• India will invest Rs. 5.97 Trillion in creating and upgrading infrastructure in the current Financial Year!
• Mandating the use of BIM in public sector projects has saved the UK over $ 2 Billion in just 3 years.
• The Top 100 Contractors operate at a profitability of only 1.5%!

World over, industry segment after industry segment is benefiting from adopting technology, and the construction industry has no choice but to follow suit. This is where Building Information Modelling (BIM), is revolutionizing the way the construction industry works worldwide. While internationally BIM has gained mass popularity in recent times it has been around in one form or the other for years now. Even in construction projects in India, both public and private, BIM is making an impact. This post is a call to all engaged in the construction business in India to embrace BIM.

But first, for those who are still unsure about what BIM is, here’s a refresher. BIM is a multi-dimensional graphical representation of a construction project. It is the visual representation of the infrastructural design that highlights the physical and intrinsic features of a plan. In a very real sense, it allows one to build virtually before you have to build physically.

The BIM approach helps in understanding and eliminating any issues that might arise during the construction phase. The three dimensions of BIM when married with parameters like time, cost, and the project lifecycle management create a 6-dimensional model that becomes a common frame of reference for all stakeholders. This allows the architects, engineers, and builders to plan and execute the work efficiently by eliminating or minimising likely obstacles they may face during the construction process. It facilitates sound decision making thereby making the project management efficient by curtailing the various project costs.

Dr. Anil Sawhney, Associate Dean, RICS School of Built Environment has this to say, “BIM adoption will be crucial for real-estate and infrastructure development in India. Increased competition, pressure on margins and stiffer regulatory environment require that we embrace BIM as it extends the capacity of the project team to start thinking about time, cost, quality, sustainability and other pragmatic parameters in the early stages of a project.”

Why adopt BIM?

Time and money are the most critical aspects of construction or infrastructural project, and BIM helps the stakeholders – engineers, architects, and builders to work in tandem and derive an accurate estimation for both. This helps in controlling project costs and facilitates efficient project management.

Here are the top 5 reasons why the Indian construction industry should adopt BIM:

1. A real view of the project

A drawing on paper has its limitations which BIM surpasses by creating a real-life model of the incepted design. This real-life model helps in providing an accurate vision of how a particular building or an infrastructural design will look upon its completion. The designs carved out on paper tend to undergo modification during the construction process due to their inability to cater to the issues of the actual construction. The digital design provides much deeper insights into the nitty-gritty of carrying out the construction of the design.

2. Eliminates unbudgeted changes

Building a virtual model through BIM helps in creating a single system of record that all the stakeholders subscribe to. This common understanding helps to drive all discussions and plans. That, in turn, helps in curtailing the unbudgeted changes made on-the-fly during the construction phase. The virtual model provides a practical view of the construction progress. Comparing the actual site as-built with the BIM model projected at that point in time provides a transparent data point for identifying deviations. This means that there are no last-minute changes made to the design during the construction period. This also helps in controlling construction costs due to unforeseen changes in the actual design.

3. Cost monitoring

The biggest challenge in a construction project is to curtail the project cost. The project cost is dependent upon the estimation of time, quantity of materials required, and labor. We have spoken of how time can be saved with BIM. That apart, it becomes easier to control costs through the accurate estimate derived from BIM. The virtual model provides the most accurate estimations that cannot be calculated otherwise. Materials can be ordered only for the quantity required only at the time required. This eliminates wastage through over-ordering, and delays due to under-ordering, and also eliminates material loss and costs of storing on-site.

4. Streamlines work

An infrastructural design is bound to see thousands of changes until the construction work is completed. Paper drawings become a hassle while trying to maintain and record the changes made to the proposed design. BIM reduces the chances of extra work or re-work. The model can be updated easily due to its digital nature. All the changes that need to be made to the actual design are instantly adapted into BIM. This record is available to everyone all the time as it is accessible to all the concerned parties.

5. Resolves potential conflicts by use of clash detection

One of the significant issues to arise during construction is clashes. There are several activities that could end up getting in each other’s way over the process of construction. For eg. consider electrical conduit or piping going thru a beam. Such clashes can also occur with plumbing, HVAC, and other such activities too. Under normal circumstances, the only option is to redesign and re-work at a late stage in the project. The BIM model can help identify these clashes during the design process itself. This helps in saving time as schedules can be modified and plan changed to ensure that there are no clashes.

