The Benefits of Building Information Modelling (BIM)

“2013 can be expected to be a milestone year for the adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Australia.  The architecture, engineering and construction sectors have recognised that significant benefits can be delivered through the use of BIM. There is now a ground swell for the removal of the remaining barriers to the accelerated adoption of BIM to allow the realisation of its significant productivity and financial benefits,” said Wayne Eastley, Vice-President of buildingSMART Australasia at the beginning of the year.

For BIM to work, the importance of sharing knowledge and expertise in order to empower collaborative thinking is paramount. The benefits of close collaboration between the architects and engineers or architects and contractors has been well explored but engineers Meinhardt and quantity surveyors Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB) are now demonstrating to clients how the BIM approach can significantly improve the cost analysis of projects.

The team is currently working on a $80m, Basement Carpark & 15,000m² Commercial Office Development. The complexities and potential risks around a project of this scale can be significant.

The Meinhardt and RLB team therefore wanted the ability to identify costly construction items at an early stage for the client so that they could allocate appropriate allowances against these risks or provide a platform to suggest alternative, more efficient design solutions.

They needed a faster, more efficient & more accurate way to confidently extract quantities, particularly on complex structure elements such as podiums and transfer floors.

Using BIM technology reduced the time spent doing manual measurements and so that more time could be spent analysing data against benchmark information to provide valuable feedback to the design team regarding building efficiencies.

RLB was able to dynamically link models to the cost plan for more frequent updates allowing early notification to the team if the design is on budget at an earlier stage, rather than just after project milestones such as Schematic Design Stage or Design Development stage.

Meinhardt has worked closely with RLB to provide them with a detailed knowledge of the ‘nuts and bolts’ of REVIT modelling and its database to accurately map data to their costing software. By giving the QS intimate knowledge of their models and modelling techniques, including transparent, unbiased advice, the engineers have been able to highlight areas of inaccuracies through software limitations or modelling exclusions and provide a robust, fully-zoned and manage model which accurately maps the building elements to the cost plan.

The detailed models, audited under a Meinhardt developed Model Management checking process, also contain additional parametric data, which maximises the amount of bulk quantification that can be processed by RLB on the project.

“Actively engaging with the QS and promoting transparent knowledge sharing is paramount,” said Barry Orr, BIM Model Manager at Meinhardt. “Design Teams should be starting to understand the benefits of involving the QS in the initial BIM start-up meetings. To date, designers have been nervous that the QS will require additional model information outside their scope and have subsequently shied away from fully engaging with them during the BIM design process"

“A number of engagement initiatives were therefore implemented by Meinhardt from the outset. By holding meeting room seminars, producing BIM guidance documents & Video Tutorials, this allowed RLB to quickly identify the means of how they would accurately quantify each element of the project.”

He continued: “We knew it was not good enough just to then simply issue a model to the QS and leave them to it. We therefore continued to actively work alongside RLB after the model delivery too, ensuring continuous improvement.”

The result now is that both RLB and Meinhardt have an intimate knowledge of the mechanics of each other’s software. This gives them the ability to provide highly efficient, fully costed designs solutions in a shorter period.

RLB have been able to quickly identify high risk cost items on the project and provide immediate feedback to the team. For example, through modelling the existing building in 3D (see images available on request), the team were able to quickly identify that some existing foundations of the neighbouring building, not due for demolition, would require underpinning due to the interface with the new Basement Carpark levels. RLB were able to accurately quantify the works required and the team were able to quickly redesign the area to suit the most cost effective solution to maximise the efficiency of the Basement Carpark.

“Due to our close working relationship & understanding of each others software, processes & modelling techniques, we were able to add value by being more proactive in the realisation of better design solutions. Without this working relationship, the benefits and efficiencies will not be realised,” concluded Allan Trotter Senior QS at Rider Levett Bucknall.

LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE

The barriers to be overcome in the foreseeable future include:-

1. Client adoption of the opportunities in BIM
2. Establishing industry standards and protocols throughout the design, construction and facility management
3. Early adoption of BIM in the design process
4. Industry education and awareness