BIMFreak

I was honored by Ideate Software to be a guest blogger, This post first appeared on January 21st and is re-posted here. 

I have previously discussed how BIM failure is due to complexity and lack of education (see my article, BIM is Simple), suggesting that BIM is most successful in companies that understand the value it provides. In this article, I provide some tips and tricks to get your firm’s BIM implementation and usage on the right track.

You will need buy-in from your whole team to keep the BIM process simple. The buy-in starts by making things easy to use. Here are some useful workflows that incorporate quality BIM tools I found to be useful:

Ideate BIMLink

My first major success in moving BIM forward in a firm came in 2013 when I stumbled  across Ideate BIMLink (Kasian Sets a New Facilities Planning Standard Using Ideate BIMLink). This is where I had an epiphany on the importance of BIM tools paving the way to success in BIM processes.

Ideate BIMLink allows everyone on a project to be involved with the data input of Revit. It’s a tool that allows the push and pull of data between Excel and Revit.

My main workflow for this tool is in health care. Because health care requirements are strict, it’s important to minimize the places that information must be corrected when projects change: if you ignore this, your project can spiral into endless rework cycles.

For example, each room in a hospital has a specific purpose and needs, size, equipment, location and finishes. You can track and update this information without manual entry by using Ideate BIMLink:

1. Set up your template file for health care with standard parameters used for operations and requiring checks.
2. Create an Ideate BIMLink link with those parameters.
3. Transition the received requirements onto the Ideate BIMlink Excel export and import into your project.
4. Pull the room sizes and requirements back into your Excel requirement check. Here you can set formulas to verify and check the numbers. You can also set up a parameter to color your rooms to make the requirements visual.
5. Organize your Ideate BIMLink data to produce Room Data Sheets.

Snapshot of Excel worksheet showing data extracted from Revit

Snapshot of Excel worksheet showing data extracted from Revit with color-coding added to emphasize variances

Ideate Sticky

The Ideate BIMLink tool is very powerful, but it only helps you manipulate information that is already in your model. If you need information on your pages that is not part of your file, you can use Ideate Sticky to ‘stick’ the data on a sheet.

Ideate Sticky allows users to show Excel in Revit without the additional parameter inputs. For example, your project may need you to include electrical conduit schedules. To add these to a page using Ideate Sticky, you can select the print area of a sheet and place it directly into your Revit sheet. This can be a live link, meaning any changes to the spreadsheet will also update in the BIM model. All the information in the original sheet, including equations, graphics, layout and coloring will translate to the print sheet. You can use this setup for those engineers that do not work inside the model.

If the project needs both the push and pull of data and the simple sticking of information on a sheet, both Ideate BIMLink and Ideate Sticky can be used in the same document.

Ideate Explorer

One of the most important parts of BIM management on a project is model maintenance and verifications. Ideate Explorer is a simple checkup tool for your model.

Ideate Explorer allows the model coordinator to accurately fill out the required Model Review checklist. Component and Subcomponent checks on Naming, Level Naming, Proper Dimension and Text styles used. The Warning checks inside of Ideate Explorer are also easier to understand and help you find the offending components.

Using BIM tools that are simple and allow the team to focus on the actual BIM data rather than model maintenance will help in the simplification of BIM. Ideate Software offers a great tool base for that step into 3D modeling.

The question I hear the most from people is “Why does BIM fail in some companies?” The most straightforward answer is too much complexity and not enough education. BIM is most successful in companies that understand the value it provides: this value is unlocked when implementation is simple to understand and incorporate.  

If your team wants to use BIM, you have to start slowly, and make sure that everyone has a chance to learn why and how your system functions. This is key to full adoption. Your team may have different levels of expertise and understanding, but the right kind of education will help them work together successfully.

 So: what do you need to educate your team? The first thing is to thoughtfully create documentation. I like to create my documentation and my curriculum’s around the idea I’m trying to explain BIM to my Grandma. She is far from stupid, but she needs background information to understand how BIM works.

 Usually when we start a new job, BIM leaders will create a standard BIM execution plan and standard procedures for the tools. So, by all means go ahead and create that 60 page all encompassing BIM execution plan. Now proudly put your bound manual at the back of a drawer: it’s time for some serious editing.

This is based on a project example I received:

1. 1. • Reduce the 13 page introduction on the purpose, objectives, goals, definitions, references.. blah blah. You need 1 page of why and how for your project. 
      • Reduce 8 pages of BIM contacts to 1 page. List each person only once. If you wouldn’t contact them to talk about technical model problems, take them off the list.
      • BIM Goals and BIM uses should only be one half of page.
      • Cut BIM Tools to one page: list only tools being used and how information should be transferred.
      • Remove the BIM use Deliverable Process: Think about the necessities on the project.
      • Remove IT Requirements – I personally never understood why this belongs in the BIM execution plan, if you are doing BIM you likely have all the required IT.

Now that you have a simplified BIM execution plan, test it on your first project by asking these simple questions:

• • • Do all parties understand BIM? 
      • If not, time for an overview presentation to the whole project team. The introduction to BIM should be as simple as the videos you find online about “What is BIM”
    • Do all parties understand the BIM goals? 
      • Make sure the whole project team understands what the BIM goals are and why you are requiring them. When you get a team that doesn’t understand and believes you are wasting their time the project will suffer and the model will suffer.
    • Why are we requiring specific levels of BIM and LOD? 
    • Does the client understand why this project is being modeled to the selected Levels? Does the team understand?If not, it’s time for a presentation that clearly explains the difference between LOD 200 and LOD 500 or Level 1 BIM and Level 3 BIM.

