So let's start with the design phase. What happens with BIM during the design phase? And I'm, again, looking at this from a construction manager's point of view. Now during design, we'll probably be developing design models, probably be developing design documentation, not talking about that. But I'm really talking about what is the role of the CM in design management in that design phase. What do we really try to focus on? What do we try to make sure happens on the project? So one of them is model specifications. Modeling the specifications and integrating that with your model has tremendous value. And what happens and why that is useful is because before you would get a set of drawings. So you get a set of drawings. [SOUND] And you get a set of specifications. [SOUND] And the connection doesn't really exist, there is no connection here. So what happens today?. Now, I've got a model, so I've got an object right here. So right here I've got an object. That is a window. And I know that that's a window in the model and in that model I can open additional properties. So if I click on this edit type right here I will get this window. And this window has something called an assembly code. And that assembly code can follow any format I would like. So you can see here, this is B2020130, for example. And then that is automatically linked to some Word document that you have stored in the same system that pulls up these specifications. So it's linked to this code right here. So you've got this code that is being poked. Right. And it knows that this is window and this is wood, and it has a different code right here, because it can be translated into any type of code that you need to satisfy your client requirements. And then it pulls up this text automatically. Before, you had someone working here who's a spec writer. And that spec writer starts writing all these copying and pasting from scratch and making all these changes, so you may end up with a set of documents here, that is disconnected from these drawings. And that's not really a great practice. But it happens because they happen in silos, they happen in two different environments. But if you're working in that same environment, then you're reducing your waste, you are producing information from the model and reusing it for a different purpose, for producing specs. So that makes sure that your drawings and your specs are much better integrated. The most prominent use of BIM when it started was really that 3-D visualization aspect and I can't do it justice by skipping that aspect. There's more to them than visualization but visualization is a great benefit as well that we get out of it. So you see these renderings that are on the screen right now. Those used to be produced independently. So you used to have design drawings. Used to have someone who probably operates some rendering platform and some modeling platform, but only for the sake of 3-D. And they would spend days and hours and nights trying to translate your design documents. From 2-D drawings into a 3-D environment and trying to model that from scratch. And trying to apply different materials and seeing how it looks and the colors, try to figure out what really is the look that the art that the design team is aiming for. But today because you have a BIM model so the BIM model is produced for a different purpose. It's not for marketing right? It's for design documentation and for analysis and for use and for use of the information. So now you have that BIM model readily available so that person who used to model everything from scratch, they would say give me your BIM model. So what they need to work on is really making it more photo realistic. It's really adding the necessary detail like this cars right here, these cars, this is not part of the BIM model but when you are rendering to make it further realistic, you start adding other things like these different people. You start adding different elements but you're really, your base is really from your BIM model and then you can produce all these renderings. You can use the model for design review. So before people would get into one room and start looking at sheets and sheets of drawings and try to communicate to each other how they review from a code standpoint, from a aesthetic standpoint, from an efficiency, or quality standpoint, from a safety standpoint, they're looking at the design from many different points of view. But now, when they are looking at a model that makes that communication much easier. You can also use the model for logistics planning. So what happens when you're trying to utilize the model for logistics planning? So here is an example right here. What's happening is that this is a baggage handling device. Now it needs to get to, from point A outside the site Into inside the site, inside an operating airport. So what happens is that typically you have some kind of plan in your head but you can't really visualize it, you can't really communicate that to the team. So what's happening here is that we're utilizing the BIM model to really model that path by which that piece of equipment will go through. And we went through several iterations to figure out what kind of doors need to be removed, what rooms are we going to go through, how much is that going to cost us, what are the different scenarios? Trust me, it is much cheaper to produce an animation like this one than to actually go through the effort and take that piece of equipment, and move it throughout an operating building. And in this case an airport. To figure out, can this equipment really get there through that path. And then going back, and then figure out, no, this doesn't really work for us. So doing this virtually really helps team understand where the equipment is going, how it's going to get from point A to point B. And you can see how that you know draws a successful path and then the team is much more comfortable with implementing that method than that was before. Otherwise, you have people sitting in meetings and trying to, trying to prove to each other the different points you know I think it should go this way, no I think it should go the other route. Now you can really do that, and it makes it much easier for people to see it because they're seeing it in 