Ecmweb 6018 Bim Electrical Construction Projects 1
Ecmweb 6018 Bim Electrical Construction Projects 1
Ecmweb 6018 Bim Electrical Construction Projects 1
Ecmweb 6018 Bim Electrical Construction Projects 1
Ecmweb 6018 Bim Electrical Construction Projects 1

Five Ways to Unleash the Power of BIM

Jan. 20, 2014
Although contractors have turned to prefabrication for years to improve efficiency on the job site, here’s why BIM has become even more prevalent on electrical construction projects recently.

Paper plans and tape measures were once staples on a construction site. Today, however, firms that aren’t arming their employees with the latest electronic tools and leveraging the power of building information modeling (BIM) may be losing out on work.

“Soon firms who do not use BIM will not be able to win jobs as more and more clients and contractors are requiring BIM deliverables for their projects,” says John T. Grady II, the corporate BIM manager for CRB in St. Louis.

While more contractors, engineers, and subcontractors may be using BIM on job sites nationwide, the majority of these firms are just scratching the surface of this technology, says Darin Marsden, director of virtual construction for Faith Technologies, headquartered in Menasha, Wis.

Those companies that are embracing the technology, however, are discovering new ways to save time, improve efficiency, and protect their field workforce on a construction project. Here are five ways they have unraveled the mystery of BIM and tapped its true potential.

1. Create a strong team

BIM may offer a wide range of capabilities, but the real power of the technology and its application lies within the knowledge and experience of the people using it, says David Morris, director of virtual construction for EMCOR, headquartered in Norwalk, Conn. He attributes 90% of the success of BIM to the users. EMCOR’s team of more than 400 BIM-trained employees are networked via an EMCOR virtual construction peer group.

“While the computers and the programs by themselves are very powerful, they are a small component of being successful with BIM,” says Morris. “We depend on highly skilled tradespeople — oftentimes with 20 to 30 years of experience — to perform this type of work. They may join the BIM team after managing workers out in the field.”

EMCOR, like many other companies, has discovered it’s far easier and more effective to teach a veteran electrician how to use a modeling program than to try to teach fresh technical school graduates without years of first-hand experience about the world of electrical construction.

With that being said, however, EMCOR often hires technical school graduates to work alongside the trade experts and help to output files. But other companies are plugging these new employees in the lead role as the manager of the construction process, which creates many challenges on a project, says Morris.

“Segments of the industry are only relying on technical people, and they’re pulling the whole team down to their level,” says Morris. “Sometimes you can train them, and other times, it’s a battle from day one all the way out to the end.”

To prevent this from happening, some electrical contracting firms are building their BIM teams with a blend of engineers and electricians and then training them through a peer mentoring program. For example, at Faith Technologies, engineers teach the master electricians about modeling, and, in turn, the electricians share their field experience. The 18 employees in the virtual construction department have a total of 218 years of electrical experience, and 95% of them have worked out in the field.

Engineering and construction management firms have also discovered the advantages of hiring experienced field professionals. CRB Consulting Engineers, Inc. and CRB Builders, LLC are hiring electrical detailers from the trades to work on preconstruction and design detailing. They send their engineers out into the field to interact with the electricians who are installing the systems they design.

“This allows field knowledge to be incorporated into the early design and estimating phases of the project and ensures the most cost-effective constructible solutions are provided to clients, specialty contractors, and contractors,” says Grady.

2. Collaborate and communicate

To yield the best results, both the design and construction team must be strong in BIM, says Daric Hess, senior principal for Heapy Engineering in Dayton, Ohio.

“If any of the parties don’t work in BIM or don’t accurately model their portion of the work, the results of any coordination may not be useful because of the missing or wrong information,” he says.

Oftentimes, not all of the project partners are at the same level of experience and expertise. In some cases, companies may not be able to do BIM at all. In those situations, the general contractor may create a model and pass on the cost to them.

Once the companies create their models, they must be willing to share them to help with coordination during the planning, design, and construction phases. That doesn’t always happen, though, says Marsden.

