-
School of Civil Engineering
Report prepared by Benjamin Gaudin
as part of the MSc individual project 2012/13
The material in this dissertation was prepared as part of the
MSc in Construction Management and should not be published without
the
permission of the University of Birmingham. The University of
Birmingham accepts no responsibility for the statements made in
this
document.
Impacts of Building Information Modelling (BIM) on Project
Management in the French
Construction Industry
August 2013
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University of Birmingham School of Civil Engineering
Dissertation i
Acknowledgements
The author would like to express his sincerest gratitude to his
dissertation supervisor,
Mr John Shaw, who offered his precious advice all along this
project.
The author would also like to thank all the construction
professionals who accepted to
take part in this project by responding to the questionnaire or
by being interviewed. In
particular, the author thanks Ms Gesnot, Mr Amara, Mr Levrot, Mr
Moreau and Mr
Adnew.
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Dissertation ii
Abstract
Building Information Modelling (BIM) is becoming increasingly
popular in the global
construction industry. The aim of this paper is to analyse the
actual and potential
impacts of BIM on Project Management in the French construction
industry. The scope
is limited to main Project Management activities.
Potential impacts of BIM on Project Management were identified
through a literature
review. Interviews of French construction professionals allowed
the state of BIM and its
actual impacts in France to be assessed. A questionnaire was
conducted in order to
evaluate the French construction professionals knowledge about
BIM.
BIM is very recent in France and did not, therefore, reach its
final form, which involves
collaboration and Life-Cycle Management. Consequently, several
impacts of BIM,
described in the literature, do not appear in France; there is
no change in the way
projects are organised.
However, Architects and Contractors use BIM internally for
visualisation purposes, and
to carry out specific tasks such as cost-estimating and
data-synthesis.
The results of the questionnaire indicate that 27% of
construction professionals have
never heard about BIM.
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Table of Contents
1!
Introduction+.....................................................................................................................+1!2!
Methodology+.....................................................................................................................+2!
2.1!
Matrix+of+objectives+............................................................................................................+2!2.2!
Methodology+flowchart+.....................................................................................................+3!2.3!
Risks+.........................................................................................................................................+4!2.4!
Literature+review+................................................................................................................+5!2.4.1!
Aim!and!objectives!.......................................................................................................................!5!2.4.2!
The!French!literature!..................................................................................................................!5!2.4.3!
Sources!..............................................................................................................................................!5!2.5!
Questionnaire+.......................................................................................................................+6!2.5.1!
Aim!......................................................................................................................................................!6!2.5.2!
Questions!..........................................................................................................................................!6!2.5.3!
Responses!Collection!...................................................................................................................!7!2.6!
Interviews+..............................................................................................................................+9!2.6.1!
Aim!and!Objectives!.......................................................................................................................!9!2.6.2!
Finding!people!to!interview!.....................................................................................................!9!2.6.3!
Interviewing!people!.....................................................................................................................!9!2.7!
Programme+.........................................................................................................................+10!
3!
Literature+review+........................................................................................................+13!3.1!
Introduction+to+BIM+.........................................................................................................+13!3.1.1!
BIM!Concept!.................................................................................................................................!13!3.1.2!
BIM!functions!...............................................................................................................................!17!3.1.3!
BIM!interoperability!.................................................................................................................!17!3.1.4!
BIM!Levels!Of!Development!..................................................................................................!18!3.1.5!
BIM!Maturity!Levels!..................................................................................................................!18!3.2!
Project+Management+in+Construction+........................................................................+19!3.2.1!
Project!Management!Definition!...........................................................................................!19!
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3.2.2!
Project!Management!main!activities!.................................................................................!19!3.3!
Integration+of+BIM+in+Project+Management+.............................................................+23!3.3.1!
Scope!Definition!..........................................................................................................................!23!3.3.2!
Time!Management!.....................................................................................................................!24!3.3.3!
Cost!Management!.......................................................................................................................!25!3.3.4!
Quality!Management!.................................................................................................................!27!3.3.5!
Human!Resource!Management!............................................................................................!28!3.3.6!
Communications!Management!.............................................................................................!29!3.3.7!
Risk!Management!.......................................................................................................................!30!
4!
Questionnaire+...............................................................................................................+32!4.1!
Global+results+.....................................................................................................................+32!4.1.1!
Level!1:!Awareness!....................................................................................................................!32!4.1.2!
Level!2:!Basic!knowledge!........................................................................................................!33!4.1.3!
Level!3:!Basic!usage!...................................................................................................................!33!4.1.4!
Level!4:!Advanced!knowledge!..............................................................................................!34!4.2!
Comparison+between+young+and+older+professionals+.........................................+35!4.2.1!
Level!1:!Awareness!....................................................................................................................!35!4.2.2!
Level!2:!Basic!knowledge!........................................................................................................!36!4.2.3!
Level!3:!Basic!usage!...................................................................................................................!36!4.2.4!
Level!4:!Advanced!knowledge!..............................................................................................!37!4.2.5!
Conclusions!...................................................................................................................................!37!4.3!
Comparison+between+people+who+work+onMsite+and+others+..............................+38!4.3.1!
Level!1:!Awareness!....................................................................................................................!38!4.3.2!
Level!2:!Basic!knowledge!........................................................................................................!38!4.3.3!
Level!3:!Basic!usage!...................................................................................................................!39!4.3.4!
Level!4:!Advanced!knowledge!..............................................................................................!39!4.3.5!
Conclusions!...................................................................................................................................!40!
5!
Interviews+......................................................................................................................+41!5.1!
BIM+concepts+and+definitions+.......................................................................................+41!
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5.1.1!
BIM!model!.....................................................................................................................................!41!5.1.2!
PreTBIM!model!............................................................................................................................!41!5.1.3!
Dead!model!...................................................................................................................................!41!5.1.4!
BIM!levels!......................................................................................................................................!42!5.1.5!
BIM!interoperability!.................................................................................................................!42!5.1.6!
BIM!implementation!scenarios!............................................................................................!44!5.2!
State+of+BIM+in+France+.....................................................................................................+45!5.2.1!
Current!situation!........................................................................................................................!45!5.2.2!
Common!practices!.....................................................................................................................!45!5.2.3!
Obstacles!........................................................................................................................................!47!5.2.4!
Impact!of!the!new!Thermal!Regulation!............................................................................!48!5.2.5!
Outlook!of!development!..........................................................................................................!49!5.3!
BIM+and+Project+Management+in+France+...................................................................+51!5.3.1!
Scope!Definition!..........................................................................................................................!51!5.3.2!
Time!Management!.....................................................................................................................!52!5.3.1!
Cost!Management!.......................................................................................................................!52!5.3.1!
Quality!Management!.................................................................................................................!53!5.3.1!
Human!Resource!Management!............................................................................................!54!5.3.1!
Risk!Management!.......................................................................................................................!55!
6!
Discussion+......................................................................................................................+57!6.1!
Difference+between+BIM+in+France+and+BIM+in+the+literature+...........................+57!6.1.1!
PreTBIM!and!Dead!Models!......................................................................................................!57!6.1.2!
Initiator!of!the!implementation!of!BIM!............................................................................!57!6.1.3!
Limited!interoperability!..........................................................................................................!58!6.1.4!
Construction!professionals!knowledge!...........................................................................!59!6.2!
Current+evolution+of+BIM+in+France+............................................................................+60!6.2.1!
