The Keys to Successful BIM Implementation, Collaboration, and Model Validation

Alex Altieri

Building information modeling (BIM) has become commonplace in the AEC industry due to its many advantages over traditional CAD. BIM is all about data and turning modeled geometry into what many describe as a “single source of truth.”

If you’re thinking about or are in the process of implementing BIM, there are a few key points that are important to consider: understanding the incentives, establishing goals and vision, having a plan of action, and evaluating and measuring progress. Each of these points help address common challenges associated with implementing BIM, including lack of time, commitment, or resources.

Understanding the Incentives

According to a 2021 Dodge Data & Analytics report titled “Accelerating Digital Transformation Through BIM, ” the top five benefits of BIM to surveyed firms are:

• Improved ability to manage complexity.
• Improved design quality.
• Reduced errors and rework.
• Better ability to meet customer and design requirements.
• Increased stakeholder buy-in.

A BIM process with its centralized data can provide all these benefits throughout an entire project’s phases, from design to construction to owner occupancy of the building. Because of this centralized data, collaboration, coordination, and communication are much improved.

This report also notes that 88 percent of surveyed architects report a “good” return on investment from BIM. The initial investment of time and effort typically leads to substantial benefits that continue to add up over time while the level of effort concurrently decreases.

(Image courtesy of Vectorworks, Inc.)

More and more firms are discovering the benefits of BIM—you can see for yourself through NBS’s Digital Construction Report)

(“BIM adoption over time” chart from NBS’s Digital Construction Report)

Establishing Goals & Vision

What do you want your work to look like in six months? One year? Five years? This is the “why” of your implementation. For many designers, the answer to this question comes from the list of incentives – they want improved ability to manage complexity, improved design quality, reduced errors, and so on. These are all worthy goals, but you should be more specific.

You could strive to shorten project timelines by a certain percentage. Some firms may find that their change management process is quite tedious, so a BIM goal might be to shorten the revision process from four weeks to two. Being specific in this way gives you a measurable method to track your progress toward the overall vision.

The MacLeamy curve showcases how you’re able to impact project costs much earlier in your process with BIM compared to CAD. In a BIM workflow, your ability to manage changes across documents and models is simplified, significantly reducing project timelines and better controlling costs.

(Image courtesy of Vectorworks, Inc.)

Quite the inspiring vision, no? To get there takes setting goals, goals that should be SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. As an example, a SMART goal for a project could be to reduce time spent on revisions by 25 percent within the first year of implementation.

Having a Plan of Action

Knowing where you want to go with BIM is the first step. After that, it’s all about understanding how to get there. Take time to evaluate your current process and decide where you need to invest. Do you and other staff members need training to improve your skills? Do you need additional software programs for your specific design needs?

Be sure to address the following when developing an action plan:

• Invest in training — If you’re incorporating a BIM workflow to save time and money, seeking training is one of the best things you can do. By procuring skills early in the adoption process, you’ll set yourself up to repay any initial investment costs with the ability to work more efficiently later.
• Develop standards and templates — Developing standards for the recurring aspects of your BIM workflow helps streamline project delivery. Many firms enjoy developing standards for things like annotations, class and layer organization, and details. These standards can be saved as templates in Vectorworks for reuse.
•   Determine if you’ll need additionalsoftware —You may find that your BIM process could benefitfrom supplemental software and other collaboration tools to improve thecoordination process. For instance, many designers take advantage of renderingand visualization programs like Twinmotion, Enscape, or Lumion tobring their BIM models to life. Others might need a program like Solibri  formodel validation.

• Practice with example files —Example
  files are ideal because they give you a general idea of how a successful BIM file is set up. It’s a great way to learn the essentials, so you can then carry
  them over into your own process.
  Vectorworks University has several detailed example projects you can download free of charge to explore.

Evaluating & Measuring Success

In the BIM implementation process, it’s critical to set aside time to evaluate what went right and what went wrong. The key is understanding that BIM implementation is a process and it requires constant reflection.

It’s also important to remember that BIM is scalable — you build on fundamental knowledge with each consecutive project, so over time, the benefits of your investment will pay off in dividends.

These four keys are a great starting point, and acknowledging and understanding them can certainly boost your confidence in the BIM implementation process. Keep in mind what’s most important — the incentives, your desired outcome, and how to get there.

There you have it: the four keys to successfully implementing BIM. Master the concepts in to optimize your BIM process following implementation. From there, you’re ready to start thinking about another important component of BIM — model validation.

What is Model Validation? Who Needs to Do It?

Model validation is the process of combining models from several different consultant groups into one overall, data-rich 3D model, then analyzing the federated model, which includes models from all disciplines, to ensure that data quality, building safety, and codes are all met. It’s about developing a better-coordinated model in advance of construction.

One specific part of the model validation is something we know as “clash detection,” which concerns identifying geometry overlaps between the various models. “Clash detection” can sometimes have a negative connotation and can ultimately leave you feeling like you’re doing an extra chore when in reality, it’s really only a piece of the puzzle. Model validation is a positive and forward-looking process to perform with your consultants. Look at it this way—you all want to provide the best possible solution for the project, so it’s better to define this exercise positively instead of negatively.

Model validation is one of the defining aspects of an openBIM process. Even if you’re not yet collaborating with consultants via the BIM process, it’s still valuable to be familiar with model validation. The process could provide insights into your own internal BIM workflow. When you do collaborate with consultants, the final federated model will serve as a single source of truth for the final built asset. That sounds great, right? But when do you really need to perform model validation?

In simple terms, you’d want to perform model validation on a BIM project that involves incorporating data-rich 3D models from various consultants at previously established key stages, such as at 50 percent and 100 percent of design development, a certain percentage of construction drawings, etc. Remember to agree upon and set the exact timing upon the project’s BEP.

Often, it might be the case that a project is required to be delivered with BIM framework and yet the project teams aren’t quite as experienced with it yet as they’d like to be. This is a common occurrence and stresses the importance of gaining a baseline understanding of the model validation process. You can learn more about the model validation process and see how other firms tackle the procedure on the Planet Vectorworks Blog

We all know that implementing BIM isn’t an overnight process. It takes time, care, and a real sense of purpose to reach a repeatable BIM workflow. But you can be encouraged by the many who have done it before – implementing BIM isn’t as difficult as you might think, especially with these key factors in mind!

About The Author

Alex Altieri is a content marketing writer for Vectorworks, Inc. He has degrees in digital/print journalism and philosophy from the Pennsylvania State University, and although he’s not a designer by trade, Alex remains inspired by the ways Vectorworks software helps incite creativity.

Category: Vectorworks

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 11th, 2022 at 9:29 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.