Building information modeling for dummies

Building Information Modeling For Dummies® Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, www.wiley.com This edition first published 2016 © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, West Sussex Registered office John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand Some material included with standard print 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UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AND NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM IF PROFESSIONAL ADVICE OR OTHER EXPERT ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL SHOULD BE SOUGHT For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S at (001) 317-572-3993, or fax 317572-4002 For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Control Number: 2015950110 ISBN 978-1-119-06005-5 (hardback/paperback) ISBN 978-1-119-06007-9 (ebk) ISBN 978-1-119-06008-6 (ebk) Building Information Modeling For Dummies® Visit www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/bim to view this book's cheat sheet Table of Contents Cover Introduction About This Book Foolish Assumptions Icons Used in This Book Beyond the Book Where to Go from Here Part I: Getting Started with Building Information Modeling Chapter 1: Defining Building Information Modeling (BIM) Explaining BIM in Plain Terms Examining the A-B-Cs of BIM Understanding the Requirements for BIM Considering BIM Plans and Strategies Measuring the Real-World Benefits of BIM Encouraging BIM in Your Workplace Chapter 2: Explaining the Building Part of BIM: It’s Not Just Buildings Understanding What Building Means Seeing How BIM Can Help You Looking at Infrastructure and BIM Developing Building Processes and BIM Chapter 3: Examining the Information Part of BIM Comprehending What Information Means Realizing That Information Is the Heart of BIM Maintaining Information in the Model Chapter 4: Discussing the Modeling Part of BIM (and Management Too) Grasping What Modeling Means Confirming BIM Is a Process Managing the Model: Federate to Collaborate Chapter 5: Grasping the Fundamentals and Understanding What BIM Is Figuring Out the Why of BIM Shaping Cooperation and Shared Information Transforming Information and Communication Presenting All the Incentives of BIM Part II: Creating the Foundations for BIM Chapter 6: Looking at the Digital World Around You Targeting Technology Identifying the Need for Change Defining Your Requirements Selecting BIM Tools Chapter 7: Preparing the Foundations for BIM Progressing through the Levels of Maturity Providing the Right Structure Preparing for BIM Technology Chapter 8: Setting Up a Collaborative BIM Workflow Getting the Lowdown on Collaboration Modeling in the Parametric Domain Making Life Easier with Digital Information Management Singing Off the Same Hymn Sheet: Information Exchange Part III: Understanding BIM Requirements and Developing BIM Processes Chapter 9: Mandating BIM in the UK and across the Globe Interpreting the Requirements Leading BIM in the United States Growing BIM Standards Internationally Keeping Up to Date Chapter 10: Standardizing the Modeling of BIM Objects Figuring Out What BIM Objects Are Obtaining BIM Objects through Object Libraries Recognizing BIM Objects Supporting Standardization Enabling Interoperability Chapter 11: Collaborating through BIM Requirements Running through Open Standards Steering the Industry toward IFC Reviewing the Key Standards Coordinating Information Chapter 12: Encouraging BIM in Your Office or On-Site Adopting BIM as a People-led Process Encouraging BIM Champions Changing Hearts and Minds Training and Supporting Everyone Chapter 13: Developing BIM Plans and Strategies Getting Started with Your BIM Strategy Setting Up a BIM Business Case Combining Information into a BIM Execution Plan Modeling Your Plan after Successful BIM Processes Chapter 14: Considering the Issues that BIM Presents Managing Change in Your Business Clarifying the Legal Implications of BIM Ensuring Your Business Thrives with BIM: Engineering Collaboration Part IV: Measuring the Real-World Benefits of BIM Chapter 15: Evaluating BIM Benefits and Investment Arriving at a Digital Understanding of Construction Calculating the Savings Separating Reality from the BIM Wash Chapter 16: Using BIM On-Site and BIM for Health and Safety Examining Contractor-Led Project Teams: Planning for Quality Requiring BIM Use On-Site Reducing Risks On-Site: BIM for Health and Safety Chapter 17: Identifying All the Users of BIM Anticipating the Information You Need Identifying the Right Information for Initial Users Building Digitally Strengthening the Contractor Supply Chain Managing Built Assets Part V: Exploring the Future of BIM Chapter 18: Building the Future of Construction Seeing Trends and Looking Ahead Surveying the Construction Landscape: Overcoming the Status Quo Disrupting an Old-Fashioned Industry Approaching a New Era of Procurement Chapter 19: Eyeing the Possibilities: The Future of BIM Thinking about Collaboration Building Digitally Strengthening Your BIM Foundations Preparing Yourself for the Future of BIM Chapter 20: Forecasting How New Technology Will Drive BIM Providing a Digital Catalyst Revolutionizing Construction with Big Data Connecting Everything Together: The Internet of Things Part VI: The Part of Tens Chapter 21: Ten Types of BIM Tools, Software, and Platforms to Consider BIM Authoring Tools/Platform BIM Analysis Tools Specification