Gateways!to!the!adoption!of!BIM!........................................................................................!60!6.2.2!
Roles!of!big!Construction!Groups!........................................................................................!60!6.2.3!
Design!and!Build!projects!.......................................................................................................!61!
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6.2.4!
Construction!professionals!knowledge!...........................................................................!61!6.3!
Impacts+of+the+French+version+of+BIM+on+Project+Management+.....................+62!6.3.1!
Limited!collaboration!...............................................................................................................!62!6.3.2!
Common!uses!...............................................................................................................................!63!6.4!
Validity+of+the+Results+.....................................................................................................+65!6.4.1!
Interviews!.....................................................................................................................................!65!6.4.2!
Questionnaire!..............................................................................................................................!65!6.5!
Contribution+to+existing+knowledge+..........................................................................+65!
7!
Conclusions+and+Recommendation+.......................................................................+66!7.1!
Conclusions+........................................................................................................................+66!7.2!
Recommendations+for+further+works+........................................................................+67!
8!
References+.....................................................................................................................+68!Appendix+A:+Questionnaire+.............................................................................................+74!Appendix+B:+Levels+Of+Development+............................................................................+76!Appendix+C:+Capability+Maturity+Model+......................................................................+77!Appendix+D:+Maturity+Index+............................................................................................+78!Appendix+E:+Table+of+results+of+the+questionnaire+..................................................+79!Appendix+F:+Introduction+of+Interviewees+.................................................................+85!Appendix+G:+Interview+of+Franois+Amara+.................................................................+86!Appendix+H:+Interview+of+Philippe+Levrot+.................................................................+92!Appendix+I:+Interview+of+Simon+Moreau+.....................................................................+97!Appendix+J:+Interview+of+Adeline+Gesnot+..................................................................+102!Appendix+K:+Interview+of+Temesgen+Adnew+...........................................................+105!
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List of Figures
Figure+1:+Methodology+Flowchart+....................................................................................+3+
Figure+2:+Planned+Schedule+.............................................................................................+11+
Figure+3:+Actual+Schedule+................................................................................................+12+
Figure+4:+Comparison+between+2D+CAD,+3D+CAD,+and+ObjectMbased+parametric+
modelling+..............................................................................................................................+14+
Figure+5:+Lifecycle+of+a+construction+project+(Guo+and+others,+2010)+..............+15+
Figure+6:+BIM+model+as+a+shared+platform+(Baoping+and+others,+2010)+..........+15+
Figure+7:+The+shifting+of+activities+caused+by+BIM+...................................................+16+
Figure+8:+Differences+between+conceptual+design+and+construction+
documents+with+BIM+(Van,+2008)+.................................................................................+23+
Figure+9:+Level+of+influence+of+decisions+in+function+throughout+the+project+
(Cherry+and+Petronis,+2009)+...........................................................................................+24+
Figure+10:+Estimating+process+(Halpin+and+Woodhead,+2005)+...........................+26+
Figure+11:+Global+results,+Awareness+..........................................................................+32+
Figure+12:+Global+results,+Source+of+awareness+.......................................................+32+
Figure+13:+Global+results,+Basic+knowledge+...............................................................+33+
Figure+14:+Global+results,+Basic+usage+.........................................................................+33+
Figure+15:+Global+results,+common+usages+of+BIM+models+...................................+34+
Figure+16:+Global+results,+Advanced+Knowledge+.....................................................+34+
Figure+17:+Comparison+between+young+and+older+construction+professionals,+
Awareness+.............................................................................................................................+35+
Figure+18:+Comparison+between+young+and+older+construction+professionals,+
Basic+Knowledge+.................................................................................................................+36+
Figure+19:+Comparison+between+young+and+older+construction+professionals,+
Basic+Usage+...........................................................................................................................+36+
Figure+20:+Comparison+between+young+and+older+construction+professionals,+
Advanced+Knowledge+........................................................................................................+37+
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Figure+21:+Comparison+between+professionals+who+work+onMsite+and+others,+
Awareness+.............................................................................................................................+38+
Figure+22:+Comparison+between+professionals+who+work+onMsite+and+others,+
Basic+Knowledge+.................................................................................................................+38+
Figure+23:+Comparison+between+professionals+who+work+onMsite+and+others,+
Basic+Usage+...........................................................................................................................+39+
Figure+24:+Comparison+between+professionals+who+work+onMsite+and+others,+
Advanced+Knowledge+........................................................................................................+39+
Figure+C.1:+Maturity+Index+(BIM+Industry+Working+Group,+2011)+.....................+78+
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List of Table
Table+1:+Matrix+of+objectives+.............................................................................................+2!Table+2:+Risk+analysis+...........................................................................................................+4!Table+3:+Project+Management+Activities+.....................................................................+20!Table+B.1:+Level+of+Development+(The+American+Institute+of+Architect,+2008)
+..................................................................................................................................................+76!Table+C.1:+Capability+Maturity+Matrix+(NIBS,+2007)+...............................................+77!Table+E.1:+Results+of+the+questionnaire+......................................................................+79!
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1 Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the aim and
objectives of the project. The scope and the structure of this
dissertation are described in this chapter.
Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a recent concept that is
becoming
increasingly popular in the global construction industry. The
aim of this dissertation is
to analyse the potential and actual impacts of BIM on Project
Management in the
French construction industry. The objectives are the
followings:
- Gain an overall understanding of BIM,
- Identify the impacts of BIM on Project Management activities,
as described
in the literature,
- Identify the state of BIM in France,
- Evaluate the French construction professionals knowledge about
BIM,
- Identify the actual impacts of BIM on Project Management
activities in the
French construction industry.
The scope of this dissertation will be limited to main Project
Management activities,
excluding for example Waste Management and Value
Engineering.
The dissertation is structured as follows:
- The Methodology chapter: is a description of the research
methodology.
Research materials that were used are identified; the aims of
the
questionnaire and the interviews are detailed in this
chapter.
- The Literature review chapter: is a global survey of the
relevant literature.
- The Questionnaire chapter: is an analysis of the results of
the questionnaire.
- The Interviews chapter: is a summary of the interviews.
- The Discussion chapter: is a comparison of the previous
results with the
literature. The validity of the results is discussed in this
chapter.
- The Conclusions and Recommendations chapter: is a summary of
the
findings of this project. Suggestions for further works are
made.
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2 Methodology
2.1 Matrix of objectives
The Matrix of objectives links the objectives with the materials
used to meet them.
In order to meet the objectives defined in the introduction, the
author carried out a
literature review, a questionnaire and interviews. These
materials are linked with the
objectives in Table 1.
Table 1: Matrix of objectives
Materials
Objectives
Literature
Review
Questionnaire Interviews
Gain an overall understanding of BIM X X
Identify the impacts of BIM on Project
Management activities, as described in the
literature
X
Identify the state of BIM in France X
Evaluate the French construction
professionals knowledge about BIM
X
Identify the actual impacts of BIM on
Project Management activities in the French
construction industry
X
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2.2 M
ethodology flowchart
Figure 1: Methodology Flow
chart
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2.3 Risks
This chapter deals with the risks that were identified and
managed in order to carry out this dissertation.
The author identified, at the beginning of the project, a number
of risks that had to be
managed. In order to mitigate these risks, a list of risk
responses was developed. Risks
and their associated responses are listed in Table 2.