It’s clear that adopting and implementing BIM can smoothen the way for effective project implementation in the construction industry. This is driving BIM adoption in the developed economies of the world. Given the vast scale of the infrastructural projects underway in India, it is time for the Indian construction industry to welcome BIM technology with open arms. There are at least 5 solid reasons to do so!

Major countries have been adopting and implementing Building Information Modelling (BIM) in their public infrastructure projects. The UK can be regarded as the undisputed champion of the same with a mandate that all centrally-procured construction projects have to achieve BIM Level 2. Finland has been implementing BIM since 2002. Denmark has mandated all state clients to adopt BIM practices. The U.S too has policies in place mandating BIM adoption for certain categories of public-service projects.

So why are countries across the world adopting BIM? It’s simple -BIM facilitates better information exchange between all project stakeholders and enables collaboration between teams working on these construction projects. By allowing you to build virtually before you build physically, it eliminates information leaks and keeps design, operation, and maintenance costs in check by preventing wastage. And that should make it indispensable in Smart Cities.

BIM and smart cities

Smart city projects are complex. There are several teams involved, design, project, construction, and supervisory teams all need to work in tandem to achieve the best outcomes. Smart city design is based on bringing together smart buildings and structures and ecological sustainability. Smart Cities are built to make the most intelligent use of the resources at hand, to ensure quality, and to minimize resource consumption. Given this objective, Smart City construction too must ensure minimal wastage, reduce the environmental impact, and ensure optimal resource utilization. Advanced construction technologies such as BIM can help make Smart City projects successful by giving the involved stakeholders all the information they need at the right time.

BIM is not just a technology– it is a set of processes supported by technology, that ensure efficient asset allocation. This may be crucial to creating a Smart City. Here’s my view of how BIM could lie in the heart of Smart Cities

Greater collaboration

Smart cities are concerned about three broad areas – smart living, smart safety, and smart sustainability. To build such an infrastructure, there are many design touchpoints. Construction and project teams have to collaborate closely as well. There is the technology aspect to be considered too. The volume of asset information is heavy in any Smart City project and all these teams have to work together to ensure that the information exchange happens seamlessly. Also, the volume of information continues to increase as the project progresses.

By implementing BIM, all the project stakeholders can ensure that no information is lost during any exchange. With BIM forming a common platform for a shared understanding of the plan, these stakeholders can work collaboratively. The architects and engineers have access to informed design options, the construction team can reduce waste and ensure timely project completion etc.

Easier integration

A smart city project depends on integration to develop an intelligent integrated infrastructure for transport, communication, energy consumption, etc. -at the building, as well as on the city scale. In such projects, the buildings remain permanently integrated with these other bases. Putting this jigsaw together is a complex task to manage.

By employing BIM, invested teams enable a free flow of standardized information between systems and open up collaboration channels that facilitate these integrations easily. Again, there is no information loss, every party is aware of their KPI’s and anomalies can be identified easily.

Easier project visualization

Obviously, converting a design masterpiece into physical structures requires great precision. BIM’s highly detailed, precise, and constructible 3D structural models help in project visualization from conception to completion. BIM models can also easily test building constructability in advance and ensure that errors, rework and any wastage is minimized. BIM can also be used to determine the exact amount of material needed and thereby reduces wastage to negligible amounts. By reducing waste associated with construction, not only can the cost of construction and time be reduced but the environmental impact of the construction process can also be curtailed.

3D modeling

Of course, 3D modeling isn’t just for design. 3D modeling also allows us to level the model infrastructure that needs to be built underground. The construction team thus know how far to dig to not break an existing pipeline or a fiber-optic cable. Drainage, bridge, and highway designers can also leverage the same immersive model to optimize the Smart City infrastructure as everything here is geo-referenced. BIM also facilitates the study and visualization of darkness, lighting, skyline studies, line of sight, etc. to enable more data-driven decisions regarding Smart City construction. This will help improve the operational efficiencies of the Smart City when it’s up and running.

Data convergence

Connectivity and data lie at the heart of any successful Smart City project. Consider a future not too far away, where BIM meets data points such as location data from mobile phones or satellites. Think how this could impact ongoing maintenance, issue reporting and fixing, and repair operations by making them more proactive. BIM could essentially provide a Smart City nervous system. The Smart City could leverage this to communicate information, improve environmental performance and the utility and transport network, and increase sustainability both during construction and building maintenance.

