omer syed - the integration of bim in construction organizations & its impacts on...

FINAL CAPSTONE REPORT: The Integration of BIM in Construction Organizations & its Impacts on Productivity

Authored by: Omer Syed – 100777134

Degree Candidate for Bachelor of Technology in

Construction Management – T314

Prepared For:

Professor Christopher Willis

Angelo Del Zotto School of Construction Management

George Brown College

MARCH 31, 2016

To: Professor Christopher Willis

From: Omer Syed – 100777134

Date: March 31, 2016

Subject: Capstone Report – The Integration of BIM in Construction Organizations & its Impacts

on Productivity

Greetings Professor Willis, please accept this report which that aims to explain what Building

Information Modeling is about and its impacts it has on productivity in the construction

industry. Several color coded graphs have been made to further showcase my research and to

further validate its legitimacy. BIM is the process of representing building elements into a

digital format with all its information of its components to be shared & viewed across the many

different disciplines in construction. The process is to help reduce the common redundancies

that arise when working on 2 Dimensional Drafting and the use of manual estimation in order

to increase productivity workflow and to increase project turnover rates.

My secondary research is comprised of online articles, databases, charts, tables, and scholarly

documents that provide concrete answers to my research investigation on BIM and its impact

on productivity. My primary research was done throughout the course of the previous

semesters. The primary research that was conducted further supports my secondary research

findings and further validates that BIM does have a positive impact on the productivity within

the construction industry.

During the course of conducting my research I found many interesting facts and trends that are

currently happening within the construction industry, as well as within the architectural

industry as well. I decided to include both findings (although more findings along the side of the

construction industry) as I came from a background in Architectural Technology and found the

relation between the two industries to be common and insightful.

Although conducting this research paper took time and dedication, I did find it to be both

insightful and informative whether I was conducting primary or secondary research. Completing

this Capstone Report gave me insight as to the current construction trends that are currently

taking place. From my research, the general direction these trends seem to be going is that

George Brown College has prepared me for my future career in the Construction Industry. I

hope you find the results of this report as informative as I have.

Table of Contents

Table of Figures .............................................................................................................................. iv

Table of Tables ................................................................................................................................ v

Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... vi

1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1

1.1 Intensions of this Report ............................................................................................... 1

1.2 Assumptions & Approach ............................................................................................. 2

2.0 BIM – Building Information Modeling .......................................................................... 3

2.1 History ......................................................................................................................... 6

2.2 Applications of BIM ....................................................................................................... 7

2.2.1 Off-Site Applications ...................................................................................... 7

2.2.2 On-Site Applications ....................................................................................... 8

2.3 Various BIM Programs ................................................................................................ 11

2.3.1 Autodesk Revit ............................................................................................. 11

2.3.2 Autodesk Navisworks ................................................................................... 12

2.3.3 PlanSwift ...................................................................................................... 13

2.4 Productivity impacts of BIM Practices & Programs .................................................... 14

2.4.1 Productivity Rates ........................................................................................ 14

2.4.2 Project Turnover Rates ................................................................................ 20

2.5 Implementation of BIM within a Construction Company ........................................... 21

2.5.1 Software Requirements ............................................................................... 22

2.5.2 Hardware Requirements .............................................................................. 23

2.5.3 Staff Training Requirements ........................................................................ 23

2.5.4 Challenges with implementing BIM ............................................................. 24

3.0 Methodology .............................................................................................................. 27

3.1 Research Strategy ....................................................................................................... 27

3.2 Structure of Selected Research Methods ................................................................... 28

3.3 Selection Rationale of Participants ............................................................................. 28

3.4 Restrictive Banners ..................................................................................................... 29

3.5 Exceptions ................................................................................................................... 29

4.0 Data ........................................................................................................................... 30

4.1 Interviews ................................................................................................................... 30

4.1.1 Interview No. 1 ............................................................................................ 31

4.1.2 Interview No. 2 ............................................................................................ 32

ii

4.1.3 Interview No. 3 ............................................................................................ 33

5.0 Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 34

5.1 Interviews .................................................................................................................... 34

6.0 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 37

7.0 Recommendations...................................................................................................... 38

References .......................................................................................................................... 39

Bibliography ........................................................................................................................ 42

Appendix A – Interview Questions & Answers...................................................................... 47

Appendix B – Blank Interview Sheets ................................................................................... 63

iii

Table of Figures

Figure 1 – BIM Principals & Basic Concepts .................................................................................... 4

Figure 2 – Dimensions in Construction ........................................................................................... 5

Figure 3 – Revit Architecture 2011 .............................................................................................. 11

Figure 4 – Autodesk Navisworks ................................................................................................... 12

Figure 5 – Planswift ....................................................................................................................... 13

Figure 6 – IPD vs Traditional Methods of Construction ................................................................ 15

Figure 7 – BIM vs CAD Productivity Workflow .............................................................................. 17

Figure 8 – Long & Short Term BIM Benefits ................................................................................. 18

Figure 9 – Tangible Benefits for Contractors ................................................................................ 19

Figure 10 – Effect of BIM use on project profitability .................................................................. 20

Figure 11 – Typical IPD System ..................................................................................................... 24

iv

Table of Tables

Table 1 – Best Mobile Apps for BIM – AEC Magazine..................................................................... 8

Table 2 – Minimum: Entry Level Configuration ............................................................................ 22

v

Abstract

This report shall seek serve as a purpose to educate the reader about what Building Information

Modeling (BIM) is and what are its practices and methodology is within the construction industry.

Not only will this report seek to provide the reader with the basic understandings of BIM and its

impacts on productivity, but this essay shall also serve as a guide to those companies or individuals

that want to implement BIM into their own construction company; both in the term of what skills

and mindset that would be required from the persons using BIM and also in terms of computer

hardware and software requirements.

BIM is the process of digitally generating physical characteristics of building components within a

file that is meant to display and communicate information over to shared participants of the project

and encompasses functions to efficiently and accurately design & communicate project elements.

BIM also communicates quantities in order to complete projects at a fast rate, thus increasing

project turnover rates and reducing design and construction redundancies, of which both impact

the gross profit that construction companies are trying to acuminate.

The method of which I would conduct to obtain information about this Capstone Report would be

using both Primary and Secondary research. For my Secondary Research I would be using the

textbooks, internet web searches, and encyclopedias to gather information from second hand

sources. As for my Primary Research I shall be conducting interviews with industry professionals

that have worked with BIM programs & practices and ask them critical questions about BIM

practices & programs and its productivity impacts on construction projects that they have worked

on and how it can, or has been, implemented in the office or at a construction site. Main findings

show that the use, and practice, of BIM technologies within a construction industry increases the

productivity workflow and does contribute to a high project turnover rate within construction

industries and a rising trend show that more sub-trades are requesting to release the BIM model to

help them with estimating quantity take-offs and for scheduling purposes.

vi

1

1.0 Introduction

Of all the expanding sectors, the construction industry is one of the fastest growing, in both

demand and expansive scale This accounts for 6% of Canada’s GDP (Statistics Canada, 2016),

and is growing bigger every year. That may be good news for from an economic standpoint;

however with such a turbulent industry that is growing at a substantial rate, there must also be

workforce that supports that growth. The construction industry is a high “Project Orientated”

industry – which rely on completion method contract, which in essence prevent profits from

being ascertained until project completion. And when there is a high demand to complete

many projects, the need to complete these projects in a timely, orderly fashion and with a high

degree of efficiency arises.

Building Information Modeling (or BIM for short) is a process of digitally representing physical &

functional building characteristics, of a virtual 3D model, in order to help visualize the building

and its construction components (US National Building Information Modeling Standard Project

Committee, 2016). BIM is a tool that allows the construction industry to better communicate

what they require from a project with the help of 3D visual representation. As well as making

construction documents in a more efficient manner to ensure a greater project turnover rate, in

order to satisfy the high demand of the growing construction market.

BIM programs are not only used to help with communication and visual understandings of a

project, but also have a great impact on accelerating productivity and achieving a higher project

turnover rate, for an industry that is ‘Project Orientated'.

1.1 Intentions of this Report

This report is to give the reader a basic understanding of what BIM is and how it can affect

productivity in the construction Industry and how this can affect a company’s project turnover

rate. During this report both primary & secondary research technique shall be utilized in order

to convey to the reader that BIM can further increase productivity of the creation and

2

implementation of architectural and construction drawings. The reason that this report shall

utilize primary research is to find validity within the secondary research that shall be conducted

throughout the course of this report. With the addition of portraying to the reader what BIM is

and how it can impact productivity, this report shall aim to also develop a roadmap of how a

start-up (or a pre-existing) construction company can implement BIM within their company and

what would be required of them to carry out this implementation and how to maintain it in

both the terms of hardware & software technologies and professionals who are capable of

performing these task.

1.2 Assumptions & Approach

While undertaking this report, the presumed hypothesis is that Building Information Modeling

shall increase and raise productivity output within a construction company and lead to higher

project turnover rates.

Although AutoCAD remains the most widely used, and most popular choice, of program. For its

use in being able to create 2D drawings of floor plans, objects and other detailing work. 3D

Building Information Modeling programs such as Revit, Chief Architect, Bentley, etc allows for a

faster approach when designing and creating drafting drawings; and completing them for the

tendering or construction phase of the project. These BIM related programs help with the

tendering/quantity take-off/pricing and scheduling process of construction. Therefore, it is

established that Building Information Program are currently available and are in use within the

construction industry. However, BIM programs are not as readily used or prominent within the

construction industry as 2D drafting programs like AutoCAD and Google Sketch Up. Which is

why it is the assumption that the reader has a very basic knowledge of what Building

Information Modeling is, or at the very least has heard of it.