Table 2: Risk analysis
Risk categories Risks Risk responses
Literature Review Problems to obtain books Start early to
identify the
books needed
Lack of recent references Use on-line databases
Interviews Difficulties to find people
to interview
Start early to identify
potential interviewees
People do not accept to
meet me
Ask for interviews early
People are in holydays or
busy
The results of the
interviews do not add
anything to the literature
review
Identify potential
controversial issues before
the interviews.
Questionnaire Not enough responses Design a short
questionnaire so that people
easily accept to respond.
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2.4 Literature review
In this chapter, the aim and objectives of the literature review
are detailed. Issues related to the literature review are
mentioned.
2.4.1 Aim and objectives
The aim of the literature review is to summarize the work
produced by other researchers
in the area of BIM. More precisely, the objectives are to gain
an overall understanding
of BIM concepts and technologies and to identify the potential
impacts of BIM on
Project Management activities.
2.4.2 The French literature
Although this dissertation concerns the impact of BIM in the
French construction
industry, this literature review is mainly based on Anglo-Saxons
research papers
because of the lack of French materials. The author collected a
large amount of articles
taken from French magazines but they were considered too general
to be used in this
dissertation.
2.4.3 Sources
In order to carry out this literature review, the author used
mainly recent on-line
sources, considering that BIM is a very recent technology that
is changing rapidly.
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2.5 Questionnaire
This chapter describes the aim of the questionnaire and how it
was designed. The response collection process is detailed in this
chapter.
2.5.1 Aim
The aim of this questionnaire is to evaluate the French
construction professionals
knowledge about BIM. Consequently, there is only one condition
to respond to this
questionnaire, namely having a job experience in the French
construction industry, apart
from site workers.
2.5.2 Questions
In order to collect as many responses as possible, the author
decided to make a short
questionnaire based on different levels of knowledge. The
questionnaire can be found in
Appendix A.
2.5.2.1 Level 1: Awareness
The first level of knowledge is the awareness of the existence
of BIM. The question
asked is simply: Have you ever heard of BIM? . In order to
identify whether or not
this awareness is the result of a company initiative, the
additional question is: If Yes,
from where? . The proposed answers are: Collegue(s), Company
training, Studies,
Press, A project where BIM was implemented and Other.
2.5.2.2 Level 2: Basic knowledge
The second level of knowledge deals with software. The author
considered that the
knowledge about BIM software was a good indicator of the general
knowledge. The
question asked is, therefore, What BIM software packages do you
know. In order to
make it faster and easier to answer this question, several
propositions were given,
namely Revit, AECOsim, and Tekla; respondents could also mention
other software
products in the Other section. It must be noticed that the main
objective of this
question is to determine whether or not respondents know BIM
software products.
2.5.2.3 Level 3: Basic usage
The third level of knowledge relates to the utilisation of BIM.
The author assumed that
construction professionals who already used BIM software know
more about BIM than
those who never used such software. Consequently, the question
is: Have you ever
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used BIM software? . The additional question that is asked, in
order to identify if it is a
basic or a more advanced use, is: If Yes, for what purposes?
.
2.5.2.4 Level 4: Advanced knowledge
The last level of knowledge relates to Industry Foundation Class
(IFC). In order to
identify if respondents know about some technical issues of BIM,
interoperability issues
in particular, the question is: Do you know what IFC is? . The
author made the
assumption that if respondents know what IFC is, they would also
have already used
BIM software. This assumption was correct.
2.5.3 Responses Collection
2.5.3.1 Short Questionnaire
Given that French students very rarely ask professionals to
respond to questionnaires,
people are not used to this practice. Consequently, it is quite
challenging to collect
many responses. That is why the author decided to make a short
questionnaire, with
closed questions or open questions with propositions.
Consequently, the questionnaire
could be completed in few minutes only.
2.5.3.2 Site Visits
From the authors experience, the only way to collect responses
from random French
professionals is to meet them directly; sending massive
unsolicited e-mails would have
been totally ineffective. For this reason, the author decided to
visit sites and meet
directly construction professionals. In order to find a list of
sites to visit and their
addresses, the author went to the city council of Lyon to meet
the person responsible for
Land use. However, that person was unavailable during the
summer. Consequently, the
author asked construction companies for a list of their sites.
One company, Eiffage
Construction Rhne provided the author that list. After two days
of site visits, the author
collected only 10 responses. It was not as effective as
expected. Another strategy was
therefore considered.
2.5.3.3 Friends
In order to collect responses quicker, the author asked all his
friends and former
colleagues who work in the Construction sector to respond to the
questionnaire and to
ask their colleagues to do it as well. 45 responses were
collected that way.
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2.5.3.4 Response Rate
In total, 55 responses were collected; this number seems
sufficient to provide results
that are representative of the French construction industry.
However, considering that
the author is a young engineer with a little work experience,
his friends network is
mainly composed of young professionals with the same university
background.
Consequently, the questionnaire is biased and is not totally
representative of the whole
construction sector. For example, only seven architects filled
the questionnaire against
fifteen project managers and 65% of respondents are younger than
25 years old.
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2.6 Interviews
This chapter describes the aim and objectives of the interviews,
and how interviewees were identified.
2.6.1 Aim and Objectives
The aim of the interviews is to contrast the points of view of
French construction
professionals, who have a strong knowledge about BIM, with the
literature review. In
addition, considering that most materials used are taken from
the Anglo-Saxon
literature, these interviews were an opportunity to identify
French particularities about
BIM. The objectives were, therefore, to understand the state of
BIM in France and to
identify the impacts of BIM on Project Management in France.
2.6.2 Finding people to interview
In order to find construction professionals with a strong
knowledge about BIM, the
author used his friends network, and the on-line professional
network called LinkedIn.
Two interviewees were friends with the author. Two other
interviewees were directly
contacted via LinkedIn, although they did not know the author.
One interviewee was
contacted via a common friend. The author tried to meet people
with different
approaches about BIM. The introduction of interviewees can be
found in Appendix F.
2.6.3 Interviewing people
In order to meet the objectives, the author tried to guide
interviews towards the question
of the impacts of BIM on Project Management. However,
considering that their jobs
and expertise did not always match exactly with these issues, it
was sometimes difficult
to talk precisely about this particular subject.
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2.7 Programme
This chapter details the planned and actual schedules of this
dissertation.
In order to meet the objectives of this dissertation in time,
the author produced a
programme at the beginning of the project. This programme is
represented in Figure 2.
The author kept a schedule updated all along the project; the
actual schedule is
represented in Figure 3.
Considering the lack of time, the planned case study was
cancelled, and the time
allocated to site visits was greatly reduced.
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Figure 2: Planned Schedule
TaskPreliminary-Literature-review
2mSite-visits
2w
Meet-professionals3wAnalyse-Interviews-and-site-visits
2wFinal-literature-review
1wCase-study
3wDiscussion
1wConclusion
1wCheck-References
2dReread
5dPrepare-the-presentation
2w
Due-Date
AprilMay
JuneJuly
August
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Figure 3: Actual Schedule
TaskPreliminary-Literature-review
3mSite-visits
4dMeet-
professionals5d
Analyse-Interviews-and-site-visits
2wFinal-literature-review
4dCase-study
0Discussion
2wConclusion/-Introduction-/M
ethodology1w
Check-References
2dReread
5dPrepare-the-presentation
2w
Due-Date
AprilMay
JuneJuly
August
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3 Literature review
3.1 Introduction to BIM
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the reader to BIM
and its related issues.
