This article is part of a blog series on the Virtual Design and Construction world and what can we expect it to bring to the construction industry.

All Designers, architects, and engineers using BIM would agree that it transformed the way we design, and is certainly the most popular Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) tool. BIM allows us to produce virtual models of real buildings or structures.

BIM is so popular, that searches for Building Information Model, in Google have increased by 246% in the last decade.

BIM worldwide market

The BIM market is expected to grow rapidly over the next five years and reach $14,9 billion in 2027. Here are statistics from the report:

• the market was $6.9 billion in 2022
• growing to $8.1 billion by 2023
• North America was the market leader in 2022
• Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region over the forecast period.

BIModular Director Geoffrey Jennings says:

Most disciplines now utilize BIM in their design process. Over 98% of large architecture firms in the U.S. have adopted BIM and over 30% of small firms use it for some modeling and documentation. The collective BIM adoption rate in the design industry is 80%.

BIM helps you to automate and integrate your processes, and to improve efficiency, communication, and collaboration that far exceeds those of the traditional construction processes.

Cloud-based construction tools continue to advance. Many distinct levels of programming are offered through BIM, up to 7D. BIM provides users with information for all construction phases:

• develop a construction schedule
• identify the building assets and systems
• develop a maintenance plan
• collect and analyze data
• add life cycle information
• validate the 7D model
• use the 7D model for planning and decision making

What is BIM?

One day JB, Driving Vision CEO, met his friend Sean, a builder, and they talked about SmartLeanBIM which advocates the right BIM, at the right time, by the right people, and specifically for the right reasons.

The conversation

JB started the conversation, by saying

In the construction industry we traditionally design, and then work out all the mistakes during construction.

With BIM, during the design stages, we create a digital prototype of the asset eliminating reworks and waste. But BIM is more than just software or a tool - it is a culture, a new way of working.

In BIM, there are multiple teams, and uses, including marketing and facility management.

"Nothing new here", said Sean.

JB agreed but added that traditionally, teams work independently, and tools are uncoordinated from the rest of the workflow.

We rely on manual processes including Excel and Word, and we use an internal drive and sometimes a separate cloud-based system for documentation. But since the two systems are not synchronized, teams have to double the work, by saving documents in both systems. Since not everyone had access, collaboration can be cumbersome and time-consuming.

Without a single repository for information, projects lack standardization. Site managers and designers often have their own way of labeling and storing documents, which makes it difficult to track down information quickly, and makes auditing company procedures unreliable.

In the industry, we have great Authoring + Analysis + Use tools but we still are slow to use business management platforms for BIM Management.

JB ended the conversation by saying BIM is about:

• collaboration, which helps remove silos, enhance communication, and facilitate planning
• improving the visualization of the design before starting the construction process
• handling project management.

The BIM workflow

The steps are plan, scope, schedule, track, and verify, which helps to:

• simplify project management
• streamline the BIM Execution Planning (BEP)
• reduce the admin burden
• simplify the management of BIM tasks
• connect the BIM requirements to the model for BIM compliance.

BIM is a technology

When implemented, it:

• helps visualize a project
• uses all specs, information, and description to create a 3D model
• improves communication amongst all stakeholders
• helps the decision process to finish the project on time and on budget

BIM helps to visualize the future project before it starts. You can:

• spot errors before starting the construction process
• revise the plan to make it better
• mitigate risks as early as the design phase

How is BIM transforming the construction industry?

With BIM you can :

• mitigate risks for errors, reworks, overspending, and delays
• improve construction site efficiency
• track your projects accurately and easily.

Enhance collaboration

Collaboration between architects, engineers, contractors, owners, and facility managers is difficult to manage if you only rely on emails, reports, and phone calls.

With BIM, all disciplines collaborate closely. They can use Plannerly to communicate and agree on the scope of work, review clashes, resolve schedule overlaps, and communicate remedies and new plans to meet client requirements.

Help communication

Cloud-based BIM team members can access information via mobile devices, to get the latest data at any time from everywhere.

Improve scheduling and sequencing

With BIM all stakeholders are interdependent, they organize their schedules and activities collaboratively, leading to efficient and speedy deliveries.

Better visualization

BIM, Virtual Reality, and artificial intelligence together allow the construction projects’ teams to have full visualization of the project before the shovel hits the ground.

The 3D models reviewed in Virtual reality, during the design phase, allow your client to feel and visualize the construction as if it is real. The points of improvement discussed early eliminate time-consuming and costly reworks.

Reduce construction cost

A study made by McKinsey found that projects take 20 percent longer to finish than scheduled and are up to 80 percent over budget. The benefits of BIM visualization at the initial stages include:

• risk mitigation
• lower insurance costs thanks to reduced claims, fewer errors, and accidents
• promoting prefabrication, is a better solution than on-site construction.