Another assumption that should be kept in the mind of the reader is that while reading this

report, there was only time to conduct three in-person interviews for the primary research of

3

the report. The low number responses of primary resources of information was due to the fact

of was due to scheduling conflicts and the amount of other course work that was present at the

time. This is why there are only three primary sources of information within the primary

research section of this report. Lastly, another assumption that was made during the creation

of this report is that the reader has experience or some sort of knowledge of what AutoCAD or

similar 2D drafting programs are (and if the reader does not know what they are a brief

explanation shall be provided within this report).

For this report, I shall be utilizing both primary sources (interviews) and secondary sources

(scholarly websites, books, news articles / newsletters) as recourses to convey information

about Building Information Modeling and its impact to productivity in the construction industry.

Charts, graphs & tables shall be used as to provide the reader with a visual representation of

the information presented within this report and shall serve the purpose to further enhance the

readers understanding of Building Information Modeling and its impact on productivity.

2.0 BIM – Building Information Modeling

The US National Building Information Model Standard Project Committee has established a benchmark

definition that defines what exactly Building Information Modeling is and what it aims to accomplish:

“Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a digital representation of physical & functional

characteristics of a facility. A BIM is a shared knowledge of resources for information about a

facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during its life-cycle; defined as existing from earliest

conceptions to demolition.” (US National Building Information Modeling Standard Project

Committee, 2016).

What this means is that from the traditional building design they were largely reliant on two-

dimensional technical drawings. (I.e. plans, elevations, sections, details, etc.) With BIM, this two-

dimensional drafting techniques, are elevated to three-dimensional which augment the three primary

spatial dimension – which uses width, height & depth instead of looking at two-dimensional drafting

drawings BIM adds a three-dimensional looks as to the objects being modeled (in which this case is the

construction components such as concrete footings, concrete foundations, wall components and

4

materials, roofing components, etc.). BIM not only augments two-dimensional drafting drawings into

three-dimensional geometry drawing components but BIM also covers other spatial relationships such

as light analysis, geographical information, material quantities and specific building components (e.g.

manufacturers’ details). Below is an example of the main concept & principle of BIM (Figure 1) (US

National Building Information Modeling Standard Project Committee, 2016).

FIGURE 1 - BIM PRINCIPLES & BASIC CONCEPT. AS YOU CAN SEE FORM THE PICTURE ABOVE, THE MAIN

BASIC CONCEPT OF BIM IS TO TAKE THE TWO-DIMENSION DRAFTING DRAWINGS (AS SEEN WITH THE

FLOOR PLANS, ELEVATIONS AND SECTIONS THAT FORM TOGETHER TO MAKE THE THREE-DIMENSION MODEL

BUILDING). (US NATIONAL BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING STANDARD PROJECT COMMITTEE, 2016).

5

Even though BIM does bring the two-dimensional drafting drawings into the third dimension to

mainly enhance visual representation of building components and the understanding of the

construction process of the project, BIM also goes further into Four-Dimension (Scheduling) and

Fifth-Dimension (Estimating). Depending on the project itself, purpose of use, its design,

complexity, and the end use of the project, more dimensions can be applied to the project such

as the Sixth-Dimension (Sustainability) and Seventh-Dimension (Facility Management

Applications). Below is an info-graphic of the main dimensions used in BIM (Figure 2). (BIMTalk,

2013).

FIGURE 2 - DIMENSIONS IN CONSTRUCTION. DEPENDING ON THE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT THERE ARE MORE

DIMENSIONS TO A PROJECT THE LONGER & MORE COMPLEX THE PROJECT IS. BIM HELPS WITH IDENTIFYING

AND COMMUNICATING BUILDING COMPONENTS AND ELEMENTS ACROSS THE PROJECT TEAM AND TO THOSE

INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT, REGARDLESS OF WHICH DIMENSION THE PROJECT IS STAGED TO BE IN. (BIMTALK,

2013).

6

2.1 History

As stated above BIM is basically a digital representation of physical & functional characteristics

of a facility or a building. BIM also operates on the principal of shared information of not only

building components and elements but shared knowledge of construction practices throughout

many construction trades and disciplines (i.e. concrete, timber, electrical, mechanical, cladding,

etc). Charles M. Eastman is a professor in the Colleges of Architecture & Computer Science at

Georgia Institute of Technology and specializes in areas such as Building Information Modeling,

Solid & Parametric Modeling, Engineering Databases and Product Models & Interoperability

and is also the director of the Georgia Tech Digital Building Lab. Eastman is a pioneer in AEC

CAD and developed early research, in the mid-1970s, focusing on the development for

practitioners with the ‘Building Description System’ and ‘Building Product Modeling’ (which was

later renamed into ‘Building Information Modeling’ – BIM). One of Eastman’s earliest projects

was of a parametric modeling start-up , called FORMTEK) in the 1980s which was one of the

first projects that used Building Information Modeling practices to convey building design &

information. Eastman recently completed working with the National Institute of Standards &

Technology on improving IFC semantic foundations (CODEBIM, 2016).

Eastman first pioneered the idea of Building Description System (now known as Building

Information Modeling) in his paper called ‘The use of computers instead of drawings in building

design’ in 1975 which stated that a “single integrated database for visual and quantitative

analysis” should be used to design buildings and have that concept be used by all disciplines

over the construction period. His paper included ideas of parametric design which derived from

2D drawings form a model. Development on Eastman s paper and theory happened during

1970s-1980s as the BDS approach was more commonly known as “Building Product Models” in

the USA and “Product Information Models” in Europe. Robert Aish, who is the creator of

Generative Components but is now a member of Autodesk Research. First documented use of

the term “Building Modeling” in his paper. But it wasn’t until 1992 when a paper written by Van

Nederveen and Tolman, from TU Delft in the Netherlands, that the term “Building Information

Model” was first documented and began to be used in common practice. Now Building

7

Information Modeling is focusing on the collaboration of the construction industry utilizing the

best available technologies to improve information flow, reduce errors and therefore increase

efficiency – which is essentially what BIM is all about (CODEBIM, 2016).

2.2 Applications of BIM

BIM can be used in several different settings such as the office (off-site) or even on the

construction site (on-site). Like stated above, BIM has been used to quickly draft Architectural,

Construction or even Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing drawings that can be used on the

construction site to construct the building and complete the project.

2.2.1 Off-Site Applications of BIM

BIM is mainly used off-site, away from the construction site and is used primarily to develop

architectural & construction drawings to complete the project. (BIM Execution Planning, 2013).

There are 5 main purposes of BIM and they are listed below:

Gather – To collect or organize facility information and to represent (or preserve) the

current status of the facility & facility elements

Generate – This stage allows the designers (or “authors” as they are more formally known)

to create and design the information about the facility

Analyze – Once the Generation stage if complete (or mostly, depending on the stage and

circumstances of the project) the authors & designers analyze the facility to gain a better

understanding of it and the project as a whole

Communicate – To present information about the facility in a method in which it can be

shared or exchanged amongst the parties involved. This is one of BIM main feature and

function is a program and more of a practice within major projects.

Realize – This stage is to make or control a physical element using facility information in

order to physically manipulate the operations of the facility & executing equipment.

8

2.2.2 On-Site Applications of BIM

Although BIM is used primarily off-site, rather than at a construction site, the technology and

devices have been implemented to view BIM drawings. This is done in order to coordinate what

is on the Architectural and Construction drawings that are to be implemented on the actual

construction site and to insure compliance with the client’s needs. An easy way to check if

compliance is met on the construction site is to have a walkthrough of the facility with the

virtual BIM model in hand (usually done on a device such as an iPad or Tablet) and to compare

if the virtual model does comply with what the actual construction that has been done. A few

examples have been listed below, in TABLE 1, alongside a picture and a description of the

program being used (AEC Magazine, 2014).

Best Mobile Apps for BIM - AEC Magazine

Name Description Image

Graphisoft BIMx BIMx is a project presenter app for Graphisoft ArchiCAD. Using a BIMx Hyper-model it integrates 2D and 3D building project navigation for designs created in ArchiCAD. It allows ArchiCAD models to be securely sent and interacted with anywhere.

Tekla BIMSight Mobile

Tekla BIMsight is designed for taking IFC and BIM models created in any application to construction sites on tablets and phones. This incredibly popular free desktop application goes mobile on the iOS platform.

9

LCi Sightspace3D

Sightspace3D is an Augmented Reality tool that overlays 3D models onto the real world with virtual walk through on mobile devices. It supports SketchUp (in native SKP format), 3D CAD (.KMZ), Trimble 3D Warehouse and Google Earth.

Navigator Pano Review

Bentley Navigator Pano Review is for navigation, view, and mark up of 2D and 3D models. It uses Bentley’s i-models, is optimised for iPad, and can combine MicroStation DGN, Autodesk Revit and DXF, AutoCAD DWG, McNeel Rhino, and Max 3DS files.

Structural Synchronizer

Bentley Structural Synchronizer View is for change management, data synchronisation, revision history and model viewing. It integrates structural modelling, analysis and design, documentation and drafting, detailing and fabrication and neutral file formats.

10

Autodesk 360 mobile

Autodesk 360 Mobile is a generic file viewer for annotation of drawings held in an Autodesk 360 account or 2D/3D DWG and DWF files. It has zoom, pan, and rotate capabilities as well as providing access to embedded metadata.

Revizto Viewer Revizto Viewer allows users to open, explore and collaborate architectural projects that were recreated as navigable 3D environments from CAD files and 3D models in Revizto’s Editor.

BIManywhere BIManywhere is an iOS app for the Apple iPad which provides access to building information model info onsite. BIManywhere claims its patented 3D engine and model splitter make it the fastest model viewer on the market.