3.1.1 BIM Concept
Although BIM has no single definition accepted by all (Eastman
and others, 2008),
most specialists agree that BIM is both a modelling technology
and a set of associated
processes aimed at creating a virtual model of a building
(Smith, 2007). This model will
form, therefore, a reliable basis for decision-making during the
complete life-cycle of
the project, from conception to demolition (NIBS, 2007). For the
purpose of this
dissertation, BIM will be defined as follows:
BIM is a digital representation of physical and functional
characteristics
of a facility. [] it serves as a shared knowledge resource for
information
about a facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during
its lifecycle
[...]. A basic premise of BIM is collaboration by different
stakeholders at
different phases of the lifecycle of a facility to insert,
extract, update, or
modify information in the BIM to support and reflect the roles
of that
stakeholder. (NIBS, 2007)
3.1.1.1 BIM as a technology
From a technology perspective, a BIM model is a digital 3D
representation of a project
that brings together all the information about the project
components (Azhar and others,
2012).
Unlike previous CAD software, BIM models are not made of 3D
graphical entities such
as spheres or arcs; this technology is based on parametric
objects that contain
information about what they represent (Azhar and others, 2012),
as represented in
Figure 4. Object-based parametric modelling uses a number of
characteristics, called
parameters, to determine the properties of each object and the
rules that define the
relationships between them (Autodesk (a), 2007). This data rich
object-orientation
allows the model components to be automatically updated when a
change is made
(Woo, 2007). It also enables to capture the design criteria
directly during the modelling
process by converting them into object properties (Eastman and
others, 2008). In
addition, each component can contain any additional information
such as its material
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and its price. Consequently, the model can be used as a platform
to manage all the
building information (Succar, 2009).
Figure 4: Comparison between 2D CAD, 3D CAD, and Object-based
parametric
modelling
3.1.1.2 BIM as a process
A common misconception about BIM is that it is only 3D modelling
software (Eastman
and others, 2008). The other important aspect of BIM is the
associated processes, which
are defining a new paradigm in the construction industry, which
notably involves
significant changes in information exchanges, workflows, and
project delivery
processes (Azhar, 2011).
Indeed, BIM supports integrated collaboration based on
life-cycle approach (Rizal (a),
2010), by focusing on open information sharing and integration
of all project phases
(Rizal (b), 2010).
In traditional Construction Project Management, which is divided
into several phases,
participants of different phases do no communicate with each
other (Grandsberg and
Ellicot, 1997; Guo and others, 2010). By contrast, Life-cycle
Management aims at
integrating all phases of Project Management, by considering the
impact of each
decision on the whole life-cycle, described in Figure 5 (Guo and
others, 2010).
Consequently, all project participants must be involved in every
phase of the project.
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Figure 5: Lifecycle of a construction project (Guo and others,
2010)
As a shared platform for all stakeholders in all project phases
(Rizal (a), 2010), BIM
encourages this collaboration, as shown in Figure 6. It favours
concurrent design and
engineering by different disciplines (Rizal (b), 2010), which
causes project phases to
overlap (Succar, 2009). This phenomenon leads to the shifting of
most activities from
their dedicated phases to the early design phase (Rizal (a),
2010) as described in Figure
7.
Figure 6: BIM model as a shared platform (Baoping and others,
2010)
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Figure 7: The shifting of activities caused by BIM
The Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) concept naturally emerged
to support processes
associated with BIM (Azhar and others, 2012). According to The
American Institute of
Architects (AIA) (a) (2007), IPD is a highly collaborative
project delivery approach
based on open information exchange between project stakeholders.
It notably takes the
advantage of the early contributions of participants expertise
in order to increase
project value and maximise efficiency through all project
phases. BIM and IPD appear
to be highly complementary. BIM supports the IPD approach by
providing a platform
for collaboration that can notably combine design, fabrication
information and project
logistics in a single database (The American Institute of
Architects, 2007). Reciprocally,
IPD supports BIM by encouraging project participants to be
involved early and to share
building information.
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3.1.2 BIM functions
3.1.2.1 Clash detection
According to the BIM Journal Editor, (2012), clash detection is
a crucial element of
BIM. As models of every discipline can be combined into a single
composite master
model (Grilo and Jardi-Goncalves, 2010), clashes can be
detected. A clash refers to
an occupation of the same space by two different objects (Words
& Images, 2009).
Consequently, design inconsistencies and constructability issues
can be easily identified
before the construction phase, which prevents expensive and
time-consuming defects
and reworks (Words & Images, 2009).
3.1.2.2 Analyses
BIM models can be used to carry out a large number of analyses
of different types
(Words & Images, 2009). Using the data of a BIM model,
specialised software can be
used to simulate and analyse the buildings characteristics in
various categories such as
energy performance, structural analyses, acoustic and lighting
analyses (Words &
Images, 2009). The proposed design can, therefore, be measured
against the Clients
requirements and the expected building performance. The other
main benefit of these
tools is their abilities to run what if scenarios that will lead
to optimal solutions (Azhar
and others, 2008). Therefore, the project value will be highly
increased, particularly in
terms of energy efficiency, which is a crucial criterion for the
accreditation of
environmental labels.
3.1.3 BIM interoperability
Considering that collaboration is a fundamental aspect of BIM
and that different BIM
software packages can be used, the interoperability of
information is a crucial issue.
This is why several exchange formats were developed. Industry
Foundation Class (IFC)
is the main protocol for interoperability (Eastman and others,
2008). This format was
developed by the buildingSMART alliance and therefore does not
belong to a particular
software vendor. Most BIM software is IFC compliant, which means
that they correctly
implement IFC. A list of the IFC compliant software can be found
on the
buildingSMART website (Espedokken, 2013). Although it has been
proved that the IFC
protocol is sufficiently mature to be adopted in BIM projects,
the use of IFC requires an
important knowledge about interoperability and BIM standards
(Pniewski, 2011). In
addition, IFC does not enable to import/export the totality of a
BIM model (Pniewski,
2011).
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3.1.4 BIM Levels Of Development
BIM technology offers the opportunity to develop a realistic and
detailed model of a
building or a basic model that represents the conceptual
geometry of project
components. This is why the American Institute of Architects
(2008) defined 5 Levels
Of Development (LOD). These LOD are contractually used by the
different
stakeholders to identify, for each element, to what extent the
BIM model will be
detailed and who will be responsible for developing each
component. Table B.1 defines
the five LOD as described in the AIA BIM protocol exhibit (2008)
and can be found in
Appendix B.
3.1.5 BIM Maturity Levels
While BIM Levels Of Development are contractually used on
projects, maturity levels
were developed for organisations to benchmark their BIM
practices and processes.
There are several Maturity Levels models such as the Capability
Maturity Matrix
developed by the NIBS (2007) and the Maturity Index defined by
the BIM Industry
Working Group (2011). Table C.1 defines the Capability Matrix
and can be found in
Appendix C. Figure D.1 represents the Maturity Index and can be
found in Appendix D.
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3.2 Project Management in Construction
The purpose of this chapter is to give a brief overview of
Project Management of a construction project. This will allow the
author to analyse the potential impacts of BIM on Project
Management in the next chapter.
