Taking the Plunge: When is the Best Time to Switch to BIM?

Why Wait?

With all of the well-documented benefits of using BIM for design, coordination and construction, it make sense to switch to BIM sooner rather than later. Rather than inefficiently switching between multiple applications for 3D modeling, drafting, energy analysis, etc., most of these functions can be handled in one BIM application. While getting up to speed on a new tool will require an investment of time, that investment will pay off quickly and handsomely in increased work efficiency and less duplicated effort. Likewise, this will translate into a financial gain that will quickly outpace the initial costs of BIM. One doesn’t need to wait for a big project or for a client to mandate the use of BIM, either. Small firms working on small projects can also very easily start profiting from the use of BIM. With all of these advantages, why wait? Make the switch to BIM today!

Taking the Plunge: When is the Best Time to Switch to BIM?

BIM Affordability

There is a common misconception that BIM applications are prohibitively expensive, and that only large firms can afford to use it. This is simply not true. It is true that BIM applications have greater upfront costs than 2D package (a full version of Revit is approximately twice as expensive as a full version of AutoCAD). However, the cost barrier to entry is now even lower with “light” versions on BIM packages that are available for less than $1400. The features that are missing from these “light” versions tend to be features that most small firms wouldn’t have much use for, such as work sharing.

As with many aspects of the AEC world, it can be a mistake to focus solely on the initial cost. With BIM, the return on investment over the long term is positive. A 2012 McGraw-Hill Construction report noted that most firms found a positive ROI on their BIM investment, with 36% of the architecture firms surveyed reporting an ROI of greater than 25%. This number is most likely higher today, as more firms have adopted and become comfortable with the BIM workflow.

Even small firms are finding BIM to be a smart move. There are an expanding number of small design firms (including Tesseract Design) which use BIM as their primary design tool. It’s not just for huge multi-office firms; even one- and two-person outfits can realize the benefits of BIM.

Taking the Plunge: When is the Best Time to Switch to BIM?

The Right Job for BIM

Frequently, firms will resist making the change to BIM because they are waiting for the “right job” to come along on which to roll out BIM. Frequently, it is assumed that this job has to be fairly large to justify the use of BIM. This is erroneous and can lead to major problems.I worked for one firm that decided that a highly complex, 25-floor project was the best initial project for BIM. The results were, at best, problematic. Since this was such a big job, there was a lot more at risk when things went wrong. And things will go wrong with a first BIM project – it’s simply unrealistic to expect otherwise.

Generally, I advise clients to start small with BIM. Essentially, any design job that requires more than floor plans is a good first project for BIM. Any project that has elevations, sections, and schedules – all of which can be much more easily generated and managed with BIM than with a 2D process. Even something as small as a 200-square-foot TI or residential addition would make a good first BIM project.

I also recommend to clients that they do a dry run with a small project that has already been completed. That way, the risks of making errors is effectively neutralized, and a lot of the freshman errors that happen when switching to a new tool will be gotten out of the way before going live on a paying project. Also, the new users will get a feel for how to best get the drawings to conform to the desired standards, something else that will save time when a real project is attempted.

Finally, using BIM will help firms land more work. Some market sectors, particularly healthcare and publicly-funded projects now require the use of BIM. Even for clients that don’t mandate the use of BIM, being able to demonstrate the ability to use a sophisticated BIM tool will give the firm an edge over the competition. Firms that use BIM are perceived as more progressive.

Taking BIM one step at a time

Get to know BIM. Designate one or two people at the firm to learn more about how BIM will affect the way your team works. For instance, in the 2D world, many firms leave the details to the later stages of the design process. With BIM, many design details need to be worked out much earlier. 

Communicate the change to your people. High-level firm leaders should take a leading role in letting people know the firm is definitely transitioning to BIM. The message is “we are moving to BIM because it’s critical to our future” not “we’re trying BIM.” Be sure to communicate the anticipated benefits of BIM  - it will be easier to rally the team around a compelling future vision than by talking too much about mandates. 

Account for software and hardware needs. BIM isn’t software; it’s a collaborative process that relies on intelligent 3D models. But you’ll need software to create those models. Take the time to explore available software, and consider whether your current hardware has sufficient processing power. 

Develop a change management plan. This plan should document at a high level how your team anticipates BIM changing established workflows, who needs training and when they’ll get it, and how you’ll support people when they have questions and issues. Support is probably the most important item; organisational change happens faster and more successfully when you help people adopt new ways of working. 

Start a pilot program, and provide training to the pilot team. If you do dozens of small projects each year, you might consider completing one pilot and capturing lessons learned before running several more pilot projects. A firm with just a few massive multiyear projects might prefer to capture lessons learned from an initial pilot as it happens, while also initiating all new projects in BIM. 

