BIM and its Envisioned Use in Engineering Infrastructure

BIM and its Envisioned Use in Engineering Infrastructure

Graduation Thesis

Author Jan-Peter Ter Maaten

Date September 1, 2015

Version 1.0

Status Final

Quote derived from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland

Figure 1 | Corporate Vision E2CS (E2CS Partners LLC., 2007)

© Copyright 2015 by J. Ter Maaten, TU Delft and Grontmij Nederland B.V.

All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or

utilised in any way or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or

by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior permission from the proprietors.

‘If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there’

J. Ter Maaten iii

Research Title BIM’s Horizon

Research Sub Title BIM and its Envisioned Use in Engineering Infrastructure

Document Type Graduation Thesis

Date of Completion September 1, 2015

Date of Presentation September 16, 2015

Author Jan-Peter Ter Maaten

Hoofdweg 115

6744 WJ Ederveen

06-57240749

[email protected]

[email protected]

Student number 4098951

University Delft University of Technology

Faculty Civil Engineering and Geosciences

Master Track Construction Management and Engineering

Graduation Committee Prof.dr.ir. M.J.C.M. Hertogh CEG, TU Delft

Dr.ir. G.A. van Nederveen CEG, TU Delft

Dr. S.G. Lukosch TBM, TU Delft

Ing. M.B.J. de Kroon Grontmij, Nederland

Grontmij Nederland B.V.

De Holle Bilt 22

3732 HM, De Bilt

Delft University of Technology

Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences

Stevinweg 1

2628, CN, Delft

J. Ter Maaten v

Writing a report often ends with the first textual part of it, and so it does in this case as well.

Finishing the master Construction Management and Engineering at the Technical University of Delft,

this master thesis report is the cap stone. In order to graduate every master student needs to write

his thesis report after analysing and researching his subject at his internship organisation.

The subject of my graduation thesis is BIM on a very strategic level. During my internship at Grontmij

in De Bilt, I researched BIM and conducted many interviews. This information was used to define a

corporate vision on BIM. This vision is the goal towards which Grontmij should head in order to get

the most out of BIM.

In this preface I’d like to thank everybody who helped me during my graduation internship. My

gratitude goes out to Maurice for being my main supervisor, for helping me formulating the research

set-up, for introducing me to BIMing Grontmij, for answering many questions, and for helping me

whenever necessary.

Furthermore, I’m thankful to my graduation committee. Sander, as my primary supervisor and

mentor, thanks very much for your advice, knowledge and expertise, and for answering many

questions, both on BIM and on graduation processes. Also thanks to Marcel and Stephan for your

time, critiques, and constructive input.

I conducted ten interviews during my research project. These were very helpful and certainly

necessary to develop a sound and consistent corporate vision on BIM. Therefore I want to thank

everybody I interviewed – Arjen, Dik, Renzo, Bart and Frans outside Grontmij and Martijn, Martijn,

Patrick, John and Hans within the organisation – and everybody who had input in another way.

Finally I’d like to thank Sandra for helping me scheduling all meetings in Delft; family, friends, and

colleagues for talking about and thinking along my graduation subject; and Lianne for your support,

improvements, ideas, and – not the least important – love.

Jan-Peter Ter Maaten

Ederveen, September 2015

J. Ter Maaten vii

Preface ........................................................................................................................................ v

Summary ..................................................................................................................................... xi

Samenvatting – Translation into Dutch ....................................................................................... xiii

Glossary ...................................................................................................................................... xv

1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Problem Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Problem Statement ................................................................................................................. 2

1.3 Research Objective .................................................................................................................. 2

1.4 Research Approach .................................................................................................................. 2

1.5 Research Questions ................................................................................................................. 3

1.6 Report Structure ...................................................................................................................... 4

2 Research Methodology ......................................................................................................... 5

2.1 Research Design ...................................................................................................................... 5

2.2 Vision – Definition, Purpose, Criteria, Processes, and Application ......................................... 6

2.2.1 Definitions and Purpose .................................................................................................................... 6 2.2.2 Criteria for Assessing a Vision ........................................................................................................... 8 2.2.3 Vision Creation Processes ................................................................................................................. 8 2.2.4 Applying Vision Development Theories to Building Information Modelling ..................................... 9

2.3 Interviews ................................................................................................................................ 9

2.4 Scope and Limitations ........................................................................................................... 10

3 Building Information Modelling ........................................................................................... 11

3.1 Defining BIM – Perception and Misperception ..................................................................... 11

3.1.1 BIM is not Precisely Delimited – Several Definitions ....................................................................... 11 3.1.2 BIM is not Strictly Limited either ..................................................................................................... 12 3.1.3 A Working Definition of BIM ........................................................................................................... 13

3.2 BIM’s Roots and Development .............................................................................................. 14

3.2.1 The Explosive Development of Computer Aided Design ................................................................. 14 3.2.2 How BIM could have become Reality much Earlier ........................................................................ 15 3.2.3 BIM in its Rapids – Promoting Revit and Onwards .......................................................................... 16 3.2.4 BIM in Infrastructure was Underexposed ....................................................................................... 17 3.2.5 So Why BIM? ................................................................................................................................... 18

3.3 General Notions – What is anyone talking about? ................................................................ 20

3.3.1 Object-oriented Modelling .............................................................................................................. 20 3.3.2 Interoperability – Standards, Libraries, and Languages .................................................................. 20 3.3.3 Level of Development ..................................................................................................................... 21 3.3.4 Maturity Levels ................................................................................................................................ 22 3.3.5 BIG BIM versus little bim ................................................................................................................. 22

3.4 BIM Essentials – The Most Essential Data Sources to Connect ............................................. 23

viii J. Ter Maaten

3.4.1 Essential 1 | Technical Details ......................................................................................................... 24 3.4.2 Essential 2 | Requirements ............................................................................................................. 24 3.4.3 Essential 3 | Geospatial Information ............................................................................................... 25 3.4.4 Essential 4 | Time ............................................................................................................................ 26 3.4.5 Essential 5 | Finances ...................................................................................................................... 27 3.4.6 Essential 6 | Condition of Assets ..................................................................................................... 28 3.4.7 Essential 7 | Risks ............................................................................................................................ 30 3.4.8 Essential 8 | Documentation ........................................................................................................... 32

3.5 Evaluating BIM ....................................................................................................................... 33

3.5.1 BIM’s Beneficial Elements ............................................................................................................... 33 3.5.2 BIM’s Main Disadvantages .............................................................................................................. 36 3.5.3 BIM’s Challenges ............................................................................................................................. 37

3.6 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 38

4 What BIM will Become ........................................................................................................ 41

4.1 BIM’s Direct Context.............................................................................................................. 41

4.1.1 Integrated project delivery .............................................................................................................. 42 4.1.2 Lean Construction ........................................................................................................................... 43 4.1.3 Sustainability ................................................................................................................................... 44 4.1.4 The Information Age – A.K.A. Big Data ............................................................................................ 45 4.1.5 The Internet of Things ..................................................................................................................... 46 4.1.6 Robotising and 3D Printing .............................................................................................................. 47 4.1.7 Concluding BIM’s Neighbouring Trends .......................................................................................... 48

4.2 Interview’s Vision Elements .................................................................................................. 49

4.2.1 Different mindset ............................................................................................................................ 49 4.2.2 Better communication .................................................................................................................... 50 4.2.3 Information sharing, integration of information sources, COINS ................................................... 51 4.2.4 Harmonised libraries, CB-NL ........................................................................................................... 52 4.2.5 Real-time information, sensors, Internet of Things ........................................................................ 52 4.2.6 Virtual Reality, kinetics, holograms, voice control, domotics ......................................................... 52 4.2.7 Integration with living environment, Smart Cities .......................................................................... 53 4.2.8 Systems Engineering ....................................................................................................................... 53 4.2.9 Process improvement ..................................................................................................................... 54 4.2.10 Computerising and automation, 3D printing .............................................................................. 54 4.2.11 Project transcending working, business analyses, multi-BIM ..................................................... 54 4.2.12 Big Data, analyses and testing, Structured Open Linked Data .................................................... 55 4.2.13 Asset Management-focussed...................................................................................................... 55 4.2.14 Balance between craft and automation ..................................................................................... 56 4.2.15 Change of engineering services .................................................................................................. 56

