\n
![\"LOD\"](\"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lod.png\")
<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>
Applications of BIM at Professional Level<\/h2>Design Consultants – Architecture, Structural, MEP, and Landscape<\/h3>
The applications of BIM for design consultants are many. BIM software platforms such as Autodesk Revit, Autodesk Navisworks and Bentley’s suite of programs allow designers to build models by creating building elements or using libraries of elements (known as ‘families’).<\/p>
BIM allows for a more collaborative design approach, with input from disciplines that have differing design briefs. With this approach, clashes can be detected early and rectified making the design process much smoother.<\/p>
Although designers are mostly concerned with BIM levels 3D to 5D, the higher levels also benefit them as they can elicit feedback and collect data about the performance of the structure and use this to inform future design decisions.<\/p>
Construction Contractors – Main and Specialized Subcontractors<\/h3>
Projects that implement BIM tend to use the model as the central focus. All relevant stakeholders in the project can use or amend the model as appropriate. For instance, contractors can add component information to help with future maintenance. If contractors need to raise change orders, they can send them directly to the architects through the model.<\/p>
The information contained in the model is useful for most contractors involved in the actual building stage of the project and allows them to collaborate with each other far more effectively. Ideally, main contractors and subcontractors should be involved in the design process, with access to the model to allow them input into the preconstruction design decisions. This is especially important with 4D and 5D BIM where their hands-on experience can help to resolve scheduling and cost issues.<\/p>
Business Owners – Developers, Project Managers, and Facility Managers<\/h3>
The primary purpose of BIM is the collection, collation, and management of information, both in graphical and text format. It’s more than just a design tool, and as such has managerial applications.<\/p>
Depending on the project, the asset owners may be private developers, government bodies or project management teams, or may transition from one to another over time. Project managers will typically own the project until snagging is completed then hand it over to their clients. Therefore, the BIM model should be built and maintained with this in mind, providing all the information that current and future owners may need.<\/p>
Project managers are also obliged to take an active role in the creation of the model, especially at levels 4D and 5D. They should also be responsible for inputting data until completion of the project and handover.<\/p>
Facility managers can use the BIM model for improved management of space, reducing expenses and streamlining maintenance activities. BIM also saves a lot of time as it removes the need to manually populate separate facility management software as details of equipment location, user manuals, and technical information are already on-hand and can be directly exported to FM software.<\/p>
Surveyors<\/h2>
Surveying agencies or contractors are sometimes overlooked in the BIM process, but they are integral to its success. A surveyor’s work is not necessarily complete upon handover of data. The BIM model relies on highly accurate data, and it also highlights where extra surveying may be required early on in the design process. Therefore, surveyors should be involved in the 3D conceptual modeling stage, being on hand to rectify survey errors or undertake extra surveying.<\/p>
BIM Implementation Success Story<\/h2>
Kerr Hall East, Ryerson University, Canada<\/strong><\/p>![\"Kerr](\"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/kerr-hall-east.jpg\")
<\/p>
Kerr Hall East was constructed in the 1960s and required renovation. The building’s main functions are laboratories, classrooms, and office space. The original design and as-built drawings were unable to be found, and the hall had undergone several small-scale structural and plant renovations over the years.<\/p>
![\"Kerr](\"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/kerr-hall-east-model.jpg\")
<\/p>
The designers and project management team wanted to use BIM to the highest 7D level for this project. Here is a summary of how they achieved this:<\/p>
\n- \n
01<\/div>\n
Built the initial 3D BIM model using 2D CAD floor plans from a recent space audit that contained base geometry.<\/p><\/li>\n
- \n
02<\/div>\n
Added hazard mapping data, inventory tracking and asbestos mapping (4D)<\/p><\/li>\n
- \n
03<\/div>\n
Included project planning and schedule information (4D and 5D)<\/p><\/li>\n
- \n
04<\/div>\n
Added energy conservation estimates (6D)<\/p><\/li>\n
- \n
05<\/div>\n
Included location of maintenance equipment (7D)<\/p><\/li>\n<\/ul>
The team faced some challenges along the way:<\/p>
\n- \n
Data uncertainty<\/div>\n
Surveyors conducted spot checks to verify CAD drawings. The percentage of spot checks where site elements didn’t tally with the drawings was used as the certainty rating. The designers only included items that had a certainty rating of over 50% in the model. All equipment schedules were flagged to highlight certainty.<\/p><\/li>\n
- \n
Managing information transfer<\/div>\n
Whenever information is transferred, there is potential for loss or corruption of data. Care was taken to ensure that “push” transfers of data from the BIM model to the FM system, and “pull” transfers in the opposite direction were managed correctly and data integrity maintained.<\/p><\/li>\n
- \n
Controlling the progression from 3D to 7D BIM<\/div>\n
As there was no digital information available at the beginning of the project, care had to be taken when building the initial 3D model. Building the model could not be rushed, and adding extra information to progress to 7D had to be carried out in carefully managed stages.<\/p><\/li>\n<\/ul>
7D BIM Development Framework<\/strong>
\n![\"7D](\"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/7d-bim-framework-model.jpg\")
<\/p>The Way Forward for BIM<\/h2>
Although BIM is a relatively new technology in the construction industry, it is advancing at a breakneck pace. We are only just scratching the surface of what is possible with BIM.<\/p>
For instance, Dutch contractors are currently trialing ‘8D BIM’ which involves a fully integrated project delivery that has the aim of delivering ‘zero-carbon’ housing. This is a huge leap regarding environmental sustainability and could, in time, become an industry standard for the housing market.<\/p>
There’s no doubt that BIM technology will continue to progress in the coming years and innovative and boundary-pushing projects like the Dutch one mentioned above will help to drive things forward. How long before we see revolutionary technologies such as 3D printing and advanced robotics working in collaboration with BIM models?<\/p>
Watch this space!<\/p>
– IndiaCADworks<\/strong><\/p>Disclaimer:All the product names, logos, trademarks, and brand names are the property of their respective owners. All the products, services, and organization names mentioned in this page are for identification purpose only and do not imply endorsement.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There’s little doubt that the construction industry will benefit greatly from BIM technology. There are literally dozens of advantages that accurate, detailed 3D models of building projects bring. The key thing to understand is that BIM is more than just a CAD model. It’s more like a database that stores design, construction, and maintenance information, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bim"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2017"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2482,"href":"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017\/revisions\/2482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"3D\"](\"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/3d.png\")
\n![\"4D\"](\"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/4d.png\")
\n![\"5D\"](\"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/5d.png\")
\n![\"6D\"](\"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/6d.png\")
\n![\"7D\"](\"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/7d.png\")
\n![\"BIM](\"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bim-progression.jpg\")
<\/p>![\"3D](\"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/3d-bim.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"4D](\"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/4d-bim.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Lifecycle](\"https:\/\/www.indiacadworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/bim-lifecycle.jpg\")
<\/p>