This is a visual response to an interesting blog post by AProf. Randy Deutsch on ‘BIM + Integrated Design‘. The utterly enjoyable post reminded me of a dilemma I faced a few years back when I started to investigate BIM’s underlying knowledge structures beyond the software tools which enable it. To cut a very long story short, my journey led me to …
BIM Framework, Research Focus Group Sessions
This page is NOW CLOSED. If more data is required, new dates and locations will be added to the table below. Thank you to all those who participated; your feedback has been invaluable! ______________________________________________________________________________________________ To the kind attention of BIM subject matter experts: You are kindly requested to consider participating in the BIM Framework research project, part of my PhD candidacy at …
Episode 13: the BIM Maturity Index
This post introduces the BIM Maturity Index (BIMMI), a new specialized tool to measure BIM Performance. The five Maturity Levels constituting BIMMI are briefly described and a sample organizational assessment – using both Capability and Maturity metrics – is provided.
Episode 12: BIM performance measurement
If BIM implementations by teams and organizations are to achieve the much touted increase in productivity, these implementations need to be measured, compared against some sort of industry benchmarks and – most importantly – independently certified. Without measurement, organizations offering design, construction or operations’ services have no basis on which to improve their processes and deliverables. Without benchmarks and certificates, clients aiming to employ these organizations have no consistent way of understanding their BIM competencies.
BIM Search
BIM Search indexes 100s of hand-picked BIM focused websites, blogs and forums. Search results can be further refined by clicking on one of the provided filters which appear after you perform the initial search. Please note that a dedicated site – still in early beta – has now been set up to host BIMSearch.net (http://www.BIMSearch.net/). If you’d like to improve …
BIM Episode 11: The difference between BIM Capability and BIM Maturity
The Story Let’s start with a short story about two AEC organisations that – once upon a time – decided to adopt Building Information Modelling. Both organisations were mid-sized firms, operated within the same market and had the same mix of disciplines. Both were able to undertake large Design and Construct (Design and Build) projects of value exceeding $200m within …
The BIM Framework: an Academic Perspective
Many of ThinkSpace’s readers are academically-oriented and may be interested to know that the BIM Framework has now been published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Automation in Construction (Volume 18, Issue 3). The Framework is the basis of most BIM episodes published so far and has allowed the generation of many BIM implementation and evaluation tools (more about that in …
Episode 10: Effects of BIM On Project Lifecycle Phases
This post discusses how BIM will first blur the lines separating different project lifecycle phases: Design Construction and Operations. As model-based collaboration takes hold, lifecycle players start moving into each other’s territory until finally, as network-based integration becomes the norm, lifecycle phases overlap extensively causing major changes within industry.
Episode 9: BIM Steps
The adoption of BIM by an organisation will not happen unintentionally and definitely not in a single giant leap. In fact, it will be deployed through intentional decisions passing through major milestones referred to as BIM Stages. These stages – if well defined – are very useful to understand BIM concepts and visions but are – on their own – not usable in implementation. Further subdivisions are needed: smaller incremental changes that each organisation can make to reach each major Stage, mature within it and then attempt to reach another. These ‘feetstones’ or micro objectives are called BIM Steps. The difference between BIM Stages and Steps is that stages are radical or transformational changes while steps are incremental/evolutionary changes or maturity levels.
BIM News Bits – Interesting Developments
I try not to to blog industry news but sometimes it feels ‘irresponsible’ not to do so. However, I’ll follow the three BIM Nodes logic in my reporting: On the Technology front: the emergent Microsoft Live Mesh technology deserves some attention… Would an enterprise version enable a different approach to BIM Integration (Stage 3) alongside Model Servers and what I …