Journal of Building Information Modeling An official publication of the National BIM Standard (NBIMS) and the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) JBIMFall 2008 TheThe BIMBIM BalancingBalancing Act:Act: TiltTilt thethe ScalesScales inin YourYour FavorFavor Feature Comprehensive International BIM With Full Owner Involvement

By Martin Riese and Dennis Shelden, Gehry Technologies

INTRODUCTION impose the necessary enabling structure of construction time. Owners have sometimes appeared to information development, distribution and B. Team setup and implementation be “silent partners” in current BIM imple- organizational processes. GT was brought in during Design mentations, a legacy of their tradition- Providing owners with direct added Development, after preliminary 2D draw- ally limited role in the creation and use value from the BIM dataset is an important ings had been completed. GT produced of project documentation. While owners advancement that is required to drive adop- the initial BIM model from the 2D Design have a vested stake in the content of this tion. However, this owner-driven approach drawings, and then transferred the BIM to information—and the underlying processes to BIM implicitly requires new practices the project team. Formal management of of project design and execution—their rela- by owners that drive a need for improved the model was then adopted by the owner, tionships to this information have historical- access to the project information. Benefits with the BIM Consultant providing the ly focussed on managing oversight, approval are now beginning to occur through provid- Model Manager for this role. and, of course, financial responsbility. Until ing owners direct visibility and control of During the design phase, the owner pro- recently, developers of BIM technologies the project BIM, and by integrating BIM vided a co-location office space for the proj- have concnetrated primarily on parties that further into financial aspects of building ect BIM team near the building site. Each develop project documentation (architects, ownership. of the key consultants provided a project engineers, and consultants), and to some Gehry Technologies has participated in team of BIM staff, who were responsible degree on contractors and subcontractors a number of projects that point to method- for developing and coordinating their com- who process the documents for construc- ologies that can bring owners into the BIM ponents of the design and associated mod- tuction. Where owners have been consid- conversation as more active participants, eling. The owner provided a server, a web ered in the development of BIM tools, it by identifying and providing new values to portal and associated IT for has largely been towards its use in facilities owners beyond those traditionally associ- the team. Workstations and software were management applications. ated with project information. also acquired by the owner, who sponsored Many (but by no means all) owners have the BIM training and technical support for so far taken a hands-off approach to the A. Case Study: Swire Properties’ One the design phase team. The owner pro- development of the BIM data and support- Island East vided an active, senior project management ing process changes. There remains the Swire Properties Limited is a substantial team that managed the process. The BIM perception, and potentially the reality, of developer of commercial, retail and resi- Consultant worked as a member of the shifts in risk associated with owners taking a dential properties throughout the world, project team to develop and implement strong leadership role in the working meth- who has made a significant investment to the BIM methodology, providing database ods of the building team. There is the sense develop owner-driven BIM methodologies architecture, information development and that some efficiencies and increased control for many of its new projects. control processes, BIM trainers, technical may be enjoyed by the project participants The project in Hong support and supplementary BIM modeling in leveraging shared BIM data, resulting in a Kong, a 70 storey, 1.4 million square foot staff. A model manager led the coordina- better overall building. However, there is office tower, was the first Swire Properties tion and management of BIM information also the perception that these benefits are BIM driven project to be completed. The developed by the team for the duration unlikely to translate measurably into lower owner retained Gehry Technologies (GT) as of the pre-tender phase. The team devel- project costs for the project team - relative the BIM Consultant for the project, to assist oped virtually all of the project 3D data to the additional risks and responsibilities in the implementation of BIM practices on a common software platform, Digital brought about by the owner imposing pro- and supporting technologies. The owner’s Project. Internet-based vaulting, and ver- cess change. objective was to achieve a higher quality sioning databasing technology was used to Owners have the most to gain from the design while saving money and improving coordinate the parallel collaborative work- benefits of BIM, as the ultimate beneficiaries construction time by using collaborative, ing processes of the 30 person team. of improved building performance and proj- collocated work methods and integrated MEP modeling has proven to be one ect delivery efficiencies. As project stake- 3D modeling tools. The initial objective was of the most significant contributing factors holders, the owners are also best placed to to save 10 percent on the cost and reduce to the success of the integrated BIM value

