Data loss is a serious issue that can have devastating effects on a project’s progress in terms of both cost and time. This was a lesson the University of Birmingham had to learn the hard way.

“We’ve had a couple of issues over the years where we’ve ended up with contractors who have gone bust. And we’ve ended up losing data during a couple of instances. There were also a couple of instances of contractors trying to sell us our data back after going into liquidation – essentially data that we’d already paid for, through design services and construction management services,” says. Rich Draper, Head of BIM and Digital Assets, University of Birmingham Estates.

That’s when the company decided to deploy Bentley System’s Common Data Environment (BCDE) – to ensure ownership of their data and make faster decisions.

“We took it upon ourselves to go through a process of developing or at least getting in place systems where we can then look after our data through the whole of the construction process. But then also taking it through into the asset management stage,” says Draper.

Bentley Systems is an American-based infrastructure engineering software company that provides innovative software to advance the world’s infrastructure – sustaining both the global economy and the environment. Their industry-leading software solutions are used by professionals, and organizations of every size, for the design, construction, and operations of roads and bridges, rail and transit, water and wastewater, public works and utilities, buildings and campuses, mining, and industrial facilities.

Within BCDE, the university can store information on the history and current condition of over 200 buildings of different ages, complexities, and uses – including its newest university building in Dubai. 

The University of Birmingham Dubai, located in Dubai International Academic City (DIAC), offers a range of science, business, technology, and other courses. The futuristic building, with adaptable teaching spaces, features a modular facade and is designed to adapt to fast-changing learning environments, with a flexible, future-proofed approach and a minimum anticipated life span of 30 years.

Previously, structural data of the university buildings were scattered within various data silos, slowing access. With BCDE, the university can establish a common data environment that would enable them to own their data.

The BCDE system was customized to accommodate the university’s regulations, security requirements, and workflows. 

As a result, the time to data handover for completed construction to operations was reduced from an average of six months to one month. Also, improved decision-making helped the university reduce costs while working towards the goal of generating 75% of power on-site and reducing its carbon footprint by 3,000 tons per year.

“The university continues to migrate more information into the CDE each day, meaning we will always surface information about our assets quickly without the risk of single points of failure and information losses. Pre BCDE, a lot of the documentation, projects and assets would be held on different systems, or on people's own personal drives. So having the CDE allows us to be a lot more coordinated with the documentation and make it a lot more easily accessible to our colleagues and wider users,” says Matthew Hoper, Data Manager, University of Birmingham.

In 2016, the University of Birmingham commenced a 10-year redevelopment program to protect and upgrade all its campuses and facilities. The plan included the refurbishing of buildings under the program, including a new library, biomedical research facilities, an energy accelerator research building, a new data center, and a new engineering school. The 10-year plan also included the construction of a new campus in Dubai. 

“The goal of the redevelopment is to protect and upgrade the buildings to benefit the students and the academic community while celebrating the institution’s long history. The massive and multifaceted scope of the initiative led the University of Birmingham to look for a method that would help them carefully manage all project data and securely support delivery and transition from planning to operations. University officials also wanted tighter control of all the documents, drawings, 3D models, and related data for all assets, even the ones not affected by the redevelopment. With the method they were using, project and asset information lived in multiple, disparate legacy systems, as well as the university’s external supply chain, which created a situation that made university officials uncomfortable with the amount of risk. In addition to inefficient and time-consuming data retrieval, officials were concerned about data loss in the event of a supplier dispute or insolvency during design and construction. Therefore, they needed to find a way to gain full control over their data and unite it in one platform,” a press release from Bentley Systems stated. 

Installing Bentley System’s BCDE allowed the university to break free all data from individual silos and view it from one location, lowering the time required to search for and access individual items, which would speed design and development. The system also allows the university to keep control of the data while seamlessly collaborating with the various suppliers and contractors working on new construction and improvements. 

The system is also helping the university work towards its goal of generating 75% of needed power on-site via energy savings. 

“Through the use of the CDE, the university has achieved initial savings of GBP 28,000. By establishing clear workflows, university officials have greatly improved visibility into the design and construction progress. Since the university now fully owns all data, it can easily retrieve and use the data to resolve contractor disputes. At the same time, the entire supply chain of approximately 300 companies still has access to all data, at any time and on preferred devices, ensuring that drawings and designs are reviewed and approved in a timely fashion. Decision-making has also improved by providing the team with invaluable insights into operational processes,” a press release from Bentley Systems said.

Another prime advantage the system offers is data security. “The main advantage going right to the holistic top level is what we call information security. The more pieces of the jigsaw puzzle you add, the greater the risk, the picture will fall apart. So, what Richard and Matthew have done—very, obviously, very succinctly, and very forthright with long-term planning in mind—is to provide that security for them as a client. There are a number of safety measures in place for them. And additionally, Bentley’s key message of being an open-source company gives them the ability to have one source of security and link into other pieces of software. So, it is just one piece of software that provides the savings,” says Mark Coates, International Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, Bentley Systems.

BCDE, with its ability to improve efficiency and store large amounts of data, also plays a crucial role in the university's journey to sustainability. “There is absolute efficiency in getting information without much hassle such as making multiple journeys backward and forwards to various offices. Also, there is no need to maintain physical copies of documentation,” adds Coates.