Background

The basic elements of the built environment – locations, plans, properties, buildings and the infrastructure connected to them – all have lifecycles of their own and are all in their own sectors currently transitioning to a structural, international three-dimensional data model. The built environment, construction and infrastructure sectors are each based on partly different international standards and concepts.

In the world that was based on paper documents and in differentiated data models, these traditionally slightly separate sectors have been able to operate using different standards. But when the aim is a scalable, integrated approach and data structures that enable machine-readability, functionality issues must be solved and basic policies on standardisation must be agreed.

A broad aim

The long-term benefit aimed at is to enhance the management of the information on the built environment by 50 per cent. The annual savings would then be EUR 300 million. The aim of the project is to lay a foundation for the productivity leap of the Finnish built environment, which will make digital information management and the communication between the parties one of the best in the world. The aim is to enhance the management of information on the built environment through standardisation. It is also estimated that enhanced information management will bring indirect benefits to the life cycle management of the built environment. The benefits will manifest themselves as better quality and management by information and as timely repairs. Depending on the source, these benefits have been estimated to total even between 10 and 30 per cent of the costs over the entire lifecycle.

Objectives

The objective of this work is to make a strategy proposal regarding the use of standards in the management of information on the built environment at the national level for the period 2018-2030 and to implement communication measures that strengthen awareness in the sector and improve the fast implementation of the results. Such measures include describing the benefits of international standards to the national economy, defining the use cases for the different standards, influencing the development of international standards and drawing up a plan for the introduction of international standards.

The expected results are:

- A view shared by different organisations (central government, cities, the private sector, organisations) on the target state in which the used international standards are utilised as an input in the work on the enterprise architecture of the built environment (core capabilities).
- Increased general awareness about standards and their importance in the built environment and construction sector.
- Bringing international concepts into discussion in the terminology work concerning the built environment and construction sector.
- A Road Map for the implementation of the standards
- Commitment by actors in the sector to introducing international standardisation

Timetable

The work will take about 3 months. One of the events in which the results will be presented is the international WBDE event organised on 11 and 12 September 2018.

Further information