2-D and in 3-D at the same time. So you can see at the bottom right of the screen, you can see that the 2-D path is also mapped. I mentioned earlier that when you're starting to build the project, you can just identify the site. So, literally you just go in and map out where is it on your Bing maps or on your Google maps or whatever mapping platform you're using, so you can figure out full GIS information into a platform. There's one platform called Infoworks that you can use, that you literally just draw a box around the area that your project is going to be in. So in this case, this is in Manhattan, you've selected a block, an area. And then for example you see these blue dots and blue areas, right here, right here, right here, here, here. All these areas, I can tell it, can you mark up for me, where the nearest fire stations, where are the nearest schools? In this case, these are school. Where are the nearest schools, where are the nearest fire stations? Where are the tallest buildings? The streets, I need to make, do some analysis on the streets that are in the area. I need to figure out if there are any water bodies, lakes or rivers around. All this can be done in a matter of a few, I'll say sometimes a few hours. And sometimes it will take days depending on the information that you're looking for. But this is essentially a 3-D model of the city that's done in a very, very quick and efficient manner. And that's that idea of really having information, pulling information from different sources, because people have collected it for other purposes. The city already has a database of what the location and address of each school is. So if you can just pull that information, then you can map it out very easily and simply for your own purpose. So, that makes this all more efficient. You can also use the model for other purposes. Now, in order to use that model, you have to check the quality. You have to make sure that the quality of model that you are using has the correct information. Otherwise, everything that you're receiving out of the model, any type of analysis s will be pointless. It'll not be accurate, it'll not be useful for you. It'll give you the wrong results. So model checking can be of different types, depending on the purpose of your model checking. So just like, I'll call it quality control for, just like quality control for any piece of documentation, there has to be some level of quality control for the BIM models. So the first thing that almost everyone does when they have a BIM model is clash detection and coordination. You need to figure out whether you've got clashes. So you first run the clash test, you put other different models in one environment. In this example, you've got pipes from the plumbing model, and you've got pipes from electrical conduit, or from a mechanical model, right here. So you see the yellow and you see the green, and you typically color-code every discipline in a different color, so that way you can really see when there are hits. And then you run this clash test, then you start looking at each clash. So this right here gives you a list of all clashes that the software picked up. It tells you that there's one object, two object, that clash with each other. What do you need to do about it? You can either mark it up and say, okay, I've reviewed this, I'm working on it, it's pending, or put comments on it, or wait to coordinate with the team. So, you collaborate with the team, you let them know from either images, or you let them know some element IDs. Right here, and you figure out which object in this environment do I need to change. Then you resolve your clashes and you go through that cycle again. So you go through clash test, review, collaborate, result, and you go through that iteratively throughout the project until you have a well coordinated model. And the well coordinated model doesn't mean you have zero clashes. Some issues are resolved in the field, some clashes are allowed. So for example, if I have pipes going through floors, of course that's going to happen. Pipe going through ceilings, of course that's going to happen, whether the sleeves are modeled the sleeves are not modeled. So there's always going to be clashes, but some clashes are acceptable. Other model checking tools that you have to use or you have to implement in order to utilize your model properly, is that that data in the geometry has to be correct. So one example is, that you have to do drawings when you have a 3-D model. In a CM capacity, if you're not producing that model, I'm receiving a set of drawings, and I'm receiving a model. How do I know that these two match? In this example right here, this is one example of an FM 200 system. What's happening here is that, this is what I see in the model, and you can see that you can measure, of course on the model, and this is what I've seen in the shelf drawing, but clearly these two don't match. So, then in that case you go back to the originator of the model, the originator of the drawings, and you make sure that information gets corrected, so that you can utilize the model for any type of other analysis. And most contracts today, the drawing supersedes the model. So if the drawing has something that the model does not, then the drawings will supersede, then your analysis from the model is not really correct. You can use the model for any type of rule based checking. You can use it for code compliance checking. So let's say, how many sprinkler heads do you need in an area of that much square feet, based on the quotes of the location that I'm building in. So, you can do these automated checks, of course, not all quotes can be checked that you can check certain things that are, in my opinion mathematical and geometrical, because you have that information So we went through that coordination aspect, which is the first step of model validation and model checking. Then you have to check the 2-D versus the 3-D. You need to make sure that what you're coordinating or that what you're using for quantity take off is accurate. So in this example right here, I have a four inch pipe that is shown on the drawing. So it's highlighted in red right there. So I have a four inch pipe right here, that says four inch on the drawings. But let's see what