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Minimum Modelling Requirements
The basis of BIM as a process is that information created by a participant for their purposes can be reused by others to assist them with their purposes.For this to work 3 things have to happen:The...
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Real BMP - Best Modelling Practice
In my last post I wrote about Minimum Modelling Requirements, and the lack of standards around what that encompasses. But looking at examples of Minimum Modelling Requirements, and BIM Management Plans...
View ArticleFour Things BIM Doesn't Do
If we make the assumption that BIM contains all information about a project (or the 'index' for locating information), what is missing? What stops us being able to issue a BIM model without drawings?...
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Schedules from BIM - why is it so hard?
One of the uses of BIM, and increasingly a deliverable, is that what is on drawings matches what is in schedules.In theory it seems simple. If your BIM software is a database you just extract the...
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Keep your BIM Model Real
Many of us only work in the world of our BIM models. The closest we get to something real is the drawings and schedules produced by our BIM software (even then we may never see them as physical...
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BIM is not so Real after all
In my last post, Keep your BIM Model Real, I explored the issue of relating a BIM model to the real world. One of my conclusions was to "actively include tolerances in our BIM Models".I was wrong.WHY...
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The Nature of Naming
BIM is by nature a shared environment. For example in the context of Revit each discipline team work together in one file.This new paradigm means things have to be shared, people can't isolate...
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IP - it is not all yours, get used to it
When discussing BIM with those yet to take it up the topic of Intellectual Property invariably comes up. It is so important to them it comes across as a major reason they are not using BIM (although I...
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Renaming (UK) NBS Shared Parameters
The UK National Building specification (NBS) has released a Revit shared parameter file containing the shared parameters that conform to their standard. This is another sterling contribution by the NBS...
View ArticleDefine your BIM Services
More and more architects and engineers are finding BIM deliverables appearing in their engagement agreements.There seems to be an attitude amongst owners and contractors that authors of BIM models...
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Different BIMs for different Purposes
How does BIM work, like really work, in the real world?There are a proliferation of diagrams with arrows and graphics invariably arranged in a circle,or as a seamless flow.But none of these are...
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NBS BIM Object Standard - Where is the Impact Statement?
When the NBS BIM Object Standard first came out I eagerly grabbed it to see if it contained any useful insights, anything that might help me structure the way I do my work.Sadly I was disappointed. Not...
View ArticleClassification - not so Easy
I have written about adding classification numbers to Revit before. Back then I thought it good practice to include them, even if you didn't have a specific need for them.That was before I did some...
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Procuring BIM - PAS 1192-2 and acif PTI
I feel sorry for owners and managers who need to make decisions about BIM on a project.The information available is vague; it is hard to extract practical advice that can be acted upon. And confusing,...
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Everyday BIM
This month 3 years ago, August 2012, I started the practicalBIM blog.My original intention was to blog about practical ways to make BIM work. But when I started reviewing the literature on BIM I became...
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Should Owners ask for BIM?
There is this idea in the BIM evangelist community that owners, the ones who commission a facility, should specify what BIM is to be used on a project. Not just what BIM will be delivered to them, but...
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How to define BIM Use
For those that don't know, a BIM Use is a task, outcome or deliverable that a BIM model is used for. For example when a BIM model is used for structural analysis, or to create a door schedule, or...
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COBie is not what you think it is
When BIM is talked about mention of COBie is never far away. What I don't understand is why COBie has reached such a privileged position. Sure it is (pretty much) mature, sure it has been used in the...
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How Usable are BIM Standards?
This month the UK Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) published an article in their BIM+ blog.Titled LEVEL 2 STANDARDS: CREATING CONSISTENCY OR CAUSING COMPLEXITY?it is a series of interviews with...
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What makes a good Office BIM Manager?
Many professional design firms and construction sub-contractors are being forced to become BIM authors, with the expectation they can manage and provide BIM deliverables.They have to use BIM software,...
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Making BIM Work: Quality Models
BIM processes only work if there is something those processes can act upon.No BIM models, no process.And quality matters: without good quality models no matter how good BIM processes or standards are...
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Where is BIM in Education
Recently I went on-line and had a look at the subject offerings of the four university level design schools in my home town. I wanted to see what they were offering in terms of BIM education, and by...
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The Axioms of BIM
BIM can seem complicated at times, but is it really?Certainly BIM processes and procedures can end up being complicated, just try and and understand some of the standards that are being pushed.If only...
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BIM Model Safety
Over the last decade or so the construction industry has become more concerned with safety. With good reason, building sites can be dangerous places. A building site can be made safer by keeping it...
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Use a Revit Road Map to get to BIM
Unless you want to get hopelessly lost all journeys require a road map. Sure you can wing it and see where it gets you, but using a road map means you will not only get there faster, you will also...
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