B3 - Week 4 Blog Post - Group B, Price

What are the current problems with Revit/BIM?

In the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, there is a lot of collaboration that needs to occur.  Before any kind of computer program existed, architects were drafting out plans and engineers were performing hand calculations for the systems that they were implementing.  Once AutoCAD was introduced, the drafting process started becoming a little easier, but you were only able to create 2-dimensional plans.  With the introduction of Revit, you were able to look at the building in a 3-dimensional perspective and plan out where exactly internal systems were running, which lead to the use of BIM technology.

A big issue with the introduction of these computer programs is that the older employees at firms needed to almost rewire their brain to understand how to do everything virtually rather than on paper.  Even though I started school in 2010, the AE curriculum requires us to have a basic understanding of how to look at plans and how to hand-draw them as well as perform hand calculations.  Along with that, some students are introduced to using Revit either in class or on co-op.  While working at a co-op that was starting to primarily use Revit instead of AutoCAD, there were people that specialized in Revit that all engineers would go to for help.  These “draftsmen” were the ones that acted as BIM coordinators on projects that required it.  Even though there are people that specialized in Revit/BIM, it presents an issue to where not everyone is on the same level of understanding the programs. 

Another issue is interoperability.  This is because Autodesk is always coming out with a new version of their programs every year.  Even though you can bring a project from 2013 to 2014, you’re not able to go backwards, which if you accidentally convert it and save then you’re project is pretty much gone if everyone else only has the 2013 version.  Along with interoperability, cost is a big issue.  Let’s say the architects are able to afford to update the program every year, but the engineers are not.  One license is fairly expensive and to spend that amount for a 30 person company becomes very costly, especially if you upgrade every year.

B3 - Group A - Future problems with BIM - Schwakoff

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.

Volk et al. “Building Information Modeling (BIM) for existing buildings — Literature review and future needs.” Automation in Construction, Vol 38 (2014): 109-127

B3: Week 4 Blog Post - Group B, Voznyak

BIM software is an extraordinary tool that among many functions allows designers to visually display their three-dimensional drawings, easily share their drawings with colleagues, reduce the cost of construction, and speed up the entire construction process. But, with this great power there is a possibility of many faults and problematic human-causes issues.

Throughout the ages engineers and architects used hand-drawn sketches to explain how they wanted the builders to construct their designs. With the advent of computer technology and the availability of personal computers in the late 20^th century, design firms moved to programs such as AutoCAD to increase efficiency, easy backup of drawings, etc. as well as other analysis programs to alleviate the need for hand calculations and provide visualizations. This change in workplace tasks required a mass re-education of employees. Similarly, today, with the newer technology of Building Information Modeling (BIM) software, employers face the same issues and many of the older employees are finding it ever more difficult to adapt. This issue spans to professionals in the various engineering fields and buildings trades.   

There is also an issue with legality whereas who possess legal ownership of files, how to create a copyright of them, and who is responsible for legal claims due to errors and omissions. Due to the fact that there are likely to be many contributing firms to the total design this creates a messy situation, issues that were not present in the conventional 2-D construction drawings.

Additionally, there are also huge problems with interoperability and backwards compatibility between various versions of programs. Many of the programs needed by designers to either design or analyze their products are unable to be used with one another. This creates extra work to manually re-enter data and designs and/or forces everyone to use the same version of the same exact program. With new programs coming out yearly firms simply cannot feasibly afford such luxuries.

  

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