Streamlined processes

Automating processes and integrating them into one unique system help you to increase productivity. By being able to:

• plan activities and set schedules accurately so the teams are aware of what to do
  
• deliver greater quality projects on time and on budget
• reduce waste and improve efficiency.

Safe construction sites

BIM helps to:

• identify high-risk areas during the pre-construction phase
• plan for better safety measures and site coordination
• avoid construction hazards for the whole life of the project.

Avoid clashes

Planning in collaboration and sequencing the tasks, allow the teams to:

• avoid clashing of geometric designs
• identify discrepancies
• make necessary changes as needed
• avoid costly reworks.

Smooth constructability

Through the life cycle of a project, BIM allows real-time data access which:

• makes the review and monitoring processes easy
• leads to better-built constructions
• eliminates costly errors and reworks that could have gone wrong during the design and construction processes in the in-use phase
• helps with the planning of future projects by reusing data and avoiding committing the same mistakes twice.

Better analysis

Decision-making is easier when you:

• have a visual analysis of the project
• resolve materials, space, orientation, mass, and other issues at an early stage.

Improve delivery and cost estimate

BIM 4D and 5D modeling use 3D models for project analysis and management.

4D BIM adds time-related information to 3D BIM models, to:

• enable detailed scheduling of the construction process
• help to monitor the project’s progress even without visiting the site.

5D BIM adds costs to BIM components to:

• assist in the calculation of total project costs
• predict the project costs
• find the lowest cost solutions to avoid going over budget
• avoid wastage
• get accurate estimates.

Better facility management

In facilities management, BIM provides significant comprehension of the building data. You look at a building model and see exactly where costs arise and how they occur. It allows you to:

• spend the right money on maintenance
• update service records for the year
• upgrade the plan as required and their ramifications to peripheral systems
• understand in real-time how the facilities operate and how it integrates with vital management software to drive data-backed solutions.

BIM Challenges

Connecting design, analysis, and documentation in a BIM workflow is challenging. It requires, shifting most of the effort in the design project phase to avoid correcting errors when the construction has started to help:

• improve project performance
• reduce cost and waste
• optimize the construction time.

Exchange information

The construction industry, sources, uses, and generates huge quantities of data in different formats from different teams. Data transfer should only use one standard to be able to:

• optimize the design
• build cheaply and quickly
• produce excellent quality buildings
• provide greater transparency
• encourage participation
• make it easy to share and use information
• encourage collaboration

No standardized processes

The challenge is to capture all drawings into one common file to avoid information loss.

In order to facilitate decision-making your model should provide accurate geometric and spatial data:

• to perform calculations quickly and easily
• to be compliant with environmental requirements

Manage change

Change orders are common in most projects. After deciding on the original scope (or contract), a client may realize that the original plans do not meet their requirements.

There are several design process maps, or plans of work, used throughout the world to guide clients through briefing, design and construction, handover, and beyond. In most countries, the process maps are set by professional institutes or by sector bodies.

Despite these being different from country to country, they have the same goals:

• provide the project team with a road map
• promote consistency from one stage to the next
• offer vital advice to clients, undertaking their first and only building projects.

BIM Benefits

Improve onsite collaboration and communication.

Cloud-based platforms allow project teams to take the office to the field.

Effective construction cost estimate

Including estimators earlier in the planning stage and incorporating accurate cost and scheduling data in your model will help you to:

• produce accurate bills of quantities
• control and optimize the procurement process
• install accurate systems

Visualize projects in preconstruction

BIM good coordination processes associated with clash detecting systems allow you to:

• better coordinate trades and subcontractors to avoid clashes
• detect any MEP, internal, or external clashes before construction begins
• reduce the amount of rework needed on any given job
• mitigate risks and reduce costs
• report positive returns on your investments.

These benefits are available to all types of contractors and subcontractors on all types of projects.

In conclusion

Using the BIM process when designing, building, and operating a building, all stakeholders collaborate and coherently operate a system that incorporates people and technology in streamlined processes that:

• optimize time
• reduce costs
• improve efficiency in builds, including public infrastructure, hospitals, and commercial and residential buildings.

BIM is more than just software or just a 3D model it is a new way of thinking. The model contains all the necessary elements and related information required to build the project and hand over the maintenance details to the operation team. In traditional workflows, you rely on multiple file formats and disconnected processes that do not document all changes made, so you end up with disconnects and incomplete documentation.

BIM is a dynamic workflow that synchronizes a common approach amongst the various stakeholders through coherent project management allowing you to:

• improve the efficiency of the design process
• reduce waste during the construction
• improve the quality and efficiency of the building in operation.

Driving Vision's BIM expertise diagnostic looks at how you can eliminate waste (time and material) and improve your margins and the quality of the information provided during the design and construction phases.

A Driving Vision expert will conduct the interviews online and will issue a report and discuss our findings with you. Together we will decide the best way to implement the solutions at your pace and according to your budget.

Implementing BIM can be daunting, but Driving Vision is here to help you at the pace you are comfortable with. Get started by getting in touch now