What’s BIM?

Building Information Models referred to as BIM is a 3 dimensional virtual building model which has information embedded into. The embedded information is used for the builder to build from and the end user to help maintain the building. The potential amount of detail that can be put in to the models is huge and finding the right balance on what is actually going to be useful to end users is something that most potential clients will grapple with for a while as the use of BIM beds in further. Luckily there is guidance out there which has gone a long way to answering this and this will change as the use of BIM continues to grow.

The premise of using BIM is that buildings will effectively be built twice, once virtually stored on a server for the design team to access and work on and then the second ‘actual’ version will be built on site. The advantage is that the team can design out any anomalies in the building before it reaches site. This process is called clash detection. This coordination process has always happened but in 3D it’s a far more accurate when done off 2D drawings.

The idea and the development of BIM has been around since the 1970’s (thanks Wikipedia) but only recently with the accessibility of technology we enjoy has the use BIM in the construction industry become practical. The construction industry is well known for its slowness to accept new ways of working. However the final piece of the puzzle for helping BIM go mainstream is the that UK government has made ‘Level 2 BIM’ mandatory for all new government projects from 2016. I’m not going to get into what Level 2 means as there is a bit of debate on exactly what that will entail but sufficed to say if construction professionals don’t start considering how the use of BIM might change the way we work we’ll be left behind.

It’s pretty exciting as the potential to creating a more streamline construction industry has been a goal for as long as I’ve been working and well before. These are some of my predictions about wher we might start to see changes.

BIM will cause contractor’s profit margins to increase

I don’t think that building will cost more overall in fact I think that the cost of building should come down as a result of BIM. I just think that contractors will be forced to be more transparent about how much they are making on projects. With software available that allows precise measurement of the quantum of materials there will be no more debate about what discrepancies there might be between what was in the bill and what ‘on-site’ quantity was. There are aspects that currently BIM won’t deal with for example; the demolition of existing structures or issues that maybe uncovered in the ground.

There will be less reason for ‘forced’ change (forced, as opposed to a change in brief during the project) so opportunities for increasing overall profit by pricing changes in a non-competitive environment will be less.

If you consider that being a contractor is an incredibly risky business to be in and the declared profit margins are typically around 4-6% it’s not unreasonable to expect these to become a more realistic reflection of the service being provided.

Construction expertise as a consultant service with a fee

This is not new but it’s not the norm and when it does happened it’s often later in the process when the contractor is either part of a two stage tender process, has won the tender and looking to amend the design & build scope or a framework contractor being pulled in to offer advice. These scenarios are usually all seen as ‘added value’ or put another way - free.  I believe there is real value in a person on the team who for a fee can look at the BIM and raise big questions like – how the hell are you going to get that up there? The answer is usually - crane? The next question is; Ok wher are you going to put the crane?  I have literally had this conversation or a very close version of it more times than I care to remember – I try not to be the one that says crane anymore though.

Its a tongue in cheek example but professional builders are very practicality people who love to solve problems and there is sometimes a disconnect between the design and the practicalities of how a building will actually be built. With a BIM you are able to run different construction sequences and flush out parts of a building that might not seem costly on the face of it but when the tower crane or scaffold or safety issues are properly taken into consideration it might lead to a better approach or at least the team understand the implications of keeping this aspect of the building, whatever it might be.

For this reason I think there will be increased opportunity for people with practical site experience to form part of the team designing the buildings in BIM at concept stage design.   

Efficiency will increase

As risks associated with quantity, buildabilty and design coordination are mitigated by the use of BIM then time and efficiency will come to the fore and this will be wher a commercial advantage may be achieved.  

As we move forward all subcontractors tender packages will be based on the same bill of quantities generated from the BIM. It stands to reason that the subcontractor who has the team that can deliver the scheme the most efficiency will win the contract. I hope this will result in the resurgence of a skilled trade base wher sub-contractors will be paid a premium for output of quality product delivered not just on time but faster than the other guy. For example finding the balance between having a team of say plasters that have an output that say 33% high than another company but the team might be getting paid on average 20% more. I hope that interviews for trades people will have a question like ‘how many words a minute’ but will become ‘how many square meters an hour?’.

This isn’t new people have been researching labour efficiency for ages but with BIM and new ways of collecting data hopefully this will facilitate change.

There will always be so many variables in construction; weather, ground contamination, changing laws and policy, access to labour, access to finance – the list goes on. BIM goes someway to reducing some of the variables and hopefully by the collaborative nature of using BIM will help with the issues of fragmentation and inefficiencies that the industry suffers from.

As I said these are just a few thoughts I’ve had. I’d be really interested to hear what people think about this post and if you agree or think I’m way off base so please leave a comment.