Last edited 30 Oct 2023

Employer's information requirements EIR

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a very broad term that describes the process of creating and managing digital information about a built asset such as a building, bridge, tunnel and so on. In the UK the government requires fully collaborative 3D BIM (with all project and asset information, documentation and data being electronic) as a minimum on centrally-procured public projects from 4 April 2016. This represents a minimum requirement for level 2 BIM.

Projects that incorporate level 2 BIM ensure appropriate information is created and shared in a suitable format at the right time so that better decisions can be made throughout the delivery and operation of a built asset.

The employer's information requirements (EIR) define the information that will be required by the employer from both their own internal team and from suppliers for the development of the project and for the operation of the completed built asset. Relevant extracts from the employer's information requirements are included in procurement documents for the appointment of each supplier appointed directly by the employer, which may include; advisors, consultants, contractors and so on.

Prospective suppliers respond to the employer's information requirements with a pre-contract BIM execution plan from which their proposed approach, capability and capacity can be evaluated.

Development of the employer's information requirements is likely to be an iterative process:

The employer's information requirements should clearly articulate the information requirements for each supplier and describe the expected information deliverables in terms of documents, model files and structured information. It should also define how and when information should be exchanged in the project lifecycle.

However, the exact nature of the employer's information requirements will depend on the complexity of the project and the experience and requirements of the employer. Experienced employers may develop very detailed employer's information requirements, whilst others may only set out high-level requirements, and some basic rules, leaving the supplier to propose how those requirements will be met.

Very broadly, depending on the employer, employer's information requirements may include:

PAS 1192-2:2013 Specification for information management for the capital/delivery phase of construction projects using building information modelling, specifies the requirements for level 2 BIM and suggests that the employer's information requirements should include:

Information management:

Commercial management:

Competence assessment:

The contractual status of the employer's information requirements can be established by referencing it in, or appended it to a BIM protocol. The BIM protocol (such as the freely-available CIC BIM protocol) sets out the contractual definition of BIM responsibilities, liabilities and limitations. The contract used for appointments can be appended with a BIM protocol by the addition a model enabling amendment clause.

The relationship between the employer's information requirements and other contract documentation is illustrated below:

BIM documents.jpg

The UK government-sponsored nbs BIM Toolkit has be developed to support the production of employer's information requirements.

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