On 14 June, CEN/TC442, the Technical Committee (TC) working on the standardisation of Building Information Modelling (BIM), held its plenary meeting in Tromsø, Norway. The meeting was the first hybrid meeting of the TC following the Covid-19 pandemic, including physical participation. In his capacity as Expert for Small Business Standards (SBS), EBC Policy Officer Spyros Mathioudakis, physically attended the meeting. SBS is the organisation defending the interests of SMEs in standardisation at European level and a Partner Organisation of CEN.
The Chair of CEN/TC 442 Mr. Øivind Rooth (Standard Norge) gave an overview of the activities of the TC since the last plenary. A detailed account of the activities of the 10 different Working Groups (WGs) currently making up the TC was presented. The newly created WG on Digital Twins (WG9) is an interesting development, to which interested experts can still be appointed by application of their national standardisation bodies.
During the meeting, the representative of CEN Mr. Laurens Hernalsteen gave a presentation on the CEN & CENELEC strategy 2030 and the EU strategy on standardisation. The two strategies make up for Europe’s roadmap for the future of standardisation and are strongly linked and aligned. He also informed participants of the novel possibilities provided by CEN to publish standards in non-printable electronic forms, using alternative types of software if applicable.
The Chair also had the opportunity to inform participants about side activities of interest to the TC’s work to which he participated, such as the CEN Sector Forum for Construction (CEN SFC), the EU BIM Task Group and the European Commission’s High-Level Construction Forum.
EBC had the opportunity to exchange with several experts of National and European standardization bodies during the meeting, emphasizing the need to take the needs of SMEs on board when drafting European (EN) and international (ISO) standards for BIM. EBC and SBS together advocate that standard should be adapted to the needs and are not exclusive of all types of actors including small and micro companies and crafts, taking into account local specificities e.g., on professional qualifications, and not creating market or administrative barriers for SMEs.
Subsequently, the draft decisions stemming from each WG were brought to a vote and approved.
The next plenary meeting of CEN/TC442 is set to take place in hybrid form in Helsinki, in November 2022.