4.3 Elements the Vision Will Contain .......................................................................................... 57

4.3.1 Vision Content: Literature ............................................................................................................... 57 4.3.2 Vision Content: Broader Trends ...................................................................................................... 57 4.3.3 Vision Content: Interviews .............................................................................................................. 57 4.3.4 Developing the First Vision .............................................................................................................. 57

4.4 The Proposal: A Long-Term Vision on BIM ............................................................................ 59

4.4.1 Definition and Acceptance of BIM .................................................................................................. 59 4.4.2 The Role and Influence of Information ........................................................................................... 59 4.4.3 Interaction with the Living Environment ......................................................................................... 60 4.4.4 The Engineering Work Spectrum Changes ...................................................................................... 61

J. Ter Maaten ix

4.5 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 63

5 Evaluating the Vision Proposal ............................................................................................ 65

5.1 Methodology – Workshop Design ......................................................................................... 65

5.2 Remarks to the Vision Proposal ............................................................................................ 65

5.2.1 Additions ......................................................................................................................................... 66 5.2.2 Improvements ................................................................................................................................. 66 5.2.3 Other remarks ................................................................................................................................. 67 5.2.4 Changes to the Vision – Concluding on the Workshop Remarks .................................................... 67

5.3 The Final Vision Proposal ....................................................................................................... 68

5.3.1 Definition and Acceptance of BIM .................................................................................................. 68 5.3.2 The Role and Influence of Information ........................................................................................... 68 5.3.3 Interaction with the Living Environment ......................................................................................... 69 5.3.4 The Engineering Work Spectrum Changes ...................................................................................... 70

5.4 Discussion of this Final Vision Proposal ................................................................................. 72

5.4.1 Why should Grontmij BIM? ............................................................................................................. 72 5.4.2 Marketability of the Vision .............................................................................................................. 73 5.4.3 Assessing the Vision ........................................................................................................................ 74 5.4.4 How to Get to that Point at the Horizon? ....................................................................................... 74

5.5 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 75

6 Conclusions and Recommendations ..................................................................................... 77

6.1 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 77

6.2 Recommendations................................................................................................................. 82

6.3 Further Research ................................................................................................................... 84

7 Reflection ........................................................................................................................... 85

7.1 Reflection on BIM .................................................................................................................. 85

7.2 Reflection on Graduation Research Project .......................................................................... 85

References ................................................................................................................................. 87

List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. 97

List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. 97

Appendices ................................................................................................................................ 99

1 Interviews.......................................................................................................................... 101

2 Vision – Dutch Version ....................................................................................................... 103

3 Workshop set-up ............................................................................................................... 113

4 Workshop PowerPoint Presentation ................................................................................... 117

J. Ter Maaten xi

Introduction

As every organisation in the building industry,

engineering consultant Grontmij is also

dealing with Building Information Modelling

(BIM). It is an industry-wide public debate to

implement BIM and to harvest its benefits.

Grontmij, also wanting to adopt BIM, wants to

develop a vision concerning BIM

implementation, because it is important to

know where you are going in order to choose

the right way.

This research project fills this gap by

proposing such a vision. In order to develop

this vision the next question is answered in

this report. In which way should a corporate

vision concerning BIM be defined for large

engineering companies in the infrastructure

sector?

Methodology

This research project has three information

sources at its basis. Based on information

about 1) BIM itself, 2) important neighbouring

trends to BIM, and on 3) interviews, a

corporate vision on BIM is developed. This

first version of a vision is discussed in a

workshop. In that workshop, in which

Grontmij BIM experts participate, a second

version of the vision is developed. That second

version is the end result of this research

project and of this report.

Building Information Modelling

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a

working and thinking method in which all

relevant information of an object or asset is

connected digitally throughout the life cycle:

Building Information Modelling is the

purposeful management of information

through the whole life cycle of a built

environment asset by creating a digital

representation of physical and functional

characteristics, using components that consist

of computable graphic and data attributes and

parametric rules. Thus, BIM is a managed

approach to the collection and exploitation of

consistent, non-redundant, and coordinated

information across the life cycle of a built

environment asset.

Characteristics of BIM consists of 1) its object-

oriented approach; 2) its need of information

exchange; 3) the level of information

development; 4) the level of maturity, defining

the level of implementation; and 5) internal

and external BIM, described as little and Big

BIM.

Though nearly every information source can

be linked within the context of BIM, the

following eight are the most important:

Technical details

Requirements

Geospatial

Time

Finances

Condition of assets

Risks Documentation

BIM increases efficiency, quality and

information consistency, and enables

analyses. Challenging to BIM are quality of

information, interoperability, and information

requirements and availability.

Broader Trends

Developments in the building industry

relevant to BIM are Integrated Project

Delivery (IPD) and Lean Construction. The first

being a collaboration contract form and the

latter being a working method to increase

xii J. Ter Maaten

efficiency, both supplement BIM perfectly.

BIM, IPD and Lean Construction stimulate

sustainability improvement.

Though Big Data and BIM have a different

approach of processing information, the first

might become really important to BIM. The

combination with the Internet of Things

makes it a powerful development.

3D printing and robotising control the building

site to a large extent. Increasing efficiency,

quality and safety, this fits well with Lean

Construction.

Interviews

The interviews resulted in a list of fifteen

aspects the vision should contain, consisting

of issues and changes in society, technology,

and social behaviour.

Vision

The vision is based on the three information

sources described before. It consists of four

main subjects, in which as many elements as

possible and reasonable are included.

Definition. BIM is fully defined and

accepted, and roots in intrinsic

motivation. BIM concerns communication

and collaboration and has information

exchange as its core concept.

Information. The information need is

fully defined. Because information needs

to be purposeful, the information

collecting principles of Big Data are not

used. Information supply by engineering

companies is in line with the information

need. Information should be accurate,

consistent, useful, non-redundant,

unambiguous and reliable. Information

exchange is possible and safe via

internationally accepted standards. Many

analyses can be conducted, because

information is interconnected. Based on

geographical information, assets are

connected and business and object-

transcending analyses and optimisations

can be performed.

Living Environment. Objects are

intelligent and communicate pro-actively.

The building site of an asset is fully

controlled, minimising waste and

maximising quality and speed by using

robotising and 3D-printing. BIM has been

a driver for developments and

sustainability.

Engineering changes. The new

generation of engineers ‘thinks BIM’.

Engineering practice changed from

delivering products to delivering services.

Integrated contracts and Systems

Engineering are fully integrated in

engineering practice. Because of BIM and

due to BIM many processes have

changed.

Conclusions

The answer on the research question cannot

be given by a single statement, because the

full text of the vision is the answer. A

summary of the vision and also the answer to

the research question can be defined as

follows:

A corporate vision concerning BIM for large

engineering companies in the infrastructure

sector includes an in-depth understanding of

BIM and of social and technical

developments. In 2030, BIM as collaboration

and communication method is fully accepted;

information can be exchanged and analyses

can be done using that information; and BIM

is Asset Management focused and maximises

efficiency.

J. Ter Maaten xiii

Introductie

Evenals elke organisatie in de bouw heeft ook

ingenieursbureau Grontmij te maken met

Building Information Modelling (BIM). Het

publieke debat concentreert zich om de

implementatie en de voordelen van BIM.

Omdat Grontmij ook BIM wil invoeren, wil ze

een visie op BIM ontwikkelen, want het is

belangrijk te weten waar je heen gaat om de

goede weg te kunnen kiezen.

Dit onderzoeksproject vult deze impasse door

zo’n visie voor te stellen. Om deze visie te

kunnen ontwikkelen, is de volgende vraag in

dit rapport beantwoord. Op welke manier

moet een bedrijfsvisie op BIM gedefinieerd

worden voor grote ingenieursbureaus in de

infrastructuursector?