Document preferred processes. As your pilot project (or projects) progress, have the team document BIM processes. Work with other parties in the supply chain to understand your required outputs and how your team needs to do BIM to support them. It’s tempting to try to focus on applying the UK Government Level 2 standards immediately or potentially creating your own standards during or before running a pilot. But your understanding of how to leverage standards will evolve as you use BIM in particular the role your organisation plays in the BIM lifecycle. Starting with standards could slow your team down and complicate the BIM adoption process unnecessarily. 

Cultivate BIM champions. You’ll find that some people in your firm are excited about BIM—perhaps they even learned about BIM as part of their education. Try to put BIM champions on every pilot project, and provide them with the additional training and support they need to help teammates adopt BIM. 

Train and transition other teams. As people are about to begin a BIM project, provide training. A common mistake is to train the whole firm at once, but then transition to BIM project by project over the course of a year or two. People on later projects will have forgotten much of what they learned in training. 

Integrate with other models. You’ll see the most benefits from BIM when you share models with other firms that are also working in BIM. Many firms find that integrating models into a single, shared model accelerates the coordination process and opens the door to a new level of collaboration. It will be particularly beneficial if your teams undertake this by understanding how to correctly share model data within a Common Data Environment as described in standards such as PAS 1192:2 and BS 1192:2007.

Expand and innovate with BIM. As you use BIM, you’ll find that it enables new visualisation, coordination, and analysis capabilities. Look for ways to turn these new capabilities into value—and new service offerings—for clients.  

Why Should the Project Team Develop a BIM Project Execution Plan? 

                             To effectively integrate BIM into the project delivery process, it is important for the team to develop a detailed execution plan for BIM implementation. A BIM Project Execution Plan (hereinafter referred to as the ‘BIM Plan’) outlines the overall vision along with implementation details for the team to follow throughout the project. The BIM Plan should be developed in the early stages of a project; continually developed as additional participants are added to the project; and monitored, updated, and revised as 
needed throughout the implementation phase of the project. The plan should define the scope of BIM 
implementation on the project, identify the process flow for BIM tasks, define the information 
exchanges between parties, and describe the required project and company infrastructure needed to support the implementation. By developing a BIM Plan, the project and project team members can achieve the following value: 

1. All parties will clearly understand and communicate the strategic goals for       implementing BIM on the project 

2. Organizations will understand their roles and responsibilities in the                 implementation 

3. The  team will be able to design an execution process which is well suited       for each team member’s business practices and typical organizational            workflows 

4. The plan will outline additional resources, training, or other competencies       necessary to successfully implement BIM for the intended uses 

5.The plan will provide a benchmark for describing the process to future             participants who join the project 

6. The purchasing divisions will be able to define contract language to ensure    that all project participants fulfill their obligations 

7. The baseline plan will provide a goal for measuring progress throughout the   project. 

       BIM, like other new technologies, can carry some level of additional process risk when implemented by teams that are not experienced with the implementation process, or if people are not familiar with the strategies and processes of their team members. Ultimately, the entire team will gain value through the increased level of planning by reducing the unknowns in the implementation process thereby reducing the overall risk to all parties and the project. 

Use of BIM in Construction Management

      There are many uses of Building Information Modeling for each project participant depicts these uses for the planning, design (preconstruction), construction and operation (post construction) phases: During the design phase, the use of BIM can maximize its impact on a project since the ability to influence cost is the highest. The team can creatively come up with ideas and provide solutions to issues before problems become high cost impacts to the project. This can be realized through the cooperation and coordination of the entire project staff. Therefore, it is extremely important to have a good collaboration. The use of BIM especially enhances the collaborative efforts of the team. The architect and engineer can test their design ideas including energy analysis. The construction manager can provide constructability, sequencing, value and engineering reports. They can also start 3D coordination between subcontractors and vendors during early stages of design. The owner can visually notice if the design is what he is looking for. Overall, the BIM promotes the collaboration of all of the projection participants.

                There are beneficial uses of BIM during the construction phase. However, the ability to impact the cost in a project reduces as the construction progresses. Several uses include sequencing, cost estimation, fabrication and onsite BIM. During the post construction phase, maintenance scheduling, building system analysis, asset management, and space management and tracking, disaster planning, and record modeling can a record model can help to maintain the building throughout its lifecycle. Ideally, the building automation systems (BAS) which controls and monitors the use of mechanical and electrical equipment can be linked to the record model to provide a successful location based maintenance program. Furthermore, building system analysis including energy, lighting, and mechanical can be used to measure building’s performance. Moreover, upgrades may be initiated to various equipment and components of the building.

Taking Ownership of a BIM Project

Owners are now mandating BIM on projects and though the construction industry is equipping itself with the necessary skills to adhere to BIM requirements, the immediate reaction is that implementing BIM would be costly and therefore outweigh the benefits. Designers add on the cost of building BIM that they need for their design processes, while contractors ask for added funds to recreate models from 2D or 3D models to meet their functional requirements.

