tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634085675780254011.post1119949976824542152..comments2024-03-26T02:30:27.201+11:00Comments on practical BIM: Define your BIM ServicesAntony McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15366532205983073622noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634085675780254011.post-59578222279988926662015-03-11T13:48:41.965+11:002015-03-11T13:48:41.965+11:00Some of this is thematically similar to mine at Wh...Some of this is thematically similar to mine at <a href="http://whatrevitwants.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/does-your-firm-need-in-house-bim.html" rel="nofollow">What Revit Wants: Does your firm need an in-house BIM Manager? The answer may surprise you...</a><br /><br />It is getting increasingly important for companies and individuals to define their capability in a very specific manner. Saying 'we do it all...' is becoming less and less meaningful as time goes on.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14057955734322127661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634085675780254011.post-51979732486616583522015-02-28T16:15:54.501+11:002015-02-28T16:15:54.501+11:00James, a legal agreement just sets out what has be...James, a legal agreement just sets out what has been agreed. Good legal agreements don't solve problems, they are evidence problems have already been solved.<br /><br />Considering most clients of design professionals are much larger then them it is the clients who decide what goes in agreements, so unless there is a change in attitude across the industry I don't see "good" agreements on the horizon.<br /><br />Motherhood statements like "collaborative behavior" and "trust based relationships" don't mean anything in practical terms unless they are backed up by specifics. I've had a Quantity Surveyor insist that "collaboration" meant we put his cost codes against all elements in our model.<br /><br />That said, it would be helpful if design professionals had exemplar contracts that defined standard BIM services to refer to. Something I would have thought their professional associations would have done by now.Antony McPheehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15366532205983073622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634085675780254011.post-10049584196310775452015-02-28T15:02:31.311+11:002015-02-28T15:02:31.311+11:00BIM is only half the arch upon which an integrated...BIM is only half the arch upon which an integrated team delivers a project. The other half of the arch is the actual construction process. The keystone that supports the arch and enables effective us of BIM / VDC on one hand and lean construction processes on the other is the legal instrument used to fix the rights, duties and obligations of the various project participants..<br /><br />In the built industry BIM / VDC software tools and processes provide practicioners with the tools required to carve the BIM blocks on the left side of the arch. Lean Six Sigma, the Toyota Way and similar tools and processes intended to achieve continuous improvement in the delivery of actual construction processes are used to carve the blocks on what I call the Construction Management half of the arch. The leaves the keystone. Who carves the keystone and what does it look like?<br /><br />Too often the keystone is carved using antiquated procurement laws and regulations that force the drafters of construction agreements to use outdated tools, provisions and processes. As a result we get crappy legal agreements that cannot effectively serve as the keystone in an arch designed to support BIM / VDC on one hand and Lean Construction Management processes on the other.<br /><br />Instead we get legal agreements that support, enable and reinforce fragmentation, adversarial conduct and mistrust among key project participants. If you draft a legal agreement that rewards what you don't want - fragmented teams, adversarial conduct and mistrust - you will get what you don't want, fragmented teams, adversarial conduct and mistrust.<br /><br />On the other hand, if you craft legal agreements that support, enable and reinforce formation of integrated teams, cooperative and collaborative behavior that arises out of trust based relationships then you will get more of the conduct / behaviors you want. The built industry has yet to come to grips with that fact that they traditional legal agreements suck and a new generation of legal agreements in needed to truly leverage BIM / VDC on the one hand and Lean Construction Management processes on the other.<br /><br />Antony's article does a great job of explaining how design professionals can hammer the square peg represented by a crappy legal agreement through the round hole of BIM / VDC based delivery. If feel his pain as I've been working with clients for over 10 years now to do the same thing. But until the built industry agrees to plan, design, construct, operate and maintain facilities and infrastructure with integrated teams capable of collaborating in a trust based environment AND crafts legal agreements that support and enable rather than thwart those goals, BIM and VDC deployment will continue to be difficult at best. James L. Salmonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01647966699581549094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634085675780254011.post-62562035146169532152015-02-25T01:50:02.584+11:002015-02-25T01:50:02.584+11:00Antony, this is a great article!
Owners will alwa...Antony, this is a great article!<br /><br />Owners will always ask for everything if there is no perceived cost, and there is a lot of education needed out there. One of the challenges of working this stuff out is, some practitioners may be leery of putting themselves in an adversarial position with their client during contract negotiations.<br /><br />One way to avoid this (and bring in a neutral, virtual "third party") is to use, as part of the process, the excellent "BIM Project Execution Planning Guide" produced under the direction of John Messner at Penn State. This sets out the different potential end uses of a BIM, and gives the owner a laundry list to choose from.<br /><br />The savvy practitioner will review the different uses and assign a cost to each, giving the owner a cost / benefit reality check.Robert Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02881066383294557792noreply@blogger.com