Gawor - Current Problems with BIM

Current Problems with BIM

Using BIM for project design requires more work upfront. The process inherently is more collaborative. It requires greater initial communication between designer, owner, and contractors. The effective use of BIM software is highly dependent on how it is implemented. Good use of software like Revit requires intimate knowledge of the program, establishing client needs, office standards, and new design practices. The use of BIM can require a great deal of licensing and training, and often requires hiring several individuals to oversee implementation of these programs and practices in office.

A lack of standards on how building models should perform is another issue. Drafted drawings were read as showing design intent, but now modelled buildings may be read as instruction for construction depending on their level of detail. Ensuring accuracy in a BIM model suggests maybe more risk than that of a drawing set. The ownership of the BIM model and its data are uncertain.

There is a learning curve with BIM, and smaller practices might not have the resources or time to invest in this new software, making for a longer learning curve and time of adaptation. The transition from drafting to modelling can take many months, even years. If a model is meant to be used long term to inform building operations, it will take more time and input from the owner to assure engineering teams this is something they want and will use.

The electrical industry is not very well represented in BIM. Most BIM software do not provide electrical elements out of box, nor have they developed the type of compatibility that is not built in to running piping or vents. There is no intelligent circuit design available. Other issues that need to be developed in BIM software include better representation of architectural planning processes, more intuitive user interfaces, integration with GIS systems, integration with energy modelling, connection to real world capture and feedback. [1] Developing the design for a building usually involves some amount of information collection and abstraction. Buildings are not born perfectly in the mind of a single architect, ready to be represented in highly detailed 3D but are a process of adjusting, elaborating and correcting upon a concept.

Resources

[1] http://usir.salford.ac.uk/12898/2/PaulCoatesLimitationsofBIMICSU.pdf

[2] http://www.caed.calpoly.edu/content/pdci/research-projects/simonian-10

Peer Comments

Taryn Francischetti

https://ae-410-510-ay16-17.blogspot.com/2017/01/taryn-francischetti-team-blog-post-3.html

Taryn, I agree ownership of these BIM models and how they might be used post project construction is a big issue that is yet to be resolved. There is no benefit for the design team to share their model, as they might be held liable for discrepancies in the model post construction. Specialty contractors working on the model might want to maintain their rights to their details of design. Proprietary information left in the hands of an owner could find its way to a competitor. The desire to use the models for future repair and maintenance of the project will have to be balanced with liability issues.

Peter Dannemann

https://ae-410-510-ay16-17.blogspot.com/2017/01/b3-group-c-peter-dannemann.html

Peter, you are right geotechnical and site related work is underserved in existing Revit design.There is also minimal integration with GIS systems. The location of the project so greatly informs a project and its performance that it seems a ridiculous omission.

Hayley Selden

https://ae-410-510-ay16-17.blogspot.com/2017/01/selden-b3-revit-vs-other-drafting.html

Hayley, with respect to your comparison of Revit and Sketchup you are completely right. Sketchup serves as a more intermediate design concept phase of a project, more than a platform for detailed design, especially when it comes to detailing or engineering systems. This ‘concept’ or planning part of the design process is not really built into Revit. You touch on the distinction between drafting and modelling. For me this is another interesting problem. Drafted drawings are read as showing design intent, but now modelled buildings may be read as instruction for construction depending on their level of detail. Ensuring accuracy in a BIM model suggests maybe more risk than that of a drawing set.

B3 - Current Problems with BIM / Revit

BIM

BIM (Building Information Modeling) has definitely improved our professional lives. Visualizing, or trying to, is a different experience from being able to actually see a 3-Dimensional rendering of a concept. Projects, ideas, concepts are almost tangible nowadays, and that is all thanks to BIM Technology. Revit, in particular, is widely used in the engineering and architectural world as a tool of communication between different spheres / disciplines within the "building world". BIM has advanced widely in the last decade or so, and its advantages most definitely counterweight its setbacks. However, there are a few things worth mentioning regarding possible flaws in BIM and Revit, that engineers, architects, and even students encounter often enough for them to be considered as problems / disadvantages.