Project Managers see managing a BIM project a huge investment in skill sets and time – to understand the BIM data exchange requirements between the project parties. There is an interesting debate within the industry on the amount and quality of data or information being passed on between partners in a project. In the new workflows defined by adoption of BIM processes, designers are often reluctant to offer their Design Information Models (DIM) to the constructors, and are in favour of offering just 2D information.

The industry views this reluctance as stemming from the increased risk related to the design and the fact that they are sharing critical design information. In projects where designers give the constructors the DIM model, the constructors complain about the lack of flexibility and quality of data of the DIM and often develop their own models. Most of the modelling is done without keeping in mind the owner’s motivation to use BIM on the project, but just the mandate to use BIM on the project. Ultimately the owner is faced with an inflated cost just to use BIM on the project, with disparate opinions on how BIM should be used. How does an owner confront the challenges and barriers to adopting BIM?

To seek a solution to this problem, owners should first understand the benefits of using BIM on a project. The owner should then identify key areas where his projects will benefit from the use of BIM. The owner cannot expect to gain the benefits of using BIM, by only mandating BIM on the project, but should take the initiative in leading the implementation of BIM on a project. Owners could examine their internal workflows and identify methods and tools that could deliver projects more efficiently.

Using a Building Information Model for Structural Engineering

The Revit Structure building information model combines a physical representation of the

building fully associated with an analytical representation. This common, computable

building model is used for structural design, drawing production, and coordination – and

drives third-party structural analysis applications.

Computable Building Model

Digital data is not necessarily computable data – a distinction that at first glance may

seem insignificant but in actuality wreaks havoc for the user of the data. For example, a

word processor can be used to create rows and columns of financial data, but most of the

numeric calculations and modifications must be done manually. The data is digital, but not

very useful.

In contrast, a spreadsheet version of the same financial data might look identical to the

word processor version, but the spreadsheet model contains numerical values,

relationships, and sophisticated calculations. When a number changes, the rest of the

spreadsheet updates automatically. The spreadsheet model is computable whereas the

word processor representation is not, even though both are digital.

The building industry, for the most part, has adopted the word processor approach to

documenting building designs over the past 20 years. CAD tools are primarily used to

create electronic drawings of buildings. Even some 3D models are little more than 3D

drawings. Although the output of these systems may resemble the output of a BIM

solution – just as the financial table in the word processor looks the same as the

spreadsheet table – it is not computable information.

It's quite common to try to use this incomputable building design data for analysis and find

that the data, although seemingly computable, is actually an empty shell – a collection of

graphic elements with no implicit knowledge of building elements such as walls, beams or

ducts. For the most part, humans look at the data, interpret it, and transfer it to new

applications for additional analysis.

Architects make occasional use of analysis packages, lighting studies, or baseline energy

calculations, for example, which are typically outsourced to specialized engineering firms.

Whereas the structural engineer is heavily dependent on analysis, which is an integral

part of the structural design process. As a result, a computable building model is a key

ingredient for efficient structural design processes.

US and UK Building Owners Expect to Increase Their Involvement With BIM in the Next Two Years

McGraw Hill Construction today released its new SmartMarket Report, TheBusiness Value of BIM for Owners, which demonstrates that owners expect to grow their involvement with BIM rapidly:

• 40% of U.S. owners and 38% of U.K. owners expect that more than 75% of their projects will involve BIM in just two years, with a particularly high level of growth in the U.S.
• Growth in the U.K. is being driven by the approaching implementation of a central government mandate requiring use of BIM on all national public projects by 2016, with over two thirds (67%) of U.K. owners reporting that the mandate has a high impact on their use of BIM.

"The McGraw Hill Construction report clearly shows the most important driver of BIM use in Singapore and the U.K. has been their national BIM mandates," says Phillip G. Bernstein, Vice President of Strategic Industry Relations at Autodesk. "With these two governments continuing to make infrastructure development a high priority, the adoption of BIM has become a critically important step towards minimizing lifecycle building costs and improving the design quality of their built assets.  The report makes evident that the desire to become an industry leader is an aspect of the BIM policies of Singapore and the U.K. To this end, a significant impact of these BIM mandates has been to ensure that construction sectors are becoming more globally competitive."

The influence of the mandate in the U.K. is driving a much higher general level of involvement with BIM by owners than in the U.S. The study suggests the impact of the mandate in several key areas.

• U.K. owners are more aware of BIM use by the core project team members (architects and general contractors) than their U.S. counterparts.
• Most U.K. owners (88%) are formally measuring the impact of BIM, but only 18% of U.S. owners are.
• More U.K. owners agree that they have experienced key BIM benefits like enhanced visualization, fewer problems due to design errors, coordination issues or construction errors, and beneficial impacts on project schedule and the control of construction costs.