2011 2 International Conference on Construction and Project Management IPEDR vol.15 (2011) copy; (2011) IACSIT Press, Singapore

Flexibility of BIM towards Design Change

Ehsan Shourangiz Mohamad Ibrahim Mohamad², Mahmoud Shakouri Hassanabadi³, Seyed Saeed
Banihashemi⁴ _? Mohsen Bakhtiari ⁵_? Mohsen Torabi⁶

Associate Professor of Department of Construction Management, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia²

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia ^{13 4 5 6}

Abstract. Change orders in construction industry have transformed this business into a complicated and
laborious one. Even in BIM projects change orders are inevitable but they can be managed more efficiently.

BIM tools are mature tools capable of producing Construction Documents with higher quality compared to 2D CAD software and are suitable for providing better information for downstream use. The aim of this paper is to reveal some of the limitations of BIM applications that are faced by BIM experts to identify the flexibility of these tools in applying changes. It is hypothesized that changes have been taken place in BIM projects. A questionnaire was designed and distributed among professionals and BIM experts. They were asked to reply to the questionnaire to evaluate the ease of applying changes and pinpoint the limitations of BIM tools. It was concluded that BIM Tools suffer from some shortcomings such as inability to produce design change comparative deviation report, unreliability of bidirectional links between external analysis software and BIM tools, not having a powerful user interface and lacking enough artificial intelligence to analyze and offer alternatives to design changes. It has been noticed that the current tools have the potential to improve in the future to aid experts in achieving a more efficient workflow.

Keywords: design changes, variations, BIM tools, BIM limitations, automated system.

1. Introduction

During many construction projects frequent changes often result in time delays, cost overruns, quality defects and other negative impacts. Many researchers investigated the resources and effects of project change and more significantly the causes behind the changes from different perspectives (1). Changes are mostly caused by clients, in favor of getting new ideas, cost reduction on projects or not having a proper conception to visualize the project in design stages until they observe it in reality.

To overcome the limitations of traditional 2D designs, building information modeling which is a novel technology and concept has solved many issues related to design changes. BIM supports new information workflows and integrates them more closely with existing simulation and analysis tools used by consultants

1. . Since most processes in BIM are automated and the involvement of human resources is minimized, it is claimed that by using BIM, the efficiency of monitoring, controlling and updating in construction projects⁵ life cycle is enhanced remarkably.

BIM merits are more than its shortcomings. However, In order to strengthen the functionality of BIM tools, their weaknesses must be identified first. This paper focuses on BIM tools and the level of their flexibility towards implementing changes during various phases of projects. The aim is to give recommendations and suggestions to improve the serviceability of such tools.

1. Literature Review Seyed Saeed Banihashemi.

E-mail address: (sbnseyed2@live.utm.my).

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is an IT enabled approach that involves applying and maintaining an integral digital representation of all building information for different phases of the project life cycle in the form of a data repository (3).

BIM as a comprehensive concept of process and tools which integrates all projects required data and information. As a management paradigm, it can be implemented through chains of building software such as Revit, Primavera, Naviswork, etc. by utilizing the managerial processes and concepts such as critical chain project management, critical path method and concurrent engineering at all stages of projects⁹ life cycle.

The building information model (BIM) contains information needed in particular phases of a building^?s life-cycle (scheduling, analysis, cost evaluation, etc.). It is much more than a data container for the building model; it is an object oriented building design. Information structures of the design are presented as objects (walls, columns, windows, doors, etc.) with attributes and relationships between building elements (4). A major benefit of utilizing BIM in a project in the design and construction phase is obviously the ability to ^umoder^, and test the constructability of the design within the model prior to setting foot on the project site. In the past, this was accomplished utilizing a light table, with the construction documents overlaid.

It is clear that BIM benefits the project. However, we also need to assess the projecfs many challenges and collectively as a team determines how to address them in the rapidly changing technology. The followings are some of the challenges that menace the future of BIM.

• Project specific standards for collaborative file sharing / exchange
• Ownership of the model at various stages of the project
• Concerns that Model will change without all stakeholders input

The last one is very important since changes are inevitable in construction even in BIM projects. Changes are rampant in construction projects and from the preliminary studies of the

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