Currently, the use of BIM technology is rapidly increasing in Chinese construction projects, especially in large-scale, complex developments, three-sided projects, and cast-in-place reinforced concrete structures with tight schedules and high cost pressures. However, there are still few examples of BIM application in prefabricated and assembled concrete (PC) structures. In the PC project for the elderly apartment complex in Haimen, Jiangsu, the general contractor, Longxin Construction Group Co., Ltd., boldly applied BIM technology. This move effectively accelerated project progress and established BIM as a valuable “partner” in the PC project.
Challenges in Collaborative Construction of PC Projects for Elderly Apartments
The Longxin Elderly Apartment project is located at the intersection of Nanhai Road and Jialingjiang Road in Haimen City, Jiangsu Province. The building features a mixed structural system:
– The 4th floor and the 1st and 2nd floors of the podium utilize cast-in-place frame shear wall structures.
– Floors 4 through 24 consist entirely of prefabricated and assembled integral frame shear wall systems.
– The 25th floor and the machine room floor revert to cast-in-place frame shear wall structures.
The total height reaches 88.6 meters, with a construction area of approximately 21,000 square meters. Upon completion, it will be the first prefabricated building in China exceeding 80 meters in height with an overall assembly rate above 80%.
The PC project involves multiple specialized subcontractors, covering civil engineering, mechanical and electrical installations (electrical, plumbing, fire protection, weak current, HVAC), decoration, and other specialties. These trades work in alternating sequences, making coordination complex. Effectively advancing general contracting management toward a more refined, information-driven construction model remains a significant challenge for Longxin Construction Group.
Furthermore, PC construction demands greater collaborative expertise and processes compared to traditional buildings. Construction teams must possess strong capabilities in drawing detailing. Component factory designs must consider multiple factors, including:
– Correct pre-embedding of pipelines after comprehensive optimization of disciplines such as water supply and drainage, electrical, fire protection, weak current, and HVAC.
– Pre-embedded iron parts to facilitate construction, such as lifting anchors, iron plates for welding steel pipe columns at floor edges, and embedded parts for tower crane walls, personnel, and cargo elevators.
Any errors or omissions in these details could severely disrupt on-site lifting and construction, emphasizing the need for full coordination between production and construction.
Leveraging BIM to Enhance PC Project Construction
BIM technology offers strong advantages such as coordination, visualization, and simulation, providing vital technical support for integrating specialized drawings, detailing component designs, and planning pipeline installations in elderly apartment projects. According to technical staff involved in the Longxin Elderly Apartment project, BIM simulation enables technicians to virtually recreate PC component lifting scenes, identify potential issues, and clearly communicate technical solutions.
The compatibility between BIM capabilities and PC project requirements yields significant benefits. Historically, engineering projects faced risks from fragmented information across disciplines, creating isolated “information islands” that hindered integration and sharing. This lack of a common platform led to data loss and transmission errors.
BIM technology changes this by allowing shared model information among architectural, structural, and installation disciplines. Conflicts and design changes—common causes of costly mistakes, omissions, and delays—can be detected and resolved more intuitively and efficiently. For example, on the PC standard floors of the elderly apartments (floors 4 to 25), integrating models from civil engineering, water supply, drainage, electrical, fire protection, and weak current revealed 83 preliminary clashes. Each clash is presented in 3D with detailed information—location, affected pipeline or equipment, and related drawings—such as collisions between prefabricated frame beams and fire sprinkler pipes.
Relying solely on technicians’ spatial judgment to identify such clashes risks missing critical conflicts. Discovering these issues during construction leads to rework, modifications, delays, and increased costs. BIM helps detect and resolve conflicts early, avoiding costly problems before they arise.
Implementing BIM-Based Cost Management
In cost management, the elderly apartment project customizes construction quota standards within the BIM Luban model using coding. The system then automatically calculates quantities, enabling precise project cost estimation. Accurate quantity calculation is essential for owners, contractors, suppliers, project managers, and controlling construction costs.
The accuracy of quantity data depends on the quality of the BIM model. Luban software’s automated quantity calculations are far more precise than manual methods and can generate electronic documents for easy sharing, remote access, and permanent archiving.
Accurate quantity data is foundational to all cost management activities, including cost estimation, bidding, negotiations, contract signing, and progress payments.
One major challenge in construction management is the inability to quickly obtain large volumes of accurate data, leading to reliance on empirical methods and resulting in resource waste. The application of Luban BIM technology in the elderly apartment project enables rapid access to detailed engineering data, supporting the development of precise material plans. This greatly reduces waste in materials, logistics, and warehousing, while supporting strict material requisition and consumption control.
BIM Optimization of Pipeline Layout and Component Hoisting
BIM models integrating civil engineering, water supply, drainage, electrical, fire protection, and weak current disciplines provide a solid foundation for coordinating pipeline layouts for installation units. Traditional pipeline design often relies on two-dimensional plans that limit the understanding of three-dimensional spatial relationships, leading to technical shortcomings and poor construction performance.
Longxin Construction Group achieved excellent results by applying Luban BIM technology:
1. Modeling and coordination optimization across multiple disciplines can be performed simultaneously. 3D models allow cutting into large sample sections or axonometric views at any location to observe and adjust pipeline elevations and detect collisions.
2. Once the pipelines are integrated, the ceiling height for each floor can be finalized to coordinate with detailed decoration work.
3. The integrated BIM pipeline model enables real-time virtual walkthroughs, inspection, and annotation of key nodes. Using Luban BIM Works software, internal inspections can be conducted with customizable walking routes and keyboard controls, allowing intuitive dynamic visualization of equipment and pipelines.
Additionally, the BIM model consolidates data from various equipment and pipelines, allowing for more accurate statistical analysis and material lists.
Regarding PC component hoisting, BIM simulations help optimize construction plans before actual work begins. For the elderly apartment project, Longxin Construction Group targets a 6-day lifting cycle per standard floor. Construction simulation animations visually demonstrate the entire process, serving as a useful guide for on-site technical teams. This allows clear understanding of procedures and helps identify potential issues early, enabling timely adjustments to the plan. Moreover, these animations promote corporate culture by enhancing communication and shared understanding among project members.
— Yang Shijue, Li Jinyuan, Hong Renjie
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