Why BIM isnt for all?

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The answer to this question is very simple: BIM does not work for those who see it as only a tool, a computer program that allows them to model a structure and show it to their clients in order to amaze them. And they are not a minority. 

The emergence of A utodesk REVIT ( https://www.autodesk.com/bim-360/ ) as a content creation tool has been very well received by those of us in the BIM ecosystem, but it has had a counterproductive and disruptive effect on the evolution of the discipline. , leading the vast majority of stakeholders to believe that BIM is a REVIT, that is, BIM is a tool. However, they forget that REVIT is BIM, but BIM is not REVIT or any other tool.   

But the problem isn't just the tools. I would highlight two key issues on which BIM does not perform well in organizations: lack of methodology and lack of commitment. You need to understand that BIM is a disruptive technology.   

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BIM is a revolutionary technology

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Throughout history, technology has helped us improve the efficiency of the means used for production: the relationship between the production received and the resources used for it.

Technological advances have been made in the development of construction projects that have significantly increased productivity: we have moved from drawing plans by hand on plant paper with pencils filled with Chinese ink to drawing on computers, but also In this case, we have moved from writing files to floppy disks and sending their employees through e-mail messaging. The changes that have taken place over the past few years are impressive. 

Before the advent of BIM, all of these changes had one thing in common: their linearity. It was only necessary to learn how to handle new technologies, adopted - more or less complex - with a significant commitment of the organizations, but not with the methodology of work. For instance:  

• We continue to use lines, whether they are drawn with Chinese ink or CAD programs. 

• Measurements are still carried out by hand, on a typewriter or using special programs.

• We continue to find inconsistencies between plans, whether printed on paper or viewed on a computer screen.

With the advent of BIM tools, a curious phenomenon has occurred. They are considered to be the development of CAD programs, and as such are accepted. In many cases AutoCad as REVIST without a continuity solution happens like someone who installs a new version of the program: this is what it is now, many say ... And there is a mistake: the main cause of frustration and failure, which sooner or later they will meet.    

In the case of BIM, this evolution must be different, as it must necessarily interrupt the way things are done and therefore be destructive. We will no longer use lines or take measurements like we did before, we won't even process planes like we did before (note, I don't mean that planes disappear).  

To achieve maximum productivity, we will have to change deep-rooted concepts of how to do something, requiring an implementation process, not only processing the tools, as it is done now, but also making methodologies and commitments, as well as investing time and money: a methodological implementation process is necessary. ...

 

There is no BIM without methodology

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What is Methodology? There are many definitions of this term, both linguistic and philosophical, but what I find most appropriate for our field of work can be found in PMBoK : “Methodology is a system of practices, techniques, procedures and rules used by those who work on discipline " . 

Thus, the BIM methodology is a structured set of processes, tools and methods that allow you to effectively manage project information through collaboration between various intermediate agents on computable digital models throughout their entire life cycle. 

• Collaboration. BIM is highly collaborative and gains all its meaning when the agents involved in a project work together. For this reason, project communications management, CDE ( Common Data Environment ) collaborative work environment and work organization are of paramount importance.  

• Computable digital model. We call virtual building construction with content creation tools a digital model. Not every representation is correct : this model must be computable, that is, it must have structured information suitable for numerical analysis, which is also known as a digital twin.  

This digital model is a well-structured graphical, non-graphical and documentary database that is maintained throughout the entire project lifecycle.

• Project life cycle. The advantage of using BIM in construction projects over the traditional form, which has proven effective so far, is that it takes into account the interdependencies between all stages of the asset construction process, from their initial concept to their operation. In fact, the greatest benefit comes from this last step, accounting for 60 to 85% of the total cost.  

This methodology is focused on information management, "i" BIM. Properly managing the attributes of all the objects that make up the computational digital model is key to the success of a project. So now is the time to ask yourself the following questions:  

• What attributes are used?

• How do they work?

• Who introduces them?

• When are they presented?

• Where are they represented?

• How are they mined?

And the answer to these questions directly leads us to the need to have that structured set of processes that we talked about when defining the BIM methodology.

There are many methodologies for managing projects in BIM environments, and these can be:

• Developed by experts within the organization.

• Purchased from suppliers.

• Received from professional associations.

• Purchased from government agencies.

In my opinion, the most reliable and reliable at present is the one that was adopted by the British government based on the PAS-1192 series of specifications developed by the British Standards Institute, which, in turn, served as the basis for the compilation of the current standard. international standard contained in the ISO 19650 series, of which the standards EN-ISO 19650-1 and EN-ISO 19650-2 have already been published.

The general guidelines for the above PAS-1192 methodology are based on a detailed analysis of the project information management cycle, which builds a set of procedures to be adopted by all mep design participants and which is set in the rules of the game for development and design. These procedures are not new and should not seem strange to us, as they represent nothing more, nothing less, a documented transformation of our usual way of working, but properly structured.