This week we were asked to discuss possible future
problems with Revit/BIM. At first I thought this would be a difficult task because
my initial thoughts were that BIM is a great technological advancement that
makes life much easier on architects/engineers and provides a large number of
benefits. However I thought back to the discussions we had in class and
realized that BIM is far from perfect. Perhaps the greatest challenge today
with BIM is its lack of a standard. According to Wikipedia, “interoperability”
is defined as the ability of making systems and organizations work together.
This was a major issue described in the BIM handbook. In developing a BIM
project, there are many people, across different disciplines, accessing the
project. Because of this there needs to be standards developed so that everyone
is on the same page. For example, subcontractors need to submit schedules,
costs, etc. to a general contractor to compile a schedule for the entire
building. But if these schedules are in different formats or can’t be passed
directly due to software roadblocks this creates major headaches. Though I
realize this is a current issue,
until it is resolved it will continue to create problems for BIM adoption in
the future.
Another issue that will be problematic is the ownership
of the data. Determining this ownership and protecting it presents legal risks.
The building owner may feel that he/she is entitled to this data since they are
putting out the money for it, while the people who worked to develop the model
may feel that their input is their own and is proprietary. Also, how can the
data be used? Can it be sold to others, possibly for advertisement purposes
similar to how one’s computer uses their search history/sites visited to
customize their advertisements? This all becomes a gray area and may lead to
legal action being taken, which can complicate/extend the process.
Keeping the BIM up-to-date may also present problems.
When a building is completed, it is not left as is forever. There are changes,
upgrades, additions, etc. made to the building. But who is responsible for
this? Also, what if there’s an error in the BIM model? Who is held accountable?
The architect? The engineer? Any of the myriad of people who had input in the
BIM development? There could be a lot of finger pointing. These questions will
present more speed bumps in the path to widespread BIM adoption.
Furthermore, BIM requires a lot of time spent inputting
and reviewing the data. This means more people need to be paid and thus
additional upfront costs. Though these costs are presented as having a short
return period, the idea of spending more may be enough for some to disregard
this technology.
Finally, I started to wonder about how BIM could change
the way designers think. Does it take away any of the thought process that goes
into such a project? Will this affect the knowledge of the designer? I think
the worry of relying too heavily on the computer model and reducing human
interaction may be a real concern.
Comments
Catherine Stephens: Great point about the sociological
problems BIM may introduce. I didn’t even consider that it will probably mean a
lot of lost jobs, as BIM can handle many people’s jobs automatically. What
about interoperability though? I think you may have been touching on that in
your second to last paragraph, but I think that it’s one of the primary future
challenges.
Kaili – I don’t think that Revit will be used by the “average Joe” to create buildings. They’ll still have to be built by trained professionals and the architect will surely not design all the buildings the same. I agree that in the future there will be a strong focus on building operation. There are some obvious issues that we brought up in class that I think you left out such as interoperability and legal problems.
Leonard – Good point about the amount of space and time
some of these huge files can take up. I forgot all about that in writing my
blog. As mentioned before, I think assuming Moore’s law is correct and the
possible shift to the cloud, this problem “should” be alleviated in the
not-too-distant future. The cloud does present some problems like you said but
with the right protection (data back-ups and privacy assurances) hopefully this
can be a solution to a roadblock of BIM right.
References
Azhar, Salman. "Building information modeling (BIM):
Trends, benefits, risks, and challenges for the AEC industry." Leadership
and Management in Engineering 11.3 (2011): 241-252.
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