BIM - Building Information Modeling or Building Information Model - translates as "Building Information Modeling" or "Building Information Model". In essence, BIM is a virtual model of a structure, in which each detail is linked to a database and has a detailed description of its characteristics (material, dimensions, installation technology, durability, cost, etc.). Changing one parameter in one of the drawings or in the specification automatically leads to a change in this parameter in all other projections and documents. And it saves a lot of time on making amendments to the project documentation and avoids mistakes in the "manual" transfer of information.
The first concept of "Building Description System" was introduced in the late 70s of the last century by professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology Charles M. Eastman (Charles M. Eastman). And the term “building information modeling” was first used by the architect and mastermind of Autodesk, Phill Bernstein. Several companies were involved in the development of software for creating BIM: Graphisoft, Autodesk, Bentley Systems and others. Today there are several programs for creating information models of buildings, but they all have some drawbacks, and the main one of them is low performance when working with large models.
Nevertheless, in the USA, Europe and Asia, BIM is being actively implemented at the state level. In the United States, this is already a mandatory requirement when receiving a government order. And from this year it will be the same in Great Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Finland. In Italy, France, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong, information modeling is also supported at the highest level - by special government programs or large government customers.
Russia also picked up the baton of advanced technologies. The transition to BIM design is a long process that requires serious investments in the infrastructure of an architectural workshop and in the training of qualified specialists. But it is irreversible and inevitable. This is evidenced by the state program for the innovative development of the construction industry in Russia, launched in March 2014. At the end of 2014, Mikhail Men, Minister of Construction and Housing and Utilities of the Russian Federation, issued order No. 926 / pr "On approval of a plan for the phased introduction of information modeling technologies in the field of industrial and civil construction." According to the plan, the Ministry of Construction of Russia will prepare a list of regulatory legal and technical acts and educational standards to be changed and developed, and will retrain its specialists and experts from the examination bodies.
Mosgosexpertiza has already prepared for the acceptance of project documentation in BIM. Moreover, the first BIM project has passed the examination. It was a project of a 550-bed polyclinic in the Novye Vatutinki microdistrict, developed by one of the leaders in information modeling, the Gradproject company. The examination took four days less than usual. BIM-technologies are planned to be used when fulfilling government orders on unique, especially complex objects, as well as on replicated ones, where it is required to make minor changes to a typical project. According to officials, the mandatory implementation of the state order in BIM will stimulate designers to a more active transition to modern technologies.
Many of the most successful design companies have already implemented and work with BIM technologies. We have collected the opinions of heads of architectural workshops and BIM specialists about what benefits they have received, why these technologies are especially relevant now in Russia and how important they are for young architects. ***
Andrey Dermeiko, Head of the APEX Design Bureau: “BIM is a tool that allows us to get a high-quality product through a high level of process automation and the use of a single project environment. Different specialists work in the same environment, in the same model and the interconnection of design solutions occurs in the shortest possible time, as fully and accurately as possible. With such interaction, many controversial decisions are worked out at the initial stage, specifications are drawn up from the earliest stages, volumes are calculated and controlled. Plus, with the correct organization of the process, we get a reduction in design time due to the high speed of information exchange.
Despite this, many companies positioning themselves as BIM designers spend a lot of money, but get a low-quality product. In response to the demands of the times, they develop BIM models, but in reverse order: model from drawings, not drawings from model. This happens for various reasons: fear of change, uncertainty, costs, fear of disturbing the comfort of designers who are used to working on paper, on a plane. It is not enough to make a BIM model - you need to build it correctly and consistently so that all the relationships between the building elements work.
A couple of years ago I was asked to "raise" the BIM model of a small administrative building according to the finished project of stage P. The project was developed by an experienced office, and it would seem that there should be no problems, but it turned out that the documentation contains a lot of errors: windows on plans and on the facades they are located in different places, the projections of the stairs do not match. The right way is to develop an information model and get blueprints from it, and not vice versa.
BIM technology also has a downside: the designer has to “rework”, because already at the “Concept” stage he has to do approximately the same amount as will be at the “Project” stage. And for customers, the delay in developing the concept and the high labor costs at this stage can be incomprehensible. Although in this case, already at the early stages of project development, the customer will be able to receive TEPs, and these TEPs will be dynamically changeable: the layout changes - TEPs change. Cost control can be done at an early stage: if the customer sees that the project is "knocked out" of the estimate, he can decide to change the terms of reference, and the cost of adjusting the project at this moment will be minimal. So the developer, the customer, gets the maximum benefit from the use of BIM technology. But for such an effective interaction of designers and customers, we need Gosstandards - norms that would regulate the relations of project participants with information, with a model, with each other. In the meantime, we do not have such norms, general "rules of the game" and each time we have to agree on the rules of interaction with a new customer.
