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Issue #482 : : July 11, 2006 |
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C o n t e n t s - An Insurance Company Thinks About BIM - The Danger of Careless Editing - Two Questions About Monoculture Models -
The Impact of BIM on Structural Design Below the Radar and all other regular columns.
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Write the Editor. Donate to upFront.eZine through Paypal. Access nearly-daily CAD commentary at our blog: WorldCAD Access. |
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"B-I-M is wonderful, We love B-I-M,
This issue of upFront.eZine presents several viewpoints from readers of BIM -- building information modeling, the newish term for architectural CAD. The idea behind BIM is to have all information about the building in a single CAD model. BIM is MCAD for architects. The advantages include: (1) all changes to the model are reflected automatically in all related items; and (2) all kinds of data are extracted from the single model -- 2D building plans, bills of material, links to HVAC calculations, structural analysis, and so on. But monoculture has its dangers; advantages can turn around to bite you as disadvantages. The following articles amplify some concerns of which you should be aware.
An Insurance Company Thinks About BIM Victor O. Schinnerer has been underwriting professional liability and specialty insurance for 65 years. In May, they released "Building Information Modeling: Will Professionals Receive the Benefits?", a PDF paper available from www.schinnerer.com/risk_mgmt/design_firms/guidelines/pdfs/guid0506.pdf They note these benefits to BIM:
But on the downside:
- - - Let's look at some of the risks in greater detail. In the old method of design and build, it was difficult to determine who was responsible for problems. When BIM centralizes all design decisions in a single firm, the firm takes on more risk, because it is no longer unclear where the fault lies. By taking on higher risk, the design firm may need to increase its price to the owner. Liability may extend to subcontracted portions of the design, such as stock symbols provided by window and detail manufacturers. No longer is the design firm limited to warranting that the design is professional; now it must also guarantee to the contractor that the design can be constructed. The original spreadsheet for personal computers, VisiCalc, made repeated calculations trivial. BIM is kind of like that, where the model can be repeatedly tweaked. Victor O. Schinnerer warns this can lead to clients expecting perfect designs. Once the client approves the design, effortless and speedy changes could result in the contractor receiving plans that were not approved by the client. Victor O. Schinnerer goes on to list issues that design firms need to watch for:
[Thanks to reader Dan Allen for alerting me to the article.] BIM: The Danger of Careless Editing by John Brunt An interesting challenge in BIM is that as the CAD model nears completion it needs to be protected from inexperienced drafters and unknowledgeable designers. Changes that should be made at the instance level are instead made at the family or type level, and that may alter things throughout the project. At the same time, changing things at the instance level meant to propagate sometimes don't. A good practice is to go to a 3D wireframe view and then 'select all instances' to see what all will be affected. (This requires some computing muscle to happen quickly and smoothly.) Changes may look fine in the current view, but other views may reveal a host of errors. Careless editing of the model means that you want only skilled drafters/designers who are very familiar with the project. This usually boils down to the project architect, project designer, or job captain. That may cut off the training path for future project designers and job captains. As BIM workflow standards evolve, this problem will take care of itself -- but not many business owners want to be a one-person shop in the meantime. An analogy is the estimator who has built a complex spreadsheet that gives accurate and successful bids; only that one person can maneuver around it and get results. When that one person is not available, the company cannot bid on projects; the company relies on one individual. Many successful businesses formats require the synergy of a team effort. I believe that building construction and design shares that need. As BIM is more accessible, adoption rates will increase. [John Brunt is a registered architect in California, Utah, and Idaho.]
BIM: Two Questions About Monoculture Models by Ralph W. Liebing As a specifications person, I understand the principle of a single source, but have some questions about BIM: 1. Who develops, gathers and inputs all this data, and from what source? 2. Is it the intent that each office develop its own "BIM master", or will we see a series of standardized master formats made available from some other sources? [Ralph Liebing is specifications coordinator for Hixson Architecture Engineering Interiors.] Impact of BIM on Structural Design by Greg Hoback With the expansion of BIM, these are the likely impacts on structural design offices, as I see it: Structural engineering firms with 3D software will have to get the IFC [IAI's industry foundation classes] extension module from their current software provider. It might be free, but not thousands of dollars, for sure. This way they can at least import the CAD file from almost any major design software. Firms with 2D software might get by for a few years, if the software is object-oriented; they will also have to obtain the IFC extension module. Engineers using simple 2D or tabular (Excel spreadsheets, etc) software will have to buy new software. Engineers are unlikely to have to host BIM models, unless it is a really big project and they are prepared to staff an IT department. More likely they will be able to rent space on an Internet BIM hosting service. Whether or not they must also buy BIM hosting software remains a guess. Engineers will have to learn how the make update changes and use the clash detection systems of the BIM host, and how to make sure that their BIM/IFC export files are correct. Engineers need to stay on top of procedural changes of various government offices so they can continue working even on the smallest of projects. Engineers will likely be able to approach the implementation of BIM in an incremental way. At the beginning, the BIM/IFC value to the structural engineer will only be that the file format is truly universal, and that import/export between CAD design and structural analysis programs will be available. Only when all of the structural IFC file definitions are complete for steel design, rebar reinforcement, design and schedule, production drawings, fabrication drawings, etc., will the engineer office be able to fully utilize the value of the BIM concept. Engineers may have to educate the CAD provider that producing an IFC file does not necessarily mean that there is going to be any time savings for the engineering work. Certainly, very little will change until all of the IFC definitions needed for structural engineering are done.
