06

Managing the Mandate: The BIM Level 2 Environment

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Introduction

Although the Levels of BIM Maturity were outlined in Chapter 4, it is important to address the impact on the organisation as it seeks to adopt BIM Level 2. In this chapter, BIM Level 2 is explained in terms of managing the organisational change and implementation plan required to deliver it.

This includes:

  • What does BIM Level 2 mean for my organisation?
  • BIM Manager’s essential project delivery task list.

What does BIM Level 2 Mean for my Organisation?

The title of this section is probably the question that the construction industry asks more than any other, in terms of the mandate for fully collaborative 3D BIM on all centrally procured UK government construction projects. In order to understand the impact on the organisation, it is important to consider the key internal environment factors that will be affected. These are:

  • Organisational culture
  • Management
  • Organisational structure
  • Assets
  • Financial strength
  • Human resources.

Organisational Culture

Culture has been described as a ‘system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs that show employees what is appropriate and inappropriate behaviour.’1

In respect of adopting new initiatives like BIM, the organisational culture must beget an atmosphere of trust, which means relying on the honesty and integrity of others, especially the leadership. Unlike business as usual, multi-faceted technologies like BIM will pervade every aspect of design and construction practice; their successful implementation will therefore require the cohesive effort of the entire company.

If trust in the leadership is lacking, there will be misgivings about any managerial assertions about the smoothness of changing over to BIM and whether transitional arrangements will be sufficient for the level of responsibility accepted by those adopting the new technology.

Organisational culture influences whether staff respond to management initiatives with enthusiasm, indifference or complete apathy – is typically informed by past experiences. Whether good or bad, these can make or break future attempts to deploy new technology.

As an example, let us describe a situation in a hypothetical organisation, where some previous IT implementations, including a sophisticated project data management solution, have foundered badly due to insufficient investment in configuration, professional support and training. Despite this, end-users might still have unofficially borne the brunt of blame for the failure of the new systems. On that basis, the same end-users would be justifiably wary of unqualified managerial optimism about realising the benefits of BIM.

As a means of engendering trust, management should announce their plans for BIM only after they have factored professional support, training and realistic staff development timescales into the overall impact of implementation. They should establish a monthly office-wide forum for raising concerns and agreeing solutions in relation to the new technology. A BIM ‘suggestion box’ would also provide a means for staff to air issues anonymously. This kind of interaction would help to develop genuine and collective consensus and trust.

Management: Developing a Consensus to inform your Strategic aims for BIM Level 2 Implementation

Consider the below example of exporting the data in the 3D model of a major hospital to a Microsoft Access database. The resulting equipment database was sorted by level, filtered and enumerated.

This demonstrates that, beyond 3D, models can be used to embed and exchange commercially valuable information about every aspect of the design, construction and operation of built assets in a format that is spatially organised and also searchable by normal database queries.

Figure 6.1 Database export of the 3D model

Figure 6.1 Database export of the 3D model

This is of immense value in helping to achieve major improvements in both inter-departmental and inter-organisational efficiency. Therefore, BIM warrants the full involvement of senior management in committing firm-wide time, effort and other resources to its successful implementation.

The first step is for senior management to arrive at a consensus on the reasons that BIM Level 2 is an important corporate goal, how it fits into the overall corporate strategy, and the timescale and criteria for monitoring how it is achieved. What are the risks involved (including that of doing nothing)?

This consensus should be the basis for defining the firm’s strategic aims for BIM. For example, they might include:

  1. To remain competitive by alignment with the evolving external business environment in which BIM will be a mandatory requirement by 2016.
  2. Reduction of costs (including rework) by exchanging project information in a computer-based environment that facilitates coordination by cross-referencing, analysing and visualising shared and spatially organised design, construction and asset data.
  3. The development of new opportunities by marketing the capabilities to use BIM to provide fully coordinated design, construction and asset data.

