BIM News

As we all know, virtual construction modeling is a process that enables us to visualize a building through the means of 3D geometry. This process came into existence to resolve numerous construction issues such as going over budget issues, redundant construction and diminished building efficiency. The need to design buildings with better space planning, reduced cost, quick construction time along with sustainable energy efficiency has led to the advent of Building Information Modeling. BIM Coordination Modelling is one of the phases in the entire virtual construction modeling life cycle. This process ensures that there are no lapses in the building design, there are no overlapping of components between Architectural, Structural and MEP disciplines. All the interferences and clashes are checked thoroughly during the coordination process to ensure that the onsite construction is seamless without any issues. Based on the results of the coordination process, the design changes will be made accordingly in collaboration between Architects, Engineers, Contractors and end client.

BIM Coordination modeling is carried out using software like Revit, Navisworks etc. With a passage of time, this software have evolved with new upgrades that have made the overall pre-construction process better. Navisworks is the software that is used for MEP coordination purposes alongside Revit. It is extremely important to follow a collaborative approach for working on coordination. Navisworks is the best software that can be work an excellent tool to amalgamate the collaborative feature with for overall coordination of services.

How to use Navisworks on your projects

BIM Coordination is a great process that helps in resolving recurring issues such as clashes, design constraints etc. during construction. The kind of infrastructures coming up these days are extremely complex and are based on many factors such as space efficiency, sustainability, energy conserving structures etc. Running out of schedule, over budgets and redundant construction are very critical on such projects. These issues primarily are caused due to unresolved interferences and not having latest and real time information on the projects. Such large or medium scale projects worked with BIM approach resolves a lot of issues on site.

These projects require a structured coordination and collaboration process that can bring all the departments together with a seamless constructability review of all disciplines. The BIM Model now is the single source of all data including the 3D geometry of all disciplines which should be accessible to everyone involved in the project. 

How can Navisworks improve the overall process to avert construction issues and achieve overall profitability?

Navisworks is instrumental in performing interference checks and functionally is capable of extracting clash reports that can be further used for BIM coordination. The 3D Models that are developed according to the design drawings are linked with each other to check the interferences and overlapping. These clashes can be checked and analyzed to ensure accuracy. Some of the clashes are normal space differences and some can be resolved only on site. Apart from these 10% issues rest of the interferences or clashes should be resolved before the building construction goes live. We can use this software for creating constructability review simulations that can highlight the interferences.

With the help of this software, we can also verify the areas that require design changes. During coordination we have to be careful with the design changes we propose and the implications of changing the design. Hence it becomes imperative to bring all the agencies involved in the construction process. By doing this, we can have the inputs from the Architects, Structural Engineers, MEP Contractors and End clients. BIM Coordinators can present these issues and also suggest solutions to overcome the clashes. Coordination process can continue to be a part even when the construction goes live.

Other tools like BIM 360 along with Navisworks also gives an access to the single coordinated model to the entire team simultaneously where all the parties involved in construction are able to work together. This helps in following an integrated approach with proper BIM work flow. BIM 360 integrated with Navisworks gives an access to real time coordination process with constant up gradation on the model. Since the model is cloud based all the parties can access it from global locations at all point of time.  It even offers mobile friendly versions apart from desk top versions.

The main principle on which Navisworks operates is the ability to view the detailed and large scale model. This software efficiently shares complete data exchange and is extensively used for BIM coordination.  Let us understand a bit about how Building Information Modelling works in synchronization with Navisworks.

During the BIM coordination Modelling, the team needs to be empowered enough to take some decisions to correct the model themselves prior to the weekly coordination meetings. Some of the clashes that are visible in the clash detection report can be easily resolved. The team working as Coordinators usually qualified Engineers with on site and Design experience. They can make some changes which are not very dependent on coordination meetings. These changes can be later updated and shared with the other parties during the meetings. Project Engineers, Stake holders, Architects and BIM Coordinators can review these changes as and when required. When we work with BIM 360, this process is done real-time. The clashes are resolved and updated on cloud with instant review and approval by all the concerned authorities. .

Navisworks helps in detailed presentation of the 3D geometry. Since principally it is designed to detect clashes and present them, it functions in a better way by giving larger and detailed 3D views. It helps in creating advanced and structured work flows by providing with animated simulations navigating through the model, scheduling and phase wise construction schedules. The animated time lines can be presented using latest rendering techniques which can graphically represent the entire phase wise construction time table.

Conclusion: BIM Coordination Modeling with BIM Coordination Modeling gaining momentum, Navisworks is practically used by most of the BIM companies globally.  BIM 360 and its integration with this clash detection tool will prove to be extremely profitable in the long run. Though Building Information Modeling is not very popular within some countries owing to the issues faced during BIM implementation, there are other countries where it is mandatory.