According to research by McKinsey
& Co (2016), construction projects often come in late and over budget. They
point out that large projects take 20% longer to finish than scheduled and go
over budget by 80 percent. They also highlight that since the 1990s
construction productivity has declined in some markets, often resulting in
relatively low financial returns for construction firms. They have identified
that one of the main reasons for such problems is paper based processes, which
don’t allow teams to collaborate in real time (Imagining construction’s digital
future, 2016).
It takes longer to share information
with stakeholders who often work from different versions of the documents. Some
construction companies have moved onto digital formats of drawings, documents
and reports but the information is held in different forms, versions and
locations that are not structured and centrally co-ordinated. This leads to conflicts
of information and risks of inconsistency and incoherence in data (AECOM, 2012).
In contrast, Building Information Modelling (BIM) as a digital
database creates, manages and operates information in a centralised area, making
it available for sharing. It facilitates the participants to cooperate more
efficiently and to integrate their processes, leading to less chance of losing
information (Autodesk, 2002).
Autodesk (2016) explains how
collaboration and project information is managed using the BIM process:
“BIM is not one technology but
instead introduces a data-driven, rather than drawing-driven, approach to
enable practitioners to execute work more efficiently and effectively;
integrate contributions from others; make changes; explore alternatives and
deliver more suitable solutions that address needs from all stakeholders”.
Thus BIM can enhance the process of
generating, sharing, integrating and managing project information among project
phases. It can act as an information bridge between different disciplines in a
project.
References:
Imagining construction’s digital future.
(2016). McKinsey & Company. Retrieved July 2017, from http://www.mckinsey.com/industries/capital-projects-and-infrastructure/our-insights/imagining-constructions-digital-future
AECOM (2012). Getting the most
out of BIM - a guide for clients. Retrieved July 2017 from https://issuu.com/jojowasmydog/docs/davis_langdon_-_bim_guide_for_clients_-_apri_l2012.
Autodesk (2002). Building
Information Modelling. (White
paper). Retrieved July 2017 from http://www.laiserin.com/features/bim/autodesk_bim.pdf
Autodesk (2016). BIM
for infrastructure - Is civil engineering facing an age of extinction?.
Retrieved July 2017 from https://damassets.autodesk.net/content/dam/autodesk/www/solutions/bim/images/stories/age_of_extinction.pdf
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