Game changing solutions for thebuilt environment

November 2015

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Sometimes a pictureis just not enough

Governments and Clients around the worldhave mandated the change to BIM dominatedprocesses across the design, delivery, handoverand operation of the built environment and theUK is no exception. The drive in the UK is morefar reaching, to deliver BIM as a mix of visual3D information and associated data which is ableto deliver improved collaboration and essentialinformation to support better decision making.

The BIM journey is often displayed as a seriesof defined steps that are characterised by theneed to achieve BIM level 2 by April 2016across all new public procured projects. BIMlevel 2 defines processes that deliver a modeland data output which is expected willultimately bring savings to the delivery andoperational phases of projects; the benefitsbeing dependant on a maturing use of BIM.These level 2 processes are focussed onworking within the technology and marketconstraints that existed when the plan wasconceived as well as avoiding changes tocurrent procurement processes in whichcomplex issues of liability could frustrate theachievement of the BIM level 2 outcome.

BIM has nevertheless been identified as theenabler to lasting industry transformation andis capable of delivering substantial savings andbetter outcomes and many teams are experiencingthe benefits. However the reality can also bequite different and BIM is becoming a bywordfor a complex ideal routed in theory andtechnology, instead of simplicity and practicality.

Is BIM about “level 2” or about betterbusiness?While the outcome of data from BIM is highlydesirable and quite achievable, the process ofdelivering the outcome and realising the realefficiency benefits can be complex and dominatedby process and fragmented transactionaltechnology. The consequence is that BIM canbecome an additional process sitting on top ofexisting processes with new informationexchange formats that add another layer ofcomplexity to project delivery while at thesame time diluting some of the real benefits ofdigital data management.

BIM level 2 describes a process to manage thetransactions and defines the files and documentsthat are needed to step through the process andachieve a compliant outcome. The technologyindustry continues to respond with more toolswhich, like the new processes, are a responseto the path defined in BIM level 2 and representan approach to digital information management.The real opportunity remains in simplicity, bettertechnology integration, consistent approachesto data management leading to consistentbusiness process whatever the source of the BIM,to ensure we deliver the required outcomeswithin existing constraints. Our focus shouldremain on more efficient business with betterreturns and better outcomes and this e-bookstrives to highlight some of the game changingtools in the Clearbox suite that can be appliedto get closer to the ideal.

In the coming issues we will look at elementsof the process and provide insights into theissues and solutions that exist to make BIM theessential enabler in your operational improvement.

Introduction

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To enable the people involved in a project togain an easy understanding of the project

plan and the planned sequence of works, 4Dsimulations are well recognised as an excellentmedium to communicate. The same applies attender stage, when representations preparedby multimedia teams are often used in Clientpresentations to help explain the project plan.However, the next level of opportunity,connecting the live Building InformationModel (BIM) to schedule represents an optionpreviously constrained by the lack of availableeasy to use tools that has now become amore realisable opportunity.

It is commonly accepted that about 10% ofdesign and construction time can be saved bythe use of BIM, 4D communication is part ofthe step change to realise and improve uponthis efficiency improvement. Wherever andwhoever you are trying to communicate with,operatives at site inductions, directors atproject reviews, visitors to site, or for your ownpurposes, the power of a visual representation,or indeed an interactive time-lined visualrepresentation is immense.

Technology to date has not made it quick oreasy for people to have a repeatable processof linking dates with objects in a model toenable rapid re-sequencing with new modelsor new schedules, this is a critical downfall, asactivities are commonly amended and dateschanged frequently following updates toproject delivery. This constraint on therepeatability of the current tools is causedbecause, a single model and a single scheduleare fused together for this one off exercise.

This fusion is essentially hard wired, so whenamendments are required then much of theoriginal task needs repeating, wasting time andresource and as a consequence often falls bythe wayside. Short-term sequencing getsdisconnected and the schedule becomes areference tool to an initial expectation not alive interactive representation of what isexpected.

Traditional 4D tools are too restricting tomake them practical in the delivery phase

The traditional way to link the 3D model tothe project programme is to take individualactivities and associate them with modelled

The Opportunities from 4D Simulation

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components. Projects naturally range in sizebut a large complex project can easily yield10,000+ activities in the schedule and tens ofthousands of objects in the model. Currently,the task of association is not for the fainthearted and will initially only be possible ifyour viewing software can handle the file sizeof the model in the first place. Once themodel and programme are hard-wired,pushing another programme into the samemodel is generally not possible.

Accessing the BIM at a data level enablesnew faster ways of working

In BIM we know a lot about the object; weknow what it is, its size, its location, potentiallyits cost and the labour associated with it.Indeed, in a data centric solution to BIM suchas the Clearbox BIMXtra solution, all theassociated information is held in a central data“federated” environment. This can be accessedreadily by project stakeholders through avariety of interfaces within the system. If themodel and data association is undertaken in adata environment the connections, includingthose between programme and object, can bere-created at will. This is especially importantwhen consultants update models as the re-association can take place with minimal effort.The BIMXtra process relies on its knowledge ofthe object attributes within the system to findthe right objects to associate with the activities,as opposed to current solutions which requirethe manual adding and updating of codes in themodel to facilitate the association and causesmuch frustration to the numerous people thatneed to participate to provide the output.

