What can BIM accomplish during the construction phase? Although I touched on this topic in my previous article, the information was somewhat scattered. Today, I will provide a clear summary for your convenience.
1. Assistance Throughout the Construction Process
Leveraging a comprehensive database and strong analytical capabilities, BIM offers a wide range of building and related information to owners, contractors, and other stakeholders. It helps in creating reasonable construction schedules, automates cost analysis, and enables comparison of construction plans to identify the best solutions. This ultimately enhances the overall quality and efficiency of the project.
By simulating the construction progress, BIM allows for clear visualization of each milestone and the status of onsite work, aiding in the formulation of effective construction plans. Additionally, based on prior experience, BIM can simulate potential challenges and critical issues during construction—such as the movement paths and operating space of machinery, construction sequencing, coordination of equipment and pipeline installation, and determination of material transportation routes onsite—to find practical solutions.
Moreover, for costly or non-repeatable experimental processes, BIM visually presents results and effects, ensuring project quality and construction safety.
2. Prefabrication of Components
BIM also supports the prefabrication of components, promoting industrialized building processes. Since the Building Information Model integrates the shape, size, and process requirements of all components, suppliers can gain access to the model through permission authentication or receive this information from owners and contractors.
This access enables offsite prefabrication of various construction components, which, upon delivery, can be installed or assembled efficiently onsite. Because these components are manufactured precisely according to specifications, they fit well with the onsite environment and the building structure.
Prefabrication not only delivers products with high integration and applicability but also shortens the overall construction timeline and boosts productivity. It reduces the need for raw material storage and processing space onsite, making better use of available space and facilitating more convenient and efficient construction scheduling. Additionally, by cutting down on onsite equipment and labor costs, the overall project cost decreases accordingly.
3. Material Management
The construction industry actively adopts advanced concepts and technologies from other sectors, especially in material tracking and management. Currently, many researchers use RFID technology to track materials, and its application has begun to show practical results in construction projects.
However, RFID has limitations—it primarily supports tracking and locating materials and equipment but cannot provide detailed information. BIM compensates for these shortcomings by integrating comprehensive information such as material types, equipment details, models, and performance characteristics.
By combining BIM with RFID, construction teams can achieve complete recording and real-time tracking of materials and equipment, effectively addressing material management challenges.
4. Collaboration Among Stakeholders
Similar to its role in the design phase, BIM facilitates collaborative work during construction by providing a 3D communication platform for owners, contractors, suppliers, designers, and other stakeholders.
Throughout construction, stakeholders handle not only construction drawings passed down from earlier stages but also contracts, schedules, supply lists, and various documents containing critical information. Extracting the needed information from this vast documentation can be difficult, leading to coordination and scheduling challenges.
BIM resolves these issues by serving as a centralized source of accurate, up-to-date information accessible to all parties, eliminating information asymmetry and confusion. Using the BIM platform, stakeholders can coordinate schemes, select optimal solutions, reduce project risks, minimize potential conflicts, and ultimately improve efficiency and project outcomes.
In summary, this article consolidates the key functions of BIM during the construction phase, aiming to provide helpful insights for everyone involved.
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