I saw a quote from Lean Doody, Smart City Lead, Arup, on the role of BIM in the Smart City context. In this statement he says, “BIM is transforming, not only the way buildings are designed and constructed, but also how they are managed and developed in the light of changing customer needs. In so doing, BIM is changing relationships and business models across the whole value chain. Meanwhile, at a city level, the technology-enabled city is an untapped source of sustainable growth and represents a powerful approach for tackling unprecedented environmental and economic challenges. By unlocking technology, infrastructure, and public data, cities can open up new value chains, spawning innovative applications and information products that make sustainable modes of city living and working possible. The data delivered through BIM at a building level will be an important enabler of these new value chains.”

I could not agree more.

A few days ago, I had the great fortune of being invited to CEPT in Ahmedabad. My interactions with the extremely talented students there were energizing for me personally. In the time since that visit to Ahmedabad, I’ve been thinking about the discussions I had. I realized that there were some common threads with the interactions that I have had previously with architecture students in other places too.

If we look at the world of architecture pragmatically, an architect’s ultimate aim is to turn his or her vision into reality. For this, stalwarts like Frank Lloyd Wright used 2D and pencil drafting for designing their masterpieces. Frank Gehry, on the other hand, used 3D modeling tools. The objective was the same. The path to reach them was different.

The past couple of decades have seen such a proliferation of technology that now we can hardly imagine a world without tech. Whatever we do, technology seems to come up with a better way, or at least an easier and more convenient way, of doing things. Clearly, nothing has made a more defining impact on the everyday lives of the people as technology. The world of architecture is no different and technology has fundamentally changed the way we do things. In my career in architecture which spans over 25 years, I’ve benefited from adopting technology much of the time. Over that span, I’ve gone from 2D AutoCAD to using 3D modeling tools. I can claim that I have been an active witness to the benefits that technology brings to architectural design.

When it comes to the construction industry, we can see the immense progress this industry has made. Once upon a time, this industry wouldn’t be seen as the space that lent itself easily to new-age, disruptive technology. Time has proven otherwise. Today, there are a multitude of options being employed by this industry to speed up project execution as there are a plethora of options in building materials. Construction technology is being employed extensively to not only drive sustainability but also make project management and execution smoother and more streamlined. Extensive research is driving the emergence of new building materials such as self-healing concrete to reflective self-cooling paint. Modular and pre-fabrication (prefab) construction methods are being employed to produce buildings in lesser time and technologies such as BIM (Building Information Modelling) are helping the industry with better planning and design, reduced costs of errors, prefabrication support, and savings on materials.

I have come to believe that most students struggle to resolve two dilemmas – first, does form follow function or function follow form? The other one is architecture an artistic science or a scientific art? I believe we need to add one more question to this list – “Does technology aid creativity or kill it?”

With the wave of change coming across in this industry, I feel that the education system needs to keep pace with the pace of technology adoption. We, therefore, need to enable students to explore new design tools which aid visualization. While creating an aesthetic edifice is essential it is equally important to make students aware of all the technology options that can play a role in making the design executable and operational. This holistic approach can perhaps be emphasized more in today’s architectural education, more so at the undergrad level.

My interaction with the students of construction technology and management at CEPT threw light on what they are learning at an academic level. While the course content is quite comprehensive, I feel that continuously tying up academic knowledge to real-world examples will keep such courses fresh and relevant, especially since technology applications keep expanding.

Talking about using technology to understand what happens after the design is done is a good starting point. However, we also need to consider how to employ technology to hasten execution and ensure that the same is done within defined timeframes. We need to evaluate how to use technology to eliminate or at least reduce wastage – of time, effort, and of materials, and ensure that projects are completed within the allocated budgets. We need to start evaluating how technology can be used to maintain these aspects during the project lifecycle.

Students also need to know that the operations and maintenance costs of any building are more than double the design and construction costs. They would do well to work on identifying ways to keep this in check. Technologies such as Facilities Management Solutions and BIM are of great utility here. They can help us realize how to efficiently operate a building and understand that such effects can only be unleashed when construction is done keeping those methods in mind right from the drawing board stage. Using technology, we can build without guesswork and with clear and specific data.

Clearly, with the plethora of technology tools available today, we are at an advantage as we can analyze building performance over its lifecycle. And what, I feel, is really pertinent in today’s day of stringent timelines and faster execution is the ability to build virtually before we start building physically.

