Owner’s - Why you are waiting to implement BIM?

Many people in the construction industry are talking about Building Information Modeling (BIM). Most architecture and engineering firms indicate that they are utilizing BIM to some degree on a percentage of their projects. But what is BIM? Does BIM mean the same thing to an architect as it does to an engineer, to a construction manager, to an owner, to facility maintenance personnel?

In this article we will discuss BIM from Owners perspective.

Building information modeling is a process – offering significant benefits for a construction project and the project owner: faster delivery, higher quality, cost certainty, lower risk, green performance and more efficient operation.

Some of the benefits the client can accomplish are:

·        20-30% higher productivity in the construction phase and reduce overall project delivery time during the design phase as well as the construction phase.

·       Reduction of Requests for Information (RFI) and Change Orders (CO) by a factor of ten or more,

·        Response time from designers and architect to owner’s questions can compress,

·         Higher engagement and buy-in of all important stakeholders,

·       More design options from more perspectives with a similar budget and time schedule than traditional methods,

·      Afford a high degree of analysis of building systems, alternative materials, equipment, and technologies which leads to more informed decision-making,

·       Reduce contractor uncertainty, which leads to a more accurate cost picture and more consistent bids,

·       Increase overall accuracy of project documentation,

·        Help the project team develop a practical and cohesive phasing plan.

·        Utilize as a Programming Tool, Energy Analysis Tool, Coordination tool, Estimate tool,

·         As built models can be used as

§  Maintenance

§  Space management

§  Asset management

§  Renovations and upgrades

·         Facility Management

So….. What is holding clients to mandate BIM in their projects? …………....

Initial Investment? …….ROI?

To reap the benefits, there has to be investment. As we emerge from recession, companies and clients remain reluctant to adopt change. Many are even uncertain as to where change will need to be made.

Return on Investment (ROI) for BIM in the Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry is well documented generally concluding that Earnings/Cost = ROI. The greatest cost in companies implementing BIM is the cost involved re-training staff.

 

According to the 2009 McGraw-Hill Smart Market Report ‘The Business Value of BIM,’ nearly two-thirds (63%) of BIM users say they see positive ROI on their overall investment in BIM, with 15% reporting an ROI of 50% or more and the remaining 20% believe they are breaking even. Architects who are the highest users of BIM report the highest gain in productivity. Contractors are gaining ground faster than any other group as they discover the uses of BIM beyond the design process.

 What and how BIM will change the construction process.

The decision to adopt BIM involves change in three areas:

·         People,

·         Process and

·         Technology.

The people issue is often considered a major hurdle: supply chain partners must work transparently and collaboratively as they contribute to the shared model. Designers have to know how to use – even create – a BIM. Training will probably be needed. A series of discussions need to be carried out to remove the anxiety among the some stakeholders about a lack of technical skills, while for others the need for culture change was the hardest part.

Change is also needed in business process: BIM is not just a replacement for CAD and must be underpinned by a clear strategy. The collaborative working needed is a far cry from the historical structure of the industry, with its compartmentalisation and emphasis on individual profit margins to the detriment of the project as a whole.

The third area of change is technology. BIM adopters will have to explore the software market and invest in the software that is right for them. Some companies will want to upgrade their hardware.

 The project phases of a traditional project starting from architecture side are schematic design, design development, construction documentation and construction administration. Additionally, these phases generally last for the same lengths of time. When a project uses BIM, phases can be consolidated into design, documentation and bid/build. The design phase lasts longer while the documentation phase is shorter.

In the construction industry, estimates tend to be manual. Finishes, door hardware, and windows, for example, all tend to be manually counted, measured and quantified using a spreadsheet (i.e. Excel). There is no link back to the design or the construction documents. Changes made to the design need to be filtered through to the CDs to the estimates. When costs are found to be too expensive in an estimate, that needs to be communicated back, considered in the design (which in turn gets updated in the CDs and on and on…). With a project done in BIM, there is a conversation being continually had by all parties (technologically, or model to model, not verbally). Therefore, estimates are derived directly from the model. The oft used phrase is, a change anywhere is a change everywhere. This is exactly what makes the BIM process more efficient.

Please send me your suggestions and comments to jobancpaul@gmail.com