Tools File-Sharing and Collaboration Tools Construction Management Tools Model Viewers and Checkers Quantity Takeoff and Estimating Tools Shop Drawing and Fabrication Tools Facility Management Administration Tools Chapter 22: Ten of the Best BIM Resources Using Social Media Watching Videos Attending Trade Shows and Events Reading Blog Posts Perusing Publications and Journals Tapping into the Government Signing Up for Software User Groups Joining Associations and Forums Visiting Virtual BIM Libraries Heading to Summer School Chapter 23: Ten (or So) Myth-Busting Questions and Answers Isn’t BIM Just Trendy CAD? Is BIM Just for Big Companies, Skyscrapers, and Government Projects? Is BIM a Fad and a Recent Technology Development? Isn’t BIM Expensive? Does BIM Adoption Affect Productivity? How Detailed Does the Geometry Need to Be? Do Clients Know What to Do with All the Data? Do the Design and Construction Teams Only Benefit BIM? Do You Need to Push the Detailed Design Forward in the Program? Appendix A: Glossary Appendix B: Your Handy BIM Checklist Appendix C: Examining BIM and Education Getting Up to Speed with BIM Understanding Collaboration Teaching BIM Highlighting Great BIM Teachers About the Authors Cheat Sheet Advertisement Page Connect with Dummies End User License Agreement Introduction Perhaps you keep hearing about Building Information Modeling (BIM) and want to work out what all the fuss is about You may be a complete beginner in digital design and construction, looking for the basics You may be a confident CAD user who wants to understand what BIM brings to the party Or maybe you’re already very experienced in implementing BIM processes and you’re just interested in what we have to say in Building Information Modeling (BIM) For Dummies We understand that you could be at various stages of knowledge and levels of experience BIM is a process and it needs people like you to fuel it BIM isn’t just a buzzword It’s actually been around for a long time, but the foundations to make it really work weren’t in place before now We’ve seen BIM generate new efficiencies and new challenges too, and we’ve also seen how construction is hit hard by global economic recession Our aim is to give you the push you need to start, accelerate, or maximize your use of BIM It’s our great pleasure to guide you through your BIM implementation journey About This Book More than likely, you’ve encountered a lot of conflicting, overly complicated, and unhelpful content about BIM online and in print We intend to make Building Information Modeling (BIM) For Dummies different, cutting through all the noise and providing you with the clear advice and practical guidance that you need to make BIM a success in your job, whatever your level may be Think of this book as a reference guide that addresses just what you need to know about BIM For the purposes of this book, we want to make it clear that we use the terms model and BIM to mean quite different things Throughout the book we refer to BIM only as the concept of information modeling for buildings We use terms like 3D CAD, 3D model, and geometric/geometry model interchangeably We structure this book to start with the basic concepts and ideas We then gradually introduce more complicated, detailed, or supplementary content Within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text If you’re reading this book in print and want to visit one of these sites, simply key in the web address exactly as it’s noted in the text, pretending that the line break doesn’t exist If you’re reading it as an e-book, then you can just click the web address and the page will open in your default Internet browser One thing we should note is that we’re all based in the UK, and that’s where our expertise comes from, but we’ve tried wherever we can to balance this with a US perspective throughout and a global reference where relevant BIM is such a fast-moving target that during the writing process things shifted and new documents were released We focus on pointing out the most current versions of guidelines and protocols that we reference at the time of writing Do you feel confident in teaching your students about BIM? We hope that this book gives you a good head start, but no shame exists in admitting that you may need further industry training to build your knowledge too, especially if your time in academia means you’ve been out of practice for a bit Don’t forget that a lot of vendors provide educational versions of their software packages to academics Often these contain full functionality, but outputs may be automatically watermarked to prevent commercial use Understanding Collaboration You may have noticed how defensive people can get about their roles, titles, qualifications, and professional memberships, acting like cliques at a party or, worse, like armies in battle For too long, education for construction has reinforced these silos, usually by funneling people into courses that lead to these discrete roles An academic situation allows people to experiment and try out things that they may not get away with in practice, and your BIM curriculum needs to provide the kind of environment where mistakes are allowed and actually form part of the learning process Perhaps you already include many group-work elements in your existing courses, because teams are (sometimes) more than the sum of their parts BIM is all about collaboration, so teaching your class new processes should start with