BIMwm, an award-winning BIM framework co-founded by Sandwell Council and the West Midlands’ three Growth Hubs in partnership with LM – a joint venture of Laing O’Rourke and J. Murphy and Sons Ltd – is pleased to announce that it has been shortlisted for an award at next month’s Generation 4 Construction (G4C) Constructing Excellence Awards.

The shortlisted project will deliver the enabling works aligned to the West Midlands route for the HS2 high speed rail project.

The BIMwm framework has been created by the three regional growth hubs – Black Country, Greater Birmingham and Solihull, and Coventry and Warwickshire – to help West Midlands businesses acquire the knowledge, technology, software and vocational skills needed to become proficient in digital engineering.

BIMwm imparts every aspect of BIM knowledge to the region’s SMEs, from basic skills for beginners through to advanced digital design and 3D modelling technology. Its aim is to position the West Midlands supply chain at the forefront of the UK BIM adoption wave.

More than two hundred business leaders, innovators and young industry talent from across the construction sector will gather at a high-profile awards ceremony next month to celebrate outstanding examples of excellence and best practice.

BIMwm and LM JV have been nominated for their collaborative work in the commitment to training and development category, which has had more than 100 entries from some of the biggest names in West Midlands construction.

The collaborative entry focuses on its delivery plans to assess and accelerate BIM skill sets for SMEs across six key work streams, raising their awareness of the significant opportunities that digital media presents to promote products and embed data through value-engineered designs.

The judges praised the project’s “visionary work and exemplary partnership approach on developing a unified HS2 digital construction strategy, helping indigenous SMEs to gain the right combination of skills, tools and experience to unlock the potential benefits that BIM presents.”

Senior supply chain and procurement lead of the LM JV joint venture Sean O’Brien said: “We are delighted to be shortlisted alongside BIMwm. At LM JV, we recognise the opportunities that digital engineering presents and have seen the advantages of fully integrating BIM into our approach when working with every aspect and level of the HS2 supply chain. We hope that as many of the region’s businesses get to grips with BIM methods and ensure that they are up to date with the latest technological advances and future skills needed for high speed rail, giving them a real business advantage going forward.”

BIMwm executive and digital engineering lead Rob Umphray said: “We are delighted that we have been shortlisted in the commitment to training category, which demonstrates our unique partnership with LM JV, our collaborative BIM workshops to help coach small and medium sized firms to adopt new technologies, manage risk and capture supply chain innovation is a truly pioneering approach.”

The winners will be revealed at the prestigious awards ceremony taking place on the evening of Tuesday 14 November at the National Conference Centre, Birmingham.