BIM in Design Coordination

Building Information Modeling (BIM)

BIM is relatively a new model used to design, plan and develop buildings/projects. It has actually revolutionized the way how engineers and practitioners treated the infrastructure and how utilities were designed and planned around the infrastructure. The BIM tool supports the practitioners in coming up for solution to the problems that have been faced by them previously. The integrated project delivery team works in collaboration with information processed through the BIM, to assess and understand the underlying problems and to come up with an effective solution for these issues. This model is effectively used for exchanging information between different models and people working on a project (McNell et al., 2014).

How does an Integrated Project Delivery with BIM  enhance the project’s productivity?

The most common challenges in the field of construction are cost, time, design and fulfilling the business needs. Mistakes in these fields ultimately cost the whole project and people involved in it. To minimize errors in these areas IPD develops a road map with six steps which leads to successful completion of projects. These steps are discussed as below:

 Understand the value proposition

Misunderstanding the value in an organization is the common error. So first focus of IPD is outline where and how value can be generated in an organization and ensure that the whole industry is getting benefit. This allows the engineers to yield greater productivity and usability of their designs. The companies can benefit through it by having a better sequence of construction and manufacture. To know the value in an organization is critical because it is responsible for the foundation of IPD in an organization (Salman, 2011).

Despite most of the companies’ just focus on gaining profit working on this point not only minimizes the cost but also induce better staff participation and greater energy in completion of a project. By gaining an insight understanding of business cases the investment as well as the processes involved can be validated. This value proposition helps in evaluating improvement through specifying business measures (Hornsby & Allan, 2012).

 Set requirements

After the values have been set clear all the underlying processes are then mapped. For successful implementation of a process structured approach should be adopted, which is strategized by the IPD approach.  This not only help the system to function properly and also aid in smooth implementation of a program and there will be less chances of error. For better results in completion of project requirements it is advisable to consult with the company’s shareholders. This allows a transparent development with the involvement of every one important (Forbes & Ahmed, 2010).

Understand the information requirements

To have successful error free construction plan it is very necessary to gather basic data of all the requirements in early stages of designing the infrastructure. This will help to eliminate flaws throughout the construction and management process. IPD is quite subjective in defining how an organization is treating the data because it the assets on which the whole project will be standing. Any error or mistake in the provided information can adversely affect the final results (Kent & Becerik-Gerber, 2010). However the data strategy used by IPD should be free of any intellectual property theft or liability concerns.

Choose the technology

Choosing the appropriate technology for a project is the main focus of IPD approach. In this approach the technology has been evolved constantly according to the user need. For example projects like building a nuclear plant requires technology that not only caters the geographic part but also aid in developing the facility keeping in mind the sensitivity of operations that have to be carried there. This technology must be chosen after careful evaluation of all the requirements in the given project (Dykstra, 2011).

Implement the change

 For a company to adapt IPD approach, it is necessary that they must evaluate the strengths and capabilities of their staff members who actually have to carry out the proposed changes, such as implementation of BIM modelling in their project. If the methodology used is new then there is need of proper training to the existing staff so that they can successfully implement the process. The transfer of knowledge for those who have been working with BIM is also a company asset that can be used in any future plan. Therefore the company should implement changes according to the IPD plan and requirements (Kensek, 2014).

 Realize the Benefits

After implementing the system, the possible benefits can be realized very easily. There it is important to evaluate the metrics that will tell that whether the benefits are same as the values set in initial stages. If not then changes have to be made to achieve the targeted values. Tracking progress and monitoring values helps in achieving continuous improvement and there is a low chance of loss.

 Using IPD in Estimating Cost Certainty

IPD approach greatly influence the way how the budget is being treated and there is a continuous monitoring on exceeding and reducing cost on the project. There is usually no chance of exceeding the estimated cost because all the steps in this process are quite coordinated. The estimated cost has been set in the light of opinions, considerations and experience of the professional team members. In addition the constant monitoring and evaluation reduces the chance of cost exceeding the estimated budget.

In a project the shareholders and participants actually take a risk on their profit after investing in a particular project. They obviously don’t want the cost to be overrun and ultimately cost them. Therefore the integrated project delivery also considers this possibility and adds this “dealing with a risk situation” in its plan. This planning of dealing with the risk situation helps greatly in dealing with greater cost certainty (Deutsch, 2011). IPD with BIM integrated following principles for budgeting to reduce cost errors in a project:

• Effective and improvised administration of the construction project by eliminating any difficulty or communication problem between the owner and the planner, designer and the contractor’s teams
• Taking steps to complete the project within given budget by optimized construction and procurement strategies; after careful consideration of the project requirements and risk assumptions by different teams.
• Reducing the chances of increased or overrun budget through effective management. This is possible due to the increase level of communications and precise construction and budgetary planning through IPD
• Educating architect with the cost effectiveness of the project through access to the construction and current prices. This information is provided to them in the initial stages of the design making. Different tool such as BIM play highly influential role in this regard
• Estimating costs of each developmental phase in the beginning.
• Taking steps to make sure there is no legal claim of additional budget or compensation in future (Kent & Becerik-Gerber, 2010).

