Building Information Modeling: An Approach to Better Building

According to the report “The Business Value of BIM” by McGraw Hill Construction, around 58 percent of the architecture firms in the United States were using Building Information Modeling (BIM), as of 2009. With more and more construction firms using BIM to their advantage, it is always a good idea to be more informed about the benefits offered by BIM. Contrary to common misconceptions, BIM is not just a technology, but a better approach towards designing, construction, and management of a construction project. Here, we will take a look at some major benefits of using BIM, so as to understand why this is a better approach towards building.

Benefits of Using BIM in Construction Projects

Effective utilization of BIM helps reduce manual errors, decrease costs, increase productivity, and improve quality of a construction project. Be it designing, construction, and management, BIM contributes to each and every phase a project in order to make the process easier, error-free and more effective. Following are the three major benefits of using BIM.

1. Reducing reworks – Building construction projects often go over budget due to reworks. This may also cause delays in a construction project. In order to avoid such a situation, BIM relies on a process of creating a three dimensional model of the building before the real construction starts. This 3D model replicates the structure of the building in detail. The structure includes electrical wiring, plumbing piping, air-conditioning ducking, and others. A copy of this 3D model is given to all service contractors, such as HVAC contractors, plumbing contractors, and electrical contractors. This helps to identify mistakes in the planning stage, thereby reducing risks of reworks to a large extent.

2. Accuracy in construction drawing – Use of BIM also helps to generate more accurate construction drawings and lists. While construction drawings may include floor plans, elevations and sections, some examples of construction lists can be area statements and material takeoffs. BIM also offers shorter turnarounds. That is mainly because, when you change one view of the construction model, the other views get changed automatically. Unlike traditional methods, updating of a drawing or list is done immediately. This saves a lot of time as well.

3. Easy access to information – BIM services offer easy access to critical information in each phase of a construction project. For example, in the design phase, it offers access to information regarding scheduling, budgeting, and designing. On the other hand, BIM also helps track if there is any lack in quality or cost overruns during the construction phase. In the management phase, it helps to access information regarding performance, implementation, and costs. BIM also updates all information in real time. That simply means that engineers, architects and service contractors can get an overall picture of the project at any point of time. This helps them make informed decisions in order to maintain quality and increase profitability.

When used effectively, Building Information Modeling can also help construction professionals provide some additional services, such as energy analysis, renovation planning, and move management services. Overall, the use of BIM services is a better approach towards constructing better buildings.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

About the Author: Hi, I’m Aliya Jennifer from BIMhub, a platform that encourages all players of the AEC industry to collaborate throughout the building life cycle from creation, maintenance, amortization and depreciation. To know more about our BIM services, please visit our site.

Categories: ArchiCAD, AutoCAD, Autodesk, BIM, Revit

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2012 at 2:09 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.