TABLE 1 – BEST MOBILE APPS FOR BIM. (AEC MAGAZINE, 2014).

11

2.3 Various BIM Programs

There are various BIM programs that can be used to create architectural, construction, and

many other disciplinary types of drawings that can be used to quickly portray the tasks on the

construction site and how to complete the project. Some of the main Building Information

Modeling programs that are commonly used in the architectural and construction industry

today (but are not limited to) are Autodesk Revit, Autodesk Navisworks, and PlanSwift. A brief

description and image of the program is listed below.

2.3.1 Autodesk Revit

Revit first came out on April 5th, 2000 and is a Building Information Modeling software used by

Architects, Structural Engineers, Mechanical Electrical Plumbing (MEP) Engineers, Designers and

Contractors. It allows users to design a building and structure and its components in 3D,

annotate the model with 2D drafting elements, and access building information from the

building model's database. Although primarily used as a 3rd Dimension in Construction (Refer to

Figure 2, page 5) Revit is actually a 4th Dimension in Construction since Rivet not only has 3D

design capabilities, but also encompasses 4D construction characteristics such as cost

identification of components and systems. Refer to Figure 4 for an image of how the Revit

program works. (Autodesk Revit, 2016).

FIGURE 3 - REVIT

ARCHITECTURE 2011

FEATURES. (AUTODESK

REVIT, 2016).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_modeling

12

2.3.2 Autodesk Navisworks

Navisworks is a 3D Computer Graphics, 4D Scheduling software that was actually known as

“JetStream” is a 3D design review package for Microsoft Windows. But before it was purchased

by Autodesk on June, 01, 2007, for roughly $25 million. Navisworks takes the 3d Model (usually

form Revit or, at times, for SketchUp!) and creates a timeline of schedules as to when and how

the project shall be completed on the construction site. Navisworks is utilizes animation

software to help create a visual representation of how the construction of a facility or building

shall undergo on a construction site, as well as how building materials and equipment shall be

brought and carried away from the site in real-time. Some of the main features of this program

are listed below as well as Figure 4, which shows the interface and use of Navisworks on a

project (Autodesk Navisworks, 2016).

Roamer - The core part allows users to open models from a range of 3D design and laser

scan formats and combine them into a single 3D model. Users can then navigate around

the model in real-time and add review the model with a range of mark-up tools.

Clash Detective - A plug-in to enable interference detection. This means users can select

parts of the model and look for places where the geometry conflicts. This is for finding

faults in the design.

TimeLiner - Adds 4D simulation so the user can link geometry to times and dates and to

simulate the construction or demolition of the model over time. Also links with project

scheduling software (Such as Microsoft Project or Primavera products) to import task data.

FIGURE 4 - 4D PROJECT

SCHEDULING SOFTWARE,

AUTODESK NAVISWORKS.

(Autodesk Navisworks,

2016).

13

2.3.3 PlanSwift

PlanSwift is a 5D Estimating software program that helps with the completion of quantity take-

offs and the cost of materials and overall project costs of construction project. PlanSwift works

by primarily scaling the 2D drawings of a facility or building and then using various tools to

conduct quantity takeoffs right from the screen. You can take the length, area, volume and

even count straight from the 2D drawings (once scaled properly) and quickly incorporate them

within quantity take-off sheets. Even though Revit does have a system put in place to take

measurements of quantities and costs, PlanSwift is a dedicated program to doing just that

which offers many of features and functions to complete full take-offs with a high degree of

accuracy in a short amount of time. Below is Figure 5 of how PlanSwift can be used and how it

can easily organize information. (Planswift, 2016).

FIGURE 5 - 5D ESTIMATING SOFTWARE PLANSWIFT. AS STATED IN THE ABOVE DESCRIPTION,

PLANSWFIT CAN TAKE ACCURATE MEASUREMENTS AND ACCURATE QUANTITY TAKE-OFFS FROM 2D

DRAWINGS. (Planswift, 2016).

14

2.4 Productivity impacts of BIM Practices & Programs

BIM has a great deal of impact on productivity because that is the sole purpose of the program,

and that is what BIM programs are meant to be used for. Programs like the aforementioned

(please see Section 2.3) describe the typical BIM programs that are currently being used in the

construction industry to help with the acceleration of completing projects at a faster rate with

more accuracy and completeness. In a study done in 2006, it was estimated that BIM resulted

in the potential savings in construction costs ranging from 15% - 40% (Giel, Issa, & Olbina,

2010). This is has only proved that the use and implementation of BIM has reduced

construction costs and been a benefit to the construction industry, as well as saving valuable

resources, such as time, money and work hours. This trend has continued to increase as shown

in one study done in 2012 by the Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts

“Change orders dropped from 8.6% to 4.1% on projects using BIM with just 1.1% in errors and

omissions. Average days of delay dropped from 79.6 days to 24.5 days when using BIM”

(Umstot, 2012).

2.4.1 Productivity Rates

In terms of productivity BIM has shown to increase productivity workflow as well as reduce the

amount of disruptiveness that occurs in the work progress of construction project, such as

having fewer “Request for Information” forms (RFI’s), fewer “stop-work orders” and fewer

overall discrepancies between the drawings and the construction site. The Figure (Figure 6)

below is about IPD’s (Integrated Project Deliveries; which shall be explained more in section

2.5.4.) which is the contract that BIM programs are closely used in. The figure depicts that IPD’s

may require more cost & effort at the beginning stages of the project (i.e. Schematic & Design

Development Stages), as compared to traditional methods of project delivery which don’t

require much time and effort in the beginning stages of the project. However during the

construction documents and actual construction stages of the project, it costs a lot less time,

money & effort to complete these stages while using the IPD approach. (Hijazi, 2015).

15

In another study done in 2012 by Building Research Levy (Funded by Branz) numerous facts and

figures have backed the use of BIM programs and practices in the construction industry, all

from Design, Construction and Project Management:

75% of BIM users reported better multi-party communication.

As a lifecycle model, BIM begins in the early stages of a project. Designers are likely to

benefit from fundamental changes to the design process and the greater certainty

between design intent and the final construction and operation of the building. Indeed,

69% of European organizations using BIM report that it improves the collective

understanding of design intent, while 75% report that it improves multi-party

communication and understanding, primarily from greater ability to visualize and share

information in 3-D. (Branz, 2012).

FIGURE 6 – IPD VS TRADITIONAL METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION IN TERMS OF COST/TIME/EFFORTS.

16

57% of Designers state BIM reduces errors during the design phase.

As well as design and layout information, each project stakeholder has access to

scheduling, financial, performance and materials data from the beginning of the project.

This ability to share and collaborate promotes design decisions that optimize the

building when it is cheap and easy to make changes, unlike latter phases, when

alterations can have significant construction and lifecycle costs. In the United States,

57% of designers who use BIM say they find the technology directly reduces the number

of errors and omissions during the design phase of the project. (Branz, 2012).

Average project duration reduced by 37%.

BIM also has a strong influence on project duration. One overseas report, which

documented construction practices over several years, found that in 2009 the average

duration of BIM projects was 27% shorter than traditional projects. By 2012, BIM had

widened the gap to 37%. This suggests that the advantages of BIM become more

pronounced as users gain experience and become more proficient with the technology.

One survey even estimates that BIM’s data sharing ability alone is enough to reduce the

duration of a single project by up to 7%. This is one of the main reasons that

development of collaborative BIM processes and communications infrastructure to

improve model sharing is predicted to be the most important area of BIM investment in

2014. (Branz, 2012).

65% of contractors report BIM reduces rework and cost overruns.

In 2010, an Australian analysis found that BIM’s ability to detect and avoid conflicts prior

to construction reduces unbudgeted construction changes by 40% and can save up to

10% of the entire value of a construction project when compared to a non-BIM project.

Many construction businesses in the United States have seen similar results, with 65%

of contractors reporting that BIM technology effectively reduces rework, cost overruns

and missed schedules during construction. (Branz, 2012).

17

62% of BIM users reported greater Return on Investment (ROI).

In the United States, almost two-thirds (62%) of organizations using BIM to procure and

manage assets report a greater return on their investment, a figure that rises to three-

quarters (74%) of organizations in Europe. The economic return correlates strongly with

the level of BIM engagement, rewarding asset managers with higher skill, greater

experience and more extensive implementation of the technology. (Branz, 2012).

Furthermore, BIM does have an impact on productivity on the construction site as productivity

rates increase, BIM practices are implemented because rework and idle time are reduced for

laborers. Case studies of projects utilizing BIM indicate field productivity gains from 5 to 40%,

depending on how the process is managed (Chelson, 2010). Additionally, BIM enabled projects

have 10% of the RFI’s, which are typical in a construction project, and contractors realize an

average savings of 9% in management time. This reduction of rework and idle time due to site

conflicts savings for trade contractors are on the order of 9% of project costs (Chelson, 2010).

There are also other sources that state that BIM does help productivity as depicted by this

graph (see Figure 7, below). Production times for projects are severely decreased when done in

a BIM Workflow as compared to 2D CAD Workflow in regards to design, documentation &

coordination. (Graphisoft, 2015).

FIGURE 7 – THIS GRAPH DEPICTS THE

TOTAL TIME IT TAKES TO COMPLETE A

PROJECT, BY USING BIM & CAD

SEPARATELY.

18

Another study, as stated by this survey (see Figure 8, below), done by McGraw-Hill Construction

in both 2009 & in 2012, both the long term and short term benefits of BIM increases

productivity and decreases document errors & omissions.

FIGURE 8 – LONG TERM AND SHORT TERM RATES WHEN A CONSTRUCTION COMPANY IS WORKING WITH

BIM AND APPLYING BIM TO A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT. (MCGRAWHILL CONSTRUCTION, 2012).