    The organisation’s vision statement is an important outcome from this consensus on BIM strategy. The vision should encapsulate the ideal positioning in the competitive business environment that should result from your strategic efforts.

Here are a few examples of BIM vision statements, some of which align closely with the above-mentioned aims:

  • Fully coordinated multi-disciplinary design in BIM by 2016
  • Recognised leadership in cost-effective construction through BIM
  • Superior knowledge management of client design standards through BIM.

Reminding staff of the Vision

The vision must be articulated regularly and consistently by senior staff as a set of clear long-term strategic goals combined with the consequent measurable objectives and key performance indicators that need to be achieved (see Chapter 1).

creating a Readiness Assessment

Once the goals have been clarified, the management team should commission the BIM Sponsor, in conjunction with an external consultancy with a proven BIM implementation track record, to develop a documented assessment of the current state of the firm and its readiness to implement BIM. This would include:

  • As a pre-cursor to Level 2, the extent to which the firm has already achieved BIM Level 1 maturity (i.e. managed CAD within a common data environment of consistently organised project-wide data and drawings).
  • The significance of achieving BIM Level 2 to the firm’s current and future prospects (the resultant report would review client demand, competitiveness and government compliance, and draw upon case study comparisons with similar organisations that demonstrate the range of improvements in market opportunities, efficiency of collaboration and coordination that can be achieved through BIM).
  • The potential for the firm to capitalise on new marketing opportunities arising from BIM.
  • Evaluation of the impact of the BIM initiative in changing, sustaining, or furthering market position, existing staff roles and organisational capabilities.
  • The key performance indicators that will be used to evaluate success, alongside an evaluation of current project information management processes’ effectiveness.
  • A flowchart of demonstrable proposed BIM workflows that will improve efficiency both internal and externally.
  • For the achievement of BIM Level 2 objectives, an approximate schedule with key investment points for phasing the introduction of BIM in a manner that would provide sufficient time for the entire organisation to adapt to the new technology.
  • Evaluation of organisational optimism or concerns about the BIM initiative and the proposed response to them.
  • Any new roles that might be required to support the organisational implementation of BIM Level 2, for example, the roles of BIM Coordinator and Information Manager.
  • A matrix detailing the relative capabilities (3D, 4D, 5D: see Chapter 5), costs and compatibility of industry-recognised BIM applications, including licensing, hardware/network requirements, deployment approaches, training and support offered at all levels of usage.
  • A realistic proposed budget to cover the first three years of deployment, including software licenses, training and support, new staff, documenting new processes and standards, and upgrades to existing hardware and IT infrastructure.
  • The person who is considered best suited to the prospective role of BIM Champion.

Creating an Implementation plan and Organisational Structure

A BIM implementation plan should be developed by the BIM Sponsor and BIM Champion (see Chapter 3) after reviewing the readiness assessment. In particular, the plan should contain the following elements:

  • Roles and responsibilities and organisational structure in support of BIM workflow
  • Overview of the proposed system, including the phasing of licenses and hardware upgrades
  • Glossary explaining BIM jargon in plain English
  • Implementation tasks:
    • ○ Formation of the in-house and externally contracted BIM implementation project team. Contact details and description of roles, responsibilities and authorities.
    • ○ Scheduled visits and meetings held before, during and after implementation.
    • ○ Cost breakdown and defined programme for planning and coordinating the implementation.
    • ○ Prerequisite milestones to be achieved before the implementation date.
    • ○ Outlines of learning paths and training appropriate to various BIM uses and levels in the project team (from awareness sessions to new users to power-user/administrators).
    • ○ Development of a pilot project model and templates to produce deliverables that are representative of existing production standards.
    • ○ Model setup and support in using BIM coordination tools for team meetings.
    • ○ Checklists of IT information required to implement the software (server names, network configuration, deployment configurations, etc.).
    • ○ Documentation of the implemented system, training manuals, standards and collaboration process maps that are applicable to the implementation effort.
    • ○ Establishment of internal technical/IT support and backup procedures, software provider’s support and service level agreements.
    • ○ Required upgrades to other software, hardware or network configuration.
    • ○ Scheduling of any specialised computer configuration required prior to implementation.
    • ○ Potential legacy data conversion in order to maintain compatibility with the new system.
    • ○ Organisational authority for reviewing and approving the Plan.

