Starting a BIM Project

 BIM is a process that is now an essential part of the construction industry. BIM is not a software it is a process.

Revit is quickly becoming the number 1 BIM authoring software and is quickly replacing AutoCAD as the main construction industry drawing tool.

BIM is not new, it has only been called BIM in the last 10 years. 3D modelling products with databases attached for storing data for schedules have been around for a very long time. I remember using similar products back in the mid 90’s.

At Siscín we get involved in very large multi-discipline projects such as road, rail, architectural, interior, as-built and other type projects. So we have to use different types of software some BIM some not BIM and often these have to be integrated in to a single project. In the next series of blogs I’m going to discuss some of the different types of software’s we use and why we use them.

We will look at a project that includes Road, Rail, new buildings, existing building and all the disciplines involved with such a project.

We’ll start off this week with setting up the BIM project. The first step in any BIM project is to nominate a BIM Coordinator. In a Multi discipline project this should be somebody who has a multi-discipline background, who understands the needs of each discipline and can communicate with the different disciplines. These disciplines maybe departments within the same company or different consultants. The BIM Coordinator should have good people skills and an expert knowledge of the most of the software’s involved in the project if not all. They should have an overall independent stance and should not be aligned to any one discipline. Because the BIM coordinator will have to sort out issues that arise between different disciplines.

The BIM coordinators job is not to check the design content of each model but ensure that the BIM standards and the BIM process’s are being strictly adhered to.

At the start of any job a BIM meeting should be setup with the main BIM people from each discipline present. Each discipline should have their own BIM lead who is in charge of overseeing the BIM process within the discipline and can attend the project BIM meetings. This will often be the person that is responsible for integrating BIM into the department or company.

BIM is about collaborativeworking and sharing information. The initial BIM meeting should be about how information is shared, what standards will be used. What deliverables are required. Out of this meeting a project execution plan and a project standard documents should be created. These documents are essential for efficient running of any BIM project.

For more information on these documents check out the AEC (UK) CAD & BIM Standards site

http://aecuk.wordpress.com/

Or the national BIM Standard – United States

www.nationalbimstandard.org

Next week we will look at the Civil Engineering discipline.

If you have any questions on this article please feel free to contact me at dan@siscin.ie

Dan Deery is a director of Siscín which is a company based in the west of Ireland specialising in BIM Consultancy, 3D modelling and Visualisation. Siscín have worked on many different projects across the world. For more info on Siscín and their services check out their web site on www.siscin.ie.