Taking construction businesses to the next level

What's your name?

Emma Hayes

What position do you hold?

Managing director/senior BIM consultant with Digital Built Consultants

What are your day-to-day responsibilities?

As the managing director I am responsible for the day-to-day business administration of Digital Built Consultants along with business development. As a senior BIM consultant, I am responsible for working with our clients to develop BIM adoption strategies aligned to their business goals, supporting the roll-out of implementation roadmaps with protocols and procedures along with comprehensive training plans. I prepare in-house BIM standards for our clients and BIM execution strategies and plans for projects.

What is your professional background?

I have over 20 years’ experience in the AEC industry in Ireland and internationally. I am a Chartered Architectural Technologist and hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Architectural Technology from Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), and a Master’s Degree in BIM Management from Middlesex University.

Previously, I was the group BIM manager for a large multi-disciplined AEC and project management organisation. I was responsible for the development and implementation of the group BIM strategy and roll-out of procedures and workflows for BIM adoption across the organisation’s network of offices in Europe, Asia and the US.

I have executed BIM on a number of high-value complex projects in the pharma, food, energy and mission-critical sectors. I also have extensive experience delivering residential, retail and commercial projects. Since launching Digital Built Consultants, I have worked with many clients as their adviser and representative for BIM projects and have worked with several architectural, engineering consultants and contractors to develop their BIM capability.

Tell me about yourself away from work?

I am very passionate about the digital transition of the Irish construction industry and I am very active in driving progress in BIM adoption through my extracurricular involvement in organisations such as Construction IT Alliance, judging the BIM Excellence category at the Irish Construction Excellence Awards and lecturing on the MSc BIM Management, Middlesex University/MSc Applied BIM Management, DIT.

When I’m not working on BIM adoption, I enjoy training and competing with my horses at Dressage Ireland shows. I am very lucky to live in the countryside with my husband and menagerie of horses, dogs, cats and hens where I can truly unwind and enjoy the good life!

You are speaking at the 2019 CIF Construction Management Summit. What are you speaking about?

I am on a panel discussion about the trends and innovations that will take your business to the next level of productivity. We will provide insights into the various techniques that can help improve productivity across three areas (people, processes and technology), such as technology trends that will reshape the industry: cloud and mobile, 4D & 5D BIM, Internet of Things, improving planning with more data, construction productivity training and collaboration.

What challenges do you see for leaders in the construction sector?

The construction industry has been resistant to the full adoption of BIM processes. Research has shown that people’s mindsets and attitudes are one of the main impediments to BIM adoption. But in my experience, it is also essentially about good communication, especially in virtual teams. BIM technology will become easier to use, but unless the team are willing to engage with the processes it will be more difficult to implement BIM.

I would advise companies considering BIM to have an adoption strategy with clear goals for implementation. Change management models such as Prosci’s ADKAR model can really help define a clear structure for BIM adoption. After that, the first step is to create an awareness of the need for BIM, support change and encourage a desire for adoption. Coaching, practice and time will help lay the groundwork for adoption. It’s important to keep reinforcing and measuring so that corrective actions can be taken as you build BIM into the culture of your organisation. It’s a team effort.

Where would you like to see the industry in 10 years’ time?

In 10 years’ time I would like to see a construction sector that has completed a digital transformation where cutting edge technology, robust workflows and collaborative procurement processes support a more productive and efficient industry.

Emma Hayes is speaking at the CIF’s Construction Management Summit on March 29th in Croke Park. Seewww.constructionsummit.ie for details.