How important it would be to you if all design documents, ideas, operational details, functional characteristics, pertaining to a construction project is kept intact in a centralized information source?

How About If There Isn’t Any Hassle of Spilling out Information or Creating Redundant Data?

With BIM for building owners and developers, creating a comprehensive business model regarding a construction project now becomes easier and hassle-free. With the use of three-dimensional, real time software, you can now create a building model that demonstrates its entire life cycle.

What is Business Information Modeling?

BIM is the process of creating a building model that ideally represents light analysis, geometry, spatial relationships, geographic details, and other properties and components of the building that may be generic, undefined, or oriented to void shapes or solid shapes. The objects are typically consistent in the way of location, size, and specification. In a nutshell, business information modeling typically represents the actual parts and components used in constructing the building. It prevents any loopholes or errors from creeping into the design of the building, thus, eliminating uncertainties in the construction process. BIM on projects is regularly updated to provide a more comprehensive and accurate view of the building.

How Does Building Information Management Help Developers and Owners?

BIM for building owners and developers has brought a revolution in the construction architecture, changing the traditional methods that used computer aided drafting procedures for drawing and designing. Simultaneously, enhanced data sharing capabilities have also been added than before.

Discussed Herewith is How Building Owners and Developers can Leverage BIM:

Gives a complete snapshot of the project: BIM on projects provides the engineers, designers, stakeholders, and managers a comprehensive view of the entire construction project. This enables every individual related to the project to have reliable and accurate information that can be easily tracked for project assessment, coordination, communication, cost estimation, and progress. 

Provides important documents: While construction designs are often substantiated with a wide range of documents such as 3D or 2D drawings, they typically lack other relevant information such as bills of purchase, agreement details, bids, schedules, government and building specifications, etc. In such a scenario, BIM for building owners and developers has the capability to fill up the information gap to provide complete coordination. It also provides an improved version over 2D drafting, giving an angle view of the building, which helps in identifying and rectifying the errors well in advance.

 
Reduces cost and Enhances Productivity: BIM is the single source of valuable information pertaining to the construction project. Hence, it improves overall communication and operational efficiency. This helps in minimizing approval and cross referencing time during the construction phase that leads to better productivity and quality of work. This, in turn, helps in reducing the project construction cost and time.

BIM on projects also helps in reducing reworks by identifying and rectifying the design loopholes and error well in advance of construction. It also improves coordination and enhances customer satisfaction with transparency and consistency in the project, speed of work, and quality.

"Revit Family creation for BIM, allows experts to build native families ‘these families include development of components across MEP, architectural and structural disciplines’, which are essential for a project to run seamlessly."

The structural elements include rebar, columns, beams and other similar equipments, while the Architectural elements include families for doors, windows, furniture, walls, stairs etc.

A Revit 3D BIM is created using these Revit family creations for BIM, and each family is categorized into elements that have similar size, material type and other parametric variables. Any change to a family type results in instant change across all the elements of that family.

Revit software contains predefined families, and users can also create custom families with specific properties and parameters as desired to suite project purpose. This process helps create a centralized building data management system, which in turn helps improve the quality of BIM.

Revit Family Creation Can Be Bifurcated Into Three Primary Categories:

System Families: These are used for creating building basic structural elements like walls, ceilings, floors, columns, stairs etc. these families are defined in Revit architecture and cannot be loaded in projects from external files, and neither can these families be used outside the project outlines.
 
Loadable Families: Loadable families are created for architectural elements like doors, windows, fixtures, furniture etc. These files can be created in .rfa files and then loaded into your project at any time when required.
 
In Place Families: This includes creation of specific and unique BIM elements for an AEC project. When an in place element is used, a new families created in Revit for that particular element. Multiple type creation for this element is not possible; however, the same element can be used across the projects at various instances.

Revit families for BIM can be created from scratch by feeding all the requisite details, an existing family can also be modified and customized as per requirement – for this experts might import a template for say doors, and then modify the specification as per the project requisites;besides, ready made families can be used right away if the requirements are basic and can be fulfilled by existing Revit family.
 
Creating Advanced Families in Revit, helps develop a high quality BIM. Such type of family creation not only speeds up the project coordination and management process but also increases project efficiency and helps cut down the project costs.

BIM 4D Services offers a comprehensive range of Revit family creation services for BIM to its global clientele across the countries of US, UK, Canada, Australia and UAE. The companies wide range of project expertise includes family creation for structural and architectural components, custom and specialty content, MEP components, Legends and title blocks etc to name a few.

BIM- i.e. building information modeling is an effective tool that has brought in a revolution in the way building and construction projects are handled and executed. However, the capabilities of BIM are not limited to just the construction process. BIM capabilities can be leveraged way beyond the design and construction of a building and used for effective operations and maintenance of a facility after it is occupied.
 

