WET News

FEBRUARY 2015 WET NEWS 7 Getting a clear picture through BIM The use of Building Information Modelling is on the increase as e• ciencies are expected to realised in data management and the tendering process. Maureen Gaines reports. T he infrastructure industry has been slow to adopt Building Information Modelling (BIM) processes but according to J Murphy & Sons' BIM expert, Lewis Wenman, that is no bad thing because the sector will bene• t from the lessons already learned in the building industry. Lewis Wenman, group BIM manager at Murphys, explains: "Now is a good time to come in and pick up all the lessons that have been learned from previous years. Because we're seeing the building sector starting to reap bene• ts and seeing the e… ciencies, they're [infrastructure companies] realising we should be doing this. It just makes sense." The growth of BIM in the construction industry has largely been pushed by the government as it sought a 20% reduction in construction costs for major projects. This combined with the recession meant prices fell. "Now as more work is coming back on to the market place prices are starting to go up as order books are • lling up. But there's still all the elements of gaining this e… ciency during the construction programme," he says. Exemplar projects Wenman is responsible for creating and implementing Murphys group strategy on BIM, focusing on the key principles of people, lean construction and client satisfaction. "The key elements of the strategy is about awareness of BIM and what it is to the group, for all our operatives within the group as well as our clients and the supply chain." Collaborative As part of the BIM learning pro- cess, Wenman is using a series of exemplar projects including some that are 'live' schemes, to establish base KPIs. Others have been completed in a traditional manner and are being looked at to measure how e… cient it would have been if BIM pro- cesses had been used. The exemplar projects have been taken from each of Murphys' divisions so sta– can relate to them during training. BIM is a process and a collaborative way of working. It's about wrapping data round a 3D model through the full life cycle of the model. Plus there's lots of other tools in the process such as the use of 4D for the construction sequencing and 5D to obtain quantities o– the model. "Hopefully, it will halt all the problems and delays in construction, and people changing their mind. One of the biggest problems on a lot of projects is clients don't really understand what the design information is really showing, and only when they see it physically being built start to go 'ah, I didn't want that'," says Wenman. "Bringing a lot of this into the 3D environment and engaging with clients and the supply chain, people get a clearer vision of what they're going to get. Basically, there's lots and lots of data but because people don't relate to spreadsheets all the time and • gures, if you actually see it in a physical 3D sense as well you can relate to the data much more easily." Another problem particularly in the water sector, says Wenman, is that some companies "don't truly know what they have as an asset". They would know it is a pumping station, for instance, located somewhere in the country and that is about it. "We can move forward with this. It doesn't mean we have to go round every pumping station capturing everything and building a 3D model of it. What you've got to do is adapt a BIM process to your project that returns value. If it doesn't add value to your project don't do it, carry on with your traditional method." Add value Wenman continues: "That, I think, is the biggest challenge for NEWS+ the industry today – measuring what's going to add value and what isn't to undertaking BIM on any project." He says that, similarly with the BIM could help speed up the process of tendering. "At the tender stage, we're being asked to respond quicker and start onsite quicker. One of the big problems for us is that clients are not supplying the information so we're having to go and capture that to get a full understanding of what the project is." He continues: "If the client's already got that information captured when they send out the tender information, we're going BIM wraps data round a 3D model through the full life cycle of the model, and oƒ ers other tools such as the use of 4D for construction sequencing and 5D to obtain quantities "That, I think, is the biggest challenge for the industry today – measuring what's going to add value and what isn't to undertaking BIM on any project" Lewis Wenman Getting a clear picture through BIM the industry today – "That, I think, is the biggest challenge for the industry today – measuring what's going to add value and what isn't to undertaking BIM on to save weeks on this process. "They'll make savings and speed the process up." Wenman adds that having more clear information at the start of the project enables contractors and the supply chain to give surety to clients on a • gure; reduce the risk pool; the client is clear of what is going to be built; and facility management knowledge once the project is completed. ■

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