28 Journal of Building Information Modeling delivery. The OIE model included all major drawings—including all MEP shop draw- completed ahead of time and 90 percent MEP elements. Clash detection was used ings—were reviewed against the design rented at completion. extensively and continuously both to identify intent as indicated in the BIM model and Tranferring the entire BIM process from interferences associated with these items then incorporated into it. Any requirements design to construction teams was essential and to manage the construction of correct for revisions that were identified in this shop to realizing the maximum potential value openings in structure and architecture. This drawing process were returned to the rel- during construction. This was achieved by process enabled the design team to iden- evant sub-contractor for incorporation into making it a contractual obligation that the tify and resolve over 2000 conflicts before revised shop drawings. The construction contractors adopt, and continue to develop tendering. Later, during construction, the BIM model became the main visualization the BIM model and technology implementa- contractor used the same technology and tool for coordinating the many elements of tion as part of the creation of the construc- working methods to identify and manage the project prior to construction. tion information. hundreds of clashes and coordination issues. 4D simulation was employed extensively Providing all of the bidders with the Owners have the most to gain from the benefits of BIM, as the ultimate beneficiaries of improved building performance and project delivery efficiencies.

The owner procured the project using to help to optimize the construction pre-tender 3D BIM model helped them to a traditional tender process; a number of sequence and manage risk. In addition to evaluate the level of risk and resulted in qualified main contractors were invited to “conventional” 4D modeling, construction lower tender returns than in a traditional bid for the project. GT trained a number of process simulations were produced for 2D-based tender. After completion, the the potential main contractors in the use of Gammon by the Virtual Prototyping contractor adopted Digtial Project and 3D quantity extraction and measurement from Laboratory at the Polytechnic BIM and created a permanent inhouse con- the BIM model. The BIM model provided University, in cooperation with the BIM struction BIM team. an enhanced quantity take-off capability that Consultant, and using process simulation Throughout the design and construction improved the speed and accuracy of the tools developed in the manufacturing phase, the BIM was used to monitor cost in management of quantities before and after industry for assembly line simulation and real time. The technology can produce vast, tender. Lower, more accurate tender pric- control. These simulations were produced detailed and appropriately formatted quan- ing resulted from better identification and using the actual BIM elements aggregated tity take off information in real time. This management of the contractors’ unknowns by the project team. The contractor’s helps the entire project team to manage earlier on. Four contractors submitted com- team conducted detailed construction cost more effectively throughout the proj- peting bids that were closer to each other sequence optimization exercises before ect. Ongoing 4D analysis and Construction than would have been expected. While the the actual construction. A number of Process Simulation were used extensively BIM model did not form part of the legal sequencing problems and clashes were to optimize the construction process. contract documents, it was appended to the identified—particularly in critical risk areas On One Island East, the owners’s leader- contract as reference information, and the such as the 4 day floor construction cycle ship of the BIM process was fundamental quantities from the model were used as the and the erection of the outrigger floors. to the success of the project. This direct, basis for the bill of quantities. Job safety aspects were also vetted and top down approach provided a coordinated Subsequent to contract award, the win- communicated to construction personnel vision for the project goals and provided an ning contractor, Gammon Construction through the construction simulation effective structure for delivering the results. Limited of Hong Kong, assumed full process. Since beginning owner driven BIM prac- responsibility for the tender BIM model tices on One Island East, Swire has sub- and began to develop it into a highly accu- C. Results and lessons learned sequently deployed these practices on a rate and detailed 3D construction BIM Gammon Construction has reported number of large new evelopments in Hong model. Gammon and MEP subcontractor that Construction Process Modeling saved Kong and . The owner has continued Balfour Beatty continually kept the progress the project at least 20 days. Across the to retain Gehry Technologies for assistance of the One Island East (OIE) BIM model construction industry, it is thought that in transitioning the methods initially devel- ahead of construction site activities. After geometric coordination of the design prior oped on One Island East to other projects being trained by GT, the main contractor to construction yields at least a 10 percent in his portfolio. maintained a team of 8 full time modelers overall cost saving, and that construction The One Island East team was honored who helped to identify and manage clashes process modeling can contribute an addi- to receive the 2008 AIA TAP BIM Award for and coordination issues, incorporating the tional 20 percent cost saving. Order of mag- Process Innovation on this project. resulting design solutions back into the nitude reductions of contractor Requests model. For Information (RFIs), and significant Martin Riese is the Managing Director of A number of sub-contractors—including reductions of claims on site resulting from Gehry Technologies in Asia. Dennis Shelden is the cladding contractor, Gartner, also mod- incomplete design coordination were expe- the founder and Chief Technology Officer of eled their elements of the works. All shop rienced on this project. The project was Gehry Technologies.

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