The U.S. Department of Veterans Administration (VA) has become what is believed to be the first large owner to require that the Construction Operations Building Information Exchange standard be used for construction product submittals. The Building Software Alliance -- which was created to spearhead technical, political, and financial support for advanced digital technology in the real property industry -- recently expressed its support for the federal agency's move, noting that savings reported by firms responsible for populating data in Computerized Maintenance Management System/Computerized Asset Facility Management systems is about 80 percent. More information about requirements in the department's recently released BIM Guide is included in this edition of CPC/BIM.

Also in this issue, an attorney recently told a group of CPC/BIM webinar attendees that there are 10 questions that should be answered when committing to a building information modeling project, the Construction Financial Management Association has released its 2010 Information Technology Survey for the Construction Industry, Gordon Aronson examines using InfoMaker with P6 Schema, Steve Killius advises that careful selection of electrical infrastructure products can greatly improve productivity for electrical trades and an entire project timeline, and don't forget Industry Updates.

Autodesk, E-Builder, CertainTeed Gypsum, Maxwell Systems, and Delmar are among the companies making announcements.

A recent survey of architects and architectural firms about building information modeling (BIM) has yielded some surprising results. "The most surprising finding in the survey report had to do with participants not believing BIM would lead to greater pay or salary," Anthony Frausto-Robledo, who served as editor-in-chief for the "Architosh 2010 BIM Survey Report," disclosed for this month's edition of CPC/BIM. The report also reveals the percentage of respondents who have adopted BIM, the leading reasons why they are interested in BIM, and several other findings.

Also in this edition of CPC/BIM, BIM experts provide advice for webinar attendees, there is some new funding for an information kiosk that is designed to increase productivity at construction sites, John Jurewicz examines project information management, Gordon Aronson addresses work breakdown structure assignable code values, and don't forget Industry Updates.