Following the class discussion on this topic [1] I am going to try to expand more on some of the major pointers that we were able to summarize last week. 
It seems that one of the main reasons people get frustrated about when it comes to Revit, is that when the file becomes too large (above a few MBs), significant lagging starts to occur. This might be directly related to how much power the computer and graphic card the model is trying to be run on, has. However, this is considered a design flaw, because there is other software out there who are able to compute a myriad of data in a few seconds, without displaying obvious lag or crashing.  
Another aspect in which Revit could use some improvement on, is a better incorporation of systems, done so in stages. There has been a demand for this feature for a few years now, and Revit developers were able to accommodate clients' needs by creating the "virtual cloud", as a way of storage for one single model to be saved on, and later on be accessed by different computers and users. The problem with that is that not a lot of people can work on the same model at the same time and be able to save all the changes by superimposing them.  Each user gets a notification if the file is already open on a different computer, and they can access it as view-only, without being able to save changes or modify the original model. 
Revit has also been described as very used-dependent. Each firm has a dedicated team of drafters, whose job is to draft or detail Revit models. However, there is an absolute need for basic knowledge of Revit by engineers and designers as well. The project proves to be more time-efficient if the designers know how to assemble different systems based on their design. Setting up an initial model is very time-consuming and its benefits aren't observed right away. However, taking the extra time to model or assemble the model correctly in the beginning, proves to be rewarding in later stages of the project, when modifications might be necessary. Going back to the idea of user-depended, I also wanted to point out that Revit is a very powerful tool. This is significant because a software's power is often related to its complexity, which might be a reason why not a lot of people are very "fluent" in Revit. The software could improve the user interface to make it easier for beginners to have a better experience. 
Generally speaking, our group also pointed out that electrical engineering is one of the slowest fields, in our experience, which has adapted BIM Technology. Converting 3-D models into 2-D plans often requires additional work, to better display overlapping and system interaction. This may counteract the initial purpose of using BIM, which is to manage tasks in a timely manner.

Resources

[1] Week 3 Class Discussion - Group B - Current Problems with Revit/BIM
https://ae-410-510-ay16-17.blogspot.com/2017/01/week-3-class-discussion-group-b-current.html

Peer Review Comments


Alexander Koo: I think it's interesting that you touched upon the legal aspect of BIM data. That's something that hadn't occurred to me. It must be extremely hard to keep track of which user implemented which feature throughout the lifetime of a project, which can vary from a few weeks, to months. As you mentioned, the "blurring" of responsibility can be dangerous. However, final plans are always reviewed and seen by many sets of eyes, and at the very end sealed by a professional engineer. This ensures careful consideration of every single feature and detail in the project. Finding the responsible party is necessary only when something goes very wrong and someone needs to be blamed, which will hopefully not be the case in future projects. 

Prahlad Singh: I agree with the points you made while comparing AutoCad to Revit. I just wanted to point out that in many cases, people try to compare AutoCad 3D to Revit, solely based on better three-dimensional capabilities that AutoCad 3D features. But as Professor Mitchell mentioned in class, AutoCad 3D is not considered very well-designed, therefore you don't hear of any architectural firms using it. As Pierre Derenoncourt eloquently put it, "with AutoCad you’re using lines to create basic geometry that represents real life objects, while with Revit you’re using geometry that’s equipped with real life information." [2]
[2] AutoCad or Revit - Where do you draw the line?
http://blog.digitaltutors.com/autocad-revit-draw-line/

Chris Sager: First and foremost, I appreciate your sense of humor. Second, thanks for providing those quantities; it helped me get a better idea of how much money you need to invest in order to get a decent computing power that can handle complex BIM. (it's outrageous!) I mentioned the high processing power needed to run Revit as a major design flaw in my blog post as well. I don't know how, but I am sure there is a way to optimize and improve Revit in that sense, and that could be an interesting subject of research for a computer science or IT major who wants to specialize in data synthetization. It's a problem, especially in work environments where more than 20 computers need to be upgraded in order to keep up with recent technologies.

Alexander Koo - B3: What are the possible future problems with Revit/BIM?

What are the possible future problems with Revit/BIM?

