undertaking dashboards, and others. Every bit of information is related to a undertaking information mannequin that may be visualized on dashboards. They supply an up-to-date image of the undertaking primarily based on numerous filters.
Jorge concluded that Bane NOR has achieved the 80% objective for revision-free deliveries, full transparency and searchability of the knowledge, progress monitoring, minimized sources of knowledge, and vital value reductions.
The outcomes
Within the dialogue that adopted, the presenters assured that standardization isn’t about including complexity or forms; it’s about eradicating inefficiencies.
PS: Within the Nordics, governments will not be simply mandating BIM—they’re maximizing its worth. They set a worldwide benchmark for the way the general public sector can create a extra environment friendly, clear, and future-proofed constructed atmosphere.
The title picture: Ari Kopra (Kreate), Jorge Domenech (Bane NOR), and Inge Handagard (Norconsult) at InfraBIM Open 2025 in Tampere on February 5, 2025.
