BIM Handbook Chapter 5 - BIM for Architects and Engineers

Chapter 5 of the BIM handbook explored the relationships of the architects and engineers and how their design process has been impacted by the introduction of Building Information Modeling Tools.  Design prior to these tools has been reserved for the 2D realm with complex 3D shapes being dematerialized into a manageable 2D form.  This has somewhat limited the architect to standard building forms and elements that would just be too hard to model in 2D form for construction.  Now with the introduction of BIM we are able to achieve a higher level of design and coordination between parties, but just like any other innovation there are challenges faced.

            One challenge BIM first encountered is the definition of the design process and the roles that each of the design team members played.  With construction litigation increasing in the past years fewer and fewer architects were willing to accept responsibility for the exact design of the buildings claiming their drawings to only be design intent leaving many of the details to the contractor and various shop drawings.  This being an inefficient means of documentation has lead to many different forms of building contracts like Design-Bid-Build and Design-Build, which hoped to help with these inefficiencies but still lacked a sense of ownership by the design team.  However, recently with the addition of BIM a newer form of contract called Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) method has helped streamline documentation process by vesting the designer on the completion of the building allowing them to benefit from the completion of the building much like the contractor.  It also is very collaboratively based allowing all parties that are involved to provide their expertise and early on make necessary changes, which have been made easier with the use of BIM.

            By using BIM firms can rework their typical cost structuring models, which used to hold 55% of their fee for the development of construction documentation.  This labor-intensive process has been replaced by the automation of documentation by BIM models and allows these funds to be reallocated to the Conceptual and Schematic Design processes where it is possible to make changes that potential have great impact on cost, schedule, and overall building function.  Changes at these phases are also much cheaper than later in the design or construction process.

            Beyond just the use of BIM to manage documentation and help with changes BIM has the potential to help in crucial building analysis such as energy analysis, space allocation analysis, code compliance, and cost estimation.  These analysis tools embedded in BIM software can help with many of the feasibility studies needed in conceptual design to best optimize the building and its systems.  Overall BIM can be a very powerful tool for the architect and the engineer.

Reference:

Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston; “Bim Hanbook, a Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers, and Contractors” Second Edition, Chapter 5; Second Edition 2011

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