Month: February 2016

New BIM Execution Plan (BIMx) done, and hopefully this one will be a bit more useful on projects. When I started at the firm my boss at the time took the Penn State template and simply deleted pieces that he didn’t feel we needed for our project sizes. After 2 years of using that BIMx we developed another one eliminating more information and tried to streamline the documentation. Again after 2 years I felt it was time to work on the BIMx again. The thought came to me after attending the BIM Workshop in Anaheim 2015.

I basically started with the standard Penn State template and reworked it using all the information I have accumulated through lessons learned on previous projects and BIMx documentation. One of the main issues we kept having with our BIMx was instruction on how to fill it out correctly. Therefore I added a page at the beginning of the document that is to be deleted after completion. I also used the table tool in Word, giving ease in deleting sections and adding pages as needed.

In my opinion the one of the biggest failures in a successful BIM project is the start-up. Starting a project, which means prior to starting a model, with the BIM Execution Plan can prevent possible work arounds to accommodate requirements. The BIM Execution plan is meant to be used for setting the tone of the project. I require all my projects that have consultants working with our model, either now or in the future to have a BIMx worked up and sent out. This leads to a BIM Kick-off meeting, these meetings are opportunities to discuss the needs of consultants.

For example: I had a project starting with Architectural, Structural, Mechanical, and Electrical all working in Revit. (this is our 4^th project together) We have a campus project with several buildings, so each building has its own model linking into the site model. The Mechanical and Electrical consultants came to the table with their issue of equipment linking to each building and the issues they have had in the past. This conversation is exactly why a BIM Kick off meeting is so vital.  Due to the early discussion and willingness of collaboration with the parties we have a successful project running in our office.

Thanks to these early conversations and projects that have been successful and failed I was able to write a BIM Execution plan that I feel works, at least for the time being. At the end of the year we will sit down and go over the lessons learned again, and edit as needed.

Autodesk launches BIM 360 Docs to help the construction project team collaborate together more effectively. I’ve always liked the idea of everyone having the ability to access all the documents in project. Seems Autodesk has come up with an answer for lost documentation, and which version is the final version. I’ve played a little with this type of service from Autodesk when we tested the C4R and have found it useful, even just with the internal team. I like the fact the contract can check the objects in the Revit model for information rather than hunting down the document. I think this is a step closer to paperless construction, and complete collaboration between all parties on a project.

 

 

It also seems that cloud storage is getting closer and close to free, since this service offers unlimited space for the projects in the cloud.

Being able to check, process, and mark-up documents using your tablet on site, sounds like a huge time saver to me. You can play with the Free version on one project, check it out could be pretty cool.

The next step is to get the pricing of these new tools put into the contract. I believe with education and showing the owner a little ROI success for full team collaboration is right around the corner