What are the challenges faced in BIM collaboration?

Posted by Kuldeep Bwail on January 18th, 2017

BIM collaboration allows construction design teams to share design models and other design information.  It allows team members to visualises the interconnectedness of each discipline’s ideas and how they are incorporated into the final design.

For example, BIM models and discipline collaboration allows teams to more easily identify why a line of ductwork interacts with a beam at a specific height and location, as compared to other alternatives. By collaborating, architectural, and engineering design teams can maintain a high level of collaboration earlier in a project; thus, simplifying the efficiency of the design and construction stages, allowing for integration of subcontractor and vendor prefabrication and material work.

The use of BIM modeling services is to create a unified project model also allows teams to generate ideas and solutions to problems before the costly issues arise during construction. The use of BIM modeling services has become more prominent in the industry due to the high level of information and detailed 3D models provide all members of the design and construction team.

 There are numerous online collaboration tools available in the market. Since the beginning of BIM services within the construction industry, both core and supporting programs have accelerated to meet a core 3D modeling team need: simple, online collaboration. Some of the most common programs include Collaboration for Revit and BIM 360 Glue. Additional collaboration tools and support systems include Sparkframe, Autodesk Buzzsaw, Autodesk’s Vault Collaboration for AEC, and BIMReview. Collaboration for Revit helps ease the process of developing a single model amongst several teams. With Collaboration for Revit, multiple project teams connect to a centralized cloud storage containing all the project data.  Not only can multiple team members work together cohesively on a single model, but the service offers a communication portal (in order to communicate within the model), an easy to use model tracking and syncing tool, and coauthors can collaborate on a single model in spite of their working location.

Another collaboration tool for Building information modeling service teams includes BIM 360 Glue. BIM 360 Glue is another cloud based management and collaboration tool. BIM 360 Glue allows its users to see the most recent models from nearly anywhere. This tool makes recent building information models available, allowing designers and engineers to share their Revit 3D BIM models with the clients who do not have access to Revit, both in the office or onsite.  BIM 360 Glue is a BIM collaboration tool that allows multiple users to share and coordinate around a single Revit 3D BIM model in the cloud. Lesser known BIM services collaboration tools likewise support teams with improved communication across multiple disciplines, simple model checkers, and the management of numerous model variations.  Although collaboration tools increase the value of BIM modeling services, these tools can also run into difficulties that can cause frustration.

With any collaboration platform there are faults and shortcomings.  Maintaining awareness of these pitfalls can allow you to make the most of the available Building information model. A danger many BIM service teams hope never to face is the delay of design data into the model by another collaborating team. Design data that is delayed   can cause faults in the final construction process as they may be present in the design process. For example, a change by the Architectural team in wall design, 50 days after the project has begun could be too late for the MEP team to adapt to the new design without undertaking significant changes. Without a complete and working design, construction delays and design flaws are bound to persist.  A contractual clause preventing extensive delays can aid in mitigating the risk associated with this shortcoming.  Multiple disciplines will also have to encourage communication regarding design ideas, execution, and intent. Without these traits, teams may disengage from the project if their design ideas are not heard, their models are unexpectedly altered, or their design is deemed unacceptable in favor of another discipline. By maintaining a level ground and high communication standards the use of BIM modeling within an effectively used BIM Collaboration utility will remain an effective design tool.

Ultimately, BIM model collaboration tools carry a wide variety of uses and special bonuses that Revit 3D BIM modeling alone cannot provide. BIM modeling services in general allow for increased discipline collaboration, ease of communication, and more opportunities to reduce project costs and time. By integrating BIM model collaboration tools on projects of all sizes, teams can benefit from increased communication and ease of workflow. Prominent BIM collaboration tools such as Autodesk’s Collaboration for Revit (c4R) and BIM 360 Glue can help to smooth the process of multiple firms and teams working to build a single model. Ultimately, the use of BIM modeling services and corresponding collaboration tools can and will improve the workflow process for designers, engineers and their clients.