When procuring the services to provide a 3D Model of a building, structure or infrastructure, what do you currently do?

  • Source the right supplier – Look at your supplier list, Google search or have a company recommended.
  • Invite a few companies to submit a quote.
  • Make sure it is competitive, and in your mind, good value.
  • Surveyed in a minimum time to meet your deadline.
  • Covering the right area and level of detail.

Simple, but how do you know that what you’re doing is the best approach to ensure you get the best value and customer service? Procuring such a technical service can become daunting very fast.

1. Understand Your Supplier – Meet with us:

We always advise that a meeting takes place prior to the quotation stage (on site if possible) to ensure all options are discussed. There are various techniques and technologies that can be explored which you may not know about, and may be more appropriate for your site/project.

Benefits: You get the right survey, pay for what you need (save money), and gain knowledge in how the survey can be used to gain added value.

2. Specify:
Once you have decided what you need, always specify in detail your initial requirements. If you don’t have internal specifications, ask Severn Partnership for our latest BIM specification. It is designed to act as a ‘menu choice’ of what you need, ensuring complete confidence in what is required.

Benefits: This simple approach, will save you time and money throughout the project.

3. Future Proof Your Model:
To minimise re-work and save time in the future, think about your facility, what are its needs going to be in the future? If you only require a 3D BIM Model for one purpose now, you should seriously consider having it developed to it’s full potential from inception. For example; will you require a high LOD in the future but only a mass model now? Do you only need a 30mm tolerance now but in 5 years time when you refurbish you may require a 15mm tolerance? If not feasible, in some cases this may mean having all rooms laser scanned (even if it is not necessary at the time) and archived until the model requires development.

Benefit: Future proofing will add the greatest value with long term gain.

4. Survey Grid: 

Installing the appropriate survey control network is paramount to any BIM project where laser scanning/federating 3D Models is concerned. Which survey control you require (Snakegrid, Local, OS) will vary depending on project requirements, transformations can be complex and introduce errors. Ask for advice where needed.

Benefit: Quality and consistency implemented early reduces risk and cost long term.

5. Reviewing/Choosing a Supplier:
When you are reviewing your potential supplier, make sure you are not only considering the price, but the company’s experience in that sector, the project programme, resources allocated and equipment. Suppliers case studies can be a great indication to how a company has performed in the past, and where there experience has been. Research the supplier on LinkedIn and other social media sites and get a realistic view of their capabilities.

Benefits: Being confident with your choice of supplier will create a strong business relationship at a very early stage, enabling best practice.

6. Quality Assurance Over Price:
Make sure the company is governed by an accredited body; maintaining standards in quality, safety and environmental management. There are a number of basics to look for which are signposts that the survey company is keeping up with auditing their work, matching current standards, maintaining training and CPD;

  • TSA – Membership of the Survey Association
  • RICS – Membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
  • CICES – Membership of the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors
  • ISO9001:2008 – Externally Audited accreditation on Quality
  • OHSAS 18001:2007 – Externally Audited accreditation on Safety
  • ISO14001:2004 – Externally Audited accreditation on Environmental issues
  • CSCS and CCNSG – construction work sites and safety cards.

Benefits: Quality is paramount to ensure a project is low risk of any future problems. Accreditations and memberships are direct proof your supplier is at the standard you need.

7. Think About Added Value:
Explore/understand a company as a whole. Severn Partnership have a total of six departments, specialising in Rail, Utilities and Mobile Mapping. We will take economies of scale into consideration when pricing for our projects if you require multiple services – why instruct two separate companies when you could recruit one to do it all?

There are often other deliverables which may be a benefit to your project, which can be executed for little extra cost, such as VR, AR and TruViews. Our sister company SEEABLE re-uses BIM data to its full potential, creating bespoke applications to visualise data and add value in multiple ways.

Benefit: Finding a way to add value will increase revenue.

8. Ensure all Relevant Documentation is in Place:
If you are working to the BIM Level 2 mandate, you should be providing EIRs and receiving pre and post BIM Execution Plans. Also to consider; internal standards/QA procedures – this is extremely important if you do not have in-house capability to verify BIM models. Consult with your supplier and get advice.

Benefit: Working with your supplier will ensure no errors or time consuming mistakes happen.

9. Always ask for a Detailed Delivery Schedule:
As part of tender documentation, a delivery schedule must be supplied, including proposed project milestones. If you do not receive staged dates of delivery and an office processing timetable, you will have no reference to ensure your project is on schedule.

Benefit: Clear understanding and expectations will promote a proactive approach, reducing risk and saving time and money.

10. Health & Safety and Access:

Consider the risks that the site poses, do you have an overarching HSQE representative who is going to ensure all appropriate documentation and procedures are in place? Severn Partnership’s HSQE manager upon request will ensure all Risk Assessments and Method Statements are produced in accordance with relevant standards and protocols.

In addition, not arranging appropriate site access can have large impacts on project schedules. If you are unsure about how to effectively arrange site access, ask the survey company to produce a project programme based on the facilities timetable. If commissioning Severn Partnership, you can always ask us to make these arrangements for you.

Benefit: A supplier committed to high standards of HSQE is committed to you, the client. Critical in any project.