User:Stanimir

The must-have tools for a Construction Project Manager

 

Introduction

To be a Project Manager has never been an easy job. The construction industry has evolved much, and the complexity of projects has increased accordingly. In the past, building shapes were not that ambitious, and the more extravagant, which are now considered architectural landmarks, took ages to build. Just to mention some examples: the Norte Dame took over 200 years to build; Cologne Cathedral with around 600 years; the Sagrada Familia Cathedral, which started construction in 1882, and is still not finished. There are many factors influencing the long construction time, such as political instability, lack of financial and physical resources, wars, and many more, but a major reason the construction process was delayed that much was the lack of coordination and communication. Any change of design meant that all the drawings, calculations and models had to be remake, and that took time. Fortunately, nowadays that is not an issue.

Abstract

Capitalism has put a lot of pressure on time and resources, which results in the need for optimizing processes; information technologies; data extraction; coordination and communication across disciplines, contractors, and stakeholders. Smaller construction projects are easier to manage, as the workload is not that huge, and one can probably do well with more simple tools for design, planning and management, but when it comes to big- and mega-projects, or very complex ones with special requirements, the lack of proper methods and tools will cost the project dearly, both in time and money. This article will show the relevance and need for digital tools for design, planning and management a Project Manager should have in the 21st century. It will analyse one specific digital tool for managing Construction projects, list the types of features needed to execute a big and complex construction project and will analyse some examples. It will also consider the advantages and disadvantages in using those types of software and will discuss what could be improved in the future.

The essential tools for PM

A project managers role can vary with different projects. Tender preparation, coordinating task between the different disciplines, estimating time and cost, and monitoring the work on site are some of the typical tasks a Project Manager has. To keep track on the project, be informed about changes and act fast when needed, a PM must make use of the best software available, because the “conventional” e-mails and paper drawings are not enough to communicate fast and effectively.

BIM concept

Nowadays, the Building Information Modeling (BIM) is playing a key role in the construction industry. As the name implies, the building project is represented by an object based 3D (some software even claim to have a 4D) model, which contains metadata. Autodesk, which is one of the leading companies in the field, describe its as the following: "Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the holistic process of creating and managing information for a built asset. Based on an intelligent model and enabled by a cloud platform, BIM integrates structured, multi-disciplinary data to produce a digital representation of an asset across its lifecycle, from planning and design to construction and operations."[1]

In other words – a BIM model is a digital representation of the project, with object-based elements, containing metadata, which later can be extracted and used with other software. A BIM model serves as the groundwork for the project, as most of the relevant information can be accessed instantly from it, by using work-sharing. Depending on project needs, and goals set, the settings can be made so different disciplines can work simultaneously on the model, without interfering in each other’s work.

One of the most used and popular software for BIM models today is Autodesk Revit. Because of its popularity, the majority of other software have made a plugin, or at least made their software compatible with it, in order to access the huge market.

ICT Contract

The basis of communication regarding project information must be agreed upon with an ICT Agreement [2]. It lists the types of file formats, classifications, names, specifications and other relevant information to be used in the project. This improves the coordination and efficiency of work.

Dalux

Having a BIM model is essential, but in order to manage the project, one has to supplement it with other software. Dalux is a software company specialized in exactly that, and it has created packages to support the different processes trough the who life of the project.

Idea

The idea of the project is manifested trough the BIM software, where the different disciplines coordinate with each other to create a meaningful model. Once all the models are linked, they can be exported directly into Dalux.

BIM viewer

Before accessing the quality of the design, or work done, a PM has to be able to navigate into the model. Dalux here has a clear advantage, as it uses low resolution rendering, which reduces the lag time when working with the model, and in big projects, with many details, even a simple zoom in/out can cause lag on a regular machine.