getting people working together, especially across disciplines and with groups they may not traditionally have encountered If you’re part of a group of professors or lecturers teaching BIM and related subjects, you need to make sure that you’re demonstrating collaboration and good communication to your students If you can’t bear to work with a certain professor or dean, what kind of an example is that? Teaching BIM One of the great benefits of teaching BIM processes and fostering collaborative environments is that these are transferable skills that your students can apply to many situations and whatever future careers they follow You need to integrate BIM into various courses, but not a lot of guidance exists on how you should achieve it BIM can really disrupt what you’ve been used to A typical project may have 20 to 30 different roles Making sure that your class understands what all the different players and how they work together is important The more you can introduce your students to multidisciplinary working, the better It’s the only way the industry will see the change it needs If you work with a large group of students, you may need to break the students into smaller groups Doing so is a great opportunity to have them role-play at the various collaborative relationships of a typical project Getting your students to take roles different to their studies and including clients, planners, building control, lawyers, and so on helps them to see the effects of their decisions on others Perfect outputs are unrealistic if they represent only solo work, because that situation doesn’t exist in reality Obviously, parts of BIM studies focus on the software and systems, but students gradually learn these skills over time, and you don’t directly assess or test for them You have to build any approach on the same foundation as BIM implementation: to encourage and embed information sharing and cooperative work Just choosing a BIM platform is daunting enough, and the expertise you need not just to be a proficient user but also to configure personalized settings within the software can require a very specific set of skills Some vendors produce their own training and educational resources, but explaining things simply to others may take a lot of time and effort Highlighting Great BIM Teachers Perhaps the best way to work out what requirements and skills are most important in education is to look at what others are doing Here are some great organizations that deal with the same issues as you: Pennsylvania State University (http://bim.psu.edu): Penn State’s Architecture and Engineering program is highly respected for its very collaborative approach and sustained investment in new technology and simulation spaces They also produce BIM resources for industry Georgia Institute of Technology (www.gatech.edu): Many BIM experts consider Georgia Tech to have one of the longest-running BIM and collaboration courses around They represent the leading edge in process and technology Auburn University (http://cadc.auburn.edu): Demonstrating how to collaborate across institutions and the globe, Auburn’s BIM courses are jointly organized with international partners The school’s Master of Integrated Design and Construction led the way in college education for IPD CODEBIM (http://codebim.com): This is a joint venture between three Australian universities Jennifer McDonald at UTS is developing a framework for the implementation of collaboration techniques in BIM courses and publishing a wealth of content on the CodeBIM site UK BIM Academic Forum (www.bimtaskgroup.org/bim-academic-forum-uk): This group is made up of representatives from more than 30 UK universities as a BIM promotion and collaboration group You can see the group’s progress in developing a standard academic framework for BIM knowledge sharing Many members are also part of industry consultancy and exchange ventures like thinkBIM at Leeds Metropolitan and BIM Academy at Northumbria Class of Your Own (COYO; http://designengineerconstruct.com): Alison Watson and COYO have advocated BIM to schools in the UK for years through the “Design, Engineer, Construct!” curriculum Pupils as young as 10 are learning how to collaborate, use BIM software, and even write code Some of the work the kids produce is really impressive and far beyond their years For a long time, industry has suggested that educators haven’t done a great job of preparing students for the realities of practice Perhaps the tracks of theory and industry have grown too far apart You have a rare opportunity to equip your students to exploit a digital world So, everyone needs to quickly find the best way of building the skills and knowledge necessary to make construction more efficient and more innovative In reality, doing so will only happen if industry and education work together You know, if people start to collaborate Sounds good, right? About the Authors Stefan Mordue is a chartered architect, qualified construction project manager, Building Information Modeling (BIM) manager, visiting lecturer, and co-author of the literary classic BIM for Construction Health and Safety He began his career with a number of small architectural practices before joining the NBS as a technical author, and he was instrumental in the development of the NBS National BIM Library and authored the NBS BIM Object Standard He was part of the team that produced a BIM Toolkit for the UK government as part of its BIM mandate, and more