MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 4.2.9 – Software Issues

As mentioned previously, the Procurement KPI on table 3.1 was replaced by the Software Issues KPI
on Table 4.1 and Table 4.2. This doesn’t mean that BIM cannot help on procurement or present certain challenges related to this KPI, but since the projects showed no reference to it and many to software issues, this replacement was thought to show more valuable information.

Table 4.3 Software Issues due to BIM implementation (see Annex IV)
Project	Software Issue	Source
Walt Disney Concert Hall	Inconsistencies and lack of data on the 3D model	Haymaker and Fischer, 2001
Eagle Ridge	Technical difficulties were encountered that made it necessary to make ‘manual’ adjustments to the drawings produced automatically	Kaner et al., 2008
Expeditionary Hospital	Information Transfer Bottlenecks	Manning and Messner, 2008
	Lack of Parametric Content
	Unfamiliarity of BIM’s breadth of ability and associated experience of application in programming
Precast Shelter	modelling issues that arose from ignorance of the right modelling practices	Kaner et al., 2008
Cascadia Center	not all the data could be interchanged	McGraw-Hill, 2010b
US Food and Drug Administration Headquarters	large projects pushed the limit of the software	McGraw-Hill, 2010b

20% of the projects presented software issues. This is a relatively high number, although analyzing the type of software issues (Table 4.3) one can see that these issues could be easily solved with more training of the personnel and better development of interoperability standards and practices as well as having all stakeholders using BIM in the projects.
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MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 4.2.8 – BIM influence on Organization

Several case studies were collected from existing literature to analyze in which areas the application of BIM had improved aspects of the projects studied.
The organization improvement KPI is the only one that showed equal number of positive and negative mentions, as well as equal number of projects. The negative effects were based on the project team not knowing how to better organize the team to take advantage of BIM (CMG Medical Office Building – Khanzode et al., 2008) or the frustrations for not all the stakeholders embracing fully the integrated approach (Cascadia Center – McGraw-Hill, 2010b). On the other hand, positive effects included “improved team building” at the Walt Disney Concert Hall project (Haymaker and Fischer, 2001) or “added capabilities that architects at the firm did not previously have” at the Maximilianeum Expansion (McGraw-Hill, 2010a). These effects on Organization seem to have a positive effect that surpasses easily the negative effects mentioned on the previous paragraph.
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MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 4.2.7 – BIM influence on Scope

The use of BIM helped clarify project Scope to some or all stakeholders involved in at least 3 of the case studies.
Most of the benefits were seen coming from the 3D visualization capacity of implementing BIM. This is probably one of the reasons this was not mentioned more often, since traditional 3D modelling tools not using BIM processes already help on scope clarification. It is relevant though to note that no negative effects were mentioned in any of the projects.

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MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 4.2.6 – BIM influence on Risk

The amount of positive mentions of the implementation of BIM on negative risk reduction or control reached 8, with 17.14% of the projects having more positive mentions than negative ones (Table 4.2). Some construction companies saw “BIM as a way to drive the risk out of its bid” (Texas A&M Health Science Center – McGraw-Hill, 2009) and for others BIM reduced risk by allowing “better informed decisions” (US Food and Drug Administration Headquarters – McGraw-Hill, 2010b). The negative risk perception on BIM came from the need of “upfront investment for the modelling of the project to win the bid” (Texas A&M Health Science Center – McGraw-Hill, 2009) that could have not been recovered should the company have lost the bid or the need to clarify certain “model ownership issues for liability reasons” (Research 2 – McGraw-Hill, 2009). These negative perceptions could be eliminated or reduced if BIM became mainstream in AEC projects.

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MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 4.2.5 – BIM influence on Quality

Table 4.2 shows Quality as another KPI were only positive effects were perceived. On 12 projects (34.29%) there were 13 mentions of benefits on Quality from implementing BIM. The type of benefits came from design and documentation quality aspects like “more accurate design” (Audubon Center – McGraw-Hill, 2010b) or “higher-quality [...] deliverables” (Sutter Health Medical Center – McGraw-Hill, 2009). Another very important effect of BIM implementation was that it allowed or helped sustainable design and construction like in the “improved Daylighting analysis” of the SF Public Utilities Commission (McGraw-Hill, 2010b); the “greener building” and cost savings “in many of the green elements” in the Shanghai Tower (McGraw-Hill, 2010b) or the “more sustainable construction process” at the Palomar Medical Center (McGraw-Hill, 2010b).

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What do people care (search) about?