Methode

Dit onderzoeksproject gebruikt drie

informatiebronnen. Gebaseerd op informatie

over 1) BIM en 2) voor BIM relevante trends

en op 3) interviews een bedrijfsvisie op BIM is

ontwikkeld. Deze eerste versie van de visie is

geëvalueerd in een workshop. In deze

workshop, waaraan BIM-experts van Grontmij

deelnemen, wordt de tweede versie van de

visie ontwikkeld. Deze tweede versie is het

eindresultaat van dit onderzoeksproject en

van dit rapport


Building Information Modelling (BIM) is een

werken denkwijze waarin alle relevante

informatie over een object of asset digital

verbonden wordt voor de hele levenscyclus.

Building Information Modelling is het

doelbewust managen van informatie

gedurende de hele levenscyclus van een object

uit de bebouwde omgeving door een digitale

vertegenwoordiging van fysieke en functionele

karakteristieken te maken, gebruikmakende

van componenten die uit berekenbare

grafische eigenschappen, data en

parametrische regels bestaan. Dit maakt BIM

een managementbenadering om consistente,

niet-overbodige en gecoördineerde informatie

over de hele levenscyclus van een object uit de

bebouwde omgeving te verzamelen en te

gebruiken.

BIM wordt gekarakteriseerd door 1) de object-

georiënteerde benadering, 2) de behoefte aan

informatie-uitwisseling, 3) de informatie-

diepte, 4) het niveau van volwassenheid, wat

het implementatieniveau weergeeft en 5)

intern en extern BIM, ook wel omschreven als

little BIM en Big BIM.

Hoewel bijna elke informatiebron gelinkt kan

worden in de context van BIM, zijn de

volgende acht de meest belangrijke:

Technische details

Eisen

Geografisch

Tijd

Financiën

Toestand van assets

Risico’s Documentatie

BIM verhoogt de effectiviteit, kwaliteit en

consistentie van informatie en maakt analyses

mogelijk. De uitdagingen bestaan uit kwaliteit

van informatie, interoperabiliteit, informatie-

behoefte en beschikbaarheid van informatie.

Bredere Trends

De huidige ontwikkelingen in de bouw die

relevant zijn met betrekking tot BIM zijn

Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) en Lean

Construction. De eerste is een contractvorm

en de laatste is een werkwijze waarin

xiv J. Ter Maaten

efficiëntie vergroot wordt, waardoor ze beide

BIM perfect aanvullen. Zowel BIM, IPD als

Lean Construction bevorderen duurzaamheid.

Hoewel Big Data en BIM een verschillende

aanpak hebben in het verwerken van

informatie, kan de eerste een grote invloed

hebben op BIM. De combinatie met de

Internet of Things maakt het een krachtige

ontwikkeling.

3D printen en robotisering beheersen de

bouwplaats behoorlijk. Omdat ze efficiëntie,

kwaliteit en veiligheid vergroten, passen ze

ook goed in de Lean Construction principes.

Interviews

De interviews resulteerden in een lijst van

veertien punten die in de visie opgenomen

zouden moeten worden. Deze punten bestaan

uit sociale, technologische en

maatschappelijke veranderingen.

Visie

De visie is gebaseerd op de drie databronnen

zoals hierboven beschreven en bestaat uit vier

onderwerpen. Hierin zijn zoveel mogelijk

logische elementen opgenomen.

Definitie. BIM is volledig gedefinieerd en

geaccepteerd en komt voort uit

intrinsieke motivatie. BIM gaat over

communicatie en samenwerking en heeft

informatie-uitwisseling als kerngedachte.

Informatie. De informatiebehoefte is

volledig gedefinieerd. Omdat informatie

doelgericht moet zijn, wordt het niet

ingezameld volgende principes van Big

Data. Informatie-aanbod door

ingenieursbureaus komt overeen met de

informatiebehoefte. Informatie moet

accuraat, consistent, nuttig, niet-

overbodig, niet-dubbelzinnig en

betrouwbaar zijn. Informatie-uitwisseling

is mogelijk en veilig via internationaal

geaccepteerde standaarden. Veel

analyses zijn mogelijk doordat informatie

gekoppeld is. Door de koppeling met

geografische informatie zijn assets met

elkaar verbonden en kunnen

objectoverstijgende analyses en

optimalisaties uitgevoerd worden.

Leefomgeving. Objecten communiceren

proactief en zijn intelligent. De

bouwplaats van een object is volledig

gecontroleerd, waardoor afval

geminimaliseerd wordt en kwaliteit en

snelheid verhoogd worden door

robotisering en 3D-printen. BIM is een

aanjager geweest voor ontwikkelingen en

duurzaamheid.

Ingenieurs veranderen. Een nieuwe

generatie ingenieurs ‘denkt BIM’. Het

ingenieurswerk is veranderd van het

leveren van producten naar het verlenen

van services. Geïntegreerde contracten

en Systems Engineering zijn volledig

geïntegreerd in het ingenieurswerk. Voor

en door BIM zijn veel processen

veranderd.

Conclusies

Het antwoord op de onderzoeksvraag kan niet

gegeven worden in een enkele zin, omdat de

volledige visie het antwoord is. Als

samenvatting van de visie, en als antwoord op

de onderzoeksvraag, is het volgende

gedefinieerd:

Een bedrijfsvisie op BIM voor grote

ingenieursbureaus in de infrastructuursector

geeft blijk van een diepgaand begrip van BIM

en van maatschappelijke en technologische

ontwikkelingen. In 2030 is BIM als

samenwerkings- en communicatiemethode

wordt geaccepteerd, wordt informatie

uitgewisseld en worden analyses daarmee

uitgevoerd, is BIM gericht op Asset

Management en vergroot het efficiëntie.

J. Ter Maaten xv

All relevant abbreviations are listed in this chapter, extended by their full meaning.

AEC Architecture, Engineering, Construction BDS Building Description Systems BIM Building Information Modelling/Management CAD Computer Aided Design CAM Computer Aided Machining GIS Geographic Information System IFC International Foundation Class IoT Internet of Things IPD Integrated Project Delivery NGO Non-Governmental Organisation VDC Virtual Design Construction WBS Work Breakdown Structure

Other acronyms

3D BIM Geographical model 4D BIM 3D BIM + timing features 5D BIM 4D BIM + costing features 6D BIM 5D BIM + sustainability features 7D BIM 6D BIM + facility management features

J. Ter Maaten 1

Sketching the problem first, the problem definition is given in section 1.1. This is translated into a

research objective. Next, the research approach, as summary of the methodology used, is described.

Section 1.5 presents the research questions that are answered in the content of this report. This

chapter is concluded with an overview of the structure of this report.

BIM is inevitable (Adriaanse, 2014; Institution of Civil Engineers, 2012a; McGraw-Hill Construction,

2010, 2012; Memoori Business Intelligence, 2015; Samuelson & Björk, 2014; J. Williams, 2015). The

question no longer is whether BIM should be adopted, but in what way it should be done. Though

much research has been done on the benefits of BIM or on its business value (Aranda-Mena,

Crawford, Chevez, & Froese, 2009; Azhar, 2011; Bryde, Broquetas, & Volm, 2013; Lu, Fung, Peng,

Liang, & Rowlinson, 2014; Vass, 2014; Vass & Gustavsson, 2014), it still is difficult for a company that

does not use BIM to estimate its profitability, to know whether it will be advantageous, and to know

for which projects BIM should be used.

At engineering company Grontmij no corporate-wide vision concerning BIM has been developed.

BIM is more and more valued as increasingly important by mostly everybody, but only a few know

BIM in its essence. On individual level some attempts were made to apply BIM in a project, but this

project-focused approach has never been lifted to a higher level. The connection of GeoWeb and

Relatics, i.e. coupling of requirements with geographical data, exemplifies this.

Research has been done by Panaitescu (2014) on how to implement BIM. His work is the predecessor

of this research project. Though his work explains how to implement BIM, it doesn’t provide the

necessary need to actually implement it. In other words: Grontmij does know how to implement

BIM, but does not know why it should do it and to what extent.