 It’s important to focus on what you need to get done, but make sure you are also addressing team concerns, like what is the purpose of each component? Always ask these questions to make sure whatever you’re doing is simple and easy to use.

 If you take a bunch of users that have been in AutoCAD their whole lives and you throw them in a Revit project as it should be delivered,  you’re going to have a lot of issues if the BIM part is not made very clear to your team. Focus on little steps: little steps make things easier for your team, and doing things simply means that you get the project done quickly, on time, and under budget… which means you prevent future issues from the future and there are less problems moving forward.

If you want your first BIM project using Revit to be successful, start simple.  Make it easy. Help your team understand. With this, you will have the best foundation possible for an on-time and on-budget BIM project delivery.

When I first jumped into BIM and worked to understand what it all meant I quickly realized the array of tools could be an issue. I found the buildingSMART.org website and dove in reading about a worldwide industry body driving digital transformation of the built asset industry. Imagine an organization that brings the worlds visionaries in the built environment industry. After being a part of teams that continually fought over internal company standards and how to protect people from stealing them yet getting others to use them it was refreshing to read about a collaborative community from around the world.

My recent move to an international company gave me the opportunity to attend one of the summits held twice a year. This year I was able to attend the spring session held in Dusseldorf Germany.

buildingSMART focuses on standardizing processes, workflows and procedures for BIM on a worldwide stage. We are a community of volunteers from around the world made up of industry users who have a passion in BIM and want to create Open Standards. I could spend several blog posts discussing the value and the goals of buildingSMART so please take a look at their website to see if your company would like to submit a project for use case, or better yet,  win an award.

The Spring Summit began with an opening Plenary. There were 4 keynote lectures:

1st Keynote lecture: Industry insights on the state of digitization by Carsten Lotz (McKinsey & Company),

2nd Keynote lecture: Digital Twin for buildings by Peter Löffler (VP Innovation and Industry Affairs, Siemens Building Technologies),

3rd Keynote lecture: The Digital Twin for Infrastructure by Mark Enzer (CTO Mott MacDonald)

4th keynote lecture: Future of Cloud Technology by Andy Verone (Global VP Industry Strategy and Innovation, Oracle).

Being able to hear from different technology companies from around the world helps give perspective.

The second and third day are about ‘Rooms’, the rooms are divided into 2 categories; Technical Focus and User Focus.

The Technical Focus Rooms includes; (from the buildingSMART website)

Building Room’s core mission is to create open digital standards and solutions by enabling intelligent data that either contributes to the planning, design and construction of buildings, or the ongoing operations and maintenance. This will enable process and data integration for the buildings for the entire lifecycle.

Infrastructure Room’s purpose is to combine, enhance and develop open standards for intelligent data, which enable process and data integration for infrastructure.

Product Room’s purpose is the development and provision of processes, templates, tools and functionality to enable the robust and efficient use of the product data, relevant third party standards, classification system and other forms of structure content for openBIM

Technical Room has overall responsibility to explore and coordinate the investigation and where desirable facilitate buildingSMART’s engagement with fundamental technical advancements which may enhance or accelerate the provision of robust openBIM solutions to users.

The User Focus Rooms includes; (from the buildingSMART website)

Airport Room’s purpose is to develop and deploy open digital standards for the airport environment. The unification of digital airport standards will enable more efficient working form the common supply chain and create a uniform approach to the industry.

Construction Room’s purpose is to advance site productivity, lower construction costs, and improve construction safety through the use of BIM and the application of open data standards.

Railway Room’s purpose is to accelerate and exploit new digital opportunities for railway systems and create a comprehensive and applicable digital representation of the entire railway ecosystem that will support all phases of the lifecycle.

Regulatory Room’s purpose is helping project owners and regulatory authorities benefit from the use of openBIM.

There is also a bSI General Room where we received updates and overviews of what bSI is implementing and working on. Each of the rooms have a steering committee to create the work goals and remits of the room. Going to the rooms give us the opportunity to hear where they are headed, ask questions and give any feedback they require.

In order to advance the notion of OpenBIM we need to collaborate as a whole. Getting everyone from around the globe who are passionate about open standards and getting the industry to move forward is exciting.

In my last post BIM Manager Superstar I talked about my presentation for Ideate Software. My presentation touched on the creation of my BIM Manual. As I mentioned in my last post I will begin to explore the creation of my BIM Manual for Infrastructure Engineering, Complex Buildings.  

Although it may not cover every situation, your BIM manual should outline what happens at each step of your project. It should also include standard contractual deliverables from your firm. For example, your office may decide that every project created will deliver 4 rendered elevations, or all projects must be capable of O&M handoff.

Putting this part of the BIM Manual together is a team effort. The contract language for BIM should be discussed and understood by those doing proposals and reviewed and discussed with BIM Manager.

Your manual should start with BIM Use deliverables in contracts. Next, you will need a section that covers non-standard BIM Uses. In my BIM Manual I have two sections for each.

Being flexible with your BIM Manual will allow your firm to be adaptable during new BIM requirements from clients and government entities.

One of the best ways to achieve this flexibility is to list deliverables without specifying software. Don’t tie your Manual to a single tool. Make your tools work towards the deliverables and come up with processes and workflows to use them effectively.

For example I used Revit server setup by my IT department. Each Revit Server has to be on a separate Windows Server in order to maintain project security. There are specific security settings the IT department setup and maintain in order to secure the projects. Once BIM360 became our preferred resource we removed the Revit Server workflow in our BIM Manual and replaced it with a BIM360 workflow. I did not have to change any of the information in the BIM Manual; I only had to replace the Revit Server worksheet with the BIM360 worksheet.

The key to every BIM Manual is keep your manual flexible enough to be universally applicable to all the types of project in which your office is involved.