What is Building Information Modeling (BIM)?

Collaboration and communication are evolving in the construction industry. The days of contractors operating in silos are slowly disappearing and being replaced by a system of collaboration and communication, spearheaded by building information modeling (BIM) – a popular topic in today’s construction industry, and a grossly misunderstood one.

Contrary to popular belief, BIM is not merely a technology. Although there are technological components that make up the BIM process, the technology, or the software, is merely a component of a broader system. In its essence, BIM is a way of doing business; a method of collaboration between architects, engineers, manufacturers, developers, and contractors that improves the efficiency and accuracy of the design, construction, and management of construction projects. BIM’s strength lies in its ability to identify conflicts upfront, which in turn eliminates cost prohibitive changes required later on in the construction process.

In an overly litigious, high risk industry such as construction, the emphasis for years has been on risk avoidance, to the detriment of collaboration and budgets. Typically, this meant an architect would pass on risk to the general contractor, who would pass it on to the subcontractors, and so on. The result was too often the same: lots of change orders, and incorrect construction processes that led to long delays and budget overruns. This was not a sustainable way to do business and over time this began to be recognized by industry leaders, leading to the eventual development of BIM principles.

One of the biggest benefits of BIM is identifying spatial conflicts, such as where the plumbing doesn’t line up with the space planning or where there’s an electrical box in the wrong place according to the plans. The architect and engineer design to the BIM standard, then when the plans are passed on, the general contractor uses BIM software in concert with estimating software to identify these conflicts.

Additionally, cost benefit analyses can be done much faster with BIM, allowing multiple options to be considered before the first brick is ever laid on a project. This enables contractors to provide accurate estimates to owners on specific ways they can save money.

Other benefits of BIM include:

• Problem detection: Conflicting elements in a building’s design are identified early during the modeling phase, preventing costly changes down the road.
• Construction automation: Tasks that can be easily automated are identified by the software, depending on your software, which allows workers to focus on more specialized tasks.
• Enhanced processes: Workflows are automatically generated, and any changes made during construction update for everyone on site, eliminating the need to manually inform all parties.
• Increased worker safety: Workers have direct and easy access to specific information about each task at hand, leading to increased awareness and focus.

There is no one-size-fits-all in the world of BIM software. If an architect is interested in the conceptual design aspect, then a product like AutoCAD may be perfect. If a contractor is interested in collaboration, bidding, and construction management then AutoCAD NavisWorks would likely be a suitable option. Correct software selection is highly driven by an actor’s role, and may even change from project to project due to interoperability concerns and contractors dictating the use of specific software.

The current practice in BIM is the use of the ‘federated model.’ This refers to the standardized interoperability of BIM files between the different software suites that architects, engineers, and contractors each use. As each party passes their model off to the next, it must be possible to add or subtract each individual model from the whole so all parts can be combined before construction to run clash or collision detection between the models. If a clash or collision is detected, the ability exists to take out and re-work specific sections. Thus, it is incredibly important to verify the interoperability of BIM software between working groups.

A business needs to approach the implementation of BIM like any other capital acquisition; that is, to completely understand their needs and benefits of specific software offerings, and make a quantitative analysis of return on investment.

When implementing a new system, it’s essential to ensure best practices are in place and that everyone is using the technology in an agreed upon manner. Failure to do so will lead to a collapse of the entire BIM process, and a reversion to budget overruns and project delays.

Rand Group is an experienced solution provider that can help you select, implement, then adopt the best software or software solutions for your construction business. Our team will also ensure that your software seamlessly connects with the rest of your business solutions, including your ERP, and that all parties on trained on best practices. Contact our team today to start a project.