3.2.1 Project Management Definition
According to Ward (2000), there is no single definition of
Project Management,
accepted by all. The Project Management Institute (2013) defines
Project Management
as the application of management skills and techniques to
execute effectively and
efficiently projects, whereas businessdictionary.com defines
Project Management as
the body of knowledge concerned with principles, techniques, and
tools used in
planning, control, monitoring and review of projects. For the
purpose of this
dissertation, Project Management will be defined as the
interdisciplinary process, from
a concept of an idea, to the achievement of a satisfactory end
result (Ward, 2000), and
a Project Manager will be defined as the person responsible for
carrying out this
process, regardless who this person is working for.
3.2.2 Project Management main activities
According to the Project Management Institute (2000), the
Project Management
Knowledge is based on nine areas:
1. Scope,
2. Time,
3. Cost,
4. Quality,
5. Human resources,
6. Communications,
7. Risk management,
8. Procurement and,
9. The integration of all these areas,
For the purpose of this dissertation, only the first seven areas
will be developed
considering that no information about potential impacts of BIM
were found for the two
last categories.
The deliverables, the associated processes and the objectives of
each area are identified
in Table 3, as described in the Project Management Body of
Knowledge (2000). Each
area is further explained below.
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Table 3: Project Management Activities
Responsibility Deliverables Processes to develop the
deliverables
Objectives / Utilisation of the deliverables
Project Scope Definition
1. Scope Statement
2. Work Breakdown Structure
1. Identify the customers requirements
2. Identify the project goals and functions
3. Identify the project deliverables
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1. Ensure that all the stakeholders understood the project scope
and objectives
2. Ensure that all the project deliverables have been
identified
Project Time Management
1. Project Schedule
1. Activity Definition 2. Activity Sequencing 3. Activity
Duration Estimating
1. Monitor progress to ensure that the project will be completed
on time
2. Identify the specific activities that must be completed and
when
Project Cost Management
1. Cost Budget 1. Resource Planning 2. Cost Estimating 3. Cost
Allocating
1. Ensure that the project will be completed within the
budget
Project Quality Management
1. Quality Planning
1. Identify Quality Standards relevant for each activities
2. Identify solutions to meet these standards
1. Quality Assurance 2. Quality Control
Project Human Resource Management
1. Organisational Planning
2. Staff Acquisition
1. Assign roles and responsibilities of stakeholders
2. Determine the relationships between stakeholders
1. Ensure that roles and responsibilities are properly
defined
Project Communication Management
1. Communication Planning
1. Determine the information needs of the stakeholders
1. Information Distribution
Project Risk Management
1. Risk Identification
2. Risk Analysis 3. Risk Response
Planning
- Determine what hazards could occur
- Evaluate the probability of occurrence of these hazards
- Use Qualitative and/or Quantitative Risk Analyses methods
- Develop possible risk responses
1. Risk Monitoring and Control
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3.2.2.1 Project Scope Definition
The Project Management Team is responsible for clearly
identifying the project scope,
which includes the project goals and functions, the customers
requirements and the
extent of works to be carried out in order to successfully
complete the project (Project
Management Institute, 2000).
This task is usually performed by writing a Scope Statement
which is an agreement
among the key stakeholders and the project team (Project
Management Institute, 2000).
In addition, a Work Breakdown Structure is generally carried out
to clearly identify the
boundaries of the project in terms of deliverables (Project
Management Institute, 2000).
3.2.2.2 Project Time Management
In order to ensure that the project will be delivered on time,
the Project Management
Team is responsible for developing a detailed project schedule
(Project Management
Institute, 2000). This process involves identifying all the
tasks, estimating their
durations, and sequencing them according to their dependencies
(Project Management
Institute, 2000).
This Schedule must then be used to measure progress.
3.2.2.3 Project Cost Management
The Project Management Team is responsible for delivering the
project within budget.
Therefore, a detailed cost estimate must be developed (Project
Management Institute,
2000). This process involves identifying the quantities of
materials required to perform
each task, and cost controlling (Project Management Institute,
2000).
3.2.2.4 Project Quality Management
Concerning the quality requirements of the project, the Project
Team must implement a
quality management strategy, which includes quality planning,
quality assurance and
quality control (Project Management Institute, 2000). Quality
planning is to identify the
quality standards that are applicable to the project and to
develop solutions to meet them
(Project Management Institute, 2000). Quality assurance is to
assess the overall quality
of the project on a regular basis (Project Management Institute,
2000). Quality control is
to monitor the quality of specific works performed and to
determine their compliances
with the relevant quality standards (Project Management
Institute, 2000).
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3.2.2.5 Project Human Resource Management
In order to manage the key stakeholders of the project and to
organise the staff working
on the project, the Project Management team is responsible for
developing a Human
Resource Management plan (Project Management Institute, 2000).
This includes an
organisational planning that determines the roles and
responsibilities of stakeholders.
Staff acquisition and team training must also be considered
(Project Management
Institute, 2000).
3.2.2.6 Project Communications Management
In regards to communication between the key stakeholders, the
Project Management
Team is responsible for developing a communication planning that
defines the
information required by each project participant and the
information exchanges to be
carried out (Project Management Institute, 2000).
3.2.2.7 Project Risk Management
The Project Management Team is responsible for managing the
risks of the project.
They must therefore respect a risk management framework that
includes: risk
identification, risk analysis, risk mitigation and risk
responses (Project Management
Institute, 2000). In addition, these risks must be monitored and
controlled during the
project (Project Management Institute, 2000).
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3.3 Integration of BIM in Project Management
The purpose of this chapter is to analyse how BIM can impact the
several Project Management activities, as described in the recent
literature.
3.3.1 Scope Definition
BIM models are typically created after the Project Scope
Definition stage (Performance
Building Institute, 2009). Consequently, BIM is not used to help
define the project
scope and to develop the scope statement. Nevertheless, it can
be used to visualise and
check the design concept and the scope of work (Himes and Steed,
2008).
Indeed, BIM can be used during the Conceptual Design phase whose
goal is notably to
develop design alternatives in order to respond to the projects
requirements mentioned
in the scope statement and the programme (Association of
Professional Architects
Belize, 2013). This phase involves generating the general
appearance of the building
and describing how it will meet the basic building programme.
Figure 8 illustrates the
differences between conceptual design and construction documents
with BIM.
Figure 8: Differences between conceptual design and construction
documents with
BIM (Van, 2008)
BIM allows the project team to ensure the compliance of the
proposed design(s) with
the owners requirements. By using the 3D representation, spatial
analyses can be
carried out and the owner can quickly provide feedbacks (Eastman
and others, 2008).
These early feedbacks have a strong and positive impact on the
overall project success,
since most of the major decisions are made during the conceptual
design phase
(Eastman and others, 2008). Changes can therefore be made
earlier in the project life-
cycle, which increases their influences on the project outcomes
(Cherry and Petronis,
2009) as described in Figure 9.
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Figure 9: Level of influence of decisions in function throughout
the project
(Cherry and Petronis, 2009)
In addition, later in the design process, the several analyses
that can be conducted
through the BIM model, such as energy, light, and acoustic
analyses, allow the design
team to ensure that the project will meet the project
requirements regarding these areas
(Words & Images, 2009).
3.3.2 Time Management
Construction planning and scheduling is a complex process that
involves estimating
tasks durations and sequencing activities according to their
dependencies (Project
Management Institute, 2000). Spatial constraints, procurement
and resources are some
of the issues that need to be considered during this process
(Eastman and others, 2008).
Consequently, it requires the schedulers a significant personal
experience to take into
account all the parameters, using only 2D drawings and the
description of the project
constraints (Tulke and others, 2008).
