thebetterword: The BIM (Building Information Modelling) Summit, Qatar

I attended "The BIM (Building Information Modelling) Summit" held at Oryx Rotana on 24th & 25th Sep.2012.

I am fully convinced, after the summit, that BIM is going to spread wide across the construction industry and in the near future BIM is going to almost replace 2D autocad drawings.

All engineering institutions including the ITIs and ITCs in India should shift the focus immediately to BIM. Those who jump first will have great advantage over other institutions.

It is high time to consider BIM seriously for all the professionals in the construction industry, like:

- Architects
- Design Engineers

- Detailing Engineers
- Autocad draftsmen

- Quantity Surveyors

- Planners
- 3D presentation professionals

BIM is the tool for the new generation professionals. Yes, the future is not only BIM but also BIMM (Building Information Modelling and Management).

Here are some highlights from the summit.

Quotes from the Summit:

· BIM is going to change the way we do business, in the near future.

· BIM is a Process: Flow of information that will actually change the way we do business mentioned the Autodesk Vice President in his presentation.

· BIM is not an extension of CAD.

· The company risk profile will change marginally in a BIM environment.

· Great cost saving can be achieved by all members of the supply chain working collaboratively on a BIM model.

· BIM objects will replace product catalogues in the near future.

· BIM can perform about forty various activities in the whole life cycle of building / facility.

· Construction industry is the last to move to information technology.

· By 2013 Building Smart intends to set BIM standards.

· As we move to BIM environment more and more Clients shall demand “Design to maintain” approach from Designers and D&B Contractors.

· It is very important to have a smart “BIM execution plan” in place based on the set objectives.

· 3D for design and 3D for construction are different.

· Contractors should be prepared for contracts in BIM environment.

BIM: How they are using it today?

· In the summit, we could observe a collaborative approach from all the players in the industry. These coordinated efforts are expected to produce tangible results for BIM in the middle-east construction market.

· Different nations have set different objectives for implementing BIM.

o Australia is targeting to make a national saving of USD 5 Billion by implementing BIM

o In UK all projects above 50M pounds should use BIM.

o UK government has set a mandate for all contractors to move completely to BIM by 2016.

o UK government plans a reduction in 20% embedded carbon and cost. BIM shall greatly support this initiative.

o Singapore government has an ultimate aim of issuing building permits based on BIM model.

· Various Companies use BIM for various purposes:

o Asset management

o 4D Construction management (SYNCHRO is an excellent BIM tool for CM)

o Tender stage study / presentations

o Facilities management (CoBie: Construction operation Building information exchange)

o Clash detection

o Fabrication drawings (Like TEKLA for steel structures and Pre-cast concrete)

o Reduce risks

o Project design

Case Studies:

There were many case studies of successful BIM implementation, presented in the summit.

For example:

· SKANSKA is applying BIM (someway or other) in almost all their projects.

· SKANSKA is making use of BIM to enhance lean operation based on Pre-fabrication

· London Victoria underground station (The BIM team has used Laser scan technology to survey the existing U/G station and its utilities before moving it to BIM model). Mott MacDonald was the designer in this project.

· 20 Fenchurch Street Project

· HBK Holding Company is applying BIM at tender stage for the last two years.

· EVERSINDAI is applying BIM for steel fabrication for the last seven years or more.

· Qatar National Museum is applying BIM in a much advanced manner. (The BIM consultant in this prestigious project is Gehry Technologies INC with 15 full time BIM experts at site)

· USC College of Cinematic studies ( A saving of 6M USD from budget; Completion before schedule -4 Months)

· KAROLISKA hospital is the largest BIM project in Europe.

· Cannistraro: A MEP contractor in US who has implemented BIM successfully.

· 4657 Hector Industrial city in KSA (Dar Al Riyadh)

· 500 000 housing units in KSA (Dar Al Riyadh)

Benefits:

· Productivity and efficiency

· Sustainable design (Use of Dynamic Thermal Modeling for energy efficient design)

· Project delivery integration

· A collaborative BIM, where all the stake holders share the information, is expected to bring great savings to the construction industry.

· “You cannot plan what you don’t know. This is the main reason for change orders in projects” said Mr. TOM Dengenis from M/s. SYNCHRO.

· Look at the below statistics presented in the summit.

Platform	Variation Orders
2D Platform	18 %
Lonely BIM Platform	11.17%
Collaborative BIM Platform	2.68! (Almost 15% less than 2D!)

Future Challenges:

· Public and Private owners have a great role in enforcing BIM. They are the biggest beneficiaries by implementing BIM.

· National BIM standard will promote collaborative BIM. All concerned parties shall work together to set national / industry standards.

· Reference standards, Information exchange standards and Guidelines & references shall be established.

· The need to increase hardware capacity. One of the company mentioned they are using 24 GB workstations and they are quite happy about the performance.

· Delivery of the relevant information is one of the greatest challenge:

o Information about performance of BIM elements

o Third party approval (Like UL Listing)

o Ability to select BIM elements within the cost budget

Meeting with Auto-desk Vice President

· There was a separate session to meet the Vice President of Autodesk. This session was attended by special invitees only.

· The country manager of Autodesk were also present in this session.

· Mr. Phil attended the questions from the audience on Autodesk philosophy and strategy towards BIM.

Further information on BIM:

www.bimjournal.com

www.nationalbimlibrary.com

www.bimstore.com