it says in the 3-D environment. So right here, it says that it's a six inch pipe. So what typically happens is that yes, the model, you can see here that the The model and the 3-D drawing are in the same environment. But these notes right here, those are not automated, those are actually typed, because they don't match. So, what may have happened here, is that someone went in and said, I need to change these drawings really fast. I need to submit it right away, and I need to make a change. So they went ahead and made a change in the text, but they did not make the change in the model. So that causes issues for example, for quantity take off. If I'm using the model for quantity take off and I'm buying a material off of it, I'm going to buy six inches pipes. But in fact, I really need four inch cast iron pipes and not six inch cast iron pipes. So that has a huge effect in a large volume of material. Other things that we do for model quality is to check the information. So like I mentioned earlier, within a relevant environment or within a BIM offering tool environment, you have an object and you have different types of information. So how can I check that? That part can be checked automatically, not necessarily for accuracy, but for existence, sometimes this information is not there at all. So what you see here is, I can check assembly codes, I can check levels, I can check rooms. So here, we've got for each discipline, This is a dashboard of the information that I'm looking for. So example here is, assembly codes. Assembly codes could be the uniformat or the CSI code that really tells you what is the coding of this object? Where does it fall? So it's useful for estimating, it's useful for asset management, it's useful for scheduling, for tracking production, for tracking payment requisitions. So I can see here there is 2,000 objects in my model that are correct. They have the correct assigned assembly code. I have 31 or 91 that are inaccurate. I have 63 that are completely missing, so most probably this was checked automatically and these two are checked manually. Someone has to go when and look at the code and see is this the accurate code, is this not the accurate code and mark it up and then we produce these different dashboards that identify what's the status of my model? You can also check whether the manufacturer names are tagged properly. If it's a piece of equipment, does it mention the manufacturer name? Is it accurate? Is it accurate according to the project documents, the submittals of the project? You can check the function, so for example like you saw earlier, there's a wall exterior and an interior that's typically in a function parameter and you can check all these parameters are endless, it's not only what I listed here, but these are just some examples of what you could check. Now model checking is also a big topic right now for anyone who are working on a beam world, because how can you be sure of the model that you're receiving and will you use it if you do not check its content? A lot of people are working on figuring out how do I really check the models in a very efficient manner. I can reduce that checking process if I control the process from the very early stages. If the work flow is clear, if I have proper standards, if I say when you model you need to input your assembly code to the third level of uniformat or fourth level of uniformat and it needs to be accurate. If that's clear to the design team from the beginning and if I say, you need to produce your drawings from the model, you need to produce your specifications from the model based on these quotes, that way, I'm alerting everyone on the team and making sure that it's part of the scope of their work and this is what they're doing. Then let's say, it's unclear. I've asked them for beam model and then I receive it, and I'm checking it for things I've never ask for in the first place. Then model checking takes a long time because you're not sure what was the purpose of the person who prepared them on but if that spec is clear, If the standards are clear, then you will probably spend definitely less time than what it is. Probably it's around 50% less time from checking it if you did not know what the requirements or the workflow was. Co-checking is impossible if the model quality is not accurate. If the number and location of sprinkler heads is not accurate, then how can I make sure that I'm meeting code? It's not possible. If the door fire rating is not accurate, I can not possible analyst whether I'm meeting code or not. If the number of exit signs that are placed are not accurate then same thing I can not possible check code, number of emergency exits widths of corridors. If anything in the model is not accurate, then clearly the result is completely inaccurate. The 2D drawings and lot of firms and still until today produce 2D drawings separately and then produce a model just to meet the requirement. Now this really defeats the purpose of BIM. Why would I do that, if I'm going to just give you a model that has nothing to do with the 2D drawings? Then I'm creating discrepancies, then the checking time on the CM or on whoever is receiving the models from the construction side is huge because they know that these 2D drawings were not produced from the 3D model. It's not the same information, so how can I possibly check that? It's going to take a very long time. And if you even avoid model checking, you can't because you have to check the model in order to analyze. Any analysis will not be accurate if model checking does not happen, even if it is at a spot check level. I understand some people may not have enough staff to check the models that they are receiving. But it has a tremendous effect on the results you're getting from the analysis. I spoke, and I mentioned, things about. Now this is a huge time saver. From a modeling perspective, from an estimators perspective. Why? Because I can produce lists of quantities like what you see here. I can produce lists of quantities just by clicking a button. I'm assuming that I've checked my model, my model is accurate and everything in that model is what I intended it to be or what the design team intended it to be or what the construction team, whoever built that model, everything