The specific circumstances of each design firm vary significantly, affecting the scope, depth, and approach to BIM technology application and implementation. Therefore, before adopting BIM technology, it is essential to clearly define the enterprise’s vision for BIM implementation, understand the changes BIM can bring, and based on this, establish fundamental strategies for enterprise BIM adoption.
(1) Application Objectives
The objectives of BIM collaborative design can be understood on three levels: technical application, project management, and enterprise management.
At the technical level, BIM aims to transform traditional design methods by leveraging BIM technology to enhance design efficiency and quality, ultimately better serving engineering projects.
BIM serves both as a tool and a new management model, changing existing workflows and management processes. From a project management perspective, BIM implementation seeks to establish a project management model centered on BIM, enabling precise management of engineering information and personnel. This includes pre-project management, bidding, cost control, quality assurance, scheduling, contract management, project evaluation, and other related areas.
At the enterprise management level, the demands for information technology within construction companies are increasing. The goal is to integrate the BIM collaborative design platform with enterprise ERP and OA office systems, fostering process-oriented business management. This integration addresses the challenge of separating enterprise management data from engineering model data during the digital transformation of construction enterprises.
(2) BIM Application Strategies
As BIM technology matures and national efforts to promote its adoption deepen, BIM is expected to be fully applied throughout entire engineering projects in the future. Currently, many design firms are still exploring or gradually transitioning to BIM, which has led to issues such as BIM “flipping” based on 2D drawings and outsourcing of BIM tasks.
To support the implementation of BIM-based collaborative design, this article summarizes key strategies for rolling out BIM collaboration within design firms.
1) Enterprise BIM Collaborative Design Manual
National BIM application standards provide broad guidance but often lack operational detail at the enterprise level. Design firms should therefore develop their own BIM implementation plans tailored to their unique characteristics, building upon national, regional, and industry standards.
The enterprise BIM collaborative design manual serves as an internal implementation standard, addressing real business needs. It should define standardized requirements for BIM project execution plans, collaborative design methods, information classification, data sharing protocols, unified modeling processes, folder structures and naming conventions, color standards, and other relevant content.
2) Project-Level BIM Implementation Plan
Design projects are becoming increasingly diverse, making a single enterprise standard insufficient to meet all BIM implementation needs. The project-level BIM implementation plan, derived from the enterprise manual, is customized for each specific project.
This plan should cover BIM contract signing, project consultations, BIM model ownership allocation, BIM model quality control, BIM design result verification, and the publication and archiving of BIM collaborative design deliverables.
3) Collaborative Design Platform Development
The collaborative design platform is the backbone for completing design work and facilitating data exchange and integration across disciplines.
This platform encompasses software selection and network architecture deployment. Effective collaborative design platforms provide design and analysis capabilities alongside design information and personnel management functions. Through this platform, BIM project leaders can monitor design progress, control access permissions, and manage design operations, ensuring smooth project execution.
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