19

In a study done by Turner in 2015, (see Figure 9 below), tangible benefits of Mechanical,

Electrical, and Fire Protection contractors had been studied and documented against BIM and

Non-BIM Productivity. The findings indicated that productivity rates increased by 143% for

Mechanical sub-trades (when they worked with BIM), 67% productivity increase with Electrical

sub-trades, and a 36% productivity increase with fire Protection sub-trades.

FIGURE 9 – TANGIBLE BENEFITS FOR CONTRACTORS & SUB-TRADES WORKING WITH BIM (TURNER,

2015).

20

2.4.2 Project Turnover Rates

With the increase productivity that BIM offers to its users, there has also been proof of an

increase of project turnover rates. As noted by the graph below (refer to Figure X below), there

has been a study done by Becerik-Gerber in 2010, stated that the reduction of both project

duration & associated costs contributes in some part to project profitability. A majority of the

respondents (55%) said BIM helped cut project costs, with 50% indicating project costs were

reduced by up to 50%. 58% of the surveyed industry professionals (from the graph below)

found that overall project duration was reduced by up to 50%. This is quite substantial when

you put it in terms of how long projects can take and their costs. If a project takes four years

(as an example) from conceptual design to occupancy and you reduce that time frame by a

quarter, you save an entire 12 months; if it is reduced by 50%, you save two years. While these

are numbers at the higher end of the surveyed spectrum, even the mid-range is remarkable—at

a 12.5% reduction, there is a saving of 6 months. (Becerik-Gerber, 2010)

FIGURE 10 – THE IMPACT OF BIM ON PROJECT TURNOVER RATES (BECKER-GERBER, 2010).

21

2.5 Implementation of BIM within a Construction Company

There are many ways to implement BIM into a construction company and there are a few

requirements that come with wanting to use BIM related programs; and it will take some of a

learning curve when it comes to setting up BIM within a construction company. Whether it is in

an office based environment or in a site trailer on the construction site. Firstly, you would need

the hardware & software requirements in order to operate the required programs and then you

would have to be trained to use the program and to others who may use the BIM programs on

the construction site or to those who would be navigating through the BIM model in order to

create quantity take offs for estimation purposes.

22

2.5.1 Software Requirements

As for software requirements, please the see TABLE 2 below.

Minimum: Entry-Level Configuration

Operating

System

Microsoft® Windows® 7 SP1 64-bit:

Windows 7 Enterprise, Ultimate, Professional, or Home Premium

Microsoft® Windows® 8 64-bit:

Windows 8 Enterprise, Pro, or Windows 8

Microsoft® Windows® 8.1 64-bit:

Windows 8.1 Enterprise, Pro, or Windows 8.1

CPU Type

Single- or Multi-Core Intel® Pentium®, Xeon®, or i-Series processor or AMD® equivalent with SSE2

technology. Highest affordable CPU speed rating recommended.

Autodesk® Revit® software products will use multiple cores for many tasks, using up to 16 cores for

near-photorealistic rendering operations.

Memory

4 GB RAM

Usually sufficient for a typical editing session for a single model up to approximately 100 MB on disk. This estimate is based on internal testing and customer reports. Individual models will vary in their use of computer resources and performance characteristics.

Models created in previous versions of Revit software products may require more available memory for the one-time upgrade process.

Video

Display

1,280 x 1,024 with true color

DPI Display Setting: 150% or less

Video

Adapter

Basic Graphics:

Display adapter capable of 24-bit color

Advanced Graphics:

DirectX® 11 capable graphics card with Shader Model 3 as recommended by Autodesk.

Disk Space 5 GB free disk space

Media Download or installation from DVD9 or USB key

Pointing

Device MS-Mouse or 3Dconnexion® compliant device

TABLE 2 – MINIMUM SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS TO RUN BIM & CAD PROGRAMS THAT ARE NEEDED IN A TYPICAL

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY (AUTODESK KNOWLEDGE NETWORK, 2015).

http://www.autodesk.com/revitlt-graphicshardware

23

2.5.2 Hardware Requirements

As for the computer hardware specifications, (for a computer or laptop) please refer to the list

below:

i5 / i7 processor (or equivalent)

8GB of system RAM with a Hard Drive storage of 750 GB (that can operate at 7200 RPM)

512 MB VRAM Graphics Card (which should be sufficient enough to run BIM software

such as AutoCAD, Revit, Navisworks, etc.)

Many computers are readily available that have such requirements, and depending on the

severity and scope of the projects that might be working on, the price ranges of the equipment

needed (i.e. laptops, tablets, monitors, mouse, engines, hardrives, etc.) may vary. Usually price

ranges can be from an $800 laptop (to do minor work with BIM and CAD Software) to a custom

built $6000 computer workstation that is specifically dedicated to running BIM and CAD

software, as well as other office essential software, such as, Microsoft Office (which

encompasses, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook & OneNote.), any accounting

software (E.g. QuickBooks), or any human resource program (e.g. HRIS) and management

programs (e,g, OrgPlus) that can be used to run the daily office tasks. The latter is usually

accompanied for a BIM Manager and is not required for minimum BIM and/or CAD use. Review

what the company does and its daily scope of work and proceed accordingly (Creach, 2013).

2.5.3 Staff Training Requirements

In terms have having the human capital (i.e. the workforce that has the understanding of BIM

software and the knowledge of working and implementing BIM onto a project) there are a few

ways that a construction company can implement BIM within their offices. Usually Construction

companies have an in-house department that has the expertise and knowledge to use BIM on

the project and to create the drawings needed for constructing the project. This group reports

to a “BIM Manager” who is in charge of keeping the project model up to date and to ensure

24

that all the criteria is met in regards to the project scope and outcomes. As for the training,

education and qualifications needed, a diploma in Architectural Technology (or equivalent

diploma) is usually required. The people involved must be team orientated and willing to

collaboratively work on projects in order to complete them (Kurth, 2013.)

2.5.4 Challenges with Implementing BIM

As stated above, implementing BIM does have its requirements whether it is hardware

components, software components or hiring and training the staff to utilize BIM programs and

practices. However, there are some challenges that come with implementing BIM and should

be addressed when deciding to utilize BIM (Hijazi, 2015). Some of the Challenges include:

IPD concept education & “Know how”

IPD’s are an acronym standing for Integrated Project Delivery. IPD is a collaborative

alliance of people, structures, business structures and practices into a process that

harnesses the talent and insights of all participants in order to optimize project results,

increase project value to the owner, reduce material and resource waste and most

importantly increase efficiency through all phases of design, fabrication & construction.

Basically, IPD’s are to bring all participants of the project under one umbrella and create a

collaborative and efficient workplace that the project can be worked on and completed in a

timely manner. Below, Figure 11, is visual of what an IPD system typically looks like (Hijazi,

2015).

FIGURE 11 – A TYPICAL IPD SYSTEM.

25

Understanding each other’s role & responsibility

This key concept may seem unimportant; however too effectively implement BIM into

construction projects, the understanding of each other roles is essential to completing

projects in a timely manner. By understanding the roles of those involved in the

constructing process, i.e. the designer, contractor, sub-trades, and to understand the

process and scheduling method of construction, makes for a much faster project delivery

and a more competent BIM model that can be passed down towards the construction

managers, clients and sub-trades in order to complete the project (Hijazi, 2015).

Set up communication protocols

Just like in companies, BIM (and thusly IPD’s) need a concrete, formal set of

communications protocol and a system in place to deliver and share information

throughout those who are involved with the project. In addition, there need to be a

electronic means of communication set in place, even if it means that there be with a 3rd

party program that allows you to communicate with those involved in a project.

Additionally, there need to be a process that checks, mandates and updates the BIM model

and project and there must be a specific date & time to upload the BIM models (Hijazi,

2015).

Understanding that increase in cost at early stages can substantially reduce construction

process costs, change orders and requests for information.

This concept is vital for owners and project shareholders to understand and most be

explained with importance right at the beginning of the project, or any project for that

matter. With the use of BIM, or the IPD’s, there are more costs associated at the beginning

of the project because there are more costs to get the project off the ground and to cover

the costs of administrative fees, architectural drawings, certificates or approval,

Environmental reports Zoning amendments, Structural Engineers certificate of approval,

Bid Documents & Insurance Bond acquisitions, etc. (Hijazi, 2015).

26

Contractors & sub-contractors need to revise their construction management & process.

Traditionally, the construction managers and sub-trades, that were involved, would usually

just refer to the architectural drawings that were provided by the architect and construct

the building as per the drawings. However the drawings were not always 100% complete

and there would usually some interruption in the process of construction to get the detail

need to complete the projects (e.g. Request for Information (RFI’s) and discrepancies

within the drawings and the construction site conditions). With the use of BIM Contractors

and sub-trades can access, share, and receive the information needed to complete the

project and clear up any discrepancies that may arise in the project, thus reducing the time

in filling out RFI’s and awaiting for a response (Hijazi, 2015).

27

3.0 Methodology

While conducting research to complete the Capstone Report it was of utmost important that

selection of qualified professionals were to be taken into account to conduct the primary

interviews with. Planning and scheduling were given priority when constructing this Capstone

Report to in order to satisfy the hypothesis of this report and to make the reader and/or

audience fully understands the ideas and facts that this report shall convey.

3.1 Research Strategy

For my primary research, I contacted people within the construction industry who have been

working with Building Information Modeling programs and ask for their insight on using

Building Information Modeling programs within the construction industry over the years. The

form of which I will be gathering this information is though a non-biased questionnaire that I

shall be gathering via in person interviews or over an email conversation. The questionnaires

shave be written in a non-biased format and shall answer questions as to whether or not

Building Information Programs are a useful tool within the construction industry. The primary

research that I shall be doing will be used to be compared to my secondary research and both

the primary research and secondary research shall be analyzed to establish how productivity

rates are within the construction industry when using Building Information Modeling programs.

