Advancing Your Companys BIM Journey

Donnie Bogle-Boesiger, Director of Automation Engineering, JB Poindexter & Co

In an age where digital dominates, how are construction companies able to measure the success of their technology journey? Proving a return on investment (ROI) for virtual design and construction (VDC) services like Building Information Modeling (BIM) can be quite a difficult task. For many construction companies, BIMis in place to solve potential issues before they get to the field, where if unknown,can turn costly. If the main determinant in deciding ROI is resolving issues before they happen, how can we prove the savings?

“By using VDC team membersas part of the project team, a company's project management and field staff will feel supported and empowered to make the best decisions possible for a project”

While ROI is an important aspect of implementing any change, it should not be the only consideration when assessing BIM services. This article will walk through some lesser-known and often difficult to quantify advantages of furthering a company's BIM journey.

Here are three advantages of advancing your company's BIM journey.

Improving the Flow of Information

A construction project's web of communication is often repetitive and complicated. The project's stakeholders can includeOwners, Architects, Engineers, General Contractors, and countless Subcontractors. Each is creating and documenting information throughout the project's life cycle. This information is communicated to the project's stakeholders for input, clarifications, and implementation. Although this communication process may sound straightforward, there are many challenges associated with it, which can include:

• Lack of transparency between stakeholders

• Missing and inconsistent information

• Out of date information

• Disconnected data silos

To alleviate these challenges, utilizing BIM in the communication process can create an environment where the building is being built virtually before it's built physically. BIM at its core is a communication and planning tool. By creating a high Level of Development (LOD) model for specific scopes of work will allow for more intuitive coordination and alignment of project information across all stakeholders. This effort typically includes examining details, realizing issues and their potential solutions, and documenting Request for Information (RFI)'s before a shovel hits the ground.

BIM-led planning process results in greater team trust

Through the creation of this BIM-led communication process and issue resolution, the VDC team is creating an opportunity to proactively solve issues compared to a conventional approach where issues may not be realized until after construction is underway. As a result of this transparent, proactive process, project stakeholders start to build trust and confidence in a company's overall approach to managing a project.

In addition, the project's trade’s people are informed of pertinent information quicker than conventional communication methods. For instance, utilizing a cloud-based collaboration system, like BIM 360, guarantees the project team is more connected to current information through a common data environment. Having all of the project stakeholders, from the Owner to the carpenter apprentice, on a single communication system breaks down the data silos, and creates confidence amongst team members and project information.

Technology simplifies project complexities for stakeholders

At the core of this entire process is the VDC team. VDC team members are no longer simply drafters sitting behind a computer screen. 

They're problem solvers with both knowledge of construction and the technical skills to translate the complexities of the project to a computer. 

They break down complex, multi-stage issues and create intuitive, easily digestible plans for project teams to implement. They propose innovative solutions to old problems. They're present to help project teams with any quirky challenge they may have on their project.

By using VDC team membersas part of the project team, a company's project management and field staff will feel supported and empowered to make the best decisions possible for a project. Relying on data-driven information and transparent BIM-led communication, project stakeholders will be informed and ready to tackle their challenging projects.

BIM Workflows in Action

On a recent hard bid fast-tracked project that J.H. Findorff & Son Inc. (Findorff) managed, Findorff's VDC team was integral in ensuring schedules were met. Approximately two weeks after being awarded, the project was due to start and included a complicated structural system. As a best practice, Findorff's VDC team performed lift drawings at the fabrication level and coordinated models and drawings for the field team specific to the concrete and masonry scopes of work that were being self-performed.

In total, over 30 RFI's were generated before work began on site – all in under two weeks! By providing the entire project team with an integrated BIM-led communication process and the development of lift drawings, the project's stakeholders better understood the building's intricacies, facilitated conversation to alleviate potential rework, and lead the effort on resolving potential issues.

While ROI is an important topic to discuss and needs to be addressed when building or furthering a company's BIM services, it's not the only box that needs to be checked. Difficult to quantify advantages need to be considered such as confidence in the project information, team collaboration, and building trust with stakeholders. By considering the holistic advantages of BIM, a company is setting itself up for success for years to come.