The implementation plan – with a realistic budget and schedule – should be reviewed by the directors and either rejected, approved or fine-tuned to the organisation’s needs. Approval of the implementation plan should trigger the next step.

Developing the BIM champion to power user level

Before implementation proceeds, the BIM Champion must be able to instil firm-wide confidence in the technical aspects of the BIM approach. This can only be achieved by thorough training and taking sufficient time to ensure that this pivotal individual is able to guide the production of high-quality deliverables through BIM.

The BIM Champion should be tasked with developing a small pilot project to constructional detail. This is because the production of large-scale general arrangement drawings from BIM is relatively straightforward, while most approaches to incorporating detail at smaller scales involve a balance between the addition of ever finer 3D model detail and the embellishment of derived orthogonal views with extensive 2D drafting and annotations. Thus, one of the biggest challenges for new implementations is the development of efficient methods for increasing the detail and information stored in BIM as the project deliverables progress to construction documentation.

On this basis, there should also be a contractual mandate for the BIM implementation consultant to explain how best to combine model and 2D detailing. This would involve a live demonstration of previous models containing convincing examples of useable construction documentation.

Launching an awareness campaign across the business

An early business-wide multi-level awareness campaign should be conducted by the BIM Sponsor and BIM Champion (with the help of external consultants) to promote the business-wide understanding of BIM and its implications for staff. This should never be conducted without first addressing team leaders confidentially in order to gauge their concerns. The firm-wide briefing should explain the corporate vision for BIM at all levels by answering questions like:

  • What is BIM in layman’s terms?
  • What are the corporate reasons for doing this now? How will this new priority affect employees’ ability to fulfil other corporate initiatives?
  • How exactly will BIM Level 2 improve the firm’s prospects?
  • How gradually will the technology and associated processes be introduced?
  • What is the schedule for the implementation? Staff names/locations, dates and times.
  • Will there be a pilot project?
  • In the short term, which sectors and project types will be developed to BIM Level 2?
  • Are new roles required? Whose roles will be affected, i.e. what will staff be expected to do? How will the new responsibilities differ from those expected of staff currently?
  • What kinds of training are planned and scheduled? Off-site? On-site? Project-based collaboration?
  • How will existing work processes and collaborative methods be affected?
  • How will new processes be documented?

Change Management

For successful orderly change, careful management is required. To this end, the firm’s entire organisational structure should be audited in line with the corporate vision for deriving benefits from BIM. This includes those taking the key role of marketing the benefits of BIM to prospective clients through bids and events.

BIM is not simply a high-powered 3D drawing tool. If used properly, it will affect every aspect of the firm’s project data management process. As an example, part of the BIM Protocol used on projects might include an agreement to embed design criteria in the model so that it can be used to develop elemental cost analyses. Normally, these criteria would be added in the form of specification data, requiring the expert input of senior project staff. If this input is not by direct interaction with the model, the team must factor in the time required for technician-level staff to transpose the information from a different format. The time-saving advantages of BIM for cost analysis will not be achieved if considerable time is lost in doing this, or if the

Table 6.1 BIM roles and responsibilities vis à vis existing staff roles (see PAS-1192-2)
table6_1

transposition to BIM is only partial. Equally, the benefits of multi-disciplinary coordination in BIM will not be fully realised by a project team that fails to utilise the federated model in their design review sessions.

Remembering to celebrate success

It is important to recognise and celebrate early successes and long-term wins. Recognition by management of exceptional effort (whether by an intranet posting, or a firm-wide email) boosts morale with the same kind of endorsement that should accompany the accomplishment of other major initiatives. It also reassures staff with the knowledge that achieving each objective of the implementation is, indeed, a significant corporate milestone.

