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This section of the Guide is intended to quickly provide an overview of BIM along with several important items that you should know before beginning to use the remainder of the Guide.
What is Building Information Modeling?
For the purposes of developing this Guide, we will use the definition of BIM from the U.S. National Building Information Modeling Standard (NBIMS-US) which states that Building Information Modeling is the act of creating an electronic model of a facility for the purpose of visualization, engineering analysis, conflict analysis, code criteria checking, cost engineering, as-built product, budgeting and many other purposes… While the model is an important component of BIM, many now view BIM as more of a process change than a new technology. The model may serve as a knowledge resource to for all project participants, but BIM is a process that enhances collaboration resulting in improved information management and an overall leaner process.
The Value of BIM for Owners
BIM adoption is rapidly gaining speed within the Architectural, Engineering, Construction, and Operations (AECO) Industry. Project teams are shifting their standard practices toward the use of intelligent, parametric 3D models, which can more easily be modified, coordinated, and maintained throughout the lifecycle of a building. According to the 2012 BIM Smart Market Report, industrywide adoption of BIM surged from 28% in 2007 to 71% in 2012. Almost two-thirds (62%) of all BIM users perceived a positive return on investment. Firms that were most engaged with BIM enjoyed far larger increases in benefits. The primary benefits of BIM for owners are a reduction of document errors and emissions, rework, construction cost, project duration, and claims and litigation.
A large majority of owners believe that BIM use is expanding and that owners are driving this change. In 2007, Stanford University’s Center for Integrated Facilities Engineering (CIFE) showed that BIM provided a 40% reduction of unbudgeted changes; provided cost estimates within 3% of the traditional estimates; contract savings of up to 10% with the use of clash detection; and reduced project time by up to 7%. Some of these figures may be disputed, but what cannot be argued is the trend. Adoption rates and positive benefits continue to grow. It is clear that owners are recognizing the value of BIM to improving their capital facility projects, and ultimately, their organization.
How to Use this Guide
This Guide has been developed for facility owner organizations, along with designers, contractors, operators, and consultants who advise owners. We assume that the reader has a fundamental understanding of BIM concepts. For those readers who are not familiar with BIM, it is recommended, that you review BIM literature such as BIG BIM little bim by Jernigan (2008), the BIM Handbook by Eastman et al. (2011), or other BIM resources from the GSA, US Department of Veterans Affairs, US Army Corp of Engineers, and others.
This Guide is not intended to convince an organization to use BIM, but rather how to implement it. If the organization has determined that BIM can add value to the organization, this Guide will lead them through the steps to integrate BIM into the organization. However, if the organization is unsure about implementing BIM, it may be necessary to further research the benefits and risks of BIM to make a business case for implementing BIM.
While the Guide is written for facility owners who operate and maintain facilities, it is important to note that implementing BIM for non-owner organizations is very similar. Therefore, this Guide is an excellent resource for any organization wishing to integrate BIM into their core operational processes.
The Guide contains three primary procedures:
- The StrategicPlanning procedure (Chapter 2);
- The ImplementationPlanning procedure (Chap ter 3); and
- TheProcurementPlanning procedure (Chapter 4).
The Guide is written in the sequential order of the steps and procedures that are necessary to implement BIM. However, each organization will be at a different stage of BIM implementation, and it may be beneficial to focus on a specific procedure based upon the organization’s current level of BIM implementation/maturity. We suggest that you to first read each chapter and then target areas that provide the most value to your current level of BIM implementation.
The appendices provide additional resources for implementing the procedures documented in this Guide. Additional templates and resources are also available at the project website (http://bim.psu.edu). Throughout the Guide, case study examples are provided to illustrate the content discussed. Those examples were developed from case studies and input provided by the supporting organizations.