[This article is the synopsis of a longer piece written by Greg Hoback. Contact the author at ghoback@axisvm.com for the full document. Mr Hoback is director of marketing at Axis VM in Budapest, Hungary. http://www.axisvm.com .] A summary of CAD industry news you may not have read elsewhere, or that I found interesting:
SAMTECH of France launches EUROPLEXUS 2006, their dynamic analysis software. http://www.samcef.com RDV Systems of Israel releases Rapid Design Visualization 2007 for Autodesk's Civil 3D, making it easier to design flyovers and interactive simulations for proposed roads, subdivisions, and other site developments. Includes that all-important support for Google Earth! Thirty-day eval version from http://www.rdvsystems.com/downloads.php Dassault Systemes of France has a new version of ABAQUS v2.3 for CATIA V5 software. The FEA software now handles larger simulations, more kinds of welds, and improved shelling. http://www.simulia.com Delcam of England extends its Power Features technology to nearly all items in the database of standard components used by its PS-Moldmaker 3D mould design software. [Wot! Only "nearly all"?] Parts react automatically as they are placed in assemblies. http://www.delcam.com Tech Soft America, better known for its HOOPS software [and still not changing its corporate name], completes integration of Dassault-owned Spatial 3D InterOp translator components with UGS-owned Parasolid 3D geometric kernel modeler. Ninty-day eval here: http://r.vresp.com/?TechSoftAmerica/73a223c49b/633263/faf9f4a23c/31e328a ProgeSOFT (of Italy)'s DWG Viewer (US$70) now handles redlining, measuring, and markup. The IntelliCAD-based viewer renders materials, and can be customized via COM and .mnu files. http://www.progesoft.com Geomagic of USA releases version 9 of its digital reconstruction software [must be the new phrase for "reverse engineering"] with better 3D feature-based modeling, advanced color texture generation, and more versatility with user-defined patch layouts. http://www.geomagic.com Mill Creek Systems updates RAS/Edit v2.5.0 to work inside of MicroStation XM: copy, move, despeckle, deskew, stamp, and save raster files. http://www.millcreeksystems.com - - - These news items were posted during the last week at the WorldCAD Access blog < worldcadaccess.typepad.com >:
And at the Gizmos Grabowski <worldcadaccess.typepad.com/gizmos/> Weblog:
Hardware News Between now and the end of the year, ARTVPS is launching a batch of improved rendering hardware: RenderServer, RayBox, RenderDrive 6400, and RenderDrive MR. Sorry, no URL provided by Ware Anthony Rust, their pr firm. People/Companies on the Move IDELIX Software names Philip Attfield as ceo. Mr. Attfield was a founder of Signal 9 Solutions, later acquired by McAfee. AutoCAD-dealer Microdesk opens a new office each in Philadelphia PA and Irvine CA, USA. UGS convinces SMART Engineering of Germany to switch from selling MSC.Software to selling UGS's Femap with NX Nastran software for finite element modeling.
Letters to the Editor Re: Whence Shop Drawings Editor's note: Reader Leo Schlosberg wonders about the when/why/in-what-manner did shop drawings become part the construction industry. A reader replies: "My father was in the structural steel business for forty-plus years. Here are his thoughts on your question: "'I know firsthand that shop drawings were the practice since at least the 1930s. They originally were used to show details for the shop fabricators/mechanics to follow, such as connections, sizes, and lengths of individual pieces, welding and bolting requirements (rivets were phased out later on), and other information that was not necessarily provided on the architectural and structural design drawings. "'These shop drawings, which were drafted on transparent tracing paper, were then printed and copies were sent to the architect for his approval of the fabricator's interpretation of the intent of the design drawings. "'The shop drawings were also used by the erection crews at the construction site to locate, attach, and anchor the items to the building, with similar instructions as to bolting and welding. For more information, I suggest contacting the American Institute of Steel Constuction. "'Note that the above refers to the structural steel,
light, misc., and ornamental ironwork trades, which is what I was
involved in. The other building trades, such as HVAC, plumbing,
electrical, millwork, etc., follow similar practices.'" - - - "I have enjoyed your writing over the years. Thank you."
"Keep up the great work."
Spin Doctor of the Moment "... according to the executives, who did not want to be
identified because they were not authorized to discuss the device."
Notable Quotable "No one does the work. They do 'their jobs'. Nothing more."
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