“We’re still trying to shift the mindset of companies that are hesitant to share models with project partners,” says Marsden. “Sometimes we have to recreate models to do our portion of the work.”

To eliminate this problem, CRB uses an electronic files agreement and a model progression specification based on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) BIM Minimum Modeling Matrix (M3). That way, all team members understand how much detail will be provided within the design intent models.

“It eliminates a lot of the guesswork,” says Grady. “We also found that by providing the models during the bidding phase, it helps ensure that the project scope was fully realized by all bidders.”

By learning more about the constructability of a building earlier on in the construction process, design firms can make better decisions, says Dmitri Alferieff, senior director of virtual construction for Associated General Contractors (AGC), Arlington, Va. Traditionally, the transfer of information has been very linear. For example, a designer passed a drawing on to a general contractor, which feeds it to the subcontractor. By the time the specialty contractors finally obtained the information, it was already set in stone. Today, teams are having greater input earlier on in the process, and they’re working together toward a common goal.

AGC started the BIMForum within its building division in 2006. While many general contractors belong to the BIMForum, it is open to all sectors of the industry, and to be successful, it requires participation from planners, designers, and subcontractors.

“We look at each topic from a cross-industry perspective, and we are not just dealing with issues relevant to contractors or engineers,” says Alferieff, director of the BIMForum. “It’s really meant as a forum for all the participants within the industry to understand how BIM is changing the construction industry.”

To help the industry better collaborate, the BIMForum and the American Institute of Architects created the Level of Detail (LOD) specification, which helps a construction team to effectively communicate the gargantuan amount of information in a 3D model.

“BIM allows people to produce an infinite amount of data about a building,” he says. “Once you have that much information, you must be able to locate it, communicate to others about it, and determine what’s the most important. You also must make sure that everyone has the same understanding of how to interpret that information.”

3. Stick to a schedule

To use BIM successfully on a job site, project partners must not only collaborate, but they must also create and adhere to a schedule. Otherwise, team members may move from a proactive approach to a reactionary mode, which is never a good thing, explains Morris.

“One of the largest challenges I see industry-wide is the lack of scheduling and logistics on the part of the people who control these things,” says Morris. “Sometimes, we are along for the ride as the subcontractors, and the overall schedule comes from the owners and the construction managers. Other times, when we’re coordinating the project as a result of managing the BIM, we’re in charge of the scheduling.”

On about half of the jobs, Morris sees a disconnect between the data in the BIM system and the available tool sets and a lack of adoption.

“It starts falling apart if you don’t put the same diligence into logistics and scheduling that you would with a 3D model,” says Morris. “The entire construction process is much more successful where there is an orderly application of a digital schedule.”

Some companies, however, are still writing their three-week look ahead on a legal pad, which can lead to a lot of arm waving and finger pointing, notes Morris. By using a digital schedule on a BIM project, however, everyone often abides by it — and it’s a very orderly process.

Marsden agrees, saying that when you work on a BIM project, having a schedule is paramount.

“Scheduling is near and dear to my heart because you never want to start too early, and you don’t want to start too late,” he says. “If you go too early, you’ll have to do rework. If you do it late, you’ll have extra guys tripping all over each other. We do things at the right time so we don’t do them twice, and we don’t do them carelessly.”

4. Reduce risks

Through the advent of BIM, construction teams can reduce the risk of installation through better visualization and the ability to build a project virtually before it is constructed in the field, says Morris. Following is a quick case in point. EMCOR is now a leader in the health-care market and works on some of the largest hospital projects in the world. Yet, 10 years ago, the company found this to be a very difficult market due to repeated challenges with the amount of wiring and conduit compressed into the ceilings.

“Years ago, we would do a job walk, and they would have a dozen ceiling tiles popped out,” says Morris. “You would get on a ladder, take photos of the rat’s nest, and then put a bid on it.”

Rather than just doing a visual inspection, EMCOR now is able to capture data through a variety of methods, including BIM authoring tools and 3D scanners. These technologies have made the difference between success and failure in the health-care market, says Morris.

