Week 2: BIM for Contractors

Topic: BIM for Contractors

The idea of integrating BIM into the Civil and Architecture fields and having them more prevalent in projects is something that provides many different advantages and these advantages are linked to the different stakeholders in the project. It is obvious that BIM helps designers, but Contractors also reap the benefits of using the newest technology into their projects. BIM yields many advantages to contractors and there are many reasons as to why contractors would want to use BIM in more projects. The first reason as to why BIM would benefits contractors is that BIM models are all inclusive, in addition to holding the necessary drawings to construct a building, BIM models also provide construction analysis. BIM can help control and create schedules and cost analysis, thus elimination the use of other softwares, and creating a centralized document. Because of the scheduling component, contractors can now track day to day activities and check progress as the project moves along. Another reason why BIM is helpful to contractors is clash detection, in the project methodology, trades do not often meet and sometimes designers can design over each other. BIM’s built in clash detection allows for contractors to see that things are overlapped and can point them out before it’s too late. Finally, the last reason as to BIM is beneficial to contractors is the opportunity for collaboration. BIM allows for each member of the project team, whether it is the engineer or the architect to make change and have it update to everyone’s model so that there is no confusion on where a detail comes from and when it was made. This allows for everyone on the team to have the updated plans and information, thus allowing for the project to move smoothly. All in all, BIM can help contractors save both time and money.

Contractors should be getting in on the ground floor with BIM projects, working with and having access to the model early is always beneficial in cases like this. In case in the past, BIM was not given to the contractors but now with the popularity of having Integrated Project Delivery or IPD, contractors are now brought in with the design team and there is a more collaborative feel in the project. This thus helps the relationship between designer and builder and hopefully yields a more successful project. The collaborative aspect of BIM is appealing to contractors because it makes their jobs simpler and can cause less headaches. That being said, implementing BIM can be tricky, there needs to patience when working with BIM projects and models because of the possibility of technical issues.

Comments

Kerry,

I think you made several good points throughout the post, especially when you said that not all BIM tools are created equally, I think that sadly this is true. REVIT is absolutely an industry standard but not all firms can afford it as the license for it something like $10,000 a year. This causes firms to rely on smaller tools with smaller scaled platforms, this can lead to trouble. Especially since everyone is learning a new tool, using a tool that isnt as good can lead to problems down the road.

Malik,

I think you made some points about the user friendliness of some BIM software, most notably Google SketchUp. Sketch Up is really user friendly and can help architects and designers in the process of design because it can help define the space that is a being used. Also I think sketchup is helpful because it allows the user to essentially do whatever they want, there are no physics restriction.  I like the way you closed out the post as you talked about the future of BIM and the measures engineers need to take so that it becomes more well-known and more popular.

Brad,

I like the overall direction of your blog post, I think you were very concise in your terminology but were able to show the numerous advantages that BIM has in the construction process. I too think that BIM will make labor more efficient. Shortening the time it takes to iron out ambiguities. As the blog post progressed, your insight on the coding and the methodology of how BIM works showed that you learned a significant amount from the reading while also proving the point that the concept of BIM is extremely technologically advanced.