Monday, June 7, 2010

BIM-ology

The past year has been a complete metamorphosis for BIM (just using a refernce from one of Gregory Arkin's posts). It all started with Architectural discipline as far as 10 yrs ago. Then 3 yrs ago there was a Blip on the radar for MEP disciplines getting really started into it. Now we have come full circle. These past 18 months has been the defining moments where Contractors/FM/Owners have really stepped up to the plate (at least the smart ones). So the ones’ now looking from the outside in have their days numbered. Consider yourselves “Dinosaurs” or going by the way of the Dodo Bird, LOL, to be replaced.

More times than not too many Architects are wasting their times with “little bim” rather than seeing the “Big BIM” side of things. It seems the only groups I really see jumping on the “Big BIM” bandwagon are the Contractors who really have their business hat on firmly on their heads. Architects are a little too preoccupied thinking about Design a higher percentage of the time at the beginning than the “Bottom Line”, which is Money, Money, Money, Money….Money (Lyrics from The O-Jay’s, LOL), and only afterward does it become more apparent when starting the DD phase. I really feel that most Architects are missing the boat because of their Designers that are more detached from the BIM Process by being stubborn by not wanting to learn to use BIM tools like Revit (FYI…BIM is a Process & Revit is a tool for that Process) & leaving it to the Production Team to translate it from Sketch-up or "CAD:" or from some other BIM-abomination.

The only thing AIA has done to lift a finger or to lift a pin on BIM was to create the E202 document. Now the AGC created something even better for BIM contracts like the “ConsensusDOCS" & is out in full force providing it’s industry with a leg up on all sorts of things from BIM to Lean Construction to Green Construction. All the Architects really have is AU, the endless tangled web of the USGBC, and a few meaningful Blogs, which none really pertain to AIA; and all these resources take time to navigate through. Take for instance the AGC; they have their act more together the way they have their “AGC BIM Forum” structured along with their main site of the AGC and other Blog Forums. Just last night I navigated through all the resources I would need to go on my way of being a successfully BIM GC. As for the AIA’s resource like the AIArchitect and of the sorts it took me a good week of sifting through all the content that would make an Architectural Firm a little successful at best with BIM.

What it boils down to for me is that the majority of Architects are far away from being the Master Builders from Egyptian times to the beginning of the Modern Era. It used to be that all Architects had the influence of selecting/recommending a GC's, and now days the roles are beginning to shift the opposite way where the GC has the upper hand in influencing the Owner to select an Architect. Why you might ask; simply said their Industry is Embracing BIM at a higher rate than Architects. Designers need to start thinking like GC’s where they are very conscious of where the money is going. Something like how can I design something to Impress & save the Owner $$$ . The answer is to embrace the BIM process from the moment a concept is put into action. Maybe you should be taken back to school by “The Revit KID” (Jeff) & taught a lesson from “Revit3D” (Gregory Arkin) and then consult with the “Revit OpEd” (Steve Stafford), LOL. Just giving props to the one’s that helped me get on top; and this is another Rant brought to you by my experiences with BIM and speaking to more and more GC's adopting BIM/IPD. It's by "Intelligent Design" that the fitest survive and the ones that adapt prevail.

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