For EMCOR, these types of devices help cut through the complexity. For example, the company worked on a retrofit project for a higher education facility, which required a very complex installation. Instead of going out in the field with a pencil and pad of paper, the team was equipped with digital tools and scanning and surveying equipment. The contractor could then work hand in hand with the architect and engineer to deliver a successful project.

“While it was small, the complexity drove us to use the tool and ultimately gave us the positive outcome,” says Morris. “Five or 10 years before, it would not have been the same process, and we would have probably ended up with claims for additional time and work. With the technology and our trained personnel, we could use that to our advantage.”

5. Perform precise prefabrication

Because electrical contractors work on multiple projects at one time, it’s vital to schedule the work flow so your prefabrication facility can be efficient and productive, says Morris. This improved efficiency is a key payback for the additional time and effort companies put into a BIM.

“Creating the BIM represents an up-front investment, but the return is in multiples and comes from field productivity and safety improvements,” says Morris. “If you don’t have a schedule, it’s chaos, and people tend to just push everything through their shop and then dump it in a pile on the job site and then dig through it later. This is far less efficient than just-in-time delivery.”

Although some aspects of prefabrication can be decided during the construction phase without impact to design, to maximize the amount of prefabrication, companies should have this discussion during the design phase, says Hess. For example, some prefabrication requires additional bracing to allow transport to the site, which may require more space when installed. Those extra inches could have a tremendous impact to the design.

On a BIM-based project, however, the construction team is equipped with detailed information about the order and type of the components that will be installed to streamline prefabrication and installation.

“When you go through the digital process, you have the ability to then prefabricate with impunity,” says Morris. “You know for a fact that your pieces will fit, so you can prebuild a good portion of the job and modularize it.”

As a direct result of BIM, Alferieff says he sees the amount of prefabrication increasing. For prefabrication, it requires accuracy and assurance that the elements within the model are correct, and BIM allows users to test and validate things on multiple levels.

“You have greater assurance that if you fabricate something off site and bring it to the site to install it, it will work,” he says. “With all the planning and modeling tools and capabilities, you can divide the work in more ways to be prefabricated, and there are a lot of advantages to that.”

Today, project teams can prefabricate everything from duct systems to pipe racks to modular bathrooms. While companies have turned to prefabrication for years to improve efficiency, BIM helps make it easier, more accessible, and more prevalent on a job site, says Alferieff.

Faith Technologies often takes advantage of as many prefabrication opportunities as possible. For example, if they are working on an electrical room that requires a lot of conduit with multiple bends, they can have one of their pipe bending experts bend, tag, and ship the conduit to the site, and then the electricians can easily hook it up.

“We are moving some of the installation into a very controlled environment,” says Marsden. “That way, we don’t have to ramp up the on-site electricians so those individuals can focus on installation services.”

Through BIM, electrical contractors and engineers can improve efficiency, reduce risks, and better collaborate with all the project partners. By being able to better visualize a construction project, they can meet project deadlines, streamline work processes, and work together toward a common goal.                                       

Fischbach is a freelance writer based in Overland Park, Kan. She can be reached at [email protected].

SIDEBAR 1: Ten Strategies for Success on BIM Projects

Here are 10 ways your company can get the most out of BIM on a construction project.

1. Get buy-in from the field. BIM can take the guesswork out of installation. To help its electricians visualize what their electrical system should look like when completed, Faith Technologies built the “BIM in a Box,” which is a gang box equipped with a large monitor and computer (see Photo). The electricians can pull the container into an electrical room, turn on the computer, and then see exactly what they are going to install in that room.

“They can look at models in real time out in the field,” says Darin Marsden, director of virtual construction for Faith Technologies. “They can roll a gang box out and spin and twist the model to get a better picture of what they are doing out in the field. They can’t do that with a plan view.”

2. Provide hands-on training. Oftentimes, firms pull in veteran electricians to work on their BIM team. While they may be well versed in construction, they often aren’t proficient in software. To help them through the learning process, Faith Technologies continually grades them on their software proficiency and rotates them through different types of projects so they can gain experience.

3. Dig deeper. Assign one person on your virtual construction team to look for ways to make your BIM tools and software more efficient. By adding more detail into BIM and using its full capabilities, companies can save time and money in the long run.

