Future Look - BIM for Owners and Facility Managers

A difference I noticed between the 2008 and 2011 editions of the BIM handbook was that in 2008 the handbook focused on the benefits of 3D drafting, while the 2011 edition focused much more on the benefits of 3D drafting for an integrative design process. In 2008, all disciplines could make separate models and eventually bring them together to form a cohesive design. Now, and in the 2011 version, it is possible for all disciplines to work together from the beginning of the design process using BIM.

This version of the handbook introduced the concept of Integrated Project Delivery. A difference this poses for owners is that they are now responsible for specifying the required scope and level of detail they want for a project before design begins. The design process is now changing in that multiple people are working on a design at the same time, which poses new legal issues concerning responsibility. As Kayleigh stated in her post, "the development of standards is a pivotal and important step in creating a cohesive use of the new method." Owners must understand and be able to communicate in BIM terms exactly what they want from their architects, engineers, and contractors, who will be responsible for what, and when. Like what Eric talked about in class last Tuesday, each project is unique and requires the owner to create BIM standards for every project.

Right now it seems that we have the technology to create fully integrated models between all disciplines but we do not have the proper space or memory to create files that large. On page 188 in the 2011 Handbook it states, “two to five years ago the creation of an integrated model required extensive effort on the part of a project team and dedicated technical expertise to support the integration. Today, many of BIM design tools have matured and provide integration capabilities between several disciplines at the generic object level. “ It seems that most members of my group agree that in the future, companies will have IT departments specifically there for BIM support to help address these issues.  With these advances, we also see performance issues with this technology. Within the next ten to fifteen years, I imagine this space to become accessible, and the norm will be for project design to be fully integrative from the beginning design stages.