I recently read the SmartMarket Report published by McGraw Hill Construction, The Business Value of BIM for Owners. The report yields several key trends, one of the main trends was directly related to the perceived benefits of BIM. The top benefits of BIM as perceived by owners in the report included:
- BIM visualization to enable better understanding of design
- Fewer problems during construction from deficient documents or coordination
- A well-reasoned design due to BIM analysis and beneficial impact on the project schedule
It was refreshing to see that the report reaffirmed the trends we are witnessing within our client base. Recently, we have been seeing owners becoming more and more actively involved throughout the construction project life cycle. To address this behavioral change, contractors are turning to technology to manage this evolving relationship. By implementing Assemble in their workflows, contractors are making BIM data accessible to everyone on the project team including the owners, no Revit knowledge required. When you make sure that all stakeholders have access to the same set of data, you avoid costly mistakes such as rework and poor management of resources. Now with access to BIM visualization, contractors can make the vision of the owners come to life even when that vision is not fully defined in the design phase of the project.
The adoption of BIM started first with the architects, quickly general contractors saw the value of harvesting the model data to make better data driven decisions, when compared to a gut check. As time progressed and other industry segments realized the power of information that can be pulled from the model, sub-contractors and other key stakeholders started adopting solutions such as Assemble to make BIM data easy to access and digest. It was inevitable that the owners will follow suit to get a better understanding of the proposed designs and how different model iterations will affect the bottom line.
According to the Dodge Data & Analytics report, total U.S. construction starts will rise 9% in 2015. As construction expands, communication, coordination, and access to information will drive the need for technology adoption and advancement in 2015. General Contractors are differentiating themselves from their competition by offering value added services such as design-assist, design-built, and value , engineering. Owners are looking towards GCs that can fulfill their vision and deliver a project on time and under budget. Collaboration through Assemble ensures that both the owner and general contractor are working towards the same end result.
Comments are closed.