The Primary research shall also serve a purpose as to provide a “point of reference” and shall

add validity to the secondary research that I shall be conducting.

As for my secondary research, I shall be looking at internet searches related to BIM and its

impact on productivity, from reputable sources, and I shall also be using information from past

lectures that have been given on BIM or are related to BIM that were conducting inside and

outside of the college, from reputable industry personal. And finally I shall also be looking into

textbooks to gain more information about my research topic and to also ensure validity while

conducting my secondary research.

28

3.2 Structure of Selected Research Methods

The structure of my Secondary research was linked to BIM and its productivity in construction

companies. After I had begun conducting a search I then had to filter through the information

that was given and apply them to my Capstone Report. Most websites or secondary sources

that I used were also check, and cross-referenced between each other secondary resource to

ensure validity and prove to be important information pertaining to my research topic.

As for the interview questions, they had to be similar questions that I could ask to the industry

professionals that were to be interviewed and used as my primary research within this

Capstone Report. The reason that the interview questions had to be the same (or similar) was

so that, once they were completed, I would be able to cross reference them between the other

interviews that I had conducted and compare their answers to check for validity and to

compare the research notes. If most (or all) the industry personal that I had interviewed gave a

similar response to the same particular question, then it would be confirmed that the answered

that was given would have validity and be the correct response for that particular questions. If

the answer I had received from my interviews, from one particular question, were displaying a

different response than that would be a cause to seek out more information as to why different

industry personal were giving a different answer to one particular question.

3.3 Selection Rationale of Participants

Industry Professionals that have worked with BIM, preferably for long periods of time or those

who have recently worked with BIM related software or have recently implemented it in their

offices.

The reason why conducting interviews shall help me further my research into my Capstone

Report is because by interviewing industry professional that have already integrated and

implemented BIM practices into their company it will provide 2 beneficial components to my

Capstone Report:

29

1) By interviewing industry professionals I can gather primary research and relay that within

my Capstone Report. The information gathered by interviewing these people shall provide

readers with the assurance and/or reasoning as to why integrating BIM practices/programs

into a construction company is important.

2) By conducting interviews I can compare the findings that I have received from the primary

research that was conducted, and compare that to the secondary research that I have done

so far. Once I compare the primary & secondary research material I can see where there

are comparisons, or discrepancies, if any.

3.4 Restrictive Banners

As expected, I encountered some trouble with finding material that is related to Building

Information Modeling, and productivity rates as there might not be a lot of information on that

topic. In order to this potential problem, I shall look for article (or any other research material)

on Building Information Modeling and productivity rates within the George Brown College

Library Database and as well look at any scholarly journals.

3.5 Exceptions

At first I expected, not that many people would respond to my request to conduct interviews

regarding my Capstone Report, and as expected, I was right. In the end I was only able to

accumulate three interviews from the five – seven industry personal I had originally wished to

interview and use in my Capstone Report. As for the results of the interview questions that I

had asked, most of the answers I had received were similar, respectively to the question that

was asked. This result was to be expected because of my own personal experience with using

BIM programs and practices and how BIM relates to productivity within the construction

industry (and similarity with respects due to the Architectural Industry).

30

4.0 Data

Obtaining results for this Capstone Report were both easy and difficult at the same time.

Secondary research had been easy to come by, analyze, and document this is due partly to the

many resources that define what Building Information Modeling is and what productivity

impacts it had on construction projects. However, finding primary sources of information did

prove more difficult than originally anticipated as scheduling problems kept arising from both

myself and interview participants. Moreover I was still able to obtain three participants for

interviews, all of which were industry professionals and had many years of experience in the

architectural & construction fields. This Capstone Report does not use surveys as this Capstone

Report deals whit specific questions about BIM and its practices and goes in depth about BIM

ability to increase productivity – which general surveys would not give a constructive answer.

By being able to conduct one-on-one interviews, with industry professionals that have

implemented BIM within their respective construction companies and who may have worked

on construction projects using BIM, I was able to obtain the information that I would need to

conduct my analysis of whether or not how BIM practices & programs impact productivity in

the construction industry.

4.1 Interviews

During the course of researching for this Capstone Report is was able to obtain 3 participants to

conduct a one-on-one interview, in person, that were able to answer my questions about BIM

and its impacts on productivity on the construction industry. Most of the interview participants

had similar answers to the interview questions that I had posed them, and full interview

transcripts are listed in Appendix A – Interview Question & Answers (Page X).

31

4.1.1 Interview No. 1

This interview was conducted in person with Mr. Jacek Gorka Dipl. Ing., ARCH., M.Arch., OAA,

MRAIC and is a practicing Designer & Project Manager at Gorka Architects since 1987 and has

been familiar with both hand drafting as well as BIM related software, when it first came out.

Mr. Gorka had experience with hand drafting as well as using BIM related software, which

made him an ideal candidate to interview and provide further insight as to how BIM related

programs impacts the quality and productivity of Architectural drawings and have to rely that

information to the Construction Site.

This interview had been conducted on December 2nd, 2015 in Mr.Gorka’s office and provided an

insightful overview of how a Building Information Modeling program, such as Revit, has

impacted the productivity and co-ordination of architectural & construction drawings for

projects.

As mentioned above, one of the biggest concerns with any construction projects are the

amounts of change orders or change directives that may arise in a project; even when the

project itself has been thoroughly developed in the pre-construction phase. Even when

Modular building components that are being constructed (which are buildings and/or building

components that are pre-fabricated and constructed off-site, under a controlled environment,

and then shipped to the construction site to be placed) with the large amount of pre-

construction planning the is in place there is still a chance that a change order or a change

directive cold still occur. Which is why with Building Information Modeling programs such as

Revit, you can easily implement the change order on to the construction drawings and

communicate the changes quickly and efficiently implement on the job site? (J. Gorka, personal

communication, December 2, 2015)

32


This interview was conducted over the phone with Katie Kuzan B. AS, M.Arch. and is a practicing

Architectural Technologist and a Project Co-coordinator at Kohn Partnership Architects. Ms.

Kuzan has had many years of working with BIM related programs and had just recently

implementation of BIM on a current job-site that she also spearheaded the implementation of

BIM programs and practices within Kohn Partnership Architects.

What was interesting in this interview was that once Ms. Kuzan had fully implemented BIM in

to Kohn Partnership Architects she noticed that a lot of the construction sub trades that worked

with Kohn Partnership Architects were requested that Kohn Partnership Architects release the

BIM Model to them.

”What we have noticed here at Kohn Architects is that a number of trades have

been requested the Architect/Client to release the BIM Model to them as they

can Easily and Quickly perform Quantity takeoffs for the Project. This new trend

is most popular within the Steel Trade.” – Katie Kuzan

From what Ms. Kuzan has said, there is a rising trend in having construction sub-trades

requested to have the BIM Models released in order to take quick quantity take-offs and able to

quickly communicate building elements to other trades. Ms. Kuzan has also said that this trend

is partially due to the rising in the steel trades. This is probably because within the steel trade

there are many components that go into a building, especially if it’s a steel-framed construction

such as Open Web Steel Joists (OWSJ), Beams, Hollow Structural Steel (HSS) Columns, C-

Channels, etc. Building Information Modeling programs and practices such as Autodesk Revit or

Autodesk Navisworks is able to communicate all information about the component(s) and can

convey all that information towards the sub-trades – which is what Building Information

Modeling is programmed to do. (K. Kuzan, personal communication, December 3, 2015).

33


The third interview I had was with Ney Calderon who is a Research & Technologies at George

Brown College, Mr. Calderon had agreed to an interview with me about the questionnaire for

my Capstone Report at his place of work. Mr. Calderon has been as a Lab Technician with the

Research & Innovation Department of George Brown College for the past 2 years and has

worked extensively with many BIM specific programs. Mr. Calderon has worked with many

clients while using BIM Specific Software which makes him an ideal candidate to interview

within my Capstone Report.

Unfortunately, Mr. Calderon was very busy and was not available to answer every question, but

Mr. Calderon did provide insight as to how Building Information Modeling should be

implemented within a construction company. For example Mr. Calderon was able to briefly

discuss with me a project that he worked on with George Brown College. Due to some

confidentiality surrounding the project, Mr. Calderon was not at liberty to give too much detail

about the project. But was able to say that by using BIM programs and practices and fully

implementing BIM into the construction project is a great way to complete a construction

project. Once BIM was fully implemented into the construction project with all members of the

people that were involved, the project transitioned over smoothly – between all members that

were involved with the project. However, that in itself is what Mr. Calderon said what is

Building Information Modeling’s downside is. With BIM to be utilized to its fullest potential,

everybody involved in the project should be aware as to how to navigate through BIM and how

to use it. If everybody is not on board or “on the same page” with the use of BIM, then this is

where the gaps of miscommunication happen. And BIM works of a policy and platform that

conveys information on building components throughout all sub-trades. (N. Calderon, personal


34

5.0 Analysis

My results for Questionnaire responses were to be expected – low. I was only able to receive

three replies from my interview questions and even when I did conduct the interview with the

persons that were able to conduct the interview, I was unable to get a full response (some

interview questions were left unanswered as the interviewees did not deal with that aspect of

the question or did not know the answer to that question). However despite the unanswered

interview questions that I had gotten, I was still able to learn at least one new fact about BIM

and its relation to productivity rates.