Did you ever wonder what people care about? Google let's you have a peak.
Català - Castellano - Deutsch
Just discovered that google has a page where, albeit censored by some content, you can see what people are actually searching live. It is actually pretty cool and hypnotic. See for yourselves.
Got the tip from here
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MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 4.2.4 – BIM influence on Coordination

Coordination (or Integration) Improvement was mentioned 14 times. 12 of the projects had more positive than negative mentions on Coordination due to the implementation of BIM. These positive effects were typically due to the use of clash detection only possible by the use of BIM or due to eliminated coordination sessions thanks to the automatic coordination and improved workflow that the BIM Model allowed. Some of the positive effects on coordination might come from the application if integrated design strategies used in the case studies, such as Integrated Project Delivery [IPD]. According to some of the case studies (Palomar Medical Center –McGraw-Hill, 2010b) “BIM facilitated the integrated design approach“, so the benefits of the Integrated Design approach can ultimately be seen as a consequence of BIM implementation. There were some challenges and negative effects due to the use of BIM. They were mentioned 7 times, although only on 3 of the projects there were more negative than positive effects of BIM on coordination. Sometimes the “lack of understanding of interoperability limitations and abilities” (Expeditionary Hospital – Manning and Messner, 2008) posed problems. When the project was too big, software issues caused by the program not being able to handle so much information forced the creations of multiple models “to be able to work on the project” (US Food and Drug Administration Headquarters – McGraw-Hill, 2010b). The last point is a software issue, but because of the problems of coordination that it cause was considered as a negative effect on this KPI.

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MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 4.2.3 – BIM influence on Communication

The effects of BIM on communication found in all of the 35 case studies were always positive. Communication improvements were mentioned 15 times in 13 of the 35 case studies (37.14% of the projects). Some of benefits on communication were “information exchange saving up to 50% of effort” (Palace Exchange – BSI, 2010); “information is a lot easier to find compared to traditional 2D drawings” (CMG Medical Office Building – Khanzode et al., 2008) ; or “better communicate changes with the owner” (Esean Children’s Hospital – McGraw-Hill, 2010a).
No negative effects or challenges affecting Communication were mentioned. This shows that this KPI is probably the one in which BIM is having an easier implementation, no stakeholders are mentioning any negative effects on it.

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MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 4.2.2 – BIM influence on Time/Schedule

The second KPI with higher positive effect results of using BIM is “Time reduction or Control”. The effect of using BIM showed a positive effect on 34% of the projects (12 out of 35).
This KPI was mentioned with positive connotations 17 times. The following are some examples of these positive effects: “project was two months ahead of schedule” and “significant time savings once the construction model took shape” (Research 2 – McGraw-Hill, 2009) or “without [BIM], it would have taken two months to design this scheme, and we were able to do it in a couple of weeks” (Aylesbury Crown Court – McGraw-Hill, 2010a).
The negative effects on time from the case studies are again much less than the positive ones. They were only mentioned 4 times and only 3 projects mentioned more negative effects on time than positive ones. These negative effects were generally related to extra time needed for “creating the initial model” (Festival Place - BSI, 2010) or “restructuring the drawings” (Palace Exchange – BSI, 2010). All 4 mentions to negative effects of BIM on time, were actually related to extra time needed to model the project or rework that needed to be done due to converting the project from traditional CAD standards to a BIM platform.

While the time savings influenced the overall project duration and had positive effects on the schedule’s critical path, time increases were often related to extra modelling time or converting drawings into a model. This is a clear sign that the positive effects on time are much more important than the negative ones. It also means that adopting BIM tools from the beginning of projects and by all stakeholders has the potential to minimize the negative effects on time. Overall, the effects on time were beneficial.
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MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 4.2.1 – BIM influence on Cost

The results show clearly that the “Cost Reduction or Control” is the KPI that more often was seen as receiving a positive effect of using BIM. Cost reduction or control benefits were mentioned in 29 occasions. 21 of the case studies, a 60%, showed positive effects on cost from using BIM. The cost reduction or control mentions are of significant value, with some of the most relevant being sentences like “Cost savings of 9.8% of project costs” (Endeavour House – BSI, 2010); “savings of around 9% (est) realized in the construction phase” (Festival Place – BSI, 2010); “no change orders originating from field conflicts” (Dickinson School of law – Leicht and Messner, 2008) or “minimize staffing of the project” (Esean Children’s Hospital – McGraw-Hill, 2010a).
On the other hand, the same KPI was mentioned with negative connotations 6 times in the case studies. In two of the projects, i.e. 5.71 % of them, negative effects on cost were mentioned more times than positive effects. The nature of these costs was generally less relevant than the positive ones. Some examples include “CAD rework cost £20–30k” (St Helens and Knowsley PFI – BSI, 2010) or “invest in computer upgrades, training of its staff and technical support” (University Campus Suffolk – McGraw-Hill, 2010a).
Overall, data from case studies show that the negative effects from using BIM are much less and generally less relevant than the positive effects of implementing BIM tools and processes. Some of this extra costs, such as CAD rework, training or computer upgrades, are costs that can be reduced or eliminating by implementing BIM from the beginning of projects or simply by the fact that once people are trained and computers upgraded those costs will not appear in a firm anymore.

