Building Information Modeling and Project Management

Building Information Modeling is not just a term or software used but has become a process to avoid clashes, share data and control risks. Building Information Modeling has evolved different models for client, design team and the owner. These models are financial models representing the client, construction model for the design team involved and management model for the owner of the project.

All these models have made construction process from scratch to finish much easier. Building Information Modeling is a process that avoids many problems faced by the clients, owners as well as the design team. Building Information Modeling has made data sharing very easy and accessible for all. BIM is not just a mimic 3D model of a project but has added new dimensions such as 4D depicting the project workflow and 5D depicting the cost of the project.

Building Information Modeling is a new window providing a bunch of services such as 3d modeling, clash detection services, 4D modeling, 5D modeling, coordination modeling, structural Modeling and MEP modeling.

From the data collected by the Government industrial strategy, one can conclude that the use of traditional methods has wasted a lot of money and labour. The earlier processes did not have anything placed that can plan the whole project in advance without any possibility of error as well as save time, cost and manpower. The data also showed that construction information was inaccurate, incomplete and inexplicable.

Besides the data, interoperability that Building Information Modeling brings is tremendous. Producing drawings is no longer based on text boxes and shapes; it’s based on data set which mimics the way model will be handled in a physical world.

Use of Building Information Modeling maximized the construction industry efficiency by decreasing the project cost, speeding the delivery, lowering risks and easy management.

Building Information Modeling and Project Management

Building Information Modeling has introduced a lot of technical interactions that has changed the project execution methods. One area that has been affected by using BIM is Project management.

Project management breaks down the specific goals and makes sure that each goal is achieved and maintained. There are a few points that co-relate BIM and project management. We can start with Visualizing the project. This step helps the team to have a specified outcome for the project and easily understand the designer’s expectation for the outcome.

Next is Constructability, this point conveys the use of 4D services in BIM. We can estimate the amount of steel or concrete used and perhaps have it at cheaper rates. Integrated project delivery is the keyword for successful Constructability. This includes sharing risks, designs and benefits with the whole team thus minimizing the overall cost, risk and delay.

Now comes Collaborative agreements that promote flexibility, target cost estimates and adjustments, guides behaviour and collaborative rewards as well.

Safety is the next feature that is affected by BIM in the project management process. Construction is not friendly with hazard analysis. Weather, physical structure, space change affects safety a lot. Using 4D new features such as structural safety analysis, construction conflict management analysis and layout collision analysis can eliminate the safety risks to an extent.

5D that relates to quantity & cost surveying helps to predetermine the number of materials used, cost incurred and its estimation. This will reduce the workload and will help to avail all the construction materials on time thus rescuing the project from the delay.

Conclusion:

Building Information Modeling has emerged as very successful and fruitful process. Its correlation with Project management has added a lot of benefits such as Visualizing, Collaborative, Safety, 4D, 5D and lot more. Building Information Modeling has made project management a convenient process from a tedious one.