Design to Construction Processes

The close relationship between design and construction is one that requires an integrated system, usually involving detailed plans and specifications. Carnegie Mellon recognizes construction planning is a process of identifying activities and resources required to make the design a physical reality. Construction, therefore, is the realization of a design put forth by architects and engineers. The various operational tasks that have to be performed in design and construction must be tracked throughout the project lifecycle.

The project lifecycle doesn’t end just at the completion of construction and occupation of the building; it extends many years beyond that. Since there are also many specialized and custom features to buildings, they can take many years to complete. Factors such as site, weather, building codes and other issues must be taken into consideration. It is difficult to foresee the needs of the building over its continued lifecycle. Design plans are changing throughout the lifecycle according to technological changes and the demands of the structure.

Ideally, design and construction teams can get off the ground with projects with an integrated system almost at the same time, diminishing the need for extensive rework later on.

Several characteristics are unique to the planning of constructed facilities and should be kept in mind even at the very early stage of the project life cycle. These include the following (Carnegie Mellon):

• Nearly every facility is custom designed and constructed, and often requires a long time to complete.
• Both the design and construction of a facility must satisfy the conditions peculiar to a specific site.
• Because each project is site specific, its execution is influenced by natural, social and other locational conditions such as weather, labor supply, local building codes, etc.
• Since the service life of a facility is long, the anticipation of future requirements is inherently difficult.
• Because of technological complexity and market demands, changes of design plans during construction are not uncommon.

IMAGINiT’s Scott Colarossi, senior applications expert with IMAGINiT, provider of design technology solutions for the engineering community, discusses their view of design to construction processes.

1. What are the issues for design to construction as you see them now?

One issue I continue to see is a slow rate of technology adoption within the industries. The Early Adopters benefit by having a competitive advantage w/ owners over their Laggard—“we’ve always done it this way in the past; why change?”—counterparts. The Early Majority will thrive by continuing to evolve their processes whereas the Late Majority are playing catch up by continuing to resist change.  We need more innovators in both the design and construction industries to challenge the status quo & inject new technology into their daily workflows.

2. How is BIM changing to suit the needs of design to construction?

Typically, strategizing how a project would be constructed occurred once the design reached a certain percentage of completeness. BIM provides the vision to the team earlier in the process so that now the project can be virtually planned, built, checked and adjusted over and over again with input from all project stakeholders.  This pre-construction continuous improvement cycle provides reduced costs better efficiencies and safer worksites once the project moves from design to construction.

3. What types of applications and workflows do you see as most important to the design to construction industry going forward?

For me, safety is the most important application and/or workflow to both the design and construction industry going forward.  As project designs become more complex and construction demands increase, it will be even more imperative that safety is the leading thought in everyone’s mind before the pencil hits paper or equipment hits the site.

4. Is there better communication between design and construction teams now? What would make that better?

Communication between design and construction teams is showing signs of improvement and technology enhancements can be thanked for the progress. Faster, more robust data connections can now be made on project sites which leads to more reliable interaction between design & construction teams.  Couple that with project information stored in the cloud, teams can now exchange intelligence & resolve issues quicker and thus better manage risk out on site.   Owners driving the need for advanced tech on their projects would make the communication even better.

Tags: AEC, architects, architecture, BIM, building, building design, building information modeling, CAD, infrastructure

Categories: 2D, 3D, construction, engineering, plant design

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