The demand for specialists with BIM skills is very high. We are persistently looking for people with such knowledge, but it is very difficult to find employees who will know the profession, a foreign language, software tools and who have such personal qualities as responsibility, accuracy and experience. Therefore, someone comes to us with knowledge of the programs and technologies we need, but we hire someone without them. The main thing is that the employee has a desire to learn and develop - APEX focuses on training. There is no way out - either to look for an ideal candidate in the labor market, or to educate in your team. ***
Yuliy Borisov, chief architect of the UNK project bureau:
«
UNK project has been using BIM technology in its work since 2011. While studying it, we saw that the product corresponds to world practice, and since we have many foreign partners, we switched to it. Then it was not so obvious, but now it became clear that they made the right start.
At the same time, the choice of a software tool must be approached very thoughtfully. BIM is a high-tech tool. It is expensive and requires qualified personnel. But it is worth noting that not everyone needs it. Many bureaus shouldn't even switch to it. The use of BIM is justified if the company is faced with the task of constructing unique buildings with complex geometry or multicomponent, complex systems. If it is required to design small objects, typical housing and interiors, then, in my opinion, the advantages of the information model will not be revealed. If you need to dig in a small garden, then a shovel is enough for this. For 15-20 acres, you can buy a cultivator. But if you have fields, you will have to purchase an expensive harvester. BIM technologies are such an expensive harvester. Often my colleagues ask if I am satisfied with BIM? I answer: "Yes, I am satisfied." But it is important to take into account that when switching to this software, a very large failure in productivity can form: while employees are studying, the bureau works more slowly for six months. Some architects may quit because they cannot retrain. This is a serious stress for the company (and even taking into account the crisis) and it is necessary to soberly assess the risks and make decisions. After all, you will also need a powerful IT infrastructure and highly qualified BIM managers. In addition, the benefits of this technology are revealed when applied by everyone: designers, subcontractors, contractors and operations.
But the fact that sooner or later all design will go to BIM is for sure. And, as a teacher at Moscow Architectural Institute, I tell my students: “Learn to work in BIM! Without this, you will be like without the alphabet. After graduation, graduates will not have professional competence yet. This is where they will definitely need this tool. Otherwise, they will not be competitive. It should be noted that BIM managers are now lacking not only in Russia, but also in Europe. For the next five years it will be a very demanded profession”. ***
Daria Paramonova, Chief Architect of Strelka Architecture: “We are now in the process of creating the Strelka Architecture bureau. And we immediately decided that we would use BIM technologies in our design work. The fact is that we are conducting a joint project with international design bureaus, in particular with the French architectural bureau Jean-Paul Viguier et Associés, which is developing the architectural concept of a medical center to be built in Russia. The French work in Revit Architecture. We will receive a BIM model from them, and we will make design and working documentation based on it. Engineering solutions are developed by Werner Sobek Moskwa, which also uses BIM technologies.
BIM allows you to work with the whole world. But while there is a lack of infrastructure - joint work on one model is limited by the speed of the Internet and the capacity of the server and data transfer.
We understand that it takes time to transfer all employees to this technology, and we will not be able to do it tomorrow. We need a methodology for the transition to this process. We consulted with Yuliy Borisov - his UNK project bureau took a year to switch to BIM. We have a specially invited BIM architect - Olga Dadukova. She has developed a methodology and training plan, which will be conducted in a regular class format. This will allow us to gradually integrate BIM technology into the design process. But you need to understand that it is difficult - especially from the point of view of training and use. When we studied at the Institute of Architecture, everyone used a very complex, almost mathematical program 3D-Max. And then a much simpler SketchUp appeared and everyone mastered this elementary program. I believe that in the foreseeable future there should appear an alternative, a strong competitor to Revit - a program that is organized in a completely different way.
The work of an architect is becoming more technological, at first glance it may even seem robotic. And old school people can feel the emotional coldness that goes into the profession. But this always happens when the working tool is still new. Any modern building is inseparable from the ultra-modern technology that becomes part of the architecture. And we can no longer imagine buildings without high technologies, which have become part of aesthetics. And the machines that we use for this can bring these technologies to aesthetic perfection. And if we can manage this process, then we will win. Technological penetration is inevitable and we must consciously relate to this and master the technology so well that we are 100% leading, not driven. ***
Alexander Osipov, General Director of BIM Academy: “In CJSC“GORPROEKT”the introduction of BIM technologies began four years ago, since many objects the company is working on are simply impossible to design without models in 3D and BIM technologies. An example is the Lakhta Center, a landmark object that Gorproekt is currently working on. The use of BIM in the work on it was a requirement of the customers. And if some of the designers and sub-designers did not own this technology, but wanted to take part in the work, then they were forced to hastily master and learn to create a project in BIM.