Organisational Structure

What extra roles and resources will we need?

For most design and construction organisations – and for SMEs in particular – there are justifiable concerns about taking on dedicated BIM staff. As a word of reassurance, there is a need to distinguish the required BIM Level 2 role (see PAS-1192-2) from the post-holder likely to perform it.

As can be seen from the table on the previous page, although the BIM roles may appear new and may involve substantial training, they correlate well to the traditional positions identified in the right-hand column.

While larger firms can afford to employ a dedicated BIM Manager, SMEs, in contrast, will have to answer important questions about how these roles can be facilitated by the organisational provision of model set-up, administration and technical support.

Building the organisational BIM capability

Most design and construction staff can solve many basic CAD issues without recourse to technical assistance. Typically, if a stand-alone CAD file is corrupted and fails to open, only a single user is affected. By themselves, most users will probably be able to restore the last back-up in a matter of minutes. Restoring an earlier iteration of the multi-user model in BIM requires more care, time and expertise and will affect everyone working on it.

For smaller organisations, the initial cost-effective response to this added expert requirement would be to address BIM support by developing it as a shared organisational capability (see Human Resources below).

Handling end-user support

The BIM Champion should field immediate queries about software malfunction and using different functions to develop both interim and formal project deliverables. This is known as first-line support. As a back-up to this role, a contract for telephone support from the software reseller would provide a means of escalating more challenging issues. However, it is important to check the proposed terms and conditions of contract regarding what is accepted as a genuine support question, as opposed to matters that might be declined as arising from a lack of basic end-user training.

Even if a firm has the means to hire a full-time BIM Manager, it makes sense to ensure that, beyond support alone, part of the prospective role is to document BIM project procedures and to produce training materials for all levels in the organisation. Candidates for the position should be able to produce samples of their own clear and consistent BIM documentation and training material.

Setting up BIM projects consistently and publishing documented support responses provides the opportunity for staff to search for answers themselves and, on simpler issues, become less dependent on the BIM Champion. For a while, it may also forestall the need to hire a full-time dedicated BIM Manager.

While this approach has its advantages, the main drawback is that the initially enthusiastic BIM Champion may become disillusioned by the extra workload of combining existing duties with an office-wide BIM support role. At some point, it may be necessary to review staffing policy in order to provide project teams with dedicated BIM support.

Assets

Formally, an asset is defined as ‘a useful or valuable thing or property owned by a person or company, regarded as having value and available to meet debts, commitment, or legacies.’ Oxford English Dictionary Assets can range from elements of the physical corporate environment to an organisation’s intellectual property. While the role of physical assets is fairly well documented, there are intangible assets that are critical to implementing BIM. Some of these are referred to as Organisational Process Assets and include:

  • The processes and procedures for carrying out work
    • ○ Policies
    • ○ Procedures
    • ○ Standard templates
    • ○ General guidelines.
  • The corporate knowledge base
    • ○ Historical information
    • ○ Data from previous projects
    • ○ Risk register
    • ○ Lessons learned
    • ○ Stakeholder register.

Part of the role of management is that of an organisational curator. This involves not only cataloguing and archiving standard processes as templates for the entire firm, while reviewing key challenges; it also includes holding events and meetings that publicise the value of these assets to all staff.

For instance, a BIM ‘Lessons Learned’ session should be held at the end of each project work stage to review the execution plan and to document:

  • What went well?
  • What didn’t go well?
  • How might the latter be averted in future?

This should be followed up with a review of existing policies and procedures and an office-wide presentation on how these policies will be amended in the light of these issues.

Financial Strength

This factor is critical. If an organisation is severely cash-strapped, it must address those challenges with short-term measures to return it to a moderate level of profitability before embarking on its strategic vision for BIM. (It might also prove hard to whip up morale for a new initiative from staff who think that they are one pay day away from redundancy.)