in it is accurate. Great, so when I look at it, right now I want to produce a quantity takeoff for all the foundations. What can I do? I basically have a viewer so this right here, is a viewer, and that viewer can show me the model that I can also, if I check this box right here then I can see the objects. I can see them highlighted and I can grey out everything else. I can also list these quantities, so this right here is in cubic yard. I can define this unit. I can make it something else. I want the count of the piles. I don't want the cubic yard of concrete. I want to know the count of piles of each type, if I have different types of piles. Right here, you have account but you can also change that unit, as I said before. You have a lot of more information. It's not just this information right here. You can extend these columns and to showing your assembly code and to showing which contractor, let's say it's a large project and multiple subcontractors are working on each area, you can identify the cost per square foot. It's really endless in terms of information. This is just another example of the same thing. You've got walls, and you've got a list. You see here that the unit is different, square feet and you have other dimensions available as well. To see this in action. What you see here, another trend within the technology is the Cloud based systems. This is a Cloud based system, where you can publish your model. You can see the model right here and you can see the quantities right here. This is just what I was showing. You can click on ceilings and then it highlights ceilings. You can isolate them, you can focus on them and as you can see this is not a large project. This is a tremendous value even if it's for a small project. I've got where is my ACT systems for my ceilings? Right here, what's the square footage? Where are my doors that I'm going to demolish? Where are my doors that I'm going to be installing instead? This was a renovation project and it's around $6 million renovation both design and construction cost. This gives you an idea that BIM can be implemented for both small and large projects. It really provides efficiency but you just have to identify what am I going to use BIM for on this specific project? From a cost estimating standpoint, it's not really that I will click a button and then pooff and estimate will be produced, it doesn't work that way. The quantity take off will support my estimating effort, but again we're still not there with the technology. The technology does not give me a full estimate by the click of a button. Why? Multiple reasons. First, were not sure of the model quality that we have. So, not every quantity take off item can be taken off of the mod. Second, some items are not even modeled. Some conduit that's smaller than one inch on some project is not modeled at all. So how can I get that wiring? That's not modeled. So, there are items that are not modeled, but I can still get them by some sort of calculation from the model, so I believe that we can get to a point where it's even more efficient than it is now with cost estimating. But we're not there yet. That's one challenge. The other challenge is integrating the model with a cost estimating database. There are some platforms out there that have the model quantity take-off and the estimating database in the same environment, but that may not apply to all companies. Do I need to conform to that software's methodology or can that software adapt to my workflows that are currently working? So if I'm modeling in a software, and my estimating database is a different software, do I need to make a huge overhaul and change that software within my company just to be able to do estimating using the beam model? Most companies would not necessarily do that. So that integration between the cost destinating database and the model needs to happen. So, as you can see here the sequence, you have a coordinated design you utilize that design to produce quantities. And you utilize these quantities to build a cost estimate in the cost estimating database. Now we've spoken about assembly codes earlier. These codes can be used to tie the item and the record in the estimating database to the quantity. So if I have a code for all interior walls that are of a certain material, then I can tie that to that item in the estimating database. But that relationship is not always that direct, it's not always that clear. So, it depends on your methodology of producing an estimate whether that is possible or not. So, it's possible for, possibly Wild's doors, architectural elements. But definitely not for everything. From a cost-management standpoint during the design phase, a lot of times the designers need to keep track. And the cost manager if they're involved in the design stage, keep track of the total cost of the project based on all the design changes that they make during the design process. What is that effect on the cost? So this is an example of well, if I produce quantities from my previous model and I received a new model, model gets updated everyday. How can I really tell the difference? So this is an example of how you can tell the difference. There are software out there that gives you that ability, so I can see here this is one version of my model and this is the next. And I'm comparing. So when I compare, I can see that, well, I've added a pilot camps of type 1A. I have removed pilot camps of type 2A. And once I click on them, I can see them highlighted in this screen right here. I can see all this highlighted. I can not only see what was added, what was removed, but I can also see if the type changed. So if I just changed the type from a to b, or if I increased the size or reduced the size. Or I change both. So that is extremely possible. It's very fast, and it's pretty accurate. It's comparing model version a to version b. You can do that every day, every week. We typically do it at every deliverable. So every time I received a deliverable, I create a comparison. That comparison is not only useful from a cost standpoint but it's also useful from a checking standpoints. If I check the model, I don't want to recheck everything that I checked before again. So I checked that and I checked only the items that have changed.
