Interdisciplinary Coordination is Crucial across Construction Projects

Success of a building construction project is assured when engineers, architects, contractors and all the stakeholders are in coordination with each other. Thus, construction firms rely on enriched BIM models to achieve greater inter-disciplinary collaboration for efficient decisions.

Challenges due to inefficient coordination:

• Budgeted overruns due to reworks and material waste.
• Lack of design data availability to all design stakeholders at right time.
• Unreliable decision making at critical stages and rise of unwanted conflicts to pushing deadlines behind.
• Unnecessary interdisciplinary design and workflow conflicts.

Solutions for efficient construction coordination:

• Create a comprehensive and federated 3D BIM model with as-built information and design details of LOD 500.
• BIM platforms facilitate Common Data Environment that allows all the stakeholders to make changes and track them with all the updated information.
• MEP clash detection helps detecting design and workflow conflict by developing coordinated models before the construction stage begins.
• BIM also provides opportunities to leverage offsite construction by efficiently managing logistics.

Importance of Coordination in Construction Projects

Dailymail, reported about the construction of a 57 story skyscraper built in 19 days at the rate of three floors per day in China.

This is exactly what the construction industry demands and it calls for establishing collaboration and coordination amongst all the disciplines of construction: Architectural, Structural and MEP.

Since MEP layouts have traditionally been inserted into the architectural and structural plans, professionals delivering MEP BIM modeling services can effortlessly develop coordinated models.

No building construction project can be successfully accomplished with biasness towards any certain discipline. It needs equal importance from the engineers, architects and construction firms to ensure the on-time project completion owing to their inter-dependency between each other.

Most common interdisciplinary conflicts in building construction project include:

• The MEP engineer cannot design the location for HVAC and slots for elevator if he doesn’t know how the structural plan is going to be.
• The structural engineer cannot erect a pillar without knowing the architectural design for the building.
• High-rise buildings made of glass need good designs but also appropriate load calculations and structural integrity to withstand the loads

Thus, to build the structure of appropriate strength and to serve its intended needs, the professionals from all these three disciplines need to understand each-others’ and project requirements and technicalities. The coordination and coherence among these disciplines eases the activities on site and reduces a lot of unnecessary man-material traffic.

BIM Coordination between architects and structural engineers

Engineering requirements of the building obviously compliment the planned design and aesthetics. But sometimes it also goes the other way round, which calls for design alterations to meet engineering requirements.

Erecting columns should not hamper the view in the areas where architects have designed a hall. BIM can help you take such decisions very effectively.

Such a case invites a consensus on design changes between both the stakeholders with informed decision making capabilities. BIM helps in coordinating architectural and structural plans and resolve the hard clashes between their plans through CDE.

BIM Coordination between structural and MEP engineers

The need to establish coordination amongst these two disciplines is pretty straight forward as the continuous MEP layouts, like an elevator slot, cannot be designed if it is intercepted by a structural element.

On the other hand the installation of MEP components cannot be done without knowing the strength of the structure. Since the installation process requires a lot of drilling and hammering, the MEP engineer needs to inform the workmen about the structure’s strength in the area to be drilled or hammered.

BIM plans and maps out the feasibility of MEP layouts according to structural and architectural designs. Revit clearly shows an error message right during modeling when there is interference in the designs

BIM Coordination between MEP engineers and architects

Designs and aesthetics walk into picture the moment architects are involved. Thus, when an MEP contractor’s workmen installs equipment, a large floor area is needed to accommodate big sized compressor units, boilers, HVAC ducts, drainage pipes, and other fixtures.

Engineers plan the layouts maintaining the designs provided by the architects. The concealing of pipes and wires is a result of maintaining the requirements of both these disciplines. Also, while installing these units MEP engineers have to take care of optimum resource utilization and the facades of the building.

Though engineers are the one to take a call for installation, their decisions should comply with the design and accommodate them.

BIM: A platform to facilitate coordination and collaboration

Source: projectdelivery.autodesk.com

BIM helps in integrating the information for these three disciplines required to achieve the needed coordination. The Level of Detailing – LOD 100 to 500 as per IFC and COBie standards help in generating schedules, estimating the requirements, and combining these three sets of information and design and plan without any clashes in the layout or the activities.

COBie is a standard for this information exchange, basically a datasheet related to space and equipment and the parts in the building that helps in managing the facility. BIM platforms used across the AEC industry helps generating information-rich 3D models and carry out enhanced construction work with lower costs, delays and higher quality and safety.

Final Thoughts

Without BIM, achieving coordination among architectural, structural and MEP disciplines is nearly impossible as it will not deliver desired results. This makes the use of BIM a need, and not an advantage. Projects may start on time but completion will be highly uncertain because of the hurdles encountered on site.

But, today in 2019, with only about half the industry using BIM for their projects in countries like The U.K. and Japan, as reported by international BIM survey by NBS, the wonders reported by Dailymail seems blurry.

Usha B. Trivedi is an engineer and she contributes in-depth articles for mechanical and industrial equipment designs, furniture designs and fabrication sector. Her contributions are primarily focused on enabling engineering professionals, furniture manufacturers and fabricators to optimize design outcomes through CAD and CAE tools.