In contrast, financial strength will not only buffer the cost of implementation, it can wield considerable external influence. Despite internal misgivings about the impact of implementing BIM, a wealthy prospective client or supply chain partner that mandates the use of BIM will not be ignored.

Human Resources

While paying due regard to his or her existing workload – and with the assistance of external training development expertise – among the BIM Champion’s responsibilities would be to provide expert input on staff development for BIM. This involves imparting advice on the best available learning and training options.

Learning differs from training by imposing greater self-study responsibility on the participant. Part of the BIM role involves developing internal learning modules (ranging from one-page documents to a series of demonstration videos) tailored to the organisation’s intended use of BIM. These should cover everything from ‘How do I set up a new set of models for a healthcare project?’ to ‘How can I customise 3D elements of furniture, fixtures and equipment, tag them on drawings and create a schedule of those used in my project?’

It’s important to reiterate that the purpose of implementing this tailored training is to achieve the benefits of BIM through organisational upskilling and without necessarily incurring the cost of a full-time dedicated BIM Manager. This approach does incur the cost of course development for which there should be a budget.

If this is outsourced, it will involve the cost of an external expert tasked with developing the tailored training plan. When taken together, this means that, at some point, all organisations wanting to adopt BIM must accept that human resource development costs are involved. That is, expense will be incurred either through developing tailored learning content to establish organisational competence; through hiring a dedicated BIM Manager to develop procedures, oversee implementation and provide on-going support; or through hiring external expertise to deliver standard training on basic functionality and to devise tailored course modules that ensure staff use BIM in accordance with organisational and project standards.

If you do opt to develop in-house learning content, the next step is to determine the modules that are best suited to each different staff role and the ideal sequence and schedule (i.e. learning path) for working through them. Managers should be tasked with ensuring that those directly reporting to them complete their assigned modules as part of their annually reviewed Personal Development Plans. It is important to emphasise that the firm-wide implementation of this training requires the highest level of managerial support (as described in Chapter 3).

Where possible, use focused training to extend existing roles

The introduction of BIM can often arouse employee anxiety over both its presumed complexity and its potential to eliminate the expertise by which their existing professional experience is distinguished. The reality is that much of the coordination process is still performed in 2D. Moreover, 3D coordination still relies as much on the knowledge and visual scrutiny of experienced technical coordinators as it did before the advent of BIM. So, while checking for clashes can be automated, reviewing the adequacy of safety clearances and maintenance access for services and equipment will involve experienced technical coordinators who can tour the model, check dimensions and add mark-ups of the changes that need to be made.

Instead of commissioning vast swathes of basic software training, what is more appropriate is the gradual introduction of focused training sessions that concentrate on those functions immediately relevant to both existing roles and the extension of them via BIM. For instance, training technical coordinators on every aspect of using 3D coordination review software (such as Autodesk Navisworks®, Tekla BIMsight® or Bentley Project Navigator®) is nowhere near as effective and efficient as showing them the basics of how these tools can enhance the work that they already do. For example, coordinators should learn how to:

  • Tour the model and set up required 3D views before a meeting
  • Hide specific elements in order to reveal others that are of more concern
  • Section the model
  • Measure distances
  • Share a snapshot of the model via email.

BIM Manager’s Essential Project Delivery Task List

At this stage, it’s worth summarising the essential tasks that the BIM Manager should be expected to undertake:

