BIM Handbook Chapter 6 - BIM for Contractors

 Building Information System (BIM) has been a big part of the modern construction industry. Not only the owner and the architects/engineers benefit from the technology, contractors also enjoy the many benefits brought by from the BIM technology. For a contractor point of view, timely manner and money are two critical elements in their business. BIM technology has potential to help the contractors to deliver the project perfectly with a maximize benefits. Although constructors are not design firms who needs to develop the BIM model from the beginning, there are a ton of contractors that are currently develop beam to support coordination, clash detection, estimating, 4D CAD, procurement, and so forth (Eastman, 2011).

One thing I noticed interesting here is although the design teams whether or not developed the models during the design stages, the contractors are creating their own building models from scratch to support coordination. In my point of view, this is extreme inefficiency as the contactor has to develop models during their construction stage. I believe as the BIM becomes more and more essential for the future construction industry, the use of BIM needs to be more standardized. The work distribution between different parties needs to be clear. In that way the whole construction phases will be more efficient and can save more time as well as money for all parties.

One of the prospects the constructor benefits from using the BIM technology is the construction analysis and planning. Traditional bar charts were used to plan projects but it unable to show the link between different activities in a sequence. Also, most people cannot determine if the schedule is feasible or not. BIM technology provides a better solution to the problem. The first method is by using 4D CAD. 4D CAD is 3D models with also time associations, which means the construction schedule is also linked to the model. Another approach is use analysis tools that incorporate BIM components.

Overall, although the constructors do not develop the design directly, there are also multiple benefits towards the contractors assisting them to save money and time.

1.      Eastman, Charles M. BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers and Contractors. Vol 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley; 2011. http://ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=364239&site=ehost-live.

Comments:

Yidi Li: You listed several benefits for contractors to use the BIM in the future work. They are certainly beneficial for the contractors as long-term development. One thing I noticed in your post is the current scheduling system is in needs for improvements, I think the 4D model as one of the approaches will be really beneficial for the contractors in their future development.

Qiaodan Lin: I learned several points from your post about BIM for owners and facility manager. One thing I think is worth mentioning is the cooperation between architectural design to MEP development. The details can be then including in one model rater than in 2D they are in different plans. That will minimize the conflicts and is easier for contractors to work with.

Michal Tse: Your personal experience is really interesting. The conflicts between contractors and architects/engineers are always there. BIM indeed is a great way to cooperate between different parties. Not only between the stakeholders but also between contractors and sub-contractors; and between different sub-contractors.