To address these difficulties, BIM allows schedulers to include
planning data within the
model such as the start date and the end date of a component,
and float time available
(Autodesk (b), 2007). Some software applications allow
schedulers to directly import
MS Project or Primavera files into the BIM model to
automatically add the planning
data into the model (Autodesk (b), 2007). Construction
simulations can therefore be run
to visualise the sequence of activities on the model. This
visual link between the
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schedule and the situation on the ground provides a reliable
basis for decision making
when evaluating various options (Chau and others, 2004) and help
schedulers to
consider all the project constraints (Eastman and others,
2008).
The construction simulations are very effective to communicate
with stakeholders.
Traditional methods of representing schedules, namely Gantt
charts, are difficult to
understand. Only people who developed the schedule can fully
understand its impact on
site logistics (Eastman and others, 2008). This is why one of
the benefits of 4D models
(3D+time) is its ability to visually communicate the planned
construction process to all
the stakeholders. This allows the project stakeholders who did
not develop the schedule
to review the proposed construction process, which can lead to
better solutions and/or to
correct mistakes (Eastman and others, 2008).
3.3.3 Cost Management
Cost-estimating is a major task of Cost Management. This
estimating process as
described by Halpin (2005), is divided into 4 phases that are
represented in Figure 10.
Although Quantity take-offs is only one of these 4 phases, this
is the longest activity
that traditionally takes from 50% to 80% of the overall process
time, depending on the
type of the project (Autodesk, 2007 (c)). Indeed, estimators
typically carry out manual
quantity take-offs from the 2D drawings (digital or
paper-based), which involves
potential human errors and a lot of efforts (Sabol, 2008). BIM
models offer the
possibility to automatically generate quantity take-offs, counts
and measurements, since
they do not only contain graphical entities but parametric
objects. Estimators can extract
these quantities from the BIM model and use this information in
cost-estimating
applications (Hartmann and others, 2012). Consequently, a lot of
time is saved and
errors are reduced (Autodesk, 2007(c)). Besides, as the quantity
take-offs can be almost
instantaneously updated from the BIM model, estimators can
rapidly react to design
changes (Eastman and others, 2008).
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Figure 10: Estimating process (Halpin and Woodhead, 2005)
Some estimating software applications, such as Innovayas Visual
Estimating, provide a
graphic interface that allows the user to visualise the model
for estimating purposes
(Sabol, 2008). For example, by selecting an object type in the
cost estimate table,
Innovaya can display the concerned objects in the model,
distinguished from the non-
selected objects. This visualisation has a significant impact in
the accuracy of estimates;
it allows estimators to gain a better understanding of the
project and to make fewer
assumptions (Thurairajah and Goucher, 2013).
However, BIM does not automatically generates cost estimates, it
is just a starting point
that provides some of the required information. The accuracy of
quantity take-offs will
depend on the level of details of the model; in order to create
a detailed cost estimate,
the model needs to be sufficiently detailed (Eastman and others,
2008). In addition, the
quantity take-offs activity does not become effortless with BIM,
since estimators still
have to map the model and to identify project components in the
same way these
components are divided in estimators cost databases (Hartmann
and others, 2012). The
skills required to carry out this operation are new (Hannon,
2007). This may be the
reason why only 8% of Quantity Surveyors often use BIM to
extract quantities
(Building Cost Information Service, 2011).
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3.3.4 Quality Management
BIM offers new ways of managing quality of construction projects
and creates new
quality issues that must be managed.
First, BIM greatly facilitates the quality assurance and control
of the design. The
possibility to run performance analyses allows testing the
design against the clients
requirements and the quality standards that must be met in such
areas as energy,
acoustic, lighting, and even structural performance (Rizal (b),
2010). In addition, the
clash detection function makes possible to rapidly correct many
design errors (Editor
BIM Journal, 2012). This constitutes, therefore, an effective
quality control of the
design.
Secondly, the combination of 3D laser scanning and BIM makes
possible to compare
what is actually built on site with the BIM model. 3D laser
scanning is a recent
technology that enables to produce a collection of data points,
called point clouds,
which generates a 3D representation of the scanned area
(Slattery, 2010). BIM models
can thus be compared with the laser scan to detect potential
deviations from the design
(Jones, 2012). This can therefore be used as a quality control
technique. However, it is
costly and time-consuming; 3D lasers are expensive high-tech
products and scans can
take a relatively long time, depending on the required level of
details. This is why it can
be more specifically used to control the quality of structural
components that does not
require a high level of details (Haijian and Brandow, 2012).
Indeed, structural
components such as rebar can be modelled as cylinders and steel
sections can be
selected from standard section lists (Haijian and Brandow,
2012). Akinci et al (2006)
demonstrated the capability of this technology to detect the
construction defects and
deviations in general. This technique is currently not widely
used, but some specialists
are confident about its future expansion (Jones, 2012).
Although BIM offers new possibilities concerning quality
assurance and quality control,
it also involves managing the quality of the BIM model itself.
According to Kim and
Seo, (2010) BIM models must be checked on three distinct areas,
namely: physical
elements, logical elements and object definition.
Physical elements refer to the level of details of the model,
which must be checked and
measured against what was contractually defined (Kim and Seo,
2010).
Logical elements refer to logical checks such as the compliance
with the programme in
terms of space areas, rooms, safety regulations etc. (Kim and
Seo, 2010).
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Object definition refers to the names, attributes and properties
of project components
described in the model. For example, if a wall is defined as a
window, a quality control
must detect this mistake in order to correct it (Kim and Seo,
2010).
Given that BIM models are object-oriented, these quality checks
can be performed
using software tools to support the process (Kim and Seo,
2010).
3.3.5 Human Resource Management
As a new technology that is associated with new processes, the
use of BIM on a project
requires new roles and responsibilities to be assigned to new
individuals. Modifications
in the way major stakeholders perform their activities are also
needed (Rizal, 2010).
One of the most critical factors to successfully implement BIM
on a project is the
personnels quality and knowledge (Sacandi, 2013).
According to Sacandi (2013) and the Department of Veterans
Affairs (2010), a BIM
team must be established in the initial phases of a project
where BIM is to be
implemented. This team must comprise a BIM Manager, a BIM
Sponsor and Technical
disciplines/trades Lead Coordinators. There can be several BIM
Managers, for example
a Design BIM Manager and a Construction BIM Manager (Department
of Veterans
Affairs, 2010).
A BIM Manager is an individual with an important BIM experience
and a sufficient
knowledge of the proposed authoring and coordination software
(Department of
Veterans Affairs, 2010). His main role is to guide the rest of
the project participants to
use BIM (Sacandi, 2013). He is responsible for ensuring the
coordination and
integration of model information by providing appropriate
technical configurations
(Department of Veterans Affairs, 2010; Sacandi, 2013).
A BIM Sponsor is a higher management BIM advocate who
understands the need of
resources to successfully implement BIM (Sacandi, 2013).
Technical disciplines/trades Lead Coordinators must be the BIM
leaders of major
operating units, such as Architecture, Civil, MEP and Structural
units (Department of
Veterans Affairs, 2010). Their role is to coordinate the works
of their units with the
other project participants (Department of Veterans Affairs,
2010; Sacandi, 2013).
In addition, BIM implementers must be involved in the project
(Sacandi, 2013). They
are not necessarily part of the BIM team, as they do not
participate in decisions
(Sacandi, 2013). Their role is to assist the operating units by
actually using the software
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applications and helping them to understand the processes
associated with BIM and the
information required (Sacandi, 2013).
