Building Information Modeling, BIM method, and the digital transformation of the AEC sector
The Architecture Engineering Construction sector (AEC) is in the midst of a digital transformation, also driven by the application of the BIM method. BIM is a working methodology that, through the use of software, optimizes and integrates, in a single collaborative model, all the relevant data and information useful for each phase of the life of a building or an infrastructure: planning, design (architectural and executive), construction, operational management.
Architects, engineers and construction professionals through this work method have the opportunity to work in continuity throughout the life cycle of a project: connect teams, always have the overall vision of workflows. The result is a better job, efficient for execution times, safety and final result.
BIM, Building Information Modelling
The National Institutes of Building Science defines BIM as “the use of a shared digital representation of a constructed object (including buildings, bridges, roads, process plants, etc.) to facilitate design, construction, and management processes and form a reliable basis for decisions.”
BIM is a process through which to obtain analysis of virtual multi-dimensional models generated digitally through special software. A three-dimensional model of the geometry of a building, the renderings used for graphic simulations, cannot be considered BIM. In fact, the three-dimensional models are only a part of what a BIM is, this integrates in itself the geographical location of the work and its components; the overall geometry and of the various parts; the properties of the materials used, of the components, of the systems and of the technical elements; the phases of realization that need to be carried out; the maintenance operations and the management information; the end-of-cycle disposal.
Methods and progressive introduction of BIM mandatory
The systemic approach of BIM to all aspects of a project ensures that there is a constant and careful analysis of time, costs, security, characteristics that have prompted many governments to proceed with the progressive introduction of electronic methods and tools of modeling for construction and infrastructure.
In Italy, for example, BIM in public contracts for construction works and infrastructure is mandatory as of 2019, for works with a tender amount equal to or greater than 100 million euros. Amount that decreases and will decrease progressively over the years until reaching one million as of January 1, 2025.
Art. 43 paragraph 1 of the new procurement code (Legislative Decree 36/2023) provides for the mandatory use of BIM from 1 January 2025 for contracts over one million.
“[…] from 1January 2025, contracting authorities and contracting entities shall adopt methods and tools for the digital information management of buildings for the design and construction of new construction works and for interventions on existing buildings for an amount based on tendering exceeding EUR 1 million.”
In this direction, the possibility for contracting authorities to introduce “reward scores for the use of specific electronic methods and instruments” within the award criteria of the tender is included.
Coordination, communication, collaboration: the fundamental advantages of BIM
BIM interoperability, unlike in the past where work processes were multiple and disconnected, makes use of intelligent, duly created data that can be used by all AEC project teams allowing them to communicate freely, overcoming the normal barriers between sectors and disciplines
The model, spatially accurate, is populated with intelligent objects (standard parametric objects characterized by generic properties or libraries of BIM objects containing geometric, material, technological, performance, economic characteristics, etc.) and mapped so that everyone can take advantage of it.
This results in a coordinated process that, as we have seen, connects the work of all the professionals involved in the construction or infrastructure project in order to collaboratively follow the phases of the entire life cycle.
Planning . The planning of each project is optimized by combining the acquisition of reality and real data in order to create contextual models of the environment in which it is inserted: the nature of the place and the buildings already present.
Design. The project is defined conceptually, is analyzed in its feasibility, created the details that characterize it and useful documentation. It is the pre-construction phase, also useful to define the tasks of the various departments, logistics, work scheduling (WBS – Work Breakdown Structures).
Construction. It is the start phase of construction work according to BIM specifications. The management of the project on site is coordinated by the information contained in the 3D model, allowing the synchronized work of the companies involved in the realization of the work: the executive activities can be verified in real time, updating the work log, monitoring the progress in times and costs, eliminating any interference, improving efficiency and safety.
Operating results. The post-construction phase, BIM data concerns or may also concern the operational management and maintenance of what has been built, their economic restructuring or efficient dismantling.
BIM Model Libraries and BIM Condor Objects
We have seen how essential it is, in the design of a building or an infrastructure, to have available the BIM libraries of building systems and products, which contain all the information: dimensional, informative, material, functional.
This applies even more to formwork, scaffolding, temporary structures and all systems used on site: having parametric objects that have specific, functional and formal characteristics helps designers in the AEC sector to insert them more easily and reduce margins of error, waste and inconsistencies.
This is why Condor provides customers with BIM libraries of its systems that are suitable for use within the model. Object libraries to provide the designer with a useful tool to select and use geometrically characterized products (two-dimensional and three-dimensional representations), containing information relating to materials, technological properties, performance, installation methods: characteristics that reflect those that the real product will have to satisfy.
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