5.1 Interviews

As to my original suppositions, I had found that my primary research conducted had been very

contrary to what I had originally thought. I came from a background of knowing most Autodesk

programs like AutoCad, Revit, Navisworks, SketchUp!, 3Ds Max. My earlier suppositions had

been that yes, although BIM practices and program do help with the increase of productivity of

working on projects, and that BIM does help with coordination, comparison and the

mineralization of discrepancies between the main project model and the as-built site

construction. Not only does BIM help with producing construction drawings at a faster rate,

with the use of new advancing technologies, BIM helps with detecting any clashes or overlaps

that may occur on site. Whether that is form an architectural or structural stand point, or from

a scheduling or coordination stand point (i.e. the common problem of overlapping and/or

limited space when it comes to having multiple disciples and sub trades working on a

designated section of a building). What this means is that the primary research that was

conducted does quantify the secondary research that I have conducted and provides further

proof as to what I had originally expected to find when writing out this Capstone Report.

35

During my meeting with Mr. Gorka, he had the most to say about how BIM related programs

can help with the coordination and communication of the design and construction drawings

onto the construction site and how easy and efficient it is to communicate and implement

change orders, especially when the client has sudden changes with regards to the design of the

building which happens more often that one might think. Mr. Gorka has also mentioned that

while he specifically uses the Autodesk Revit program to produce design and constructions

documents, he had also commented on how proficient the estimating capabilities are within

the Revit program. Quantity Take-offs done in Revit does reflect the quantities that are needed

to be shipped on site and are fairly easy to control and implement. (J. Gorka, personal


My interview with Ms.Kuzan had proven to be very useful information within my research of

this Capstone Report. As stated before, more and more sub trades that work on the

construction site have requested that the BIM Model of the construction project be released to

them as for the purposes to conduct quantity-take-offs and to understand and acquire key

information about the buildings components at a much faster rate. With the use of the BIM

model at their disposal, the sub trades can quickly access and know more information about a

specific component of the building. This process eliminates the need for sub trades to submit a

formal RFI (Request for Information) or just even call in and ask questions between the General

Contractor and the consultant (which is mainly the designer or Architect). By releasing the BIM

model to the sub-trades and, to a person that can successfully navigate through the model and

find the information that they are looking for, the productivity and the efficiency of workflow

increases. (Kuzan, personal communication, December 3, 2015).

My interview with Mr.Calderon had unfortunately provided me with the least amount of

information as compared to the other 2 previously conducted interviews that I had done. This

was due to Mr.Calderon having a very busy schedule and because of his work he was not able

to go into detail being unable to answer some of the questions that I had posed to him during

36

the interview. However, despite the lack of answers that I hoped to receive from Mr. Calderon,

he did have an insightful information which added to the my previously stated hypothesis on if

BIM really does increase productivity within a construction project – and all the information

that I have does lead to the agreement of that hypothesis that implementing BIM practices and

programs within a construction industry does help increase productivity of not only design and

construction drawings, but also help increase the efficiency of coordinating and construction

the building onsite. One example that Mr. Calderon was able to share with me was that one of

his projects involved him with working with Bird Construction and during his time working on

that project, he noted that everyone that was involved on the project was working with BIM, in

some sort of way, whether it was to do with the design or construction of the building or it was

the sub trades asking for information about the project – everyone was involved with the

process and BIM was being used at all levels, which made the project run that much more

smoothly and help finish the project in a very timely manner with very little delays.

37

6.0 Conclusion

Building Information Modeling is defined by the US National Building Information Modeling

Standard Project Committee as a ‘digital representation of physical & functional characteristics

of a facility and acts as a shared knowledge of resources for information about a facility forming

a reliable basis for decisions during its life-cycle.’ BIM is not only a program but is a process and

can be used within certain project delivery systems such as Integrated Project Delivery Systems

(IPD’s). BIM mainly focuses on the Dimension of Construction (Figure 2, page 5) and tries to

implement those thoughts and practices into the construction process. As stated by numerous

studies in Section 2.4 (Page 14) BIM related programs and practices have helped increase

productivity of construction projects as well as lower the amount of discrepancies, idle time,

and rework that typically happens on a construction site as a result of poor management and

scheduling outcomes. With construction projects that have been conducted in BIM, as opposed

to traditional project methods, contractors, and most construction companies, have reported

that there has been an increase in productivity with construction projects and that projects

done with this approach found that there had been both long term benefits and short term

benefits (Figure 8).

38

7.0 Recommendations

Seeing as what the construction industry has become, into the fast-paced project orientated

industry with an emphasis on completing projects in a timely and efficient manner, it has

become imperative that the technology be in place to keep up with such a high demand.

BIM can be used, in both terms of programs and practices, to delivery faster productivity rates

and reduce discrepancies and rework time. However, in order for BIM to be used to its fullest

potential, everyone that is involved on the project must know how to utilize BIM and know how

to navigate around the project. This is imperative because BIM is more than just a program as it

also acts as a shared database that depicts knowledge about the project across to those who

are involved in it, from the sub-trades and supplies to project managers and owners. Knowing

this, it would be in the best interest to establish more importance of learning BIM and its

programs and practices, and should be taught in both colleges and universities that offer

construction related programs and as well to employees that work in the construction industry

as professional development.

Technological upgrades & workforce training should be implemented and conducted,

respectively, to ensure BIM implementation is thoroughly integrated within the office and can

be used by all personals. As stated with an interview with Ms.Kuzan, there has been a rising

trend in sub-trades asking for the BIM model of a construction project. (Kuzan, personal

communication, December 3, 2015). This further supports that to get to full benefit of working

with BIM on a construction process, that everyone needs to be on board and know how to

navigate through a BIM program, not only in an office based environment but as well as on a

construction site thought the use of BIM applications displayed on a tablet or mobile laptop or

workstation.

Further development and integration on BIM should be put into thought for construction

companies that are seriously considering increasing their productivity in construction projects

and having a higher project turnover rate, while decrease costs and work discrepancies.

39

References:

AEC Magazine. (2016). 30 of the best mobile apps for BIM. Retrieved February 20, 2016 from:

http://aecmag.com/technology-mainmenu-35/678-mobile-apps-for-bim-professionals

Autodesk. (2016). A framework for implementing a BIM business transformation. Retrieved

March 19, 2016 from:

http://static-dc.autodesk.net/content/dam/autodesk/www/solutions/building-

information-modeling/get-started/autodesk-project-transformer-whitepaper.pdf

Autodesk. (2015). Transform business value with BIM. Retrieved January 30, 2015 from

http://www.autodesk.com/solutions/building-information-modeling/overview

Autodesk Knowledge Network. (2015). System Requirements for Autodesk Revit 2016 products.

Retrieved March 19, 2016 from:

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit-

products/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/System-requirements-for-

Autodesk-Revit-2016-products.html

Autodesk Navisworks. (2016). Overview: Project review software for AEC professionals.

Retrieved February 20, 2016 from:

http://www.autodesk.com/products/navisworks/overview

Autodesk Revit. (2016). Overview: Building design and construction software. Retrieved

February 20, 2016 from:

http://www.autodesk.com/products/revit-family/overview

Becerik-Gerber B., & Rice, S. (2010). The perceived value of building information modeling in

the U.S. Building Industry, Journal of Information Technology in Construction (ITcon),

Vol. 15, pg. 185-201,

http://itcon.org/data/works/att/2010_15.content.02423.pdf

BIM Executing Planning. (2011). The uses of BIM: Classifying and selecting BIM uses. Retrieved


http://bim.psu.edu/uses/the_uses_of_bim.pdf

BIMTalk. (2016). Dimensions in Construction. Retrieved January 30, 2015 from

http://bimtalk.co.uk/


http://static-dc.autodesk.net/content/dam/autodesk/www/solutions/building-information-modeling/get-started/autodesk-project-transformer-whitepaper.pdf



https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit-products/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/System-requirements-for-Autodesk-Revit-2016-products.html








40

Branz. (2012). Productivity Benefits of BIM. Retrieved March 19, 2016 from:

http://www.building.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/projects-and-consents/building-

information-modelling/nz-bim-productivity-benefits.pdf

CanBIM. 2015. BIM Applications. Retrieved January 30, 2015 from

http://www.canbim.com/about-0/bim-applications-1

Chelson, D. (2010). The effects of Building Information Modeling on Construction Site

Productivity. Retrieved March 5, 2016 from:

http://drum.lib.umd.edu/handle/1903/10787

Creach, Z. (2013). Four things you should know when buying BIM hardware. Retrieved March

19, 2016 from:

http://www.concreteconstruction.net/bim-learning-center/leica/blog/leica-blog-

12.aspx

CODEBIM. (2016). History of Building Information Modeling. Retrieved February 20, 2016 from:

http://codebim.com/resources/history-of-building-information-modelling/

GIEL, B. and ISSA, R.R.A (2010). “Quantitative Benefits of Building Information Modeling

Measured in Construction.” In Proceedings from the 6th International Conference on

Innovation in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction, 9 June- 11 June 2010, Penn

State University Department of Architectural Engineering.

Graphisoft. (2016). Open BIM: About BIM. Retrieved January 21, 2016 from:

http://www.graphisoft.com/archicad/open_bim/about_bim/

Hijazi, W. (2015). Integrated Project Delivery. Toronto; EllisDon.