(Image Source: http://scenista.com)

There are several dimensions of BIM where 4D BIM refers to construction and scheduling, 5D refers to cost estimation, the 6th dimension is that of design for sustainability while the 7th dimension to BIM is its ability to contribute and aid facility management in an efficient manner.

Maintaining Records For As Built Model in BIM

Buildings undergo a range of changes from the stage of design right through all the stages of a buildings life cycle. All these changes should be updated in a BIM model to facilitate management of a building once it is occupied. Besides any repair or renovation done to suite the changing spatial requirements should also be updated in a BIM model so that any other renovation and refurbishment work in future can be carried out with these changes in consideration.

How does BIM Support Facility Management?

1. BIM is loaded with all spatial information of a building. As a result, it doubles up as a building documentation file, with an added advantage of easy to understand visual information.


2. An effective maintenance plan can be prepared by integrating BIM with computer aided maintenance management system. Hence, an improvised operation and maintenance tracking tool can be created.


3. The ‘I’ in BIM is of crucial importance and facility managers can use it to define energy efficiency goals and also achieve them.


4. BIM is specially very handy and useful to facility managers when they undertake any kind of repair or renovation work. BIM has all the MEP and structural information stored into it. Hence, repair work becomes easy and risk free.

The growing use of BIM across the AEC industry has armed the facility managers to handle the operations and maintenance of a facility with utmost efficiency.

Hi-Tech CADD Services offers a full range of BIM services to its clients mainly from US, UK, Australia and UAE. The team of BIM experts at the company is experienced in translating 2D drafts into information rich BI models that support efficient facility management.

The primary function of BIM Engineering Services is based upon developing accurate building information modeling designs for framework, and mechanical/electrical/plumbing and flame security techniques.

These can be designed at key levels of style to generate preliminary designs for construct ability research, co-ordination reviews and quantification, development designs for detail and development designs to back up the development of store sketches.

We Offer BIM Engineering Services Includes:

     1.  Clash Recognition and Design Validation
     2.  Rebar Detailing
     3.  Construct ability Analysis – Construction Method Statement
     4.  2D Common Agreement (GA) Drawings
     5.  Quantity Take-Off And Price Estimates
     6.  4D (Time) - Construction Simulation
     7.  5D (Cost) - Cash Circulation Simulation

BIM Engineering Services improves performance and customers will get several advantages.

The clients will recognize some of the biggest value of BIM through its prospective, to cut down on remodel, such as re-keying details into designs or creating changes in the area. As customers become more efficient, the possibilities to enhance performance are more pronounced.

Nearly 50 percent of all customers identified, that architectural technicians can produce an advanced level of value from Engineering BIM Services. Such components as metal content, supports and trusses are frequently patterned by customers. Companies are the most likely (47%) to see architectural technicians recognizing important benefits.

As BIM Engineering Services decreases disputes and makes assurance in building plans, many associates see possibilities for value in production. Precise production of components decreases spend while the pre-assembly cannot spend time. Companies (56%) are far more likely to see fabricators suffering from a higher value than designers (23%), technicians (38%) or owners (30%).

The Advantages of Using BIM Engineering Services Are:

     1.  Decreases Remodel
     2.  Improves Productivity
     3.  Reduces Disputes and Changes during Development
     4.  Clash Recognition and Preventing Rework

There are a range of possibilities for MEP technicians to use BIM. Modelling bigger components such as ducts and air handlers are friendly options, while small components such as electrical changes and sites might confirm more complicated.

Especially, very few technicians (22%) collectively see MEP technicians enjoying great value. Nearly 50 percent of contractors (45%) believe MEP technicians see important value.

Creating sustainability design is the trend today. With the focus towards sustainable development and energy conservation, more importance is attributed towards creating design for a building that is energy-efficient, sustainability built, and fosters environment development.

To make sustainability design more effective, it is important to consider integral components of the building such as airflow and ventilation.

However, with traditional drafting procedures, it is difficult to get a comprehensive view of building’s airflow and ventilation in an accurate and efficient manner.

This is Where Building Information Management (BIM) Aids in Creating a Sustainable Design, Focused Towards Energy Conservation.

Airflow and ventilation are two important factors that help in determining how construction of the building would impact wind flow into and outside. BIM modeling for airflow and ventilation gives a comprehensive detail of building’s impact on wind flow, with detailed view from front, top, and bottom.

The models are created based on client’s design specifications and modifying the same to keep sufficient space for airflow and ventilation. At the same time, it is ensured that no component of the building causes hindrance in airflow. All the components of airflow and ventilation are specially taken into consideration while creating the design.

BIM modeling for airflow and ventilation helps in analyzing the design in details and identifying the weaknesses if any. It also becomes easier to identify the areas where there is lack of airflow or ventilation, or certain components that are causing a hindrance in wind flow.

Errors in the design can be rectified early, minimizing the need for costly modifications and reworks pot-implementation.