For a few years past, Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been more effective for contractors than anything else due to the immediate impact it has during the construction phase.
From tender, contractors use BIM to visualize & analyze construction methods and sequences. This is to help employers understand clearly their proposed build solutions to choose them as qualified bidders. Later during construction, BIM is used even more frequently for clash coordination to resolve as many issues before they are built. A few main contractors also start adopting BIM for as-built documentation and handover.
However, this is shifting significantly
to other professions like design, building, and development within recent years. There has been a greater impact on the designers, engineers, fabricators, and operators to name a few as BIM continues to spread throughout the entire Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operation (AECO) industry.
That is because BIM is a process of working within a design, analysis, fabrication, construction, and operation as well as demolition and renovation of a building project. BIM significantly changes the way Architects, Engineers, Contractors, and Operators practice.
BIM as we (TBF) experienced it, comprises of three vital elements: People, Process, and Technology.
For us, BIM is made up of 20% technology and 80% process. When view as a whole, 100% of BIM is about the people and how each stakeholder utilizes the technology and process.
In the book BIM and Integrated Design: Strategies for Architectural Practice (Wiley 2011), Randy Deutsch stated that “People-oriented factors are a greater challenge than solving the software, business, and technical problems of BIM implementation... People are the crux – the key – to advancing BIM and integrated design.”
Therefore, to have a successful implementation of BIM, the human element must be addressed in order to control the project’s expectations.
Many industry experts,
especially those within the software industry will argue that technology makes up the majority of BIM simply because, without technology, BIM as a process would not be possible.
On the other hand, at the root of BIM, it is the process that determines its uses and its uses then ultimately determine the technology required. However, when you look at it, BIM only exists because of the technology but relies much more on its process to achieve its goals.
THE BIM FACTORY
Author: Nhut Pham