BIM is In

Midwest Contractors Take Lead
On Building Information Modeling

by Bruce Buckley

As building information modeling evolves from a buzzword to a best practice across the industry, some Midwest firms find themselves on the leading edge of the trend.

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BIM-which allows a project to be designed in 3D around a database that details a building's physical and functional characteristics-may seem like a tool reserved for the architectural and engineering world, but many regional contractors are now banking on it. Whether it's related to visualizing schedules or identifying systems conflicts, some contractors are convinced that BIM is quickly becoming a new standard in the industry.

"There's this surge wave of interest in BIM right now," says Linda Morrissey, senior preconstruction manager at Mortenson Construction of Minneapolis. "If you're not on the front end of it, you're falling far behind."

Users can pay up to and above $10,000 for BIM software, say industry sources, and the cost can be a factor in the purchase decision.

Dominating the U.S. market are San Francisco-based Autodesk and Exton, Pa.-based Bentley Systems. There are a number of European makers, including NavisWorks, Nemetschek and Dassault Systemes.

Using BIM Extensively

Morrissey says the company is using it on a majority of its work, ranging from major jobs to smaller projects. Among its high-profile work, Mortenson is using BIM on the $320 million Minnesota Twins Ballpark in Minneapolis and the $180 million Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

Although the firm hasn't been able to quantify the amount of savings it has realized in time, money and resources, Morrissey says she is convinced that

BIM is paying off. At the Sprint Arena project, managers estimated that using BIM for clash detection helped crews identify between 20,000 and 30,000 conflicts before systems work began.

"Even if you assume that half of those would have been discovered through a traditional coordination process, that's still a tremendous benefit," she says.

"Anything you can solve in the imaginary world of computers has dollar value."
Mortenson also used BIM recently on a small hospital project that had 21-in.-deep ceiling space.

"That's the kind of small job where it can be valuable," Morrissey adds.

"There's no race to the ceiling. We get it figured out before we get into the field."

While BIM works best when all parties can use and contribute to the model, Morrissey says the company is often working with BIM even if the architect on a project is not. The company will, in some cases, take 2D drawings and convert them to 3D in order to improve visualization of a project for its crews.

The company also takes it to "4D" by inserting scheduling data and animating the project.

"We watch the project build itself and look for any schedule conflicts," Morrissey adds.

She says the company is seeing broad acceptance of BIM within the subcontracting community, who focus on it for clash detection. Although the company doesn't require it across the board, she says that BIM is becoming a prerequisite when it subs out much of its work.

Whether a subcontractor has the software can be a limiting factor because the sub has to have the software to connect to the contractor on projects for which BIM is being used.

"We've started putting language requiring BIM in our RFP documents as well as subcontracts," she adds.

Morrissey credits the company's heavy involvement in design-build projects and negotiated work for helping speed the transition to BIM. Because BIM requires significant information from multiple team members on a project, delivery methods that bring designers and contractors together early in the process make it easier to compile a data-rich model.

"It's a pretty cool time to be in the industry because, in general, everyone in the AEC industry is responding to a pendulum swing away from traditional design-bid-build thinking," she says. "The ability of the computer to further that by blending roles, time, opinions and team members is both a cause and effect of that."

BIM Fan

Management at J.H. Findorff & Son of Madison, Wis., has caught on quickly to the trend. Tom Sweeney, who works in preconstruction at Findorff, says the company was hesitant at first but soon realized the potential of BIM.

"First we had to grasp the vocabulary and imagine its potential," he says.

"Then we had to popularize it with senior management. Once they got on board, it was almost like pouring gasoline on a fire. It went from theory to an immediate need very quickly."

The company is using it on about a dozen projects with varying degrees of complexity. At its basic level, Sweeney says BIM is a good communication tool for field personnel by helping them to better visualize projects. Findorff also uses it for scheduling and clash detection.

The company is using BIM on the 44,000-sq-ft Office of Bar Examiners project in Madison, Wis. Sweeney says crews caught significant conflicts between plumbing and HVAC systems three months before footings went in.

Crews also reviewed sequencing visualization models to optimize its plan.

"We were demonstrating the positioning of scaffolding and that opened up a discussion by the field team as to the best way it could be done," Sweeney adds.

He says that, in light of the company's experience, it will continue to push for expanded use of BIM, regardless of the response from the rest of the industry.

"We certainly hope that more design professionals will provide us with BIM content, that would be ideal," he says. "But if they don't, we'll go ahead and utilize their 2D drawings to create them in 3D. We're going to keep moving forward with it."

Others More Cautious

While BIM has created a loyal following, not everyone is ready to embrace it fully. Alberici of St. Louis was a part of the team that built the high-profile Lansing Delta Township assembly plant for General Motors in Flint, Mich.

Using BIM, the team claimed it cut the design and construction timeline by two-thirds and experienced no change orders related to systems interferences.

Although Alberici sees the project as a success, the company remains cautiously optimistic about BIM, says Dave Gough vice president of the general building division.

Since the GM project, Alberici has seen BIM used sparingly on projects, he says. While he understands the benefits of BIM, the technology is still developing.

"We're in the analysis phase," he adds. "I was ready to buy into it at first, but we decided to step back and see if there are things we can do that are simpler, less expensive and will buy us some time to see how the competition is using it. Remember the days of VHS versus Beta? We don't want to end up with a 'Beta.'"

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