recently he has worked as a consultant to support organizations to implement NBS products and services Stefan sits on a number of industry and technical standard committees, including the Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE) BIM Working Group, and was a founding member of the CIC BIM2050 working group A retired Ironman triathlete and native Londoner, he now lives in northern England with his wife and two children You can follow on Twitter him at @StefanMordue Paul Swaddle is a chartered architect, urban futurist, and author In his role as NBS Business Solutions Consultant, he’s developed BIM frameworks to support the NBS products’ ecosystem He likes to find familiar analogies for complex subjects to make them easier to understand and has delivered hundreds of hours of training to construction professionals and students on specification and BIM He’s passionate about continuous improvement in the built environment and the supply chain He’s a creator and collector of images and sounds, and he loves coffee, conversation, and American football Above all, he’s a hoarder of books and can always be found reading, writing, and illustrating Follow him at @paul_swaddle David Philp is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), and the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (ICES) He’s also a chartered construction manager and RICS Certified BIM manager Well known in the global construction sector, David’s enthusiasm lies in highlighting the potential of new technologies and how the construction industry interacts with them to bring added value to customers and unlock new ways of digital working An early adopter of practical change and purposeful collaboration, he’s director of BIM for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India for AECOM, the global, fully integrated services firm He was seconded into the UK Cabinet Office in 2011 as head of BIM, a role he still fulfills today under the UK BIM Task Group A founder of the CIC BIM 2050 Group, chair of the BIM4 communities, and professor at Glasgow University, he lives in Scotland When he’s not on a plane, he pursues his love of rodeo and Victorian poetry Follow him at @ThePhilpster Dedication From Stefan: To Becky, Isabelle, and Rosa, you keep my dark days away I love you all more than you know From Paul: For my family, who taught me about collaboration, communication, and sharing long before I’d ever heard the term BIM To Ruth and Ella, for all the time I’ve spent at my laptop and not with you From David: To Lori and Sophie — hi, girls; love you both! For all those who inspire change, challenge everything, and laugh at my jokes, this is for you guys Authors’ Acknowledgments This book is a great example of federation Three of us wrote, and we’ve federated our individual content together in order to co-author the book This has involved a lot of discussion and restructuring to see how everything fits together, and we all want to thank our co-authors for the opportunity to work together (and still be friends at the end) What you have in your hand (or on your screen) is federated information We all thank our colleagues and friends at AECOM, UK BIM Task Group, NBS, and RIBA Enterprises, and across the global construction industry, with a particular shout-out to the Twitter #UKBIMCrew for advice, debate, and inspiration throughout At John Wiley & Sons and their associates, we thank Annie, Michelle, Chad, and Charlie for filling our inboxes every single day with guidance, advice, encouragement, and near-constant pestering at deadlines! Paul would also like to thank Josie Long and Ellie McDowall for the BBC podcast Short Cuts, which has most often been his soundtrack to writing this book Thanks, Josie, for letting Paul use this quote, pinned to his desk since day one: I’m absolutely an idealist and quite often I get accused of being unrealistic or naive with it But for me, allowing yourself to believe in a better future, to step out of reality in that way, feels very powerful; like a small, daily act of resistance Josie Long Publisher’s Acknowledgments Acquisitions Editor: Annie Knight Project Manager: Michelle Hacker Development Editor: Chad R Sievers Copy Editor: Charlie Wilson Art Coordinator: Alicia B South Production Editor: Suresh Srinivasan Cover Photos: ©Getty Images/teekid To access the cheat sheet specifically for this book, go to www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/bim Find out "HOW" at Dummies.com Take Dummies with you everywhere you go! Go to our Website Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Watch us on YouTube Join us on LinkedIn Pin us on Pinterest Circle us on google+ Subscribe to our newsletter Create your own Dummies book cover Shop Online WILEY END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT Go to www.wiley.com/go/eula to access Wiley’s ebook EULA ... this information interesting This icon points out supplemental information online at www .dummies. com/extras/bim Beyond the Book With your purchase of Building Information Modeling (BIM) For Dummies. .. Examining the Information Part of BIM Comprehending What Information Means Realizing That Information Is the Heart of BIM Maintaining Information in the Model Chapter 4: Discussing the Modeling Part... Started with Building Information Modeling Chapter 1: Defining Building Information Modeling (BIM) Explaining BIM in Plain Terms Examining the A-B-Cs of BIM Understanding the Requirements for BIM