4. Move efficiencies to the front of a project. Instead of using record drawings just at the end of a job, instead use them at the beginning so you can reap the benefits of all the information inside these drawings and use them as a map during the project. That way, you can work out the bugs ahead of time, saving money and labor hours in the field.

“We try to use a holistic approach,” says Marsden. “The goal is to draw it once and use it for multiple purposes.”

5. Create a plan. CRB Builders, LLC creates individual execution plans for the specific BIM uses during the design phase so everyone can stay on the same page. In addition, the company schedules one-hour coordination meetings to resolve issues.

6. Be proactive rather than reactive. Rather than waiting for your electricians to discover a problem out in the field, instead try to solve it virtually before it even becomes an issue. Through BIM, all the trades can have a coordination meeting each week to discuss clashes out in the field.

“We are talking about solutions as opposed to finding problems,” says Marsden. “A lot of the things said about BIM is clash detection. I like to think of it as clash avoidance. For example, if I’m in a car, I would rather brake and not hit someone than hit another car and then figure out what went wrong.”

7. Gain a competitive edge. By knowing the ins and outs of BIM and being able to effectively build virtual models on a construction project, a company may be able to win a contract. If a company is not adept at the technology, then the firm can slow others down.

8. Protect your field workforce. To prevent electricians from being on ladders and lifts as much as possible, Faith Technologies relies on BIM and subsequent prefabrication. For example, instead of requiring the electricians to measure and cut in the field, they just need to lift and install, reducing the amount of time they are working at an elevated height.

9. Eliminate waste. Through BIM, construction teams can determine the exact lengths and required amount of items from couplings to conduit to lighting fixtures. That way, they can deliver the precise amount of material to the job site at exactly the right time.

10. Work with team members nationwide. Through BIM and meeting software, teams can work on the same project from multiple locations.

“I can have five guys in five different cities work on the same project, and at the click of a button, see the updates that everyone has used,” says Marsden. “We can then push a PDF, model, or other relevant documents out into the field and mark them up in real time.”

SIDEBAR 2: Technological Advancements of BIM

Over the last 10 years, BIM has evolved. Not too long ago, 3D smart CAD evolved into BIM. But in the beginning, the trades weren’t able to collaborate with other team members and work within the same virtual environment. Today, BIM allows firms to plan ahead, work together, and improve productivity. Here are some ways the technology has evolved over the last few years.

1. Improvements in hardware and software. Today’s technology is light years ahead of where it was 10 years ago, says David Morris, director of virtual construction for EMCOR. Oftentimes, the software pushes the computers beyond their capabilities, but he says the hardware and software industry have made tremendous leaps forward in the speed and power of the computers and the feature sets of the software.

2. More efficient storage. Another trend that Dmitri Alferieff of Associated General Contractors is seeing is a shift toward more cloud-based software, which enables faster collaboration, decentralized storage, easier transfer of large files, and more flexible computing power.

3. Enhanced mobility. Mobility allows for greater collaboration between firms and encourages team members to discuss issues before they become big problems, says John T. Grady II, corporate BIM manager for CRB. For example, many field crews now carry iPads loaded with the most up-to-date drawings and models, which allows them to be connected to the right information at the right time.

“The use of iPads, BIM 360 Glue, and Field is taking BIM out of the trailer and putting it right into the hands of the tradesmen,” says Grady.

4. Increased industry participation. More and more manufacturers are creating 3D representations of their equipment and, in some cases, they are embedding technical information, which allows for more accurate representation of the equipment and connections in the model, says Daric Hess of Heapy Engineering, Dayton, Ohio.

SIDEBAR 3: Additional Resources

When diving into the world of BIM, design and construction firms can check out these websites to learn more information about best practices for virtual construction.

Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM: A Guide for Specialty Contractors is available on the National Electrical Contractors Association’s Web site at www.necanet.org.

To learn more about the BIMForum and the LOD specification, visit www.bimforum.org and www.nationalbimstandard.org.

About the Author

Amy Florence Fischbach

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