BIM for Owners and Facility Managers

BIM software is pushing to become more prevalent in today’s world. In Ryan Krall's post he states, “One thing that is needed as the industry transfers over into the BIM world is the inclusion of contractors along with every member of the design team.” It is important to include the ideas and requirements of all members of the design process when creating building models, especially those of the owners and facility managers. The fourth chapter of the BIM Handbook discusses the benefits that BIM programs have for owners and facility managers.  Generally, owners and facility managers are largely interested in being cost effective and getting the buildings up and running as quickly and safely as possible. The Handbook stresses that BIM can reap great benefits for owners and facility managers. 

First, BIM’s greatest advantage is its ability to link design information with cost estimating and sales forecasts. It allows owners to create extremely accurate cost estimates and avoid cost overruns and unexpected costs by making design changes easier and allowing documentation to automatically update. It also allows for crowd behavior, manufacturing, hospital procedure, maintenance procedure, and emergency evacuation or response simulations. Another important part of BIM software is it can rapidly reconfigure and explore design scenarios, allowing several different design scenarios to be looked at and evaluated before choosing the best one. BIM is also capable of recognizing code violations and performing accurate energy analysis. In Kayleigh's blog she further describes BIMs energy analysis capabilities, saying "In terms of energy savings, Revit has the ability to render full scale simulations of energy modeling through daylighting." These are just a few of the capabilities available by BIM that make it easy to see how owners and facility managers can benefit from this software. 

This chapter also discusses the responsibilities of the owner needed to make the use of BIM as successful as possible for a project team. First, owners must educate themselves on BIM capabilities. Next, they must choose a qualified team with experience or training in use of the software, making sure all members can contribute to the creation, modification, and review of the building model. Finally, they must set forth standards for BIM requirements. They should set standards in the contract that require the use of BIM software. They should also set standards for keeping the files updated, and the techniques of file exchange that will be used. It is important for them to consider the design process when deciding these standards. The Handbook talks about a new approach called Integrated Project Design that forces participants in all facets of the design process to work together. Terry D. Bennet says, “Using models and a BIM workflow to facilitate discussion on the design are an ideal complement to this delivery approach.” I think we will see this approach used more and more in the future!

Source:

http://newsletters.agc.org/newsandviews/2010/07/07/the-impact-of-bim-on-the-engineering-and-heavy-construction-workflow