Essentials to BIM Coordination
By David Kortekaas
March 3, 2020
At-A-Glance
- Six bare essentials to bring success and enjoyment to the BIM Coordination process
- Too many project teams enter BIM Coordination without a plan to the sequence, durations, or strategy to accomplish coordination efficiently
- Projects need a Servant Leader who will guide the team to meeting their needs
As spring is in the air, the season of camping and enjoying the outdoors is fast approaching. Growing up camping, I always loved getting out and away from the hustle and bustle of our daily lives. Now with four kids, though, camping sometimes feels more overwhelming then it should be with all the gear, food, drinks, toys, and comfort items needed for the journey. Oh, how I miss the days of grabbing the bare essentials, sleeping bag, pillow, and tent before heading out on the road.
BIM Coordination is also a journey requiring the right gear before we set out to our destination. It can easily become overwhelming with so many demands, tools, and methods for those leading. Depending on how they were trained, or if they were trained, it is easy to miss the real enjoyment and benefit of the process. I feel for those leading BIM Coordination, not only because I spent the majority of my career leading projects and coaching others, but mainly because after being thrown into leading BIM early in my career, I know what it is like to be unsure and overwhelmed.
So if you’re setting out on leading a BIM Coordination journey, I wanted to outline the six bare essentials to bring success and enjoyment to the process.
Central Digital Data Management System
There are many forms of digital data we share on every construction project. In a list I often share, I have well over 50 different types of data between drawings, specifications, submittals, meeting minutes, progress photos, models, etc. For most projects, this information is kept on multiple systems or not shared at all except for individuals files being shot out when needed. Yet, the majority of those documents are needed by different people across the project at different times. What gets created is a web of documents sent and forwarded through emails, zip files, and hyperlinks. Having a central digital data management system is key for allowing every person access to the same information all the time. As my old mentor used to say, “The truth of the project should always be in the cloud.” There are many factors to a good central digital data management system that I will outline in a future post.
BIM Collaboration System
The team is going to come across issues or “Opportunities” as I like to call them. The coordination team needs to have one central system to share, post, and openly collaborate on these issues throughout the process. For example, Navisworks is good for discovery and sharing but does not allow for open communication. A BIM Collaboration System is best when used inside Navisworks, Revit, or similar drafting software for ease of use, but it cannot only be in those systems as 80% of people involved in a typical coordination project are not using 3D visual/drafting software.
A Servant Leader
…with the heart of a shepherd. Unfortunately, with BIM, I have seen too many overwhelmed leaders depend on either the team to get them through or a method of collaboration that works for them personally but creates 2-3 times more effort for the people they’re collaborating with. Having the right heart in leading any group comes first to any other quality. You can lack some skill or competence, but if you have the heart to serve the team you are leading, you are humble in figuring out what the team needs, and you are there to guide the team to meet those needs, then the team will win every time. The same is true for any Project Manager or leader of a team.
Trusted Model Content
Quality in, quality out. The model content people are working with is essential to the success of the coordination. That’s quality, not quantity. There are plenty of situations where I have seen teams focus on details and data that did not matter to the overall coordination or impact the field in any way. It is more critical to have the information you can trust that was is coordinated against is what will be installed in the field. Ask yourself, “where is the content coming from?”, “Who authored it?”, “Does the author approve using the content to coordinate with?”, and “Can the author confirm it will be installed in the field as shown?”.
BIM Schedule
We all know the importance of schedules in our industry. Project Managers and Superintendents work tirelessly to dial in the sequences, durations, and strategy to construct the building most effectively. Office and Field crews often come together to do a pull schedule and lookaheads, making constant improvements along the way. Yet, too many project teams come into BIM Coordination without a plan to the sequence, durations, or strategy to accomplish BIM Coordination efficiently. It is a critical error since most of what the BIM Coordination team is accomplishing greatly impacts the supply chain and, ultimately, the installation of critical components to the project. Have a plan, create a schedule, and come together as a team to make the constant improvements along the way.
Coordination Sign-off Procedure
This ties in with #4 but is important enough to be its own BIM Essential. It has pained me in the past to see projects work so hard to coordinate a building only to have that information not be transferred 100% to the field for installation resulting in unnecessary issues and animosity onsite. Without a sign-off procedure supporting what the team agreed on, it becomes a recipe for added costs. Plain and simple, have that agreement in place to protect each participant and ensure the team can trust the results of the coordination process.
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