According to Panaitescu (2014) the general feeling at Grontmij is positive towards BIM in the sense

‘they’ expect BIM to become important in the future of the construction sector. At Grontmij BIM will

“become an important focus for further development intentions, but there is not yet a clear plan in

this direction” (Panaitescu, 2014). Considering it is not the question if BIM will be adopted, but when

it will be implemented, he stresses that it is important to develop a vision. Without a vision, useful

resources will be wasted and the process will be difficult. “The vision should be sufficiently

aspirational to unite the various views within the organization. It should be further supported by the

steps necessary to achieve.” (Panaitescu, 2014, p. 87) Panaitescu stresses the necessity of developing

a vision and road that leads towards it.

A large survey conducted by McGraw-Hill Construction shows that 71% (62 companies) of

engineering companies that do not use BIM (54% non-BIM using of 35% engineering companies of

466 respondents is 88 engineering companies that do not use BIM) has a positive attitude towards

BIM (McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012). Though engineering companies are the most conservative

respondents (among owners, contractors and engineers), this still is a large number of positive non-

users. Considering that BIM is increasingly popular in the building industry, a large engineering

2 J. Ter Maaten

company as Grontmij cannot fall back by ignoring this development. On the other hand it is not

advisable to just embrace it without questioning, debating, considering and without any in-depth

knowledge. Therefore a sound vision has to be developed at Grontmij company level to apply BIM

wisely. Until now no specific BIM vision is drawn and BIM has not been beneficial on a large scale.

The report by McGraw-Hill Construction (2012) shows that the infrastructure sector started adoption

a few years later than the rest of the construction industry in its BIM usage. “Half of the companies

using BIM for infrastructure have only one or two years of experience doing so, versus only 28% with

that limited track record working on all project types. While 43% have five or more years of BIM

experience on all project types, only about half that number (23%) have an equivalent length of

experience using it on infrastructure work.” (McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012, p. 8) The same report

states that BIM usage in de infrastructure sector will grow dramatically, which stresses the

importance of developing a clear and realistic vision on how to use and how to deal with BIM.

The problem context can be summarised in one problem definition, which is defined as follows:

This research project is meant to produce good answers and solutions to the problem sketched. In

order to make that possible, the following research objective is derived from the problem definition.

This research project aims at providing ready answers for an engineering company in the

infrastructure sector on dealing with BIM properly. It starts with mapping BIM thoroughly by

analysing its most essential characteristics and identifying which information sources can be

connected best. Researching the state of the art and current developments, advantages and

disadvantages, possibilities, limitations, and challenges will be brought into the limelight. The

purpose of this analysis is to create a thorough and accurate picture of BIM.

After analysing BIM thoroughly, a first version of the BIM corporate vision will be developed. Firstly,

several actual trends are researched, thus drawing BIM’s context. Next, all information that is

J. Ter Maaten 3

needed to write the first version of the vision is summarised. This information builds on three

sources: literature research, BIM’s context, and interviews. Finally the vision itself is created.

This first version of the vision is evaluated in a workshop. In the workshop the vision is discussed and

evaluated with 10-15 Grontmij BIM experts. This process is necessary to refine and shape the vision

into its second version.

The second version of the BIM vision is the result of this research project. It is meant to be used in a

larger BIM vision development process, in which the second version of the vision is proposed as the

first step.

This research project answers the following core question. In order to perform a good and consistent

research project the following research questions should be answered in the several chapters.

1. What are the advantages, disadvantages, and challenges of BIM to large engineering

companies in the infrastructure sector now and in the future?

1.1. In what way can BIM be defined?

1.2. What are the most essential characteristics of BIM?

1.3. What is the state of the art of BIM and what developments are taking place?

1.4. What advantages and disadvantages can be recognized for BIM?

1.5. What are current challenges for BIM?

2. In which way should a corporate vision concerning BIM for large engineering companies in the

infrastructure sector be defined?

2.1. What are relevant developments to BIM?

2.2. What does the expected future of BIM for large engineering companies in the infrastructure

sector look like?

4 J. Ter Maaten

This report has a clear structure. After introducing the research project and defining its research

methodology, BIM is elaborated extensively in chapter 3. Based on chapter 3 and the interviews

(appendix 1), chapter 4 defines the first version of the corporate vision on BIM. Chapter 5 consists of

the evaluation of that first version and gives the second version of the vision. Finally the report is

concluded with conclusions and recommendations.

The research questions are discussed and answered throughout the report. Table 1 gives an overview

of the chapters in which the several research questions are discussed.

Table 1 | Relations between research questions, methodology and thesis chapters

Question Methodology Chapter

What are the advantages, disadvantages, possibilities, and limitations of BIM to large engineering companies in the infrastructure sector now and in the future?

1.1 Literature, interviews 3.1

1.2 Literature, interviews, choice 3.3, 3.4




In which way should a corporate vision concerning BIM be defined?


2.2 Design, expert review 5.3

J. Ter Maaten 5

Chapter 2 describes the research methodology of this project in detail. The first section gives a

detailed overview of the research methodology. Secondly, the concept of vision is discussed in detail.

Furthermore, the relation between the research questions and the chapters of this report is

elaborated upon. This chapter is finalised with a definition of the scope and limitations.

The first part is solely theoretical. The background of

BIM in the infrastructure industry will be researched

by recent literature and with information gained

through interviews with people of Grontmij and of

other Dutch engineering companies. This is quite

important, because the field of BIM is developing

rapidly. Literature of more than five years ago can be

outdated. The focus of this research project on BIM in

the infrastructure sector stresses the importance of

using recent literature even more, because this sector

is a few years behind and developing as fast as the rest

of the construction industry. To research BIM in a

relevant and thorough way, essential characteristics of

BIM are researched and five to eight information

sources to be connected to BIM are chosen to

elaborate on, based on interviews and literature. These aspects will be defined by identifying

connections between two focus areas within BIM. The following example explains this: the

connection between scheduling and 3D-modelling can be viewed as one of the essentials of BIM. This

connection will be elaborated upon in order to analyse BIM thoroughly.

During this research project, approximately ten interviews are conducted, both within and outside

Grontmij. These interviews provide useful insights in the state of the art of BIM, in current

developments, in BIM’s context and in the future of BIM. Interviews are a main source of the vision.

This graduation thesis project report is concluded with

the development of the corporate vision, which has

been defined as the main purpose. A vision is written

in its context, which often goes far beyond the subject

it discusses, envisioning social changes, etc. To provide

sufficient context without being to elaborated, a few

trends relevant to BIM will be analysed. The next step

is the development of the vision itself, which will be

applicable to Grontmij only.

A vision often describes a very generic situation or is

written in the “we want to” style. These kinds of

6 J. Ter Maaten

pitfalls will not be made in this research project. The vision will describe the situation as envisioned,

not as we want it, and it will be BIM-specific. Often exchanging the key word with another, e.g. BIM

with Systems Engineering, delivers the same vision. Therefore it is important to be specific to BIM.

The vision will be discussed within a workshop, evaluating it with Grontmij BIM experts.

It is important to know what a vision is. This section describes the concept of vision extensively by

first defining vision and its purpose. Next, several criteria for assessing a vision are defined. How to

create a vision is subject of the third sub section. Finally, using a vision for a specific subject is

discussed.

Throughout de 1980s and 1990s the concept of mission, vision, and strategy has gained much

attention (Van der Helm, 2009). According to Holstius and Malaska (2004), who performed and

literature review on the term vision, many researchers have tried to illuminate the subject from

various viewpoints, resulting in many, and sometimes very diverse, definitions.

Holstius and Malaska (2004) cite various definitions of vision by several authors, including “vision is

an ideal and unique image of the future”, “vision is an over-arching concept that embraces the

organization’s values, guiding principles and tangible image”. They further identify that vision is

strongly related to mission (Campbell & Yeung, 1991; Normann, 2001; Rampersad, 2001; Wilson,

1992) and strategy (Kaplan & Norton, 2001; Mirvis, Googins, & Kinnicutt, 2010; Wilson, 1992).

