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Whilst it is encouraging to hear government backing for BIM, the gap between reality and Paul Morrell's words leaves me with the impression that this is another hollow government incentive. Its telling that he speaks of a 'trial team'. Every big consultant and contractor can point to a trial that has occurred some time in the last ten or more years. However when you look at the rate of uptake on second projects its very low.

To be talking about the use of BIM models in the context of lifetime asset management, when most trials don't go beyond drawing production and basic scheduling, indicates just how far Morrell's vision is adrift from the general industry ambition. The detailed grain of the problems that a project runs up against remained unexplored:

* Who will pay for the early design costs involved in additional modelling that are required for coordination in 3D?
* How can an earlier stage models be coordinated meaningfully, when most M+E works are performance specified pre-tender?
* How will the uncomfortable fit between BIM for design development and documentation and BIM for costing, procurement and construction be resolved?

Later yesterday one of my colleagues saw Morrell speaking again at Constructing Excellence G4C (a group for future industry leaders). She was surprised that one of the focuses of his dialogue was that contractors would lead the push for collaborative BIM and consultants would follow. This opinion is 12 or more months out of date. Now the general discussion with contractors is focussed on the needs and requirements of each professional discipline, architects included to maximise the benefit of a project model. In many ways the main contractor is now a member of the profession consultant team, the more enlightened ones realise this and they want to talk. Let's not forget that BIM is used from design to completion. At some time in the future it will be used for asset management too.

A radical shift that would be far more useful in the context of collaboration would be for the government to insist that all software vendors who wished to enter the UK government market provide building and business data in an open exchange format.