Explaining BIM and LEAN Efficient Construction delivery
Ok, so BIM and LEAN construction delivery have little to do with a sand castle…
In construction.,. especially when it involves the numerous renovation, repair, maintenance, and new projects required … things can and do go wrong:
- Wrong scope of work
- Inaccurate cost estimate
- Delays in sourcing professional contractors
- Poor quality assurance or quality control
Owners, AEs, contractors, subs, and oversight groups, know why things go wrong. We can easily limit the number of times it happens, as well as, optimize required solutions. So the question is why don’t we?
We know that “best value procurement”, “working collaboratively”, “using common terms, definitions, and data environments”, “longer term relationships”, “ongoing training”, “key performance indicators”, “continuous improvement” would greatly improve outcomes in terms of quality on-time and on-budget delivery of exactly what was needed.
Real property owners and all stakeholders must communicate:
- What they want in terms of outcomes and deliverables (including information),
- How they want it,
- When they want it,
- How much they will pay for it, and
- What happens if they don’t get it
These things can’t be done ‘ad hoc’, or ‘on the back of a napkin’, in spreadsheets, with disparate formats of the same information, or without written contracts inclusive of operations or execution manuals.
Put another way, all of the above… and the associated “life-cycle” of the renovation, repair, sustainability, or new construction projects, must be conceptualized, procured, executed, and warranted within a PROJECT DELIVERY METHOD.
It is the PROJECT DELIVERY METHOD that sets the tone of the overall “construction” activity, assigns roles, responsibilities, risk, rules, processes, benefits, timelines, and overall determines positive or negative outcomes more than any other single element.
BIM and LEAN Efficient Construction delivery methods greatly increase the likelihood of positive construction outcomes from the typically 2% to well over 90%.
They assure that information is provided earlier in the overall process, shared in common, easily understood formats, and is not overlooked.
Technically they are really construction project conceptualization, procurement, and execution methods, but that is a much longer name. Examples of robust BIM and LEAN construction delivery methods include Integrated Project Delivery, IPD, for major new construction, and Job Order Contracting, JOC, for renovation, repair, and minor new construction projects. Both assure that the right information is available at the right time to enable enhanced decision-support and associated project execution.
Understanding, promoting, and implementing BIM and LEAN Efficient Construction delivery helps to assure that the team can make repair, renovate, or build what the owner wants and supply all required information for ongoing life-cycle management of the asset. In short, when complete, money, time, or quality problems will not lead to dissatisfaction, lawsuits, and unhappy campers!
Sharing information and collaboration between all stakeholders involved in the process becomes the essential element to take advantage of the potential offered by BIM and LEAN Efficient Construction delivery.
As all stakeholders: designers, contractors, owners and services collaborate and work synergistically is just then that BIM have played its potential fully.
Building in Cloud is designed to meet precisely these needs: to share and manage building data to ensure greater efficiency in team activities.
Building in Cloud is the first solution dedicated to the construction industry to optimize the return on investment of BIM design.
With this new service Lemsys – Building in Cloud developer – makes available to all users in construction industry (designers, builders and owners) an innovative tool – from any devices (PC, Tablet or Smartphone).
The service is available immediately without the need for any installation. Simply by accessing the site www.buildingincloud.net: after registration, the service is immediately available and without charge.