According to Miller (2001) a vision is “an aim for the future at any level, such as team, department or

organization level” (Holstius & Malaska, 2004).

Some researchers try to define mission and vision, resulting in confusion; for instance Normann

(2001) by saying a vision can be stated in terms of mission. Cummings and Davies (1994) intentionally

blend the terms, stating: “It is the authors’ view that corporations need not choose between mission

and vision. Rather, a corporation’s mission and vision should be developed in tandem to take

advantage of a potential for complementarism, for reinforcing one another. […] Mission and vision

should be fused, brought together, in order to capture the attention of, and motivate, a larger slice

of the corporation’s members.” (Cummings & Davies, 1994)

Some authors use the term strategic intent as synonym for what others state as vision. Prahalad and

Hamel (1990) introduce the term officially, while i.a. Campbell and Yeung (1991), Wilson (1992), and

Mintzberg (1994) use or extent that view.

Though much confusion exists on the term vision, it is always future-oriented (Raynor, 1998). The

following definitions contain, mostly explicitly, the element of a desired future:

“A vision is a mental image of a possible and desirable future state of the organization. […]

[A] vision articulates a view of a realistic, credible, attractive future for the organization, a

condition that is better in some important ways than what now exists.” (Bennis & Nanus,

1985)

“[A vision] could also be a ‘concept for a new and desirable future reality that can be

communicated throughout the organization’.” (Rowe, Mason, Dickel, & Snijder, 1986)

J. Ter Maaten 7

“In corporate terms, I define strategic vision as: ‘A coherent and powerful statement of what

the business can and should be (ten) years hence’ (the time horizon varies, of course, with

the nature of the business).” (Wilson, 1992)

“[A] Vision could be described as a concept of the kind of future an individual, or an

organization, aspires to create within a broad time horizon and the underlying conditions for

the realization of this concept.”(El-Namaki, 1992)

“Taken literally, vision delineates a certain perspective of the world, a perspective of a future

desired reality. So visions move in the area of tension between utopia and a continuation of

the present track that is devoid of any fantasy.” (Rüegg-Stürm & Gomez, 1994)

“Vision refers to a picture of the future with some implicit or explicit commentary on why

people should strive to create that future.” (Kotter, 1996)

“A statement of the desired future state of the organization within the arena of competition

defined in the mission.” (Raynor, 1998)

“[A strategic vision is] the shared understanding of a realistic, credible, attractive future for

the company and how it must change. In addition, a good vision will consider the past and

the future, will attend to the big picture but also understand the details of the company, will

reflect creative as well as discontinuous possibilities, and will be something that top

management can implement.” (Olk, Rainsford, & Chung, 2010)

“A vision articulates a desired future for a company. […] [I]n its detailing, a vision provides an

intellectual framework for company strategy” (Mirvis et al., 2010)

While the vision should describe a desirable future, it is not enough to just describe it, for “[Collins

and Porras (1991, 1994)] found that the most obvious and memorable part of the vision was what

they called the 'Vivid Description'.” (Thornberry, 1997) This is the same concept as the art of

‘picturing and painting the future entity’, defined by Bennis and Goldsmith (1994). Olk et al. (2010)

support this idea, saying “[the mission] statement is […]translated into a vivid description. This may

be a colorful phrase, a powerful image, or a metaphorical story that conveys the company’s passion,

emotion, and conviction for its vision to stakeholders.”

Talking about the function and purpose of a vision, Rüegg-Stürm and Gomez (1994) say: “Visions are

supposed to function as a “genetic code” pre-determining all possible ways of behaviour (Collins &

Porras, 1991).” The ‘genetic code’-element in this quote is supported by the framework Raynor

(1998) develops. He states the vision can be derived from the mission, which in turn has the

corporate values as its input, as visualised in Figure 2; a vision supported by (Olk et al., 2010) as well.

According to Kotter (1996) a vision “helps clarifying the direction of change; […] serves to facilitate

major changes by motivating action that is not necessarily in people’s short-term self-interests; [and]

helps align individuals, thus coordinating the actions of motivated people in a remarkably efficient

way.”

8 J. Ter Maaten

Figure 2 | Creating the mission and vision (derived from Raynor (1998))

Wilson (1992) defines five characteristics of a successful vision: clarity, coherence, communications

power, consistency, and flexibility. According to Kotter (1996) a good vision should be imaginable,

desirable, feasible, focused, flexible, and communicable. Thornberry (1997) derives seven criteria a

vision should meet: “First, visions is neither rhetoric nor platitude; second, a vision must give

guidance; third, the visioning process requires that senior management get in touch with their

leadership responsibilities; fourth, visions are crafted; fifth, do not wait for perfection; sixth, have

fortitude; and finally, the ability to develop a vision is not the sacred territory for senior management

alone.”

According to El-Namaki (1992) a “vision has to embody a whole set of qualitative criteria.” The vision

should satisfy the following criteria to provide a good foundation for strategy and goal formulation;

the vision should (El-Namaki, 1992):

be realistic and feasible; simple and clear;

provide a challenge for the whole organization;

mirror the goals and aspirations of the constituents;

[be] far but close, in terms of time span and organizational commitment;

[be] able to focus the attention with respect to scope and time;

[be] translatable into goals and strategies;

[be] endorsed and frequently articulated by top management;

[be] derived from a sense of direction.

Kotter (1996) defines a process to create an effective vision, describing both consecutive steps and

process characteristics. He states the process often starts with the idea of a single person. That draft

vision is modelled by a so-called guiding coalition, which needs to work in an effective teamwork

environment. In the vision creation process, which is iterative, both analytical thinking and dreaming

are important. Furthermore, creating a vision takes time, sometimes even years. The process delivers

“a direction for the future that is desirable, feasible, focused, flexible, and is conveyable in five

minutes or less.” (Kotter, 1996) A much more chronological and concrete process of eight steps is

defined by Wilson (1992) to develop a vision:

1. Analyse the company’s future environment.

2. Analyse the company’s resources and capabilities.

3. Clarify management values.

Vision

Market forces

Mission

Core comptencies

Values

J. Ter Maaten 9

4. Develop (or revise) a mission statement.

5. Identify strategic objectives and goals.

6. Generate and select strategic options

7. Develop the vision statement.

8. Conduct ‘sanity checks’.

Wilson (1992) further derives a few ‘pitfalls and pratfalls’ from his experience: executive impatience;

failure of imagination; failure to build consensus; failure to solve short-term problems; ‘obsolescence

through success’; lack of flexibility; and failure to implement.

Based on the literature research on vision theories, we define vision as a vivid description of a

desired, realistic, credible, attractive, focused, and flexible future for the company, that can be

communicated in five minutes (Bennis & Nanus, 1985; Collins & Porras, 1991; Kotter, 1996; Mirvis et

al., 2010; Olk et al., 2010; Raynor, 1998; Rowe et al., 1986).

The vision should be derived from the corporate mission and from market forces (Olk et al., 2010;

Raynor, 1998). One of these market forces certainly is Building Information Modelling. Furthermore,

the vision serves the change process of tuning business to BIM-thinking (Kotter, 1996).

The vision should be clear, coherent and consistent, imaginable, communicable, focused, flexible,

realistic and feasible, challenging, and translatable into strategy (El-Namaki, 1992; Kotter, 1996;

Thornberry, 1997; Wilson, 1992). Visions that do not meet these criteria will likely be vague, generic

and ineffective (Collins & Porras, 1991; Kotter, 1996; Olk et al., 2010).

The process of the vision development starts with the draft version, written by the author. This

version will be discussed within one workshop with BIM experts of Grontmij, using i.a. the BIM2ONE

network. The process consecutive to these first steps will be designed throughout the author’s

research project. This process is in line with the process Kotter (1996) proposes and with the

methodology Construct I.T. (2003) used in developing a vision of 2D-enabled construction.

