Week 3
Eduardo Borja
BIM for Contractors
BIM for
contractors is important for the development of construction projects and can
be very beneficial for both the owner and the contractor if BIM is used
correctly. Contractors should push for early involvement in the project in
order to avoid and conflicts during the construction. Early involvement can
actually diminish the time spent in the construction phase because it increases
and facilitates coordination.
Many
construction companies are set on working traditionally with 2D plans because
BIM have steep learning curves. These traditional methods have proven to reduce
the involvement of the contractor in the design leading to inefficient work
schedules. BIM can lead to true integration between design and construction.
BIM provides
many advantages for the contractor even before the design stage. Normally the
collaboration process does not start until the job has actually been awarded to
the low bid contractor. With BIM, early involvement can actually be even before
the project is awarded. Owners can provide models early in the process in order
for the contractors to provide competitive estimates. Estimating is a process
that can actually be quite tedious and costly and prone to errors, it can also
result in over estimating. For example, if a contractor is not sure if he can
fit some structural members in the building, coordination can be a factor
leading to over estimating. Another example regarding human error can be in a
large estimating project human error can takeoff a structural member twice and
add to the overall cost of the project. BIM can reduce these errors as the
program can highlight objects that have not been included in the cost estimate.
Another important advantage is the reduction of design errors using clash
detection. This when done manually has to be done using 2D plans and placing
one on top of the other which could lead to major mistakes regarding clash
detection. Similarly, BIM has to be detailed or some similar errors regarding
clash detection would occur.
Chapter 6
in the BIM handbook is very helpful to understand the benefits BIM give
contractors. BIM is a good starting point and can certainly make things more
efficient but the contractor cannot solely rely on BIM. (1)
Comments:
Karan: I enjoyed reading your post, it was concise and
provided helpful information regarding BIM for contractors. The flow chart you
included in your post was especially useful to understand how a certain company
using 2D paper drawings can take advantage of BIM. BIM is certainly a useful
tool in order for the company to make estimates more competitive as well as to
minimize any human error in takeoffs.
Allison: Your post provides insight not only on the book but
also on a real life experience that helps the reader relate to the benefits of
BIM for contractors. I believe that BIM and handheld devices will certainly
keep growing in the industry because it is convenient for all trade
collaborations. Sometimes in a job site it is hard to find a table where to set
up all the plans and discuss the collaboration needed but with handheld devices
this could certainly diminish that issue.
Borja,
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that even construction managers and general contractors can use BIM to extract the quantities to get cost estimation for a project. Even more, CM’s can use BIM to coordinate the work with subcontractors where they can also update schedule and costs with BIM. It’s a very effective way to communicate the with all parties that involve in the project and not only the designers and engineers.