Innovation

BIM’s potential untapped

New technology is ushering in significant changes. IMIESA speaks to Tijs van den Brink, advisory group director: Digital Services, Royal HaskoningDHV, about how recent developments like building information modelling (BIM) are changing the game.

How are technology and new developments changing the way industry works?

TvdB Information is the key enabler to make anything more efficient. Technologies such as the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), drones, laser scanning, etc. enable us to collect masses of data in a very short time.

This data can be increasingly processed at high speeds, assisting us in making informed decisions. Coupled with highbandwidth internet and largevolume data storage, access to the relevant information is available faster and virtually anywhere in the world.

Emerging technologies have already had a massive impact in the construction industry. It is transforming everything, from sending drones to inspect and map areas that are unsafe for humans, to 3D printing materials to save time and costs, to using IoT to monitor machines and predict downtime before it happens.

Now, it’s advancing even faster, with new applications and opportunities arising that we’ve yet to consider the impact of – things like autonomous heavy equipment and using AI to scan construction sites to assess the quality and progress of work in real time.

What are the benefits of BIM for infrastructure projects?

With more and more data being gathered on construction projects, it is important to standardise the way we collect, store, process and transmit that data. BIM provides us with such a standardised process, while ensuring the availability of the latest information to all interested parties.

BIM is a process for creating and managing information on a construction project across the project life cycle. The name falsely suggests it just applies to buildings – it actually applies to standardisation in the entire built environment. It’s why we sometimes prefer to call it better information management.

BIM as a process enables us to make the right decisions at the right time. In gathering data from all stakeholders involved on a project (including clients, engineers, architects, construction teams and contractors) and storing it in one place – the model – the entire team is on the same page – from concept, to construction, future operations, maintenance and renovation. In the model, we create a single source of the truth.

Then, BIM software brings all this information to life in a visually engaging and interactive way. It’s not only a 3D representation of how a building will look and feel once it’s constructed, but it also gives insights into its inner workings. This enables the project team to test different scenarios and resources before construction starts – like a dress rehearsal before the big show. The benefit of this is that things happen faster, more efficiently, and more accurately. Beyond efficiency, an additional benefit of adopting BIM and working with a single version of the truth is traceability – it is a very, very transparent process. With BIM, even before starting work on-site, the project team can test different layouts and construction techniques, avoid incompatible designs and spatial clashes, identify structural problems, improve the facility’s carbon footprint, and enhance on-site safety, for example.

The challenge with adopting BIM, and we see this currently, is that it requires a bit of investment in learning and mastering the process, the standards and tooling available. This is a deterrent for some of the parties involved, but there are some school fees to be paid to unlock the cost savings unlocked by managing information better – across the life cycle of the asset.

Is government likely to insist on the use of BIM for public projects in the future?

The value in BIM is in standardisation, and government has a crucial role to play there. If not standardised in South Africa, BIM could be just another way of working.

We trust governments will see the benefits of cost saving and transparency and will follow the lead of the UK, Singapore, UAE and Scandinavian countries, insisting on its use in the future.

This will help public buildings and infrastructure become more affordable and sustainable, as well as help project delivery to become safer and more predictable. This also requires our contracts to be aligned with BIM, and clear guidance on ownership of the information for example.

In the meantime, however, the industry is moving forward rapidly to unlock the benefits. The push for standardisation is strong, both through standards

Technology and software have come a long way, lowering the barrier to adoption in South Africa and enabling us to leapfrog.”

developed by the International Standards Organization (ISO), for example, as well as open standards and open file formats, enabling interoperability and vendor-neutral processes to ensure accessibility, usability, management and sustainability of digital data. We’re involved in these global developments and make sure our teams are trained to be on top of the latest developments, taking our clients and partners with us on the journey.

Is BIM being used to its full potential in South Africa?

Not yet, but South Africa is not alone in this regard. We need to be aware of the difference in maturity levels between the stakeholders. Using BIM to its full potential simultaneously requires government to push for the development and adoption of processes and standards as well as stakeholders in the current supply chain to upskill. New talent entering organisations should be prepared through futureproofing (university) curricula by embedding BIM (both the processes as well as training on software packages).

Technology and software have come a long way, lowering the barrier to adoption in South Africa and enabling us to leapfrog in this regard. The industry as a whole is maturing. In the past, the focus was on the 3D design aspect, treating BIM adoption as the mastering of a software tool to (coordinate) design with BIM use, getting lower during construction and even lower during operations and maintenance of the asset. The focus is increasingly on information (as opposed to just 3D visualisation), increasingly unlocking the benefits.

The untapped potential benefits are vast, as the standardised information models can be carried through beyond design and construction to enable efficient operations and smarter management of the asset. This operations phase spans the longest period of the built asset’s life and offers great potential for the efficiencies and cost savings brought by BIM.

Another application would be to fill the void of missing as-built information by point cloud scanning existing assets to extract a 3D image of the object, followed by reverse engineering the physical and functional aspects of the BIM model, precisely reflecting its current state.

Where can we improve moving forward?

We’ve already outlined the roles of governments and universities, but it is important for the private sector to start implementing BIM wherever possible, learning from our mistakes and familiarising ourselves with the process and standards. For the industry to grow, it is important for companies that are already familiar with BIM and available tooling to involve clients and partner companies/ subconsultants in the process and software. The successful adoption of BIM requires a high level of collaboration among stakeholders.

It is up to the front runners locally to help others throughout the supply chain develop. This includes training clients, consultant partners and contractors on how to use the standards and available tooling, to maximise the benefits.