The use of interviews serves two goals. Firstly, many factual characteristics and current

developments can be derived from the interviews. This information is going to be used in Chapter 3,

in which BIM is described thoroughly. The interviews are used in particular in sections 3.4 and 3.5, in

which BIM is described in several focus areas and advantages, disadvantages and challenges are

described respectively. Every aspect derived from the interviews is validated through literature, thus

valuing the interviews mainly as source of inspiration.

Secondly, the interviews are used to define the vision. Each interview contains a question in which

the interviewee’s view on BIM’s future is questioned. The answers on this question and other

visionary aspects spoken of during the interview are analysed in chapter 4.2.2. These aspects can be

categorised into fifteen groups. Each category contains per interview the visionary elements the

interviewee elaborated upon in the interviews.

A total of ten interviews will be conducted, half of which are held within Grontmij. Each interview is

designed as a normal conversation, though for each interview a specific set of question is prepared.

10 J. Ter Maaten

This list of question is included in Appendix 1. Most of the interviews will take an hour to conduct;

some may have a longer duration due to interesting input and at least one interview will be shorter.

The latter interview is an interview with the purpose of getting a deeper understanding of Systems

Engineering and thus it is expected to be shorter.

In this report, every statement derived from an interview is validated by mentioning from which

interview it is derived. Referring to the interviews is done by mentioning a number, because the

interviews are confidential. This number does NOT correspond to the order the interviewees are

shown in Appendix 1. The list in Appendix 1 is in alphabetical order, while the interviews are referred

to in chronological order. To emphasize this further:

2.4 Analysing BIM will be done for BIM in general. The main reason for this consideration is the global

development of BIM. The research field is internationally focused and not very restricted to one

country only, and BIM solutions can be used worldwide. Not only is it BIM that is internationally

oriented, its applications are global as well. Many large projects have an international character

because of the many parties involved from different countries. This analysis of BIM will be restricted

to a selection of aspects. These aspects characterise BIM and they will therefore be stated as BIM

essentials. By analysing these essentials, the research will be thorough and not too broad.

The vision developed for Grontmij is not meant for other organisations in the construction industry

or even for other engineering companies. These organisations can use the information provided in

this report, but a non-nuanced and one-to-one copy of the information is not advisable, for it is

based on and tailored to Grontmij’s needs and characteristics.

J. Ter Maaten 11

The third chapter contains the analysis on BIM. In several subchapters BIM is sketched thoroughly

and extensively. It starts with defining BIM and with its history. With this development in mind, the

reader will easily understand the next subchapter, in which several general notions of BIM are

discussed. The chapter is completed by elaborating on the eight most essential information sources

to BIM, summarising them in advantages, disadvantages and challenges.

The first five research sub questions are answered in chapter 3. Research question 1.1 is answered in

section 3.1, while question 1.2 is answered in sections 3.3 and 3.4. In this last section question 1.3 is

answered as well. The last section answers research questions 1.4 and 1.5.

It is striking that each player in the BIM market has, and is encouraged to have, its own definition.

This can be explained by the fact that BIM is no feature or software package, but a working method.

Because no one works in exactly the same way, everyone can have his own definition of BIM.

One of the most well-known and most-used definitions is developed by the National Building

Information Modeling Standard: “A Building Information Model (Model) is a digital representation of

physical and functional characteristics of a facility. As such, it serves as a shared knowledge resource

for information about a facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during its life cycle from

inception onward.” (D. K. Smith & Edgar, 2006)

Others keep it short and simple: “BIM is the process of design, construction and use of the building or

facility infrastructure using information about virtual objects” (British Standard Institution, 2013),

“Technologies and processes integrating building information through attributed 3D geometry”

(Ashcraft & Shelden, 2008), and “BIM is a technology that allows relevant graphical and topical

information related to the built environment.” (Weygant, 2011)

The BIM Handbook is more elaborated in its definition. Eastman, Teicholz, Sacks, and Liston (2011)

describe BIM as “a modeling technology and associated set of processes to produce, communicate,

and analyze building models. Building models are characterized by:

Building components that are represented with digital representations (objects) that carry

computable graphic and data attributes that identify them to software applications, as well

as parametric rules that allow them to be manipulated in an intelligent fashion;

Components that include data that describe how they behave, as needed for analyses and

work processes, for example, takeoff, specification, and energy analyses;

Consistent and nonredundant data such that changes to component data are represented in

all views of the component and the assemblies of which it is a part;

Coordinated data such that all views of a model are represented in a coordinated way.”

The last definition to mention in this context is developed by the Institution of Civil Engineers: “BIM is

the purposeful management of information through the whole life cycle of an infrastructure asset.

12 J. Ter Maaten

Thus, BIM is a managed approach to the collection and exploitation of information across the life

cycle of a built environment asset – which keeps the needs and overall purpose of the asset at the

fore. At its heart are computer-generated models connecting all graphical and tabular information

about the design, construction and operation of the asset and associated documents.” (Institution of

Civil Engineers, 2012b)

The several different definitions can cause confusion, and that is why the BIM Task Group (n.d.) put it

in a different perspective by stating that it is sometimes “easier to say what BIM isn’t”:

It’s not just 3D CAD

It’s not just a new technology application

It’s not next generation, it[’s] here and now

This way of putting it is particularly important because BIM is often misunderstood and interpreted

incorrectly. As Gavin (2011) shows, citing Marcelli, BIM is sometimes mistaken as software. Another

common misperception is BIM as visualisation tool (Gavin, 2011; Jones, 2009). It is evident BIM is a

good way of visualising the model, but it is certainly not limited to that. Eastman et al. (2011) name

another aspect that is often perceived wrongly by the market: the thought that BIM is meant for

younger and unexperienced employees to enhance their productivity. Mobilis Modeling (2010)

claims that the industry is merely focussed on the modelling-part of the BIM-acronym, while the

focus should be on information. In short should be said BIM is not unambiguously known in its

market.

On the other hand, more recent literature and all interviewees state that the perception of BIM

becomes more realistic. “The original emphasis on technology has been replaced and put into the

context of better management of information in the construction industry and the wider cultural

implications of producing a better information asset for the end user; something which should create

benefit for all.” (Race, 2013) Both Interview 4 and Interview 5 think BIM-thinking in the building

industry still is mainly focussed on 3D-modelling, while the infrastructure sector has adopted, or is

adopting, BIM in a fundamental better way. The other interviewees do not consider 3D-modelling

the most important aspect of BIM as well.

J. Ter Maaten 13

BIM is defined in many ways, as shown in the previous sections. While the definition of the British

Standard Institution (2013) covers the most essential elements of BIM (virtual, objects, information),

it is too vague to be of practical use. Weygant’s definition (2011) is even less useful, because of its

passive formulation, which does not show anything of BIM’s purposes. Another aspect is his

preference for graphical information. In BIM graphical information is of great importance, but there

are more types of information, which are underexposed in this definition. Using the definition of

(Weygant, 2011) incorporates the risk of supporting the misapprehension of BIM as 3D designing

tool.

Both D. K. Smith and Edgar (2006) and the Institution of Civil Engineers (2012b) developed good

definitions, presenting a sound vision on BIM. One aspect though, visible in the BIM Handbook’s

definition (Eastman et al., 2011), is the use of components and their parametric nature, which is not

clearly outlined.

Based on the three definitions mentioned in the previous paragraph, the following made-up

definition will be used throughout this report:

In simple words can be said that BIM is a way of thinking in which all relevant information of a

physical system is connected digitally throughout the life cycle, while using objects as the base line.

14 J. Ter Maaten

Now BIM has been defined, this section goes back in time and describes its history, following initial

ideas, the rise of the computer, the development of CAD systems, and the explosion of BIM. It

concludes with the role of BIM in the infrastructure.

BIM has become a widespread notion in the construction industry during the last ten years. Its roots,

however, lie back in the mid-twentieth century. Back in the 1960s Ivan Sutherland built the

Sketchpad. It was the first commercial Computer Aided Design (CAD) software system, which used a

light pen to draw on the monitor (Sutherland, 1963). Though Hanratty became known as “the father

of CAD CAM” because of his development of CAM (Computer Aided Machining) system PRONTO in

1957 for General Electric, Sketchpad is the earliest innovative breaking point in CAD history

(Weisberg, 2008).