Building Information modelling (BIM) completely revolutionize the disciplines of architecture, engineering, and construction industry. Through this technology, a virtual model can be digitally constructed and used for planning, design and construction purposes. Based on the industry, BIM can be used in many ways ranging from engineering to business purposes. The fact, however, that BIM will, in the near future, pose some risks and problems is inevitable. The main two future risks associated with BIM can be divided into two broad categories; legal and technical.[1] 

In terms of the technical aspect, full BIM implementation could a future challenge. Despite the clear productivity and economic benefits offered by the BIM technology, BIM adoption in several industries is much slower than anticipated. [2] According to Bernstein and Pittman, three technical reasons can be listed as to why BIM adoption is a future challenge:

1.  The need for well-defined transactional construction process models to eliminate data interoperability issues,

2. The requirements that digital design data be computable, and

3. The need for well-developed practical strategies for the purposeful exchange and integration of meaningful information among the BIM model components.

No real consensus or guidelines have been released on how to properly and efficiently implement the use of BIM, due to the wide range of uses it provides. Many software forms have the ability to implement certain aspects of BIM but they cannot treat the process as one whole entity. One possible solution would be to standardize the process and define rules and guidelines for total implementation. [1] As mentioned by Maissoun Ksara in her blog post, another example of a technical challenge that might arise with the use of BIM would be the availability of enough processing power to develop the BIM models.  As the implementation of BIM becomes more complete, the file sizes of the models will consequently increase and a software, capable of processing larger amount of information will be needed. For example, a noted decrease in file processing will be noted on Revit due to the larger file size. [3] Link: https://ae-410-510-ay16-17.blogspot.com/2017/01/maissoun-ksara-b3-what-are-possible.html

When taking in consideration the legal aspect, a possible risk of BIM would be the one associated with the ownership of the BIM data. [1] Data ownership could be a risk considering the amount of different platforms used for a simple BIM model. For example, the owner of the project will feel entitle to the ownership of the project but same goes for the team members supplying information and data for the project. When integrated data is contributed from project team members, other than the owner and A/E, licensing problems might arise. [1] As the BIM technology continues to evolve, the degree of implementation from all the parties involve will increase, and that might ownership issues. No real solution can be stated since it will require a unique response based on the project and parties involved. The integrated concept of BIM blurs the level of responsibility so much that risk and liability will likely be enhanced. [1]

BIM is an innovative way to manage projects and is still in the process of evolving to reach its full potential. However, the future legal and technical risks associated with the implementation of BIM should be taken into consideration.

References:

[1] http://ascelibrary.org/doi/full/10.1061/(ASCE)LM.1943-5630.0000127

[2] Fischer, M., and Kunz, J. (November 12, 2006). The Scope and Role of Information Technology in Construction [WWW document]. URL http://cife.stanford.edu/online.publications/TR156.pdf

[3] https://ae-410-510-ay16-17.blogspot.com/2017/01/maissoun-ksara-b3-what-are-possible.html

Comments:

Peter Dannemann – I never thought about the possibility of implementation the use of BIM into geotechnical surveying. That is very eye opening and really show the potential of BIM in the industry. The idea of responsive environment is very interesting and would definitely add a new aspect to the use of BIM. One note would be to look into how BIM will be fully implemented to allow such advancements in BIM technology. As mentioned in my post, legal and technical risks could arise. Blog Post: https://ae-410-510-ay16-17.blogspot.com/2017/01/b3-group-c-peter-dannemann.html

 

Maria Raggousis – I agree with the fact that the current problems will differ depending on the user and industry involved. The idea that the problems are bigger than software and hardware programs never occurred to me since these problems are the first to come to mind when thinking of the risks associated with BIM. It was interesting to view the current problems to this day and how they affect or maybe lead to the future problems mentioned in my post. It helps visualising and understanding the source of the future problems. One note would be to also think about the present legal problems associated with BIM. Blog Post: https://ae-410-510-ay16-17.blogspot.com/2017/01/assignment-b3-group-b-maria-raggousis.html

Nick Pawlikowski – I never thought about the economic risk with the use of BIM. It is true that the initial use of BIM is an investment that should be carefully thought about. The issue of the demand for higher information processing is an issue nowadays but will be an even greater issue in the near future with the BIM implementation treated as a whole. Are there any current issues associated with the legal aspect due to the use of BIM? Blog Post: https://ae-410-510-ay16-17.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-adoption-of-bim-into.html