Future Of BIM In The Construction Industry

I think that the future for BIM is promising. Chapter 6 lists five capabilities that BIM should provide to contractors. Currently BIM can only provide two. These capabilities are: detailed building information, temporary components, specification information associated with each building component, analysis data related to performance level and project requirements, design and construction status. The last three capabilities seem to already be in existence, obviously still not on programs like Revit but it does seem doable. I think these capabilities can definitely be on BIM programs in five years. Junwah Ng mentioned how we could use phones to check the BIM models. I think that this is definitely possible. I know that AutoCAD already has an app for the iphone. Dr. Moon analyses the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge. I'm pretty sure he sees what he needs to see with strain gauges and the data then comes back to him through a computer displaying whatever he needs to know in real-time. BIM programs would have to have some kind of programming that allows it to analyze data in real-time. I think the last capability of construction status is very doable in the next 5 years. Contractors can be given a task for the day. At the end of the day they can just go to a computer and check off an already made checklist of the things that need to be completed and they can leave notes or reports for reference. I also think that the cost estimating can improve in 5 years and may not entirely replace an estimator. There is going to have to be some kind of online database that BIM can connect to in order to associate different components in the model to the respective brands, prices, properties, etc. The clash detection that BIM can already do is only going to get better. Obviously, the whole point of transitioning to BIM is to save money. Money is the driving for factor for a lot things and construction cost is definitely a driver. With the use of BIM we could probably see government agencies change the way they review projects. Instead of submitting plans, BIM could print out data that cover specific requirements by the government. The government could also be connected to the BIM model at any time for "off-site" inspections to see how the construction is going by giving real-time data as mentioned before.