 Cost Estimation

The basic elements in cost estimation process are the pricing and quantity take off. These quantities can be obtained in a cost database by integrated in the building information model. However this model does not help in obtaining pricing. To estimate the cost of a project a cost estimator expert is required to estimate and analyze the cost of every material used in that project and how they should be installed. The pricing of each step is available in the data base however if it is missing for a step then it is the responsibility of cost estimator that he should study more deeply and come out with accurate pricing solution (Azhar et al., 2009).

For example if there is an activity of pouring concrete then the budget of everything such as wire mesh, concrete  rebar etc. and their quantity to be used should be defined by BIM. This model will counter every single detail about every single thing involved in the activity. The cost estimator should evaluate each unit price, material cost, labor cost and even estimated profits, the labor unit will involve the mobilization, their working duration and wages and material cost include the sum of all the materials that will be used. Once the unit prices are obtained the cost of the entire project is then estimated by multiplying the total quantity extracted from the BIM. The data input and output is quite good in BIM approach. For successful implication of BIM it is important that the architect and the constructor agree on basic components definitions. Only then there would be successful results (Gudnason & Scherer, 2012).

 Strength and Limitation of IPD in Reducing Risks

Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) is an emerging innovation in construction delivery. It usually conceives the owner, the architect or engineer and the contractor, all entering into a single contract and operating as a collaborative team to design and develop the project with shared risks and reward in the final cost, schedule, and quality of the larger project. Simply stated, IPD is like a joint venture strategy to design and construction. It reflects a radical deviation from conventional delivery methods that isolate responsibilities, liabilities, communication, risks, and rewards with contract that are often lacking in an impetus collaborate and work toward the shared objective of a successful overall project.

IPD is a growing delivery strategy based on broad concepts that can be tailored on a project-by-project basis. While is no concrete description of IPD, the following basic concepts are generally present:

One Integrated Agreement

The main team members, including the owner, the architect or engineer, and the contractor all enter into a single contract. Either method of contracting for IPD manifests a considerably different contractual design from Design Bid Build, in which the owner enters into separate contracts with the architect/engineer and the general contractor, both of whom are accountable solely to the owner.

Shared Risk and Reward

The main IPD team members manage and share risks and rewards in the results of the project, generally its cost and time of completion, but any number of performance indicators can be established, including quality, sustainability, minority hiring, etc.

One method with IPD is to split the compensation of each core team member into three categories: direct cost, overhead and profit, and bonus.

  Collaboration

Rather than each party having its own on-site office, IPD projects involve a so called ‘big room’ in which all parties are stationed together to be able exchange idea, collaborate, and function as a team. The IPD contract must stipulate how BIM or other technology will be used, specifically in terms of input, access, alterations, confidentiality, copyright ownership, technological capability, dependability on data provided by others and restricted or complete responsibility for errors.

Joint Decision-Making

To  make decisions with regards to the project, approval may be required of all stakeholders, votes may be weighted, veto power may vested in certain team members or the owner may reserve the privilege to take a decision when the team members are unable to arrive at a consensus.

Dispute and Liability Avoidance

A hallmark of IPD is minimizing the risk of disputes, liability, and litigation in order to promote cooperation and team environment. The project team member may agree upon different methods to appropriately limit liability: they may excuse each other from liability for good faith errors in judgment, even if negligence is found, accept, of course, to the extent that deliberate misconduct prevails.

Advantages of Integrated Project Delivery

IPD can prove to a potentially beneficially all participants in the design and construction of a project. Some of its specific possible advantages are stated below:

• Cost savings for the owner (possibly, the costs of construction, operations, and maintenance) as a result from the incentive for the team members to earn bonuses.
• Rapid conclusion of the project for owner, again as a result of the incentive for the team members to earn bonuses.
• Bonuses given out to the designers and contractors for accomplishing cost savings, faster completion of the project as well as other project objectives.
• Minimized risk of design and construction defects as a result of the collaborative, teamwork strategy
• Minimized liability for the designers and contractors as a result of the acknowledged limitations of liability and dispute aversion