In just a few short weeks, scheduling author and engineer Fredric L. Plotnick, Ph.D., Esq., P.E., will open his first annual Construction CPM Conference. Starting Jan. 12 in Orlando, this three-day, multi-track conference will feature construction management experts, consultants and vendors to explore all aspects of construction scheduling. Tracks will include best practices, claims support, earned value, case studies, training sessions and clinics. Notable keynote speakers will include Joel Koppelman and Dick Faris of Oracle Primavera, John Owen of Deltek Open Plan, and Irv Richter of Hill International. Highlights of the event will include an exhibit hall with multiple vendors of CPM software, and on Saturday, Jan. 15, there will be a mock trial to help attendees understand the do's and don'ts of testifying as a schedule expert in a construction litigation case. For more information, visit www.constructioncpm.com.

Within about 60 days, the IFMA (International Facility Management Association) Foundation intends to release a report on building information modeling (BIM), Eric Teicholz, who heads IFMA Foundation's "Knowledge Management" research efforts, told CPC/BIM.

The report will be "very extensive in the sense that we're looking at what some of the implications of BIM and FM are, what the open standards are that are being used, [etc.]," Teicholz said. "We're also doing a survey of the IFMA membership as to what some of the integration issues are and how some of the different vendors are handling that type of integration with that technology, and when they think it's coming."

The upcoming report follows up on a document that the foundation recently released that in part addresses projects involving geospatial information systems and BIM. Additional details about the new report are included in this edition of CPC/BIM.

Also in this issue, John Jurewicz explores the outsourcing of hosted BIM solutions, Doug Findley focuses on "P6 Gottchas," several groups release a report on integrated project delivery for public and private owners, the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International and the Defense Acquisition University sign a cooperative agreement, and don't forget Industry Updates.

Several factors are contributing to increased productivity in the United Kingdom's construction industry, an official with London-based Construction Products Association (CPA) told CPC/BIM earlier this month. "The movement from wet trades, such as plasters, toward dry trades such as drylining, the improvement in cladding systems, the increase in offsite construction, and the movement toward timber-frame construction are all likely to have made construction more productive," CPA Economics Director Noble Francis said. More details about the U.K.'s success with construction productivity, along with recent productivity developments in Singapore and Australia, are included in this edition of CPC/BIM.

Also in this issue, concerns about integrated project delivery are documented in a new ZweigWhite survey, John Jurewicz examines the technical requirements for hosting building information models, Tammy McCuen addresses efforts to define standard information exchange requirements from the design model to the cost estimator for a project in building information modeling, Gordon Aronson stresses the importance of keeping non-critical activities from becoming a link in the current critical path, and don't forget Industry Updates.