By Randall S. Newton
Editor-in-Chief
A New York-based developer today told the users of Tekla structural engineering software that building information modeling (BIM) has gone beyond “the coming thing” to be the way of doing business. “Having all the information on a project in one model is the only way to go,” says Carla DaCosta, a director with Tishman Speyer, a Manhattan real estate developer. She offered the group her views on how BIM can become a key unifying tool in the construction process, and had harsh words for industry players who are dragging their feet.
DaCosta made her remarks at the opening session of the Tekla Users Conference today at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. The conference continues through tomorrow.
DaCosta acknowledges that the industry is still learning about BIM and coming to terms with its capabilities and challenges, but that such learning does not need to prevent putting BIM to use as soon and as completely as possible. “Owner/developers must commit to modeling,” DaCosta says.
There are three “C’s” of BIM that are crucial to successful implementation and on-going use, DaCosta says: “Collaboration, commitment, and completeness.”
The first “C”, collaboration, means using BIM as an interdisciplinary tool. This is where DaCosta offers her idea of using BIM in three distinct phases, Design, Transition, and Construction. In the design phase, the owner and the architect model the plan. The transitional phase starts late in the design process, but before design is complete. The construction team is brought in and given the opportunity to speak to constructability and to get started with construction planning even as design continues. The construction phase occurs when design is complete.
The second “C,” commitment, requires means all players in a project get on board and participate in the use of BIM for the project, DaCosta says. “We are not forcing [specific software products] on our partners. We are asking what they use and how we can help them coordinate their work. We recognize this is a transitional period.” DaCosta also says that the use of BIM forces partners to work as a team from the earliest stages of a project.
The use of BIM may be in a transitional phase across the industry, but DaCosta warned that standing on the sidelines is no longer an option. She reserved her harshest criticism for MEP (mechanical, engineering, plumbing/HVAC) firms. “The MEP’s in New York City really need to wake up.” Tishman Speyer is starting to use BIM for clash detection, DaCosta says, and it needs MEP firms to shake off their insistence on working separately and only in 2D.
The third “C,” completeness, refers to the need for the BIM model to be complete. DaCosta promotes an “every bolt” process, in line with her “three phases of BIM” ideas. On one current Tishman Speyer project, the design is not complete but two-fifths of the model has been released for steel ordering while the remaining three-fifths of the project is still being designed. “We are working on the semantics; a lot of coordination is required.” Working this way helps to “coordinate, produce and accelerate our schedule,” DaCosta says. “Knowledge is power.”