J. Gorka, personal communication, December 2, 2015

Kurth, N. (2013). BIM Training for Today’s world. Retrieved March 19, 2016 from:

http://www.pcl.com/Services-that-Deliver/Industry-Leadership/PCL-Blogs/Pages/BIM-

Training-for-Todays-World.aspx

K. Kuzan, personal communication, December 3, 2015

http://www.building.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/projects-and-consents/building-information-modelling/nz-bim-productivity-benefits.pdf




http://www.concreteconstruction.net/bim-learning-center/leica/blog/leica-blog-12.aspx




http://www.pcl.com/Services-that-Deliver/Industry-Leadership/PCL-Blogs/Pages/BIM-Training-for-Todays-World.aspx


41

Lloyd’s Register Energy. (2016). Building Information Modeling (BIM). Retrieved January 21,

2016 from

http://www.lr.org/en/energy/utilities-and-building-assurance-schemes/building-

information-modelling/

McGraw Hill Construction. (2012). Recent SmartMarket BIM Research by McGraw Hill.


https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.nibs.org/resource/resmgr/BSA/20140108_moa_jones.

pdf

N. Calderon, personal communication, December 4, 2015

Planswift. (2016). Planswift. Retrieved February 20, 2016 from:

https://www.planswift.com/

Statistics Canada. (2016). Construction. Retrieved January 30, 2015 from:

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-402-x/2011000/chap/construction/construction-

eng.htm

Tuner. (2015). How BIM is Transforming the Design and Construction Industry. Retrieved March

19, 2016 from:

http://www.slideshare.net/GregDolphin/jones-steve

Umstot, D. (2012). “An Owner’s Perspective on Lean Construction, IPD, BIM, and

DesignBuild.” Wentworth Inst. of Tech., College of Prof. & Continuing Education,

Modern Construction Delivery Methods course & LCI New England CoP meeting,

Boston, MA, Dec 4.

http://www.leanconstruction.org/media/docs/chapterpdf/new-england/2012-12-04-

WIT-MCDM-Handout-37-Umstot.pdf

US National Building Information Modeling Standard Project Committee. (2016). National

Building Information Modeling Standard. Retrieved January 30, 2015 from

https://www.wbdg.org/pdfs/NBIMSv1_p1.pdf

Whole Building Design Guide. (2014). Integration of BIM and Business Strategy. Retrieved

January 30, 2015 from https://www.wbdg.org/pdfs/integratebim_harris.pdf

http://www.lr.org/en/energy/utilities-and-building-assurance-schemes/building-information-modelling/


https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.nibs.org/resource/resmgr/BSA/20140108_moa_jones.pdf



http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-402-x/2011000/chap/construction/construction-eng.htm



http://www.leanconstruction.org/media/docs/chapterpdf/new-england/2012-12-04-WIT-MCDM-Handout-37-Umstot.pdf



https://www.wbdg.org/pdfs/integratebim_harris.pdf

42

Bibliography:

AEC Magazine. (2016). 30 of the best mobile apps for BIM. Retrieved February 20, 2016 from:


Autodesk. (2016). A framework for implementing a BIM business transformation. Retrieved


http://static-dc.autodesk.net/content/dam/autodesk/www/solutions/building-

information-modeling/get-started/autodesk-project-transformer-whitepaper.pdf

Autodesk: Building Information Modeling. (2014). Realizing the Benefits of BIM. Retrieved


http://extreme.rs/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/2011_realizing_bim_final.pdf

Autodesk. (2015). Transform business value with BIM. Retrieved January 30, 2015 from


Autodesk Knowledge Network. (2015). System Requirements for Autodesk Revit 2016 products.


https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit-

products/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/System-requirements-for-

Autodesk-Revit-2016-products.html

Autodesk Navisworks. (2016). Overview: Project review software for AEC professionals.



Autodesk Revit. (2016). Overview: Building design and construction software. Retrieved



Becerik-Gerber B., & Rice, S. (2010). The perceived value of building information modeling in

the U.S. Building Industry, Journal of Information Technology in Construction (ITcon),

Vol. 15, pg. 185-201,





http://extreme.rs/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/2011_realizing_bim_final.pdf








43

BIM Executing Planning. (2011). The uses of BIM: Classifying and selecting BIM uses. Retrieved



BIMTalk. (2016). Dimensions in Construction. Retrieved January 30, 2015 from


Branz. (2012). Productivity Benefits of BIM. Retrieved March 19, 2016 from:

http://www.building.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/projects-and-consents/building-

information-modelling/nz-bim-productivity-benefits.pdf

Building.Co.UK. (2016). The Route to BIM in 10 Steps. Retrieved March 19, 2016 from:

http://www.building.co.uk/the-route-to-bim-in-10-steps/5049305.article

CanBIM. 2015. BIM Applications. Retrieved January 30, 2015 from


Chelson, D. (2010). The effects of Building Information Modeling on Construction Site

Productivity. Retrieved March 5, 2016 from:


College of Design Information Technology. (2015). Architecture Computer Requirements.


https://design.ncsu.edu/it/kb/architecture-computer-requirements/

Creach, Z. (2013). Four things you should know when buying BIM hardware. Retrieved March

19, 2016 from:

http://www.concreteconstruction.net/bim-learning-center/leica/blog/leica-blog-

12.aspx

CODEBIM. (2016). History of Building Information Modeling. Retrieved February 20, 2016 from:


Eastman, C., Kathleen, L., Rafeal. S,. Teicholz, P., (2011). A guide to Building Information

Modeling for Owners, Mangers, Designers, Engineers, and Contractors. Willey.





http://www.building.co.uk/the-route-to-bim-in-10-steps/5049305.article



https://design.ncsu.edu/it/kb/architecture-computer-requirements/




44

Engebretson, W. (2010). Building the System: BIM hardware and software requirements.


http://www.cmdgroup.com/market-intelligence/articles/building-the-system-bim-

hardware-and-software-requirements/

GIEL, B. and ISSA, R.R A (2010). Benefits and Challenges of Converting 2D As-Built

Documentation to a 3D BIM Post Construction. Autodesk White Papers.

GIEL, B. and ISSA, R.R.A (2010). “Quantitative Benefits of Building Information Modeling

Measured in Construction.” In Proceedings from the 6th International Conference on

Innovation in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction, 9 June- 11 June 2010, Penn

State University Department of Architectural Engineering.

GIEL, B. and ISSA, R.R.A (2011). “Return on Investment Analysis of Building Information

Modeling in Construction,” ASCE Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering special issue.

DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CP.1943-5487.0000164.

Graphisoft. (2016). Open BIM: About BIM. Retrieved January 21, 2016 from:


Hijazi, W. (2015). Integrated Project Delivery. Toronto; EllisDon.

InfoComm International. (2016). Building Information Modeling. Retrieved March 19, 2016

from:

http://www.infocomm.org/cps/rde/xbcr/infocomm/Brochure_BIM.pdf

Jackson, B., (2004). Construction Management: Jump Start 2nd Edition. SYBEX. San Francisco

J. Gorka, personal communication, December 2, 2015

Kenaiden. 2015. Core Departments. Retrieved January 30, 2015 from http://www.kenaidan.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=89&Itemid=128

Kurth, N. (2013). BIM Training for Today’s world. Retrieved March 19, 2016 from:

http://www.pcl.com/Services-that-Deliver/Industry-Leadership/PCL-Blogs/Pages/BIM-

Training-for-Todays-World.aspx

K. Kuzan, personal communication, December 3, 2015

http://www.cmdgroup.com/market-intelligence/articles/building-the-system-bim-hardware-and-software-requirements/

http://www.cmdgroup.com/market-intelligence/articles/building-the-system-bim-hardware-and-software-requirements/


http://www.infocomm.org/cps/rde/xbcr/infocomm/Brochure_BIM.pdf

http://www.kenaidan.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=89&Itemid=128

http://www.kenaidan.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=89&Itemid=128



45

Lloyd’s Register Energy. (2016). Building Information Modeling (BIM). Retrieved January 21,

2016 from

http://www.lr.org/en/energy/utilities-and-building-assurance-schemes/building-

information-modelling/

MAYO, G., GIEL, B. and ISSA, R.R.A (2012). “BIM Use and Requirements Among Building

Owners,” Proceedings from the ASCE International Workshop on Computing in Civil

Engineering, June 17-21, 2012, Clearwater Beach, FL, 349-356.

McGraw Hill Construction. (2012). Recent SmartMarket BIM Research by McGraw Hill.


https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.nibs.org/resource/resmgr/BSA/20140108_moa_jones.

pdf

N. Calderon, personal communication, December 4, 2015

Planswift. (2016). Planswift. Retrieved February 20, 2016 from:


Quatman, W., (2003). The Architect’s Guide to Design-Build Services. New Jersey, John Wiley &

Sons.

Rundell, R. (2007). The five fallacies of BIM, Part 2 (1-2-3 Revit Tutorial). Retrieved March 19,

2016 from:

http://www.cadalyst.com/aec/the-five-fallacies-bim-part-2-1-2-3-revit-tutorial-3693

Sicile, D. (2015). Myths and Facts about BIM. Retrieved March 19, 2016 from:

http://www.weareharris.com/blog/archive/myths-and-facts-about-bim

Statistics Canada. (2016). Construction. Retrieved January 30, 2015 from:

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-402-x/2011000/chap/construction/construction-

eng.htm

The Construction Users Roundtable. (2010). BIM Implementation: An Owner’s Guide to Getting

Started. Retrieved March 19, 2016 from:

http://www.aia.org/aiaucmp/groups/aia/documents/pdf/aiab085571.pdf






http://www.cadalyst.com/aec/the-five-fallacies-bim-part-2-1-2-3-revit-tutorial-3693

http://www.weareharris.com/blog/archive/myths-and-facts-about-bim



http://www.aia.org/aiaucmp/groups/aia/documents/pdf/aiab085571.pdf

46

Tuner. (2015). How BIM is Transforming the Design and Construction Industry. Retrieved March

19, 2016 from:


Turner Fleischer. 2015. Careers. Retrieved January 30, 2015 from http://www.turnerfleischer.com/careers.aspx

Umstot, D. (2012). “An Owner’s Perspective on Lean Construction, IPD, BIM, and

DesignBuild.” Wentworth Inst. of Tech., College of Prof. & Continuing Education,

Modern Construction Delivery Methods course & LCI New England CoP meeting,

Boston, MA, Dec 4.

http://www.leanconstruction.org/media/docs/chapterpdf/new-england/2012-12-04-

WIT-MCDM-Handout-37-Umstot.pdf

US National Building Information Modeling Standard Project Committee. (2016). National

Building Information Modeling Standard. Retrieved January 30, 2015 from


Whole Building Design Guide. (2014). Integration of BIM and Business Strategy. Retrieved

January 30, 2015 from https://www.wbdg.org/pdfs/integratebim_harris.pdf

WU, W. and ISSA, R.R.A. and GIEL, B. (2010). Integrated BIM and Sustainability Curriculum,

Proceedings from Ecobuild America, Washington, DC, December 6-10, 2010, 8 pp


http://www.turnerfleischer.com/careers.aspx




https://www.wbdg.org/pdfs/integratebim_harris.pdf

47

Appendix A – Interview Questions & Answers:

Below is a transcript of the Interviews conducted throughout the course of the Capstone Report

in chronological order.