Considering these new roles and individuals, the project manager
must include them in
the organisational planning and the staff acquisition
strategy.
Furthermore, the collaboration promoted by the use of BIM
involves changing the roles
of the major stakeholders, namely: the Client, the Architect,
and the Contractor (Rizal,
2010). These changes must be managed by the Project Management
team to ensure an
optimal use of BIM (Rizal (a), 2010). Unfortunately, according
to Rizal (a) (2010),
there is no complete practical knowledge on how these
stakeholders should be managed
to allow collaboration to be effective. However, it is clear
that traditional project phases
must be adjusted, as mentioned in chapter 3.1.1.2, to allow all
the stakeholders to be
involved in early phases (Autodesk, 2008). In addition, the
Project Management team
must clearly explain the importance of collaboration to the
Architect and the Contractor
(Autodesk, 2008).
3.3.6 Communications Management
In theory, BIM makes possible for all members of the team to see
any modification
made on the model in real-time (Mondrup and others, 2012).
Consequently, BIM
improves the speed of communication and the quantity of
information that can be
exchanged (Socha and Lanzetti, 2012). However, it does not
necessarily improve the
overall communication among the project participants if the
project team does not
develop a clear and appropriate communication strategy
(Goldberg, 2011).
The Project Execution Planning Guide that was developed by the
Computer Integrated
Construction Research Program (2010) details the several
communication issues to be
considered.
The project team must define a collaboration strategy that
determines the general
collaboration process, which should include communication
methods and document
management (The Computer Integrated Construction Research
Program, 2010).
Collaboration activities and their procedures should be defined,
including frequency,
participants, and the location of each activity. (The Computer
Integrated Construction
Research Program, 2010)
More importantly, the model delivery schedule of information
exchange must be
developed. It should include the due dates of exchanges, but
also the file type of the
model, the software used to create the file, the native file
type, and the file exchange
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type (The Computer Integrated Construction Research Program,
2010). This is part of
the general electronic communication procedures that must be
established by the project
team.
In addition, the project team must determine which software
applications and versions
will be used (The Computer Integrated Construction Research
Program, 2010). This
must be done at the very beginning of the project in order to be
able to solve any
interoperability problems that could arise. Project participants
must agree upon the
modelling content and reference information (The Computer
Integrated Construction
Research Program, 2010).
Thus, the speed of communication made possible with BIM must be
combined with an
important communication planning and the development of
procedures to truly improve
communication between the project stakeholders (Goldberg,
2011).
3.3.7 Risk Management
BIM does not change the way risks are managed on a construction
project, but it
generates new risks and mitigates others.
From a technology perspective, some benefits of BIM effectively
mitigate several
significant risks (Hammad and others, 2012). For example, the
clash detection function
allows the risk of design errors to be reduced and, therefore,
potential reworks are
avoided (McGraw Hill Construction, 2011). The building
performance analyses allow
the certainty to meet the Clients requirements to be increased,
which notably reduces
the risk of not achieving sustainability goals (McGraw Hill
Construction, 2011). In
addition, the automatic extraction of quantity take-offs reduces
the risk of errors in cost-
estimates (Hammad and others, 2012).
From a process perspective, 77% of respondents of the
SmartMarket Report, published
by McGraw Hill Construction in 2011, believe that integrated
teams and collaboration
made possible with BIM help to reduce several factors of risk in
construction. For
example, the involvement of all the major project stakeholders
in early phases tends to
result in a more complete design (McGraw Hill Construction,
2011). Communication is
improved in a collaborative environment, which reduces risks of
delays and
misunderstandings (McGraw Hill Construction, 2011)
However, BIM also generates new risks due to collaboration
between project
participants. Disputes are very frequent in construction
projects; this is why the
contractual relationships between stakeholders traditionally
detail the several
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responsibilities of each party. Because of the collaborative
environment that is
associated with BIM, it is difficult to establish liability when
a problem appears
(Martin, 2012). Given that the BIM model and data are shared
between all the project
stakeholders, it is arduous to track the genesis of errors (The
American Institute of
Architects, 2007). In addition, some changes that are made
automatically can also lead
to mistakes (The American Institute of Architects, 2007).
Consequently, there could be
a higher risk of disputes and litigations on projects where BIM
is implemented (Martin,
2012). Although this issue could theoretically be managed by the
use of BIM-specific
contractual provisions (The American Institute of Architects,
2007), some argue that
aggressive use of disclaimers and clauses would strongly reduce
the benefits of BIM
(The American Institute of Architects, 2007).
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4 Questionnaire
The purpose of this chapter is to present and analyse the
results of the questionnaire.
4.1 Global results
The table of results of the questionnaire can be found in
Appendix E.
4.1.1 Level 1: Awareness
As described in Figure 11, 27% of construction professionals
never heard of BIM.
Have you ever heard of BIM?
Figure 11: Global results, Awareness
Figure 12 describes from where respondents heard about BIM.
From where have you heard about BIM?
Figure 12: Global results, Source of awareness
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4.1.2 Level 2: Basic knowledge
As described in Figure 13, 42% of respondents do not know any
BIM software package.
How many BIM software packages do you know?
Figure 13: Global results, Basic knowledge
4.1.3 Level 3: Basic usage
As described in Figure 14, 62% of respondents have never used
BIM software.
Have you ever used BIM software?
Figure 14: Global results, Basic usage
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Figure 15 represents for what purposes respondents used BIM.
For what purposes have you used BIM model(s)?
Figure 15: Global results, common usages of BIM models
4.1.4 Level 4: Advanced knowledge
As described in Figure 16, 82% of respondents do not know what
IFC is.
Do you know what IFC is?
Figure 16: Global results, Advanced knowledge
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4.2 Comparison between young and older professionals
As mentioned in the methodology chapter, most respondents are
young construction
professionals. For this reason, the author decided to make a
comparison between young
and older construction professionals answers to determine if the
global results are
biased by the young average age of respondents. This comparison
also makes possible
to identify a potential evolution of the construction
professionals knowledge about
BIM.
4.2.1 Level 1: Awareness
Figure 17 indicates that 86% of professionals younger than 25
have ever heard of BIM,
against 47% of older professionals.
Have you ever heard of BIM?
People up to 25 years old
People strictly older than 25
Figure 17: Comparison between young and older construction
professionals, Awareness
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4.2.2 Level 2: Basic knowledge
Figure 18 indicates that 72% of professionals younger than 25
have at least a basic
knowledge about BIM against 32% of older professionals.
How many BIM software packages do you know?
People up to 25 years old
People strictly older than 25
Figure 18: Comparison between young and older construction
professionals, Basic knowledge
4.2.3 Level 3: Basic usage
Figure 19 indicates that 50% of professionals younger than 25
have ever used BIM
software, against 16% of older professionals.
Have you ever used BIM software?
People up to 25 years old
People strictly older than 25
Figure 19: Comparison between young and older construction
professionals, Basic usage
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4.2.4 Level 4: Advanced knowledge
Figure 20 indicates that 22% of professionals younger than 25
know what IFC is,
against 11% of older professionals.
Do you know what IFC is?
People up to 25 years old
People strictly older than 25
Figure 20: Comparison between young and older construction
professionals, Advanced knowledge
4.2.5 Conclusions
Two conclusions can be drawn from these results.
First, it can be noticed that younger construction professionals
know more about BIM.