  • Write the BIM Project Execution Plan, having ascertained the following:
    • Project summary
    • Roles, responsibilities and authorities
    • Shared project calendar
    • Common Data Environment (sub-model lists; Levels of Definition; agreed exchange formats)
    • Document and data management
    • Common Origin and Setting Out
    • File/Layer naming convention
    • Information Management.
  • In collaboration with the rest of the project team, ensure that specific model development responsibilities are aligned with zonal/disciplinary work-streams as assigned by the Project Architect or Project Manager.
  • Establish link between the model(s) and any external databases.
  • Establish a folder structure for archiving approved project-specific BIM content; develop an ongoing library of content that is appropriate to each project, especially more complex and customised elements; set up separate folders for end-users to store content in preparation for vetting and further development by the BIM Manager. After this, the content should be added to the main BIM library.
  • On large projects, segment the overall design into linked sub-models (named as specified in the BIM Project Execution Plan) for the following aspects of the project: GRID, SITE, SHELL, LANDSCAPE, BASEMENT, INTERIORS, EQUIPMENT, ARCHITECTURE, MASSING, STRUCTURE. This is known as the Volume or Model Division Strategy.
  • Propagate all datums and reference points (such as levels, grids and survey coordinates) from the topographical survey drawing into the SITE or GRID model and from there to all other models.
  • Run audit on all models in order to maintain prompt file access. Conduct a fortnightly review of:
    • File sizes
    • Warnings per file
    • Extraneous or duplicated elements
    • Use of data structures inside each model (e.g. worksets)
    • Level of model detail and model information.
    • Time taken to open and synchronise models across network
    • Output from model checking software to ensure compliance with BIM Standards.
  • Take remedial action after each audit to improve model organisation and access times. Ensure team is instructed in how they can assist in this task.
  • In conjunction with the Project Architect, finalise a deliverables schedule detailed with drawing names, sheet numbering and scales. The list should encompass the BIM Level 2 ‘data drops’. This becomes the Task Information Delivery Plan.
  • Assign drawing sheet responsibilities (to develop, assist and check) in the deliverables schedule.
  • Use view controls (e.g. Revit scope boxes) to maintain consistent sheet zones at all levels in the model.
  • Produce early sample orthographic drawings and 3D views from the model and submit for review by senior team members, amend in accordance with mark-ups and re-submit for approval as exemplar drawings. Publish the approved drawings to team as exemplars of the intended production information quality for each project stage.
  • As far as possible, develop and issue finalised and approved sheet templates with annotation types, key plan, bar scale, north arrow and colour-filled legends that will automate most aspects of the approved production quality.
  • Distribute to the modelling team a summarised responsibility matrix for the amending models and drawings to achieve the require output standards. Provide support to team for all changes to the model, including the view control and 2D annotations required to meet presentation standards.
  • Export (as required) to agreed alternative formats for issue to the employer and other consultants, facilities management (FM) workshops and visualisation specialists; use screen grabs of 3D views to communicate preferred perspectives to visualisation consultant. Keep a diary regarding difficulties encountered in the export and import of the issued model. Highlight unusual requirements and file translation issues.
  • Run information exchange workshops for sub-consultants and/or sub-contractors to facilitate the export of data in the required format from models (see Chapter 10).
  • Establish deadlines for sub-consultants and sub-contractors to transmit information in readiness for collating and issuing them formally to the employer.
  • Support transitioning the data that comprises the Project Information Model into the employer’s Asset Information Model (see Chapter 10).
  • Pair experienced technical coordinators with adept BIM coordinators in order to implement agreed coordination changes and resolve interfaces between the models of each discipline (for example, to model agreed revisions of service routes and structural layouts).
  • Review the agenda in advance of design team meetings, and prepare drawings and corresponding 3D views of the model in readiness for the issues to be raised.
    • In BIM coordination software (e.g Autodesk Navisworks®), prepare major sections through the combined 3D model in order to help verify adequate coordination between several sub-models.
    • Review opportunities for using BIM to generate 3D presentation visuals, 4D animations and 5D quantities.

Conclusion

There are significant implications for adopting BIM Level 2 for the first time. It is important to plan the implementation carefully and address the impact on the whole organisation.

These are summarised in terms of:

  • Organisational culture
  • Management
  • Organisational structure
  • Assets
  • Financial strength
  • Human resources.

We have seen how each of these will affect how BIM is deployed. The choice of whether internal expertise is developed by informal internal effort, a dedicated manager or external expertise is a critical one. If you do opt for a dedicated manager, the above task list should be useful in establishing the scope of required duties.

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