Please continue to the next page to observe these interview transcripts.

Note:

BLACK font indicates the Question.

RED font indicates the Answer

48

Interviewer: Omer Syed

Interviewee: Jacek Gorka

Where: Gorka Architects

When: Wednesday, December, 2, 2015

How: One – on – One In Person Interview

49

1) Which BIM Programs do you use on a daily basis? Was there any “Learning curve” when

it came to use the BIM Programs?

2) How was BIM Implemented within the office environment? How is it maintained?

3) Have you ever had to you use BIM Specific Software to resolves any Construction

issues/disputes while on the job Site? How Easy or Difficult did you find this?

N/a to Interviewee at the Time.

“My best answer would be to buy the Subscription of the Autodesk Programs. The subscription allows

you to receive updates from Autodesk and receive any Patches and/or updates that might be

available.

These programs are maintained by myself, along with an IT Specialist.”

“We use Autodesk AutoCad, Autodesk Revit & Coral Dram Programs, within our company.

At first there was a Learning Curve, and with any program “new program” there is a Learning curve,

but once I received the training from Autodesk I was able to use the program.”

50

4) Who else uses BIM Specific software within your office? How often?

5) What is the duration of when a “Change Order” is issued, to when the “Change Order”

has been implemented and shown on the final Construction Drawings?

6) With using the BIM Software, how long does it usually take to do a quantity takeoff? Do

you obtain all the information you need just by using the BIM Software, or do you use

any other programs? (Such as “Planswift” for example). And how accurate would you

say are the takeoffs?

“Mostly everyone in the office uses the BIM software and we all use the BIM software on a daily &

regular basis.”

“Once a Change Order comes in, depending on the size of the size & scope of the Change Order, the

implementation of the Change Order can be done within 2-6 hours. Typically this is done with the use

of BIM programs such as Revit.”

“In many cases the Quantity takeoffs can be done in real time, as the project model is being carried

out. One of the many things you can do with the BIM Program is that you can set-up you schedule of

quantities right form the get go, and Revit will automatically update its Schedule of Quantities to

reflect what is happening in the Project Model.

And with Revit the Quantity Takeoffs are 95%-100% accurate.”

51

7) Was there any Limitation that you have encountered while using BIM Software? How

did you overcome those limitations?

8) While using BIM practices, how “efficient” do you think it is to complete one project,

and to move onto the next?

9) How would you implement BIM practices into a Construction Company? How would it

be maintained & updated?

“If a construction company wanted to practice using BIM policies & software, the best thing they can

do would be to subscribe to Autodesk. That way, they would be updated if there were any news

features and patched that may arise.

The best way to update and maintain it would be to have a dedicated IT Specialist monitor and

maintain the program updates.”

“With the use of implementing the BIM Process and using BIM related software, with Clients &

General Contractors, it is very efficient to complete one project and to move onto the next. The reason

being is that one of the “methodologies” behind BIM, and its practices is that, BIM allows you to

coordinate with many other principles & divisions within the construction industry and this allows for

a much faster way of information sharing and information gathering within the construction project.”

“In terms of the program specifically, the only major limitations that I have personally encountered

were the ‘landscaping’ and ‘Soft Landscaping’ (e.g. planting graphics). In my opinion, Autodesk should

work on improving their landscape graphics.

As for Rendering, I would suggest a Programs like 3Ds Max.”

52

10) How has project management proceeded with changes with the implementation

of BIM Practices

11) How does the use of BIM Practices and/or software help Construction Site

Management?

12) Has the use of BIM changed the Probabilities/ Liabilities of various stakeholders?

”With the Implementation of BIM practices at Gorka Architects, and with myself being a designer and

Project Manager, I have noticed that ‘Element Redundancies’ have dropped, which has improved

project productivities. I have also noticed that over the years, with using BIM practices and the Revit

Program, is that coordination errors have dropped 90% - which has greatly improved productivity at

Gorka Architects”



53


Interviewee: Katie Kuzan

Where: Kohn Partnership Architects Inc.

When: Thursday, December, 3, 2015


54






”What we have noticed here at Kohn Architects is that a number of trades have

been requested the Architect/Client to release the BIM Model to them as they

can Easily and Quickly perform Quantity takeoffs for the Project.

This new trend is most popular within the Steel Trade.”

”I coordinated with my other associates when Revit was fully implemted into

the offices here at Kohn, and also implemented the BIM practices within the

office.

There are weekly Audits that are done to ensure that the system is maintained

and up-to-date.”

”Within Kohn Partnership Architects inc. the company uses the Autodesk Revit

Program 90% of the time.

I spearheaded the implementation of BIM practises and with the

implementation of using the Autodesk Revit program within the offices at Kohn

Partnership Architects Inc and at first there were are few “Hiccups” with getting

everyone on board with using the Revit program, but once that went underway,

it became the norm at this company.”

55








”Mostly everyone in in the office, as Autodesk Revit is used 90% of the time.

Although, to make Revit work to its fullest potential, Coordination is the key.”

”Usually it depends on the Change Order, but since Kohn Partnership Architects

has implemented Revit into 90% of their Office and Implemented BIM Practices

within their office, the implementation of a change order can take between 2-4

hours.”

”At Kohn Partnership Architects Inc. the Quantity take-offs are taken from the

Revit Program itself, as Revit already has pre-determined schedules that you

can modify and customize to achieve you desired project outcome.

As stated before, the Steel Trade has been known to use BIM Models to perform

Quantity takeoffs in a more productive & efficient manner and that has been a

popular & growing trend in the past years.

56







”My best advice would be, to get EVERYONE involved with the project onboard

and coordinate the process to integrate the BIM Practices/Programs and this

includes everyone from the head of design to the foreman’s of each divisional

trade.

Once everyone is onboard, then weekly audits are conducted to ensure that the

quality of the BIM Model is running smoothly and in adherence to the project

scope.”

”Like I said before Kohn Architects has implemented BIM into 90% of the

company and our ‘Project Turnover Rate’ is usually at a quick pac, form moving

from one project to the next.

With Revit, it’s easy to coordinate and start new projects with minimal time

required”

”With working with the program Autodesk Revit, specifically, curved surfaces –

and having to model and/or create curved surfaces within the Revit program –

still possess to be a difficult task.

Also wth detailing, Autodesk Revit still has some computing issues to with the

amount of detailing that could be done within the Project Model.”

57


of BIM Practices


Management?


”As a Project Manager myself, I can say form first-hand experience that with the

use of BIM Practices & Programs that Projects have become more streamlined

and more easy to manage/coordinate with the may disciples and trades”

”At Kohn Architects, BIM has certainly made it easier to oversee and /or

facilitate progress on the construction site. BIM helps us with the coordination

of trades and to ensure that scheduling and budgeting requirements are met

within the project’s scope. Additionally, BIM helps to see if there are any

discrepancies with what is happening on the Site, to the Projects Scope &

Specifications


58


Interviewee: Ney Claderon

Where: George Brown College

When: Friday, December, 4, 2015


59








”I generally use the programs that are provided from Autodesk and I strongly implement

coordination within my project team.

Yes at first there was a learning curve to using the programs, but with most programs that I

used from Autodesk, the user interface was pretty much the same and easy to follow.”

60








”I specially use Autodesk AutoCad, Navisworks, Revit, and Infrastructure360. I also use

SketchUp! from time to time.”

”It all depends on the size of the Change Order.

In terms to ‘implement’ the change order in the project model, I review the entire project

from scratch, and review any and all divisions that might be affected by the new change

order.

Most likely the change order comes from the Architectural and/or M.E.P. disciplines are the

most common, but Structural Change Orders are very-rare – but still could happen.”

”Yes, by using Autodesk Revit, you can get good quality estimate and quantity takeoffs, but

inroder to do so with a high degree of accuracy, you must have to have everything set-up

properly and this goes from Every Element – and above else BE ORGANIZED. Organization

and Coordination are the main key factors with implementing BIM in to a project, and the

results can only be gained from what you put into the project model. (i.e. Inputs = Outputs –

what you put in to the model, is what you get out).

61







”Start from Scratch.

Get everyone on board and if need be, provide the training, so that everyone is onboard with

not only using the BIM programs, but to implement the BIM practices.”

”Very Efficient.”

”in terms of software, the main limitations are the trades themselves. In order for Revit to be

fully utilized, every trade needs to be able to navigate and extract information from the

model inorder to produce a faster work pace – because time is money, and if you are

spending more time on navigating through the software, then extracting the information

needed, then you are wasting money.”

62


of BIM Practices


Management?





63

Appendix B – Blank Interview Sheets:

(Please turn to the next page).

64






65








66







67


of BIM Practices


Management?
