A common denominator to all the large building construction projects is that they are complicated in terms of management and the challenges aren’t going away. To suffice this, in the March of 2016, McKinsey & Company, while referring to large construction projects stated that they take about 20% longer than expected and are up to 80% over budget.
These problems have persisted despite mandatory BIM implementation. One of the reasons to this is that the entire EPC fraternity, design consultants and engineers have been slow in adopting the digital platform of BIM. With BIM implementation, the action was called for, but they couldn’t cope up because they failed to adopt the cultural change that was much needed.
If we look at U.K.’s construction industry, they have been more successful in implementing BIM, than their competitors, because they have embraced BIM with a changed mindset. They made amendments in their technology infrastructure and practices.
A capability of unbiased thinking is what they need, which comes from a third party or an outside entity, say an offshore BIM services provider. This is probably the master key to success with BIM implementation. Some noteworthy key tasks to adopt BIM for your organization are as enlisted:
Organizations that adopted BIM early are now realizing that they are far ahead than their competitors who didn’t. In fact, they have gained momentum in grabbing new projects since their market reputation also strengthened as far as quality and project management was concerned.
Propagation and acceptance of this fact internally across the organization and by making your professionals onboard, realize that this is the correct way or rather the only way to construct, will eliminate the friction that prevails, whatsoever.
When imparting skills and investing in BIM becomes necessary but impossible, the best way is to partner with a BIM service provider who can understand your requirements, be it architecture, structure, MEP, design coordination, interference solutions, or construction schedule.
A BIM service provider is the correct entity to invest in, to be compliant with internationally accepted BIM platforms, standards and protocols. This will not only take care of the costs but when a third party will enter into your project, they have an objective and rational perspective to every project hurdle and they eliminate it very tactfully.
With adoption of BIM, there will be several paradigm shifts that can be experienced at every stage of building construction. Shift to a digital platform, working in a Common Data Environment [CDE], collaborative approach, simultaneous work progression and much more will be accompanied as a construction firm or design consultant adopts BIM.
It becomes important that enough and concrete communication happens from level A to right until level Z, though not direct. But only discussions and information will help the manpower to realize its acute importance and bring improvements with opportunity contingent by adopting digital BIM platform.
While we say training is fundamental, imparting training to the right sources at the right time is even more crucial and important. Training to get acquainted with BIM culture and attributes is important, but with its processes, roles, practices, and workflow.
Providing the right training to project managers along with the team is of vital importance to enrich the design firm or construction company’s output and control over costs.
We do not say that only these are the changes you need to bring in your organization to successfully implement BIM and overcome cost challenges. But it is certain and a proven fact that implementing these changes will ensure that BIM is deployed successfully and several organizations have benefited.
So, you either implement these changes in your organization or venture into a long-term relationship with a BIM solution provider who can help you implement BIM for betterment. And as they say first things first, changing mindset is of prime importance, implementing it on your own or letting an offshore BIM partner enter into your project is a later step to decide.
About Author: Hiral Patel is an engineer and has been contributing to the BIM industry. She mainly takes care about the application of BIM across Architecture, MEP and Structural sectors. Her focus is towards encouraging construction companies, sub-contractors and architects to adopt right technologies to improve efficiency and profitability.
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Sep 6th, 2022 