These years are the foundation of CAD and BIM developments. It was in 1962 Engelbart (1962)

presented his vision of what turned out to become reality in half a century. Graphic limitations – it

was the very beginning of the computer revolution – hampered the application and further

development of these frameworks and ideas, developed by i.a. Engelbart, Simon, Negroponte,

McHarg and Alexander (Bergin, 2012).

“Ignoring the representation on the display, the architect next begins to enter a series of

specifications and data – a six-inch slab floor, twelve-inch concrete walls eight feet high within

the excavation, and so on. When he has finished, the revised scene appears on the screen. A

structure is taking shape. He examines it, adjusts it, pauses long enough to ask for handbook or

catalog information from the “clerk” at various points, and readjusts accordingly. He often

recalls from the “clerk” his working lists of specifications and considerations to refer to them,

modify them, or add to them. These lists grow into an ever-more-detailed, interlinked structure,

which represents the maturing thought behind the actual design.” (Engelbart, 1962, p. 5)

In those years many companies in the aviation and automotive industry started to develop their own,

in-house drawing systems. This trend can be explained by the high investing costs and the need to

design ever-increasing complex designs. Companies as Ford, Renault, General Motors, Mercedes-

Benz, Nissan, Toyota, Lockheed, Northrop and McDonell-Douglas released their software in the mid-

1960s (CADAZZ, 2004; Weisberg, 2008). Research on 3D surface modelling also started, with one of

its key blocks the Ph.D. thesis publication of Versprille (1975).

While the idea of BIM existed, albeit not using this term, graphical and computer hardware

limitations in particular were severe constraints to develop it into a mature expertise. Throughout

the next decades it became clear that the industry was focused on developing and researching these

limitations. The computer’s computational power, as well as graphical abilities, increased at a

staggering rate. Several breakthroughs in the last quarter of the twentieth century characterise the

CAD market, including the introduction of UNIX workstations in the early ‘80s and the rise of the

Personal Computer in the last decennium. The introduction of Pro/Engineer in 1987 marks another

stepping stone in CAD history, for it “changed users' expectations of CAD software's user interface

functionality, ease-of-use and most especially of the speed of solid modeling” (CADAZZ, 2004).

J. Ter Maaten 15

Changes followed in rapid succession, which did not stay unnoticed at the time as well. John Walker,

founder of Autodesk, shows this in his famous Information Letter 14: “Whenever I read something

written between 1982 and 1988, or reflect upon those years, they seem increasingly distant, foreign,

almost quaint.” (Walker, 1991) One of the most exciting turning points was the introduction of

Windows NT, which marked the start of the rise of cheap CAD systems. Though performance

decreased only slightly, prices were much lower, which improved the price/quality ratio dramatically.

SolidWorks 95 was introduced – “80% of Pro/Engineer’s functionality at 20% of the price” (Hanan,

2011). It had an impact comparable to Pro/Engineer’s introduction (CADAZZ, 2004).

The CAD industry had seen many and large turning points, but once SolidWorks was introduced,

mainly settlement took place. No more fundamental changes occurred. A few trends, however, are

noteworthy. Internet began its rush upwards. It did not have a shocking impact, though Ford was in

the news with designing its Mondeo series entirely over the internet. Another trend, worth

mentioning as well, especially considering BIM, is the use of and research on Product Life-Cycle

Management. CAD developers realised the change and were fast to anticipate: “…; ‘blistering 3D

modelling speed’, ‘faster than lightning rendering’ and ‘graphics so real you can feel it’ were out and

‘value propositions’, ‘portfolio management’ and ‘life cycle analysis’ were in.” (CADAZZ, 2004)

While the development of CAD systems started in the automotive and aerospace industry, the rise of

BIM roots in the architecture branch. Not only was it Engelbart who presented his clear vision on the

future of design in architecture, but the first steps in BIM’s development ladder show that

architecture is the main focus.

Charles “Chuck” Eastman, by many named as the ‘father of BIM’ (Laiserin, Foreword of BIM

Handbook, 2008), developed in the mid-‘70s the ‘Building Description System’ (BDS). It involved a

library of elements, which can be used to add elements to a model (Eastman, 1976). The database

“allows the user to retrieve information categorically by attributes including material type and

supplier” (Bergin, 2012).

Eastman et al. (1974) criticise the use of drawings as the only way of construction information

communication. Firstly, drawings must be kept consistent when changes occur, which is very time-

consuming and inefficient. Secondly, numerical information, which is used for most analyses, must

be taken manually from drawings, which is extremely error prone. Lastly, the final set of drawings

will decay over time as the building ages. To handle these problems, BDS was developed: “BDS was

initiated to show that a computer-based description of a building could replicate or improve on all

current strengths of drawings as a medium for building design, construction and operation as well as

eliminate most of their current weaknesses.” (Eastman et al., 1974) BDS has not been commercially

used and was mainly an experiment, which sought to tackle some of the most fundamental problems

in architectural design.

GLIDE (Graphical Language for Interactive Design), Eastman’s next project (Eastman & Henrion,

1977), was much more serious and showcases most characteristics of a modern day BIM system.

Loading attributes from a library and manipulating them by adjusting the parameters, he was able to

produce good designs, as shown in Figure 3, retrieved from Bergin (2012)

16 J. Ter Maaten

Figure 3 | “GLIDE code (…) generat[ing] the staircase shown” (Eastman & Henrion, 1977)

In 1986 the RUCAPS software was developed, which was used for the phased construction of

Heathrow Airport’s third terminal. It was the first use of temporal phasing in a construction project

(Laiserin, Foreword of BIM Handbook, 2008). Other features included 3D modelling, parametric

components, automatic drawing production, and relational databases (Aish, 1986). Research on four

dimensional building models was boosted by the founding of Teicholz’s ‘Center for Integrated Facility

Engineering’ (CIFE) (Bergin, 2012).

The term ‘Building Information Modelling’ was not used until 1992, when Van Nederveen and

Tolman (1992) used the term in their paper, though it took another decennium for the concept to be

used widely. In other languages considers Laiserin (Foreword of BIM Handbook, 2008) the Dutch

“gebouwmodel” the first term that expresses the meaning of what BIM proposes.

Gábor Bojár developed Radar CH in 1984, quickly after rebranded into ArchiCAD, which was the first

BIM software in the world for a personal computer. Leonid Raiz and Irwin Jungreis wanted to develop

a more powerful architectural software that could handle more complex designs than ArchiCAD. This

resulted in 2000 in the publication of Revit. Autodesk bought Revit in 2002 and began to promote it

extensively (Bergin, 2012; Construct I.T., 2003).

These developments show that the idea of BIM was available and ready to develop further in the

mid-‘80s, but it took fifteen years for BIM to break through. The development of BIM was split, and

thus hindered, in two aspects: the rise of specialised CAD systems to increase efficiency and the use

of BIM as a model to simulate and test (Bergin, 2012).

It is remarkable that once the development curve of CAD systems flattened, BIM’s boom started.

CAD systems still improved, but major innovative turning points did not occur anymore (CADAZZ,

2004). No further development was necessary, which turned research focus to other fields, i.a. BIM.

Collaboration efforts increased significantly, which was made much easier by Revit in 2004 (Bergin,

2012). As architectural files and engineering files should be consistent, Revit developed its feature of

J. Ter Maaten 17

a central file in which ownership is linked to objects. Large groups of designers were enabled to work

on one integrated model.

A software producer is almost never alone in developing and innovating, which is applicable in this

case as well. Other vendors incorporated collaboration features into their software packages. This

brought along the need of interoperability solutions. Different BIM solutions should be able to read

and possibly work with files of other BIM software users. The introduction of the International

Foundation Class (IFC) in 1995 was one of the good efforts to solve the interoperability problem

(Autodesk Inc., 1995; Bazjanac & Crawley, 1997; Laakso & Kiviniemi, 2012).

