Building Information Modeling in project management

Building Information Modeling is defined as “a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility. As such it serves as a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during its lifecycle from inception onward” according to The National Building Information Model Standard Project Committee. The concept of BIM was developed at Georgia Institute of Technology in the late 1970s and has increased rapidly the last decades due to the significant benefits that provided in construction projects.

In this article, BIM is analyzed for the perspective of project management. Although BIM tool is more associated with the design team, the role of the project management is crucial and continuous in all the stages of the life-cycle of a project. For successful management, the procedures and tasks have to be planned in the early phase of the project. For this reason a BIM Project execution plan should be developed in advance. The components of this execution plan as well the tasks of an experienced project manager as the BIM-coordinator of the project are discussed. Moreover, the advantages and the limitations of the uses of BIM in construction projects are identified.

History

Although BIM appears as a totally new tool for management of construction projects, its concept exists for at least 30-40 years.

In 1975, Eastmen introduce in his paper the idea of “Building description systems (BDS)” as a “single integrated database for visual and quantitative analyses” , where “Contractors of large projects may find this representation advantageous for scheduling and materials ordering” . Later, after the development of BDS concept, in 1986, Robert Aish described it as “Building Modelling”, in the sense that BIM is used today. As “Building Information modeling”, first documented in 1992 by G.A. van Nederveen and F. P. Tolman. However, the concept of “Building Information Modeling” became popular even later when in 2002 Autodesk adopted it as a strategy for “the application of information technology to the building industry”. From then, the amount of BIM users is increasing rapidly due to the benefits are provided.

BIM aspects regarding Project Management

The main aspect of using BIM regarding Project Management are the following:

• Integrated Project Delivery System

Integrated project delivery is an integrating approach for project management for delivering projects that integrate the collaboration between the different parties that involved on it. By this way, the efficiency through the phases could be increased as all the parties operate as a coherent team and concentrate on project general outcome and not on individual objectives. For improving the collaboration, BIM-tool enable the communication, visualization and analysis of complex project information between parties, which also improve the productivity and facilitation management. The benefits of an integrated project delivery on BIM based approach during the life cycle, contribute on a successful project execution.

• Unique language

The key of success in project management is the usage of the same language, meaning using the vocabulary in the same way that everyone in the project is using it. In a BIM project it is crucial for a project manager to be well-educated and have the skill to understand and be understood by all the parties involved in the project. Moreover, the ‘language’ between the parties is also important as BIM is based on the communication and the exchange of information between the teams of the project. For instance, the use of different softwares languages by different teams involved in the project is one of the main challenges in BIM, which can be solved by the use of a common neutral format language for exchanging information between the parties. For instance, the international organization, buildingSMART, formerly the International Alliance of Interoperability (IAI), has developed a neutral and open specification for BIM, called Industry Foundation Classes (IFCs), for improving the exchange of information between softwares used in the construction industry. Data interoperability is a main factor for obtaining BIM efficiency.