The main advantage of BIM technology is transparency. There can be no postscripts, erroneously specified sizes and values, since the specifications are drawn up exactly according to the project. Whereas in the case of manual counting, the human factor affects and mistakes are inevitable. Another advantage is that even at the design stage we see all the errors and inconsistencies at the intersection of structures, utilities and architectural elements with each other. "Collisions" (inconsistencies), corrected in the office, will take only half an hour - an hour. And at a construction site, this work will require much more time and material costs and will lead to losses.
A significant drawback of using a digital model is the complexity and time-consuming design of parts: elements of a ventilated facade, membrane products, waterproofing, and a roof junction zone. The roof of a complex building can be modeled in just 10 minutes, and its abutments can be laid out all day.
The fact is that the program incorporates foreign experience in the work of designers, builders and material manufacturers. And in the US and Europe, most of the design work is outsourced to the contractor. There, the designer lays down the basic concept and does not dive into the details, because the contractor knows them thoroughly. And we have drawings with high detail (so that the workers, foremen and foremen have no questions) have to be prepared also because unskilled labor will be involved in the construction. Therefore, when we talk about large stages of a project, the design is really fast. But if you need to work out the details, then the complexity increases.
The BIM Academy was created in order not only to support Gorproekt in the field of BIM technology, but also to work for the external market with other designers, developers, equipment manufacturers, builders, with the operation service as BIM experts. The most difficult thing today is to agree on a unified approach. If we look at how different companies are using BIM technologies, we will notice different methods of using them. And the customer will again suffer from this, who does not collect everything into a single system and receives a disparate BIM model of his object, but he does not know what to do. We help all interested parties speak the same language: the project community, customers of design facilities, manufacturers of equipment and products, as well as builders and operations.
If we talk about commercial customers, then they have long understood the benefits of the information model - the ability to take into account costs in the model, reduce costs and increase profits. They need a BIM project and this is no longer discussed. And the Moscow authorities and the Ministry of Construction believe that BIM will become a tool that will allow you to design more with the lowest costs.
As a result, I want to say that BIM technology is replacing CAD technology, sooner or later the construction community will switch to BIM. I would like to urge all participants in the construction industry not to wait until the last, but now to engage in the implementation of BIM at home, because otherwise, you can be left behind. ***
Egor Glebov and Evgeny Shirinyan, teachers of the intensive “Building Information Modeling» in the profession of an architect andarchitectural school MARSH: “The intensive program developed by us for MARSH shows the image and way of thinking of a specialist of a new formation and offers a set of 'digital' skills that he must possess. In the practical tasks of the course, real situations of using digital tools in design are considered, and the central topic is information modeling of structures - BIM (Building Information Modeling).
Directives from above, the obvious desire of a private investor to optimize design and construction processes and, of course, the activity of software manufacturers have led to the fact that today the BIM topic is widely discussed in professional circles of designers, builders, developers, and regulatory organizations.
A three-dimensional model or a complex of building models, saturated with information, are designed to solve a wide range of tasks in the life cycle of a building: from design to construction, operation and even disposal. However, as many people understand, it is not enough just to buy and master the appropriate program.
In practice, BIM design is a laborious and, in many ways, inflexible process. In addition to consulting specialists on implementation, training and the creation of pilot projects, one should not forget about the most important element of both design and BIM interaction technology itself. Building information modeling is built on the interaction of design participants and without it makes no sense. As it turned out, the interaction of specialists from different disciplines - architects, engineers, designers - also needs to be learned in order to understand the logic of everyone involved in building a model: what, when and to what extent is required from colleagues for effective collaboration. This knowledge will help to prepare the detailing of the model at the required level, corresponding to a specific task and a certain stage of work on the project. And this will help to avoid unnecessary labor costs and wasted time.
A number of key technologies (for example, the use of geographic information systems, algorithmic modeling or the use of game engines for interactive visualization) are outside of BIM, but are needed in the work on the model. An architect should be familiar with the basics of these tools, understand when and why they might need them, and how to use them effectively.
The intensive course "Building Information Modeling in the profession of an architect" at MARSH focuses on the typical problems and tasks in working with BIM that arise during the interaction of specialists, and teaches us to use a variety of software tools and digital technologies to solve them. This will help to make the project idea as transparent and understandable as possible for the client.
We are confident that our students after completing the intensive course will be able to more easily master new instruments and computer technologies. It will be easier for them to become familiar with a wide range of software capabilities and independently choose a design tool for a specific task."