“It is commonly accepted that about 10%of design and construction time can besaved by the use of BIM, 4D communicationis part of the step change to realise andimprove upon this opportunity.”

Associate via a data platform and we canadd further value to the outcome

The approach of associating the model andschedule within BIMXtra also allows all thematerial resources to be aggregated, by activityfrom the components that are automaticallyassociated with the activities in the schedule.This aggregation of the material resourcescomes with the flexibility to associate costand labour and allows all of these resources tobe pushed back to the schedule if you wish togo further and undertaking resource levelling.In effect the association of the model andschedule along with material, cost and labourresources can be updated within minutes, notthe days, or weeks currently required and canlead to a change in behaviour with the easyavailability of updated information.

“At Clearbox we have a unique blend ofpeople, mixing people with many years ofproject delivery with software engineers toprovide focussed technology solutions toovercome project delivery issues.”

The flexibility and speed of this solution allowsthe user to derive the 4D simulation “on thefly” and in turn allows new models to be inputand the simulation immediately updated orindeed enables new schedules to be added tomake comparisons. It is this repeatability,

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combined with the effective association of aninstallation date for every component thatallows the process to be completed quickly atregular intervals, perhaps even a few momentsbefore the inevitable monthly progress meeting!

Visually compare schedules

With 4D simulation via the BIMXtra datacentric approach taking place outside of theschedule, we are not only able to repeat theprocess for most scheduling tools but are alsoable to run visual schedule comparisons, eg toprovide a comparison between the plannedand as built, or comparison of different buildsolutions. This takes place at the same speedas the single schedule association and providesvaluable simulations and comparisons withminimal effort. Our ability to associate andrepeat, and then compare and repeat theassociation of model and schedule in superfasttime, allows us to use 4D visualisation on themain construction model and in doing soenables better communication to all, with moreaccurate association of the work scope with a

most essential aspect of our project controls. Inaddition the process can be extended to allowsupervisors to create 4D simulations knowingsimply how to click with the mouse and indoing so associate the short-term sequencingwith the strategic schedule, a topic that haspreviously confounded the industry. See attached video demonstration

At Clearbox we have a unique blend of people,mixing people with many years of projectdelivery with software engineers to providefocussed technology solutions to overcomeproject delivery issues. Our solution to provide4D simulations is targeted to provide ease ofuse to those involved in project delivery, notlimited to those with specialist training inCAD solutions. The tools allow you to quicklydevelop and subsequently change and visualisebuild sequences with the objective of openingup the benefits to the whole project team,saving time and money in the development ofthe visualisations and bringing added certaintyto delivering the 10% saving in time that BIMin project delivery can so easily achieve.

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Government contracts are increasingly requiringthe delivery of detailed information about theirassets and in particular, those incorporatedinto construction or refurbishment projects.This information is handed over during theconstruction project and at completion and iscommonly referred to as a COBie output(Construction Operation Building InformationExchange).

COBie is an exchange format for data from BIMthat can be used to transfer the data to theoperational phase. COBie focusses the processof collecting the information at handover into astructured format that can then be used topopulate operational tools, with the data andinformation to manage the ongoing operationof the asset. The format for the COBie file istypically an Excel workbook, but other exchangeformats such as XML can be used and allowgreater scope to retain the richness in the data.

COBie outputs are required at various stages in the process:

• Early on in the process, the output (stage 2)can be used to support investment decisionsby collating the content of the model andsupporting key information to better definethe project;

• At the end of design (stage 3), the COBieoutput helps to define the design; while

• At the end of the project, the COBie outputprovides the handover information collectingtogether the O&M information, links to the

associated documents, test results and the like to allow the owner/operator access tothe information that is able to support themanagement of the asset.

The initial source of the COBie output is BIM,which provides the objects that constitute theassets being created in the project. At eachstep of the project, the project team then needto collect the information for the subsequenthandover. There are several ways this task canbe undertaken:

• Placing the information in the model andthen exporting the data from the modeleither directly using the new Revit exporter,or by mapping the data to a COBie file with atool from Solibri that sets up the rules toallow the transfer to occur based on theconfiguration adopted by the consultant inthe authoring tool; or alternatively

• The data is kept outside of the model eitherin spreadsheets which are used to collect theinformation in a managed process or, moreeffectively, in an external database that isused to manage the data outside of themodel and is then used to write the data tothe COBie file structure. This is the approachadopted by BIMXtra, the Clearbox product.

While the most common solution is to put theinformation in the model, there are anincreasing number of limitations and drawbackswith this approach. This article will help to alertthe users to the issues that should beconsidered. Before doing this, it should bepointed out that COBie is only the start of thejourney and represents the efforts of many toexpose the opportunity of the data from BIM.Accordingly, the UK Government in the BIMLevel 2 Mandate have made COBie an essentialpart of the process.