My advice to architecture students would thus be to look at technology and the various technology options, available and emerging, to assess how to build better, build faster, and build without wastage. They must assess how and where technology can be adopted to bring about change in the entire building ecosystem for greater sustainability.

The biggest challenges in the construction industry are probably estimating and controlling the project cost. Changes in the plan can result in a considerable difference in the final cost of the project. An efficient planning system is essential for a successful construction project. One key is, that the project management effort needs to have access to all the required information at the right time. This will help to deliver projects faster, manage resources better, and save money. One straightforward way of achieving this is by implementing effective construction planning techniques like Building Information Modelling (BIM) over the project.

So, what is BIM?

For the veterans who are here just to hear the stories of how cost savings can be achieved, do feel free to skip ahead if this information is not new to you!

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is an intelligent digital representation of all the physical and functional characteristics of a facility. The process involves the generation and management of the 3D model-based representation that allows architects, engineers, and builders the insight to plan, design, manage and build efficiently. They are digital images that help in describing every aspect of the project. Essentially, it’s building virtually before building actually. At its most comprehensive, BIM involves five dimensions to create a holistic plan.

These five dimensions of BIM are:

• Width

• Height

• Depth

• Time

• Cost

The 4th Dimension, Time ties in with how the construction will look in all aspects at specific points in time. Since this helps to identify the raw materials and other resources that will be needed at each stage, this brings in the 5th Dimension, cost. This comprehensive view helps in making precise cost estimations for the project, better estimates of what resources are needed and when, and also allows for better financial planning.

The advantages of BIM technology are aplenty. Some significant benefits of BIM are:

• Acceleration of project completion

• Saving on construction cost through early clash detection

• Better resource planning through construction process simulation

• Reducing unbudgeted changes

• Reducing time to generate estimates for changes

• Better communication and collaboration between teams since everyone is on the same page

All these come together to drive faster project completion and reduced costs of operation. Here are some live examples that we have seen at close range that show how projects have benefitted from BIM:

Nagpur Metro Rail -cost savings

The Nagpur Metro Rail Project is one of the most prominent infrastructure projects in the country today – an elevated metro corridor that spans over 40 km, 36 stations, and two depots.

A huge task at this scale is controlling costs. The project used BIM for eliminating design issues, smoother execution, and better estimation of required raw materials. Mr. Brijesh Dixit – MD, Nagpur Metro Rail Project, during a presentation at a conference in Singapore in 2017 highlighted the specific savings the project achieved:

• Savings in time around 8% has been achieved which is expected to rise up to 11% by the end of the project.

• The end of the project anticipates a reduction of overhead costs from 5% to 3.5%.

• Cost savings of around 8% is expected over the DPR projected costs.

• Cost savings of around 12% have been achieved with respect to logistics travel and man-days. It is expected to grow up to 15% by the end of the completion of the project.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Mumbai, Andheri -time saved

The IT giant – TCS was looking to redo a significant portion of their Andheri campus spread over 74,000 sq. ft. The challenge was that the designs they had available to them were from the planning stage, whereas the campus as-built was substantially different. They used BIM to build a model focused on the architectural, structural, and service components. This was designed to be used for Clash Detection and Resolution (CDR) as the new designs and plans took shape. The estimated time frame for the completion of the CDR phase of the project through the conventional method was over three months. By using BIM, this phase was completed in 1 month -a time saving of 66%!

Cost control with a better estimation of material

Calculating inaccurate quantities of construction material is one of the primary reasons contributing to cost and budget overruns. Poor estimates usually lead to over-ordering or ordering too early. That means tying up funds in material for longer than is required. There is also a steep cost associated with storing the materials.

An accurate estimation of the required construction material, how much is needed, and when it is needed, can help in diminishing these costs considerably.

Here are a couple of examples of just such savings.

1. For a residential tower project of 28 floors in Mumbai, the difference between the quantity extracted from the BIM plan, and the consumed quantity of steel was only 2.96% per floor. Better estimation allowed close to just-in-time procurement and limited wastage.

2. The estimated concrete quantity for an IT company in an SEZ, as extracted from the BIM model, is compared with the quantity mentioned in the Tender and the claimed consumed quantity by the contractor. The comparison helped the project management agency accurately validate and certify the actual work done for the contractor. This helped ensure accurate billing and prevented cost overruns.

It’s clear that using BIM can significantly help in controlling project costs through better planning and estimations. Having such accurate estimates of the required construction materials, timeframe, and other required resources could help you save big in your next construction project -and you could have BIM to thank for that.