BIM News

Virtual Construction Modelling is a rising star in today’s construction environment. It is like a Pandora box of evolving construction technologies and has many hidden advantages to its credit. Availing BIM Services or transforming into a BIM user is very beneficial. One of the core features is that BIM Model provides you a holistic preview of the building design, functionalities of a building from an Architectural, Structural and MEP perspective much before the building moves to the construction phase. It provides a data centric approach through various processes which results in gathering of critical building information such as cost, material requirements, quantities, design options, design accuracy can be measured using BIM Clash Detection and MEP Coordination Services etc.  We can extract Construction Drawings, prepare entire construction phasing and budgeting with the help of BIM Modelling Services.

We will be discussing the benefits of using  BIM Clash detection and MEP Coordination services in this article. This will give a clear insight as to why companies need to diversify from the existing construction method to BIM.

Clash detection refers to the practice of validating the design and spotting interferences or collisions between multiple disciplines such as Architectural, Structural or MEP disciplines. These clashes or interference can create significant issues during construction and sometimes indicate poor designing skills or techniques. It is imperative that the BIM Models are created using proper compliances. Some times in spite being compliant, there are issues and there is a need for changing the design.  All these issues can be identified and corrected prior to construction with the help of BIM Clash detection and coordination. It is a three step process which has done wonders in terms of controlling costs, speeding up construction process and having a seamless design to construction phase between Architects, Engineer and General Contractors. It also provides a collaborative approach and helps in finalizing design changes in a very user interactive way. All these benefits have made Clash detection and Bim coordination. one of the fundamentalfeature of virtual construction technology.

BIM clash detection is supported by software like Revit, Navisworks, and ArchiCAD. Navisworks is one of the software that offers interoperability with Revit and provides critical information of interferences and clashes. It provides an html report highlighting various clashes that can be classified as hard clashes, soft clashes etc. This extensive clash report can be shared with Architects, Structural Engineers, BIM Modelers and Contractors to discuss about how these clashes can be resolved during the design and development stage. Based on this report, the Design Engineers work on the designs and BIM Engineers subsequently work in changing the model to suit the updated designs.  It is vital that all the parties have a collaborative meeting to decide how these clashes or interferences can be dealt with without disrupting the BIM and design compliances. Software like Revit or ArchiCAD can extract Bill of quantities based on different part of the model and also help in saving time and effort in redundant designing.

Let us talk about the benefit of availing BIM Clash detection services and working with a BIM Coordination approach. These benefits also gives you a hint to those companies that it is high time that Architectural firms, Construction Companies, MEP Contractors or General Contractors follow the collaborative approach than still falling prey to old construction methods.

Best feature that BIM can offer is multi user sharing

Multi User sharing:  Since the core difference between CAD and BIM is based on this parameter, transiting from 2D to BIM comes with this phenomenal feature. When you use BIM Modeling , BIM Clash detection or coordination you can achieve excellent speed of project execution, abaility to engage multiple Engineers to work on a single model and synchronize the model to reflect the changes made by every user . Further with the advent of BIM 360, anotherinnovation in the virtual construction fraternity the process of clash detection and BIM co-ordination becomes better and quicker.  Due to the collaborative approach and accessibility to the Model all the parties’ right from Architect to Contractor can access and review the model, all at the same time. In case all the users are at different locations, on line meeting tools like go to Meetings, WebEx etc. can come handy.

Design Validation prior to construction:Clash detection Services and BIM coordination enables Architects and Engineers to perform constructability review and design validation before extraction of shop drawings. Previously, most of the issues arising out of designs were identified only after the preparation of shop drawings. However, during the BIM Coordination stage design issues, conflicts etc can be identified and resolved with the help of BIM coordination Model. Software like Revit and Navisworks assist in virtually reviewing the building and checking the clashes through reports as well as simulations. The geometric model created in 3D acts like an existing building base and helps in presenting the building design exactly the way it would look post construction. Building functionalities can be identified well and modified to suit the users and compliances.  It gives a diligent and detailed clash detection reportwhich can be further utilized to understand the effect the clashes have on overall building functions and design aesthetics of the building structure. Later based on these reports the BIM Engineer can make changes to the model and again run it through Navisworks to check if the clashes are resolved. In some cases, the solutions to the clashes Imply major design and calculation changes across all disciplines.

Interference check and BIM coordination–First step to BIM Clash detection services and efficient BIM coordination is to create a detailed and error free model in LOD 300 and above. Later all the 7 disciplines such as Architectural, Structural, MEPF can be combined to check the clashes using Navisworks or Revit. Comprehensive clash detection test will identify minor and major clashes. BIM Engineer or MEP BIM Coordination expert can identify, mark up critical clashes and conduct a meeting with all parties involved to finalize the clashes and how they can be resolved.  Clash detection services offered by any BIM Outsourcing company ensures that the co-ordination tools are appliedaccurately and the probable conflict that interrupts construction is out-and-outreduced.

Management of Design conflicts- Projectskirmishes can be straightforwardly managed with the help of BIM software. There are defined practices through which the conflicts can be tracked and resolved.  However the efforts and time taken to resolve them depend on the complexity and standards using which they are developed. It is mandatory that the compliance or BIM standards are not compromised in lieu of resolving clashes.

Effective and transparent communication process: It is very important that there is a transparency between Design Engineer, General Contractor and BIM Coordination expert. There can always be clashes however it is very important that the issues are resolved without hurting the knowledge and expertise of any required parties. Many times construction is delayed owing to lack of coordination and lack of positive communication between teams involved in design implementation process.Reports, model presentation and simulation can give indepthunderstandingabout the overall building design , interferences and the building functionality overall.

Conclusion:

We have discussed some of the major benefits of working on construction projects using BIM Clash detection services and MEP BIM Coordination. It will certainly reduce construction time, minimize errors and provide a great understanding of building functionalities prior to on site construction. This understanding can help in maximizing the utilization of buildings more effectively.