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MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 4.2 Findings from the Case Studies

It is important to highlight here that the approach taken to quantify the number of projects in which a KPI had positive effects was conservative in nature. In some case study projects, a KPI was mentioned once in a positive manner and once in a negative manner. In that case, that project was not counted as one where that KPI had positive effects (or negative) regardless of which effect (the positive or the negative) was more relevant. This can be easily understood with an example. On the CMG Medical Office Building, described by Khanzode et al. (2008) the Coordination KPI was counted once as positive for the “improved workflow due to the use of 3D/4D models” and once as negative for the uncertainty of “How should the coordination process be structured and managed?”. Although it seems from these two quotes that the positive effects of using BIM in terms of coordination were more important than the challenges created, the project was not counted as one were coordination had positive effects. The same criteria were applied for all projects and KPI to create table 4.2, and are the basis for the following description of each KPI.
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MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 4.1 Results from Case Studies

Several case studies were collected from existing literature to analyze in which areas the application of BIM had improved aspects of the projects studied.
The literature on each case study was carefully read and analyzed and those aspects regarding the benefits and problems or challenges of implementing BIM where collected.
The total number of case studies gathered was 35. The total number was not previously defined, but as relevant case studies were found, they were added to the research until the timeframe of this dissertation didn’t allow more of them to be found and analyzed. The author of this research is confident that the number of case studies used is big enough to extract conclusions.
After each positive and negative aspect of the implementation of BIM had been collected for each case study, these were translated into the key performance KPI described on Table 3.1 and based on the PMBOK Knowledge Areas. It is relevant to mention here that this translation was not always easy. Some benefits or challenges were difficult to translate to one of the KPI. The results and numbers given on Table 4.1 should be seen as based on the authors’ perception and experience. For more details on the exact translation from the information found on the literature into the KPI the reader should refer to the table compiled in Annex IV of this dissertation.
One of the recurring challenges mentioned on the implementation of BIM found in several case studies were Software Related Issues. Amongst others, there were “information transfer bottlenecks” or “lack of parametric content” (Manning and Messner, 2008), “technical difficulties” or “modelling issues” (Kaner et al., 2009) and “3D modelling inconsistencies” (Haymaker and Fischer, 2001). These Software issues were very specific to the Software packages or expertise of the stakeholders, so in an attempt to keep these very specific negative effects clearly separated, a new KPI [Software] was created.
After translating all benefits and challenges of the BIM implementation into the KPI of Table 3.1, none of these were found to fit in the last category “Procurement Help”. It is for this reason that Table 4.1, which shows the summary of the results obtained in each case study, does not show this category.
The projects on Table 4.1 are organized using the added score for each of them (positive indicators minus negative indicators). This is not an attempt to find which one is the best BIM case study but to organize the projects in a way that the reader can see in which case studies it is possible to find more positive aspects of the implementation of BIM. The numbers on the score column should not be seen as an indicator of how successful or unsuccessful those case study projects were, but simply as how many KPI were mentioned positively or negatively. For example, the case study of the Cascadia Center (McGraw-Hill 2010b) shows a score of -3. This means that 3 aspects of the use of BIM related to the Coordination, Organization and Software KPI were mentioned as challenging or causing difficulties, but it doesn’t mean that the use of BIM had negative effects.

To allow better analysis and understanding, the different positive and negative aspects found in each project were separated in two different columns. For each KPI, the approach taken on this step was to count separately the positive and negative values, rather than to give a total score for each one (positive minus negative count). With this approach, it was possible to see which KPI appeared more times as a positive factor and which ones appeared as challenges or problems of the implementation of BIM. Following this approach, a second table was created (Table 4.2) with the results obtained from the case studies. This table allowed us to organize the different KPI according to the times each was mentioned as a positive factor. The table also shows the times and number of projects the KPIs were mentioned as a challenge or negative factor due to the use of BIM. This table was also the basis for the following section, were the results are described and findings on each KPI are analyzed.
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