Clash Coordination — A Significant Part of Building Information Modeling
Successful BIM implementation allows project stakeholders to streamline their processes. BIM caters both the designers and builders to coordinate system designs and plan their work. Now, clash coordination constitutes a vital part of Building Information Modeling which checks the system for avoiding clashes. But, how a clash occurs? Is it associated with design, constructability or the quality of the building performance? Besides, how clash detection fits in the lean project delivery? Let’s find out all the answers with the different clashes identified by BIM:
Hard Clash — A hard clash occurs when one building constituent penetrates into another building component physically but unintentionally. This may happen with two or more building components, when all the components compete for the same volume of physical space. Building Information Modeling has the ability to detect hard clashes before construction and thus helps in analyzing risks or advantages in an accurate way. Clashes are considered to be a waste in the production process and BIM helps in identifying the root causes of clashes. BIM brings geometric, semantic and rule-based detection algorithms owing to the embedded info in its modeling objects. It integrates the clash detection search capabilities in the software, which improves the process in terms of speed and accuracy. This technique is borrowed from the gaming community, where ‘collision detection’ is an aspect of virtual reality.
Soft Clash — Soft clash is usually the clearance clash and it takes place when the building components are closer than a certain distance from another component. It refers to the objects demanding some spatial tolerance for convenience, insulation and maintenance. The minimum clearance is required for all the components of a building, for instance it is vital to maintain a minimum distance between the outer cylindrical surfaces of two pipes. A soft clash may occur between a fire pipe and pneumatic tube. However, BIM plays a significant role in this regard by detecting soft clashes and resolving them. In fact, soft clashes are one of the real avenues, where BIM clash detection has brought new capability. Customized soft clash detection in BIM goes to the extent of checking building code adherence components on a powerful object data population.
Time Clash — Another clash detected by Building Information Modeling is the time clash. This actually refers to the anticipated spatial challenges while considering constructability or the operations of the building. Time clash is often modeled as a sort of clearance requirement but it has a temporal component to it. BIM coordinates the time clash and helps the building to operate smoothly.
Building Information Modeling plays a crucial role in clash coordination and BIM coordinators highlight clashes based on their existence and processes. Identifying clash helps to save a lot of project cost. It is usual for large projects to have thousands of clashes. Hence understanding and using clash detection in BIM is vital for the architects, contractors, engineers and the building owners. The sooner the stakeholders will realize this — the higher will be the productivity in the construction sector, resulting in faster project delivery.