In the last decennium to date many developments have taken place. Simulation and testing are

booming and the connection of the three-dimensional model with all types of other studies has

increased at a large scale. These simulations and tests include i.a. solar and energy studies,

sustainability studies, and construction phasing and logistics (Bergin, 2012). The link between theory

and practice, or between model and reality, is becoming stronger and stronger, because of the

increasing use and development of augmented reality and monitoring (Han & Golparvar-Fard, 2014;

X. Wang et al., 2013; G. Williams, Gheisari, & Irizarry, 2014) and measuring methods as laser-

scanning (Liu, Eybpoosh, & Akinci, 2012). Even the use of mobile devices is an interesting and much-

studied research field (Davies & Harty, 2013; Gheisari, Goodman, Schmidt, Williams, & Irizarry, 2014;

Lin & Su, 2013; G. Williams et al., 2014).

Some smaller BIM platforms have inspired “something of a revolution in design as the power to

iterate and transform has resulted in especially complex and provocative architectural forms”

(Bergin, 2012). Patrick Schumacher pointed this movement in his ‘Parametricist Manifesto’.

The current stage of advancement within parametricism relates as much to the continuous

advancement of the attendant computational design technologies as it is due to the designer’s

realization of the unique formal and organizational opportunities that are afforded.

Parametricism can only exist via sophisticated parametric techniques. Finally, computationally

advanced design techniques like scripting (in Mel-script or Rhino-script) and parametric modeling

(with tools like GC or DP) are becoming a pervasive reality. Today it is impossible to compete

within the contemporary avant-garde scene without mastering these techniques. (Schumacher,

2008)

Strafaci (2008) expresses the doubts in the infrastructure sector in 2008 perfectly by his experience.

“A few weeks ago, I was on the phone with a civil engineer who needed help with a question he was

asked by an architecture firm: "Are you BIM ready?" (…) [H]e wasn’t sure how to answer the

question. Did BIM even apply to civil engineers? And if it did, would he have to use new software to

be "BIM ready?" What if he wasn’t working on projects that involved buildings? Could he still do

BIM?” (Strafaci, 2008) By that time the infrastructure sector began to develop interest in the

buzzword of the AEC industry. Reservation and doubts were characterising the general opinion.

The nomenclature of BIM for infrastructure has been confusing. First of all the B of BIM, which was

subject of discussion whether it was a noun or a verb. The latter case would enable the infrastructure

industry to adopt the term without changing, while building as a noun would hamper the adoption

process of BIM by the infrastructure sector (Ng, 2012). AGI has adopted the use of I-BIM

18 J. Ter Maaten

(Infrastructure BIM) (Kemp, 2011), as well as Ng (2012), while terms as CIM (Civil Information

Modelling), CEIM (Civil Engineering Information Modelling) or InfraBIM are used as well (Henttinen,

2014). While some consider VDC (Virtual Design Construction) and BIM synonymous (Gilligan & Kunz,

2007; Inguva, Clevenger, & Ozbek, 2014; Khanzode, Fischer, & Reed, 2008), others claim these differ

in meaning (LaNear, 2008; Tobin, 2013).

Autodesk introduced its AutoCAD Civil 3D first version in 2004, which was quite deficient, but its

2008 release had become a stable and reliable design tool (Gladfelter, 2007). Gladfelter gives a

preview of the system, in which he envisions the rise of AutoCAD Civil 3D: “Working as a CAD

Manager I can’t help but be excited at the possibilities Civil 3D begins opening up for us. Only time

will tell if my first impression of Civil 3D 2008 is correct, but after testing it for a number of months

now I can’t see any reason for it not to continue dethroning its predecessor: Land Development

Desktop.” (Gladfelter, 2007) AutoCAD Civil 3D marked the start of increasing interest of the

infrastructure sector in BIM.

Though infrastructure engineers are adopting BIM fast (Henttinen, 2014), the sector still lags behind

a few years, as the McGraw-Hill Construction (2012) report clearly shows. “Half of the companies

using BIM for infrastructure have only one or two years of experience doing so, versus only 28% with

that limited track record working on all project types. While 43% have five or more years of BIM

experience on all project types, only about half that number (23%) have an equivalent length of

experience using it on infrastructure work.” (McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012) The same report states

that BIM usage in de infrastructure sector will grow dramatically.

Many problems in the building industry have been identified throughout the years. Eastman et al.

(1974) criticised, as described in the history of BIM above, the use of drawings, because they must be

kept consistent, because they contain manually added numerical information, and because the final

set of drawings will decay over time. The NIST found that more than US$15.8 billion per year is lost in

the United States only because of interoperability problems (Gallaher, O’Connor, Dettbarn Jr., &

Gilday, 2004).

According to Azhar (2011), lower project costs, increased productivity, higher quality and reduced

project delivery time are the main goals of improvement for the AEC industry. Furthermore, the high

amount of stakeholders and phases of a construction process together with unique aspects as “long

period, complicated process, abominable environment, financial intensity and dynamic organization

structures” (Hammad, Rishi, & Yahaya, 2012) result in fragmentation (Nitithamyong & Skibniewski,

2004), which in turn result in low productivity (Hammad et al., 2012). These problems result,

according to Eastman et al. (2011), in friction, higher expenses and delays.

“Recent studies highlight a number of key barriers to growth and the efficient operation of the

construction market. There is broad consensus, spread both across the industry and its customers,

that construction under-performs in terms of its capacity to deliver value and that there has been a

lack of investment in construction efficiency and growth opportunities. In addition poor and

inconsistent procurement practices, particularly in the public sector (which accounts for nearly 40%

of the industry’s workload), are leading to waste and inefficiency.” (Cabinet Office, 2011)

J. Ter Maaten 19

A lack of communication and collaboration hampers the building industry extremely. Evbuomwan

and Anumba (1998) recognise the ‘over the wall’ syndrome in the building industry, pictured in

Figure 4, and identify five disadvantages.

the fragmentation of the different participants in the construction project;

the fragmentation of design and construction data;

the occurrence of costly design changes and unnecessary liability claims;

the lack of true life-cycle analysis of the project;

lack of communication of design rationale and intent.

Figure 4 | Over the wall – Traditional design and construction process (Evbuomwan & Anumba)

Though BIM tries to lower the walls between the parties, there is still the danger of separated work

and fragmentation. The essence of BIM is communication (Interview 5) and when that is not shaped

properly, the high walls keep intact, as stated and depicted by Spekkink (2014b) in Figure 5.

Figure 5 | You can throw both drawings and models over the wall… it is all about making arrangements (Spekkink, 2014b)

This subchapter described the historical context of BIM, summarising it in the last section with the

underlying problems.

20 J. Ter Maaten

The previous subchapters contain an elaboration on the background of BIM and of its definition. This

definition mentions the coupling of information. Before elaborating on what types of information

should be linked, several notions characterising BIM have to be explained. In this subchapter these

general notions are described, including communication, object-oriented modelling, and maturity

levels.

One of the most essential aspects of BIM is object-oriented modelling. While in the CAD era several

lines and curves made planes and several planes made 3D shapes, BIM has a different approach. In

BIM objects are used. These objects can contain much information, including the geometric

information, the relation with and dependence on other objects and material information (Eastman

et al., 2011).

These objects are parametrical. This means objects carry parameters like width, depth and height, as

well as weight, relation to other objects, and manufacturers (Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling

Industry, 2009). “This way, when you are constructing the building virtually, you are building it with

fully defined, intelligent objects that know where they belong, how they relate to other objects and

what they consist of.” (Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry, 2009)

Eastman et al. (2008) say parametric objects have geometric information and associated data and

rules, have non-redundant – and thus consistent – geometry, adjust automatically to neighbouring

objects according to parametric rules, can be placed on different aggregation levels, and can handle

sets of attributes.

Interview 5 considers increased communication the main goal of BIM. One of the problems to

enhance communication though is communication between software programs. Each program uses

its own language, which makes it difficult to collaborate with other programs. This problem, the

interoperability problem, is considered one of the major problems of BIM (Eastman et al., 2011).

To tackle