Revit in the Global BIM Toolbox
As the “BIM Revolution” takes over the world, we have been seeing an almost evangelistic response to this technology adoption. We speak of BIM as if it is the panacea to all of our problems—magically our projects will be on time and under budget; they will be strikingly complex, yet ridiculously easy to build; and no one will even need to talk to each other ever again.
We may get there someday, but at the moment BIM is just another tool in our increasingly robust arsenal and can be wielded for good or bad depending on how comfortable we are with technology and our personal approach to design. What is not debatable, however, is how valuable combining data and design can be.
If we can examine our models for data standards already established by our industry, code requirements or building performance goals for example, we can only advance the quality of our design. This power to interrogate and enhance our approach is a natural fit for public and government agencies, which are tasked with ensuring that buildings are suited to and comply with standards both normative and informative.
This has led to BIM adoption as the basis of design delivery for public projects across many parts of the globe. Many of us are familiar with the US government agencies’ BIM requirements (GSA, et al.) and some of you may also be familiar with the fact that starting in 2016 (that is now!) the UK government has required a BIM mandate. There are, in fact, many more agencies working toward requiring BIM on their projects, as a means of quality control as well as a repository of intelligent data that can be repurposed throughout the life of the building.
So in the next few months, over a series of installments we will highlight different BIM mandates around the world. We won’t be able to do a deep dive into each mandate, but instead will focus on what is unique about each of these requirements. I hope that we can absorb some new ways around thinking and executing in BIM from these global standards and find ways to incorporate them into our projects.
The key takeaways, or what is most important to these agencies, are generally two-fold:
- BIM must be software agnostic. As a matter of fact, many of the mandates drive specifically towards the IFC (open source) file format; and
- The model must have the ability to hold a design accountable. This could take the form of checking for code compliance or to hold the design to a high sustainability requirement.
Let’s begin with the early adopters—the Nordic countries. With a relatively smaller footprint and progressive approach to new technologies, these countries have been at the forefront of what I am calling the required BIM revolution. Though not a “mandate” per se, their large public institutions have encouraged and even required BIM as part of their project delivery process for almost a decade.
Norway
Statsbygg in Norway is described as a “public sector administration company that is the governments key advisor in construction and property affairs, building commissioner, property manager & property developer” (http://www.statsbygg.no/Om-Statsbygg/About-Statsbygg/).
In 2005 Statsbygg started piloting the use of BIM as part of their delivery requirement and the over the next few years, in partnership with Senate properties and the GSA, expanded upon the need for an Open BIM, one that was built around the idea of the IFC file format, a platform neutral format that allows exchange of data and geometry between various stakeholders and their preferred software.
In 2008, they released their first BIM manual and Version 1.2 was updated in 2011; the most recent version 1.2.1 was released in 2013.
The manual contains a lot of what we now expect from any owner/client-driven BIM requirements—naming conventions, for example—but its main focus is building a consensus on how BIM should be executed on a project.
Large sections are devoted to “Modelling Quality and Practice” where the document goes into detail on how the model can be used to conduct “situational analysis,” a generic term to describe how the model (and therefore, the design) can be analyzed for a whole host of design parameters.
Checking the model for consistency is one of the highlights of these documents. It describes a process beginning from simple accuracy checks within the authoring tool to more comprehensive checks in additional software, such as Solibri Model checker.
These sections begin to take this manual from a checklist of deliverables to a more cohesive thought on how to approach a design project with clear expectations on what is important to the client—not just lines drawn on paper, but instead how thoughtfully design must be approached.
Finland
Senate properties in Finland is a “government owned enterprise under the aegis of the Finnish ministry of finance and acts as the governments experts on the working environment and working premises.” ( http://www.senaatti.fi/en/senaatti/senate-properties)
They have worked in conjunction with Statsbygg and the GSA to build their own BIM requirements, which was later rolled into the Common BIM Requirement 2012 (COBIM) for Building Smart Finland. As it shares much of its DNA with the Statsbygg manuals, the emphasis on open source and design interrogation remains, but perhaps reflecting the maturity of BIM in the industry, focuses more on engineering and downstream applications.
There are 13 series to this document, which begins appropriately enough by talking about how a model should be created in a starting situation (such as a renovation project), with ideas and procedures for laser scanning an existing location and to what level of detail such a model is expected to hold.
The series then walks us through what is now pretty standard for a BIM manual, from design parameter to quantity takeoffs and using the model for visualization. The latter sets of the series also cover topics not usually covered by most BIM requirements, one of which is titled “Use of BIM in MEP analyses.” This section talks about the expected protocols for CFD simulation, but then also covers techniques for using BIM to analyze for MEP lifecycle costs and dives into methods for creating technical visualization images for MEP—a section not usually covered by such owner based requirements.
Using the model for construction and in facilities operations round up this surprisingly comprehensive manual, focusing not only on what an owner needs from the BIM, but also why this approach is preferred.
Summary
As we have seen thus far, BIM requirements for a project can be much more comprehensive and informative than simply a list of “BIM standards.” Over the next few series we will move to explore what the UK BIM mandate means (even if you are not currently working on a project that requires it) and spend some time in Asia, which is leading the way in exploring new ways to receive and manage models completely electronically (no inked stamped drawings required).
In the meantime, the manuals referenced above are available (in English) at the following links. I encourage you to spend some time looking through them if only to see some glimmers of how this intersection of intelligent data and design will transform our industry in the years to come.
http://www.statsbygg.no/Files/publikasjoner/manualer/StatsbyggBIM-manual-ver1-2-1eng-2013-12-17.pdf
