By Mike Hook, LMG
Published on: 6 August 2025
LMG – a founding member of the Digital Buildings Council (DBC) – is working with RIBA to revise a key digital framework used globally across the construction industry. The aim is to drive the adoption of a robust roadmap to improving decision-making and delivering better outcomes for all stakeholders.
The first Smart Building Overlay to the RIBA Plan of Work was published by the professional body for architects in February 2024. As a supplementary framework to the RIBA Plan of Work, it sets out how digital processes, technologies and outcomes should be integrated throughout a building’s construction process and into operation.
However, the digital buildings industry is changing so rapidly that work has just started on revising the Overlay to reflect current best practices. And given the fast-paced evolution of smart building technologies, one of the key challenges will be ensuring that Version 2 remains future-ready and relevant for at least the next two years.
The DBC – set up in 2024 to transform and grow the digital building industry – is working with RIBA and the original authors (ScanTech Digital, Hoare Lea, Kier and Glider Technology) to strengthen the Overlay’s guidance across the entire construction project lifecycle, from early-stage digital strategy through to operational handover.
Review focuses on recent digital advances
In particular, the review will focus on improving the guidance available at the earliest stages of a project, where digital ambitions are often set but not clearly defined. It will also aim to tighten the handovers between project phases, where crucial information is frequently lost or diluted.
That includes helping customers articulate digital requirements from the outset and carry them through design and construction. The goal is to embed digital technology and solutions as a core part of the process, not as an afterthought or something that’s value-engineered out.
Not only will the revised version draw on the knowledge and expertise of those on the project team and advisory group, but it will also build on insights from the growing number of digital building projects that have now been completed. Work on the review kicked off in summer 2025. The updated Overlay is expected to be published by late 2026.
Work expected to take 12-18 months
As part of the DBC project team, I’ll be contributing to the revision of RIBS PoW Stages 6 and 7, two crucial phases where digital ambitions meet real-world building operations. After all, it’s at this point that digital intent for any project is most at risk of being lost. So, getting the detail right here can make or break long-term performance and usability.
For me, being part of this project feels like both a professional privilege and a personal full circle. Back in 2019 – well before the first Digital Overlay was published – I put together a framework of my own to help customers navigate smart building delivery. It had much in common with the RIBA framework, so to be involved now – helping shape a national and international standard that does just that – is something I’m genuinely excited about.
After all, the RIBA Plan of Work is a framework rooted in “bricks and sticks” and has guided the construction of buildings for many years. Today, though, buildings are more than physical structures. They’re data-rich, digitally connected, human-centric and expected to perform in ways that go far beyond form and function.
That’s why the Digital Overlay matters. It represents a key step in aligning the RIBA framework with the realities of modern building construction and operational digitalisation. And it’s why it needs to be constantly updated, to plug emerging gaps and to keep pace with the latest developments. For me, it brings digital thinking into the heart of construction projects and ensures that smart outcomes aren’t just bolted on but built in.