COBie – delivering the data

Graeme Forbes, Managing Director at Clearboxdetails what COBie is, why it is used, andimportantly, how the data should be collated inthe most efficient BIM friendly way…

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Traditionally, to develop the COBie output,trained operatives either insert informationabout each of the assets into a BIM modelbefore the information is exported (Revitsolution), or mapped (Solibri solution) asoutlined above into the required COBie format. In the early stages (stage 2) a lot of theinformation comes directly from the model;eg what the object is, what size it is, what theareas are of each of the spaces etc., so theinformation is often readily in the native model.As the project develops and the process of thedata capture continues, the balance betweenthe amount of core model data that is requiredand the level of data that needs to be added,swings significantly to the side of the inputdata. Of course in the downstream operationthe interactions with the digital information arepredominantly data changes.

In many tools, the task of adding data to themodel can be an inefficient process – singleuser access, extracting worksets or models(depending on the core BIM authoring tool) –to allow the object information to be addedalongside the task of updating the informationonce the edit is completed, all make for a timeconsuming process that is often characterisedby the movement of large volumes of dataacross networks. Certain tools can be used tohelp with the necessary management of themodels to make the process of managing theflow of models more efficient (eg Panzura),

while other tools (like BIMIT) can be found tosupport the process of adding data into themodel. In addition, when a project is made upof disparate authoring tools, often the only wayto address the issues is to have a separateCOBie file for each authoring tool and/or areaof the project – although Solibri will now allowyou to combine model outputs via IFC. To capit all off, many teams give the informationback to the consultants for them to enter theinformation into the model, since they generallyhave the licenses, the expertise and knowledgeof using the authoring tools – and of coursesince it is their design, the liability for theinformation in the model. The overall effect canbe a complex process, fraught with risks aboutthe timing of creating the outputs to avoidmanaging late changes and rely on manualprocesses to manage the documents and filetransfers to collect the necessary informationwithin a Common Data Environment (CDE) –hardly the aspiration of the smart new worldof BIM.

Clearbox saw the problem coming, and havingexperienced the pain of performing the COBieoutput task from the model, approached theproblem by extracting the model informationinto a structured database – essentially a singlefederated model. This approach allows thetransfer of data from the model to be managedunder change control and the information thatneeds to be added can then also be collectedas part of a managed process. In addition,because all the information is tied to theobjects, there is a direct association betweenall the elements which allows the informationto be accessed in the BIMXtra model viewer“Insight”, allowing the utopia of “informationavailable at the point of use” to be achievedwith relative ease. This direct connectionbetween data and object is then extendedwhen the post contract collection of testingand commissioning data is written directly tothe database through the mobile OnSite tool

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making the task of outputting the digitalhandover (including COBie) with little morethan the task of selecting an output report.

With this approach, the COBie file becomes anoutput of the process, not a process withinitself. In addition, the BIMXtra toolset retainsthe interactive model to data connection thatensures either type of information (model ordata/documents) is available interactively onthe PC or tablet. Indeed in this environment,flattening the interactive dynamic world ofBIMXtra back into a flat COBie file is a stepbackwards that cuts across the real objective ofbetter business outcome. Nevertheless, tosatisfy the Level 2 government route-map, theCOBie output is made available as a pre-setoutput report.

“While many will be racing to meet thedemands of government procurement, the core objective about BIM and theassociated data is about establishingbetter business, so the focus should beabout the most effective approaches torealise the opportunity”

A recent handover by Kier Construction onCrome Court for the University of East Angliaexemplified these points, but it was all themore acute because the different disciplines ofthe project had been authored in four differentBIM authoring tools. The project’s saving gracewas that it was small enough to manage, butnot large enough to be able to afford dedicatedpersonnel, so BIMXtra helped and led to theproject becoming the Construction ComputingCollaboration Project of the year 2014.

A digital handover enables the operational phase

In reality, conventional handovers that werefocussed on paper based systems invariablyrequired the Client to employ people to

translate handover information into a formatthat asset management and CAFM (ComputerAided Facilities Management) systems coulduse. The presence of COBie helps this tohappen by simple file transfer, but goes on toreduce the cost of implementing access toother valued toolsets like energy monitoring orremote fault monitoring, which all rely on thesimple transfer of data at handover into aspecialist tool. Reducing the cost associatedwith the information transfer reduces the realcost of using other tools and consequentlyimproves the ROI (Return on Investment) over other tools.

The benefits of a data centric processfor BIM don’t stop at COBie. They areeverywhere

The benefits of this data centric approach toBIM do not stop at the ease with which weproduce the COBie output, or indeed mostdigital handover packs, it is the simplicity andrepeatability combined with the power andstructure of the integrated database whichimproves the performance of most otherBIM related tasks, not to mention the quality of the outcome that can be derived. A datacentric approach to BIM makes the process ofproducing COBie outputs easier and moremanageable, but is also a critical step forwardto delivering better business.

Graeme ForbesManaging DirectorClearboxTel: +44 (0)800 085 9872sales@clearboxbim.comwww.clearboxbim.comwww.twitter.com/clearboxbim

Graeme ForbesManaging Directorsales@clearboxbim.com

0800 085 9872www.clearboxbim.com