Proportionally the difference between these two categories
becomes greater with the
level of knowledge, apart from the last level.
Secondly, the global results are biased by the fact that most
respondents are young
construction professionals. In reality, it can be expected that
the global knowledge of all
construction professionals is significantly lower than presented
above.
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4.3 Comparison between people who work on-site and others
4.3.1 Level 1: Awareness
Figure 21 indicates that 31% of construction professionals who
work on-site have ever
heard of BIM, against 26 % of other construction
professionals.
Have you ever heard of BIM?
People who work on-site
Others
Figure 21: Comparison between professionals who work on-site and
others, Awareness
4.3.2 Level 2: Basic knowledge
Figure 22 indicates that 56% of construction professionals who
work on-site do not
know any BIM software package, against 36 % of other
construction professionals.
How many BIM software packages do you know?
People who work on-site
Others
Figure 22: Comparison between professionals who work on-site and
others, Basic knowledge
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4.3.3 Level 3: Basic usage
Figure 23 indicates that 63% of construction professionals who
work on-site have never
used BIM software, against 62 % of other construction
professionals.
Have you ever used BIM software?
People who work on-site
Others
Figure 23: Comparison between professionals who work on-site and
others, Basic usage
4.3.4 Level 4: Advanced knowledge
Figure 24 indicates that 100% of construction professionals who
work on-site do not
know what IFC is, against 74 % of other construction
professionals.
Do you know what IFC is?
People who work on-site
Others
Figure 24: Comparison between professionals who work on-site and
others, Advanced knowledge
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4.3.5 Conclusions
From these results, it can be concluded that construction
professionals working directly
on-site know less about BIM than others. However, this is not
due to the utilisation of
BIM on projects, considering that the percentage of people who
already used BIM is the
same for the two categories of professionals.
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5 Interviews
The purpose of this chapter is to summarise the results of the
interviews.
5.1 BIM concepts and definitions
5.1.1 BIM model
Mr Amara explained that a real BIM model is to be used by
several participants at
several phases of the project (e.g. design phase and execution
phase).
In more practical terms, Mr Levrot stated that the objective of
BIM is to produce a
complete virtual model of the building before the execution
phase.
5.1.2 Pre-BIM model
Mr Amara defined what he calls a pre-BIM model. A pre-BIM model
is created with
BIM software, but it is not used by several participants and/or
at several phases of the
project. It cannot be called a BIM model, since it does not
comply with the condition
mentioned above.
5.1.3 Dead model
Even more specifically, Mr Amara defined what he calls a dead
model. A dead model
is created with BIM software, but it cannot be used during the
utilisation phase, since it
does not represent the final building. For example, if a model
is created by the Architect
during the design phase, and is not updated by the Contractor
during the execution
phase, there will be many differences between the model and the
final building; it will,
therefore, become a dead model.
BIM is aimed at being used until the maintenance and utilisation
phases, or even the
deconstruction phase. If a model is created and used only during
the design phase and is
not updated according to the modifications that will be made
afterwards, this model will
eventually be different from the real building. Consequently,
this model is not a real
BIM model, it is only a dead model.
Franois Amara (2013)
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5.1.4 BIM levels
Mr Amara defined three levels of BIM. Each level involves
different missions and
software products.
5.1.4.1 Level 1: Modeling
Each member of the design team (Architect, MEP Engineers,
Structual Engineers etc.)
creates a model using BIM software, such as Revit, AECOSim etc.
(Amara).
5.1.4.2 Level 2: Navigation
The different models are compiled to create the BIM model that
will be used for several
analyses, such as clash-detection, using for example Navisworks
or Navigator (Amara).
5.1.4.3 Level 3: Collaboration
This level refers to a real collaboration between the project
stakeholders, involving
verifications and approvals. Buzzsaw and Projectwise can be used
for this level
(Amara).
5.1.5 BIM interoperability
5.1.5.1 The three operability levels
Mr Amara distinguishes three operability levels:
1. Compatibility: A is compatible with B; C is compatible with
D. This level
refers to the different software from the same software
publisher (ex: Revit MEP
is compatible with Revit Architecture; AECOsim Energy simulator
is
compatible with AECOsim Building Designer)
2. De-facto standard: A, B, and C are compatible with D. This
level refers to the
scenario when a specific software product is used by most
project participants;
the others must, therefore, work with the same format.
3. Interoperability: A, B, C and D are all compatible through an
open standard.
This level is not currently reached in BIM.
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5.1.5.2 IFC
Mr Amara considers that IFC is not harmful when a file is
imported from a different
software product, considering that it is almost the only way to
convert the information.
Moreover, IFC is relatively effective for visualisation
purposes.
However, Mr Amara pointed out the fact that IFC conversions
cause 15-20% of random
data loss and double the size of files. This is unacceptable for
the client and it causes
liability issues (Amara). Indeed, if a file is converted into
IFC, the author of the original
file cannot guarantee the converted version (Amara).
The main point is the difference between exchanges and
deliverables (Amara).
Exchanges refer to the regular exchanges between designers,
whereas deliverables refer
to the final exchanges with the Client (Amara).
There is absolutely no project in the world where regular
exchanges were to be in IFC
contractually. The last New York Guidelines, published in July
2012 is IFC-free.
American companies do not want to use IFC.
Franois Amara
Nevertheless, Mr Amara thinks that working with a single
software publisher and
delivering a final BIM model to the client in IFC - what is
called Native + IFC - is a
good practice.
IFC are useful, but professionals must accept that exchanges
between designers cannot
be in IFC.
Franois Amara
In order to ensure operability between designers, Mr Amara
thinks that a de-facto
standard must be established on every project. This means to
impose the software
publisher that is used by most project participants (Amara).
However, some BIM
specialists disagree, considering that each software editor
offers particular advantages
(Moreau, 2013). For example, Revit is particularly effective for
Architectural elements,
whereas Tekla is specialised in steel structures (Moreau,
2013).
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5.1.6 BIM implementation scenarios
Three different kinds of BIM implementation scenarios were
identified by Mr Amara,
depending on who takes the initiative to implement BIM on a
project.
5.1.6.1 Client initiative
The ideal scenario is when the client wants to use a BIM model
and appoints a Project
Manager who will be responsible for the entire project, from
design to delivery
(Amara).
5.1.6.2 Contractor initiative
The Contractor can decide to use BIM, even though the Architect
works with 2D
drawings (Amara). In that case, the model is called a synthesis
model and is used to
carry out the data synthesis (Amara). The Contractor will create
this model on the basis
of the 2D drawings made by the design team (Amara).
The Contractor can then decide to sell this BIM model to the
Client so that it could be
used during the utilisation and maintenance phases (Amara). Most
of the time, the
model is used only to synthesise the data and is not sent to the
Client (Amara).
5.1.6.3 Architect initiative
Sometimes, the Architect takes the initiative to implement BIM
on the project. This
leads to different options (Amara).
First, if the Client did not express any needs for a BIM model,
the Contractor can decide
to work with 2D drawings (Amara). This is the most common
scenario in France;
models are only dead models that are used only by the Architect
in order to visualise
the project (Amara).
Secondly, if the Contractor chooses to work with BIM, or if the
Client imposes him to
do so, he can work with a synthesis model, different from the
Architects model
(Amara). This is what is happening on the Louis Vuitton
Foundation in Paris (Amara).
Thirdly, the Contractor can work with the same model as the
Architect, as it is the case
on the future Paris Courthouse