BIM

When Colorado-based Olson Plumbing & Heating was awarded the plumbing, variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system, and refrigerant lines in the $60 million, 185,000-square-foot Centennial High School project in Pueblo, they needed additional BIM resources to manage their expanding project load.

Being committed to BIM as a business model, with only a three-person CAD department and this type of skilled labor being extremely hard to find, they found it difficult to develop their in-house capabilities. Having many successful projects with Uponor Construction Services for estimation and design on projects in the past, Olson turned to Uponor BIM Services to help manage the workload on the new high school project.

Using a digital model provided by project architect MOA Architecture, Uponor BIM Services populated it with all the pipe, fittings, equipment, and other products specified. They then moved into the coordination phase to identify potential clashes with other trades on the project.

“With Uponor, we had a professional third party who could take their modeling and drawing to full, fabrication-level detailing,” explains Lana Marsh, project manager, Olson Plumbing & Heating.

Uponor BIM Services provided full plumbing modeling and coordination, full VRF system modeling and coordination, spool and install drawings, and hangers with points for field layout along with representation during multi-trade coordination with the general contractor.

When it came to installation time, this benefitted the Olson team with less rework, reduced job-site waste, and higher workforce productivity. In fact, one project change to raise an underground plumbing drainage line several feet spared Olson from having to dig a deeper trench, which saved significant labor as well as earth-moving equipment rental costs.

“Using Uponor’s resources has enabled us to grow our company without having to create a whole office floor of CAD specialists,” Marsh professes. “We are definitely planning to use them for future projects.”

Learn more about Uponor BIM Services.

BIM, which stands for “building information modeling” is becoming the fastest-growing innovation for managing commercial construction projects. From adding greater efficiencies and productivity to reducing product waste and employee resources waste, BIM is providing benefits for everyone in the design and construction chain — from engineers to project managers to installing contractors.

BIM defined

So what exactly is BIM? Simply put, BIM is a collaborative process. It incorporates teams, technologies, and tools to generate and manage digital assets that represent the physical space of a building to be renovated or newly constructed from the ground up.

Engineers are able to design a building holistically with improved visualization based on higher-quality 3D models generated from the BIM process. Contractors are then able to gain greater efficiencies and productivity during the installation process because issues and conflicts have already been addressed before construction even begins.

BIM Services departments

With this growing trend, companies are seeing the bottom-line benefits of BIM and are now creating their own BIM Services departments. These teams are typically led by a vice president or director and include project managers and business development managers that work one-on-one with clients to provide everything from modeling and coordination, laser scanning, BIM coordination management, BIM training, onsite collaboration, template development, and workflow optimization.

For modeling and coordination, a BIM Services department can provide hanger layouts and structural supports, in addition to spooling and fabrication detailing along with shop, install, and as-built drawings. Some BIM Services teams can even offer laser scanning services, which can include everything from scanning of existing buildings for renovation, scanning completed projects for documentation, and scan-to-BIM services.

How BIM supports installing contractors

By utilizing BIM or partnering with a BIM Services provider, it can increase efficiencies in workflows to help identify issues early on in a project to maximize productivity and minimize waste.

For example, a company can leverage 3D models to validate designs from the onset of design to improve overall project execution and collaboration. This leads to reduced design errors, resulting in higher design accuracy, which saves time and money by reducing rework and change orders.

Accurate and well-coordinated designs also lead to improved job costing through more accurate quantities and estimates, resulting in reduced job-site waste.

Contractors can also gain more precise site logistics by leveraging accurate models to create model-based schedules or sequences. Additionally, look-ahead plans, work-in-progress models, materials planning, equipment and rigging locations, site traffic patterns and controls, and even location-based schedules can all be derived from well-coordinated 3D models to optimize daily job-site activities.

Choosing a BIM Services provider

What is true with real estate is also true with a BIM Services provider: it’s all about location. Some BIM Services companies are located overseas, so the opportunity to have live interaction or even in-person collaboration is very challenging or impossible. Be sure to go with a BIM Services provider located in your region, or at least in your country, so collaboration can happen in real time.

It is also important that the BIM Services team has knowledgeable experience with the codes and standards in your jurisdiction as well as the construction practices in your area. Certain commercial projects, like hospitals, may have specific construction methods that must be adhered to for code. Make sure the BIM Services team you’re partnering with knows these important details.

Additionally, it’s beneficial to work with a team that has affiliations with industry organizations such as ASPE, ASHRAE, and MCAA, to ensure they’re up-to-date on the most current trends and information in the industry.

Finally, it’s important to consider cost when it comes to choosing a BIM Services provider. It’s true what they say: you get what you pay for. So, when researching providers, consider the experience of the team and the support they can provide when weighing how much you want to pay for these services.

Because BIM is a relatively new concept to the construction industry, experience is in short supply. That said, look to these providers for training for your staff. It’s a great way to add value to your company and provide future projects with greater efficiencies and productivity.

Kim Bliss is the technical and marketing content manager at Uponor. She can be reached at kim.bliss@uponor.com.

Mechanical Hub Media ProStaff Director Eric Aune chatted with Lee Browning, BIM and Estimation Supervisor at Uponor’s North American headquarters in Minnesota to discuss how Uponor’s Estimation and BIM services provides solutions for engineers and contractors.

Onsite Jobsite Video: Uponor’s BIM and Estimation Services

A new speaker to our Coffee with Caleffi™ webinar series, Jim Meseke, Director of BIM Content at ENGworks, will share his 21 years’ of AEC expertise on Thursday, Aug. 20 at 12 noon CDT discussing How to Utilize BIM in Hydronic System Design. Meseke will walk the audience through what BIM is and its capabilities, the differences between BIM in comparison to conventional CAD and discuss where BIM is heading in the future. He’ll demonstrate how to obtain and implement Revit content.

Responsible for managing BIM content projects and innovating modeling techniques, Meseke provides quality assurance for the content at ENGworks. The ENGWorks team is well recognized internationally as a top provider of Revit models for mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection products.

The one-hour educational webinars are free and are intended for contractors, designers and wholesalers. Please visit our website at www.caleffi.com for schedule details and registration.