The Benefits of Integrating BIM into Your Construction Strategy
BIM has triggered a paradigm shift in the construction industry. It has not only replaced traditional construction practices, some of the countries such as the UK have made BIM mandatory for construction projects.
The reason for this shift is the countless benefits that BIM offers. Construction projects are complex in nature, they involve multiple stakeholders and trades. Traditional methods couldn’t facilitate effective collaboration between these stakeholders and hence led to issues like cost overruns, reworks, and delays.
Moreover, BIM is more than just 3D modeling. BIM has other dimensions, 4D — construction scheduling, 5D — cost estimation, 6D — facility management, and 7D — sustainability. BIM covers all stages of construction, right from conception to demolition.
Benefits of integrating BIM into your construction strategy
1. Accurate estimation of time and cost
Cost overruns and delays in construction projects are nightmares for project managers. BIM has methods to determine cost and time in a very accurate manner. Using 4D BIM, teams can see the progress of a project with time. When you throw in 5D BIM, teams get an accurate estimation of the evolution of project cost with time.
In fact, with 5D, one can even accurately estimate how much quantity of a particular material will be required on a particular day in the construction schedule.
2. Effective communication between interdisciplinary teams
Usually, large projects have teams that are located in different countries. During the construction phase, these teams need to hold several meetings to iron out issues.
BIM has negated the need for such meetings. The digital 3D BIM model and all the information pertaining to it is kept in a common data environment (CDE) that can be accessed from anywhere. Any changes in the BIM model in the CDE is reflected in real-time and visible to all the participating teams, therefore simplifying communication and keeping everyone up to date.
3. Reworks are a thing of the past
In the past, several reworks had to be carried out in the construction stage due to clashes. This meant cost increase, delays, and work stoppages. With BIM, all the issues are sorted in the 3D model itself at the preconstruction stage. The powerful visualization capabilities of BIM allow teams to visualize the building, perform constructability review and therefore create the most efficient design.
4. Accurate Quantity Take-Off
BIM makes it very easy to calculate Quantity take-offs. Compared to traditional methods where it used to take very long to calculate QTO, BIM has expedited the entire process. Moreover, BIM provides accurate numbers so that the right quantity of material can be procured.
5. Facility Management
BIM’s benefits do not end with construction. After the handover, BIM’s centralized data library is also given to the owner. This database is a goldmine of information that can come in handy during renovations and repairs.
Final Thoughts
Looking at BIM’s benefits, it is no brainer that BIM has to be integrated into the construction strategy. At Pinnacle Infotech, we not only integrate BIM into your construction strategy, we also offer BIM’s most powerful benefit — Value Engineering. Value engineering can change the way your projects are designed and save you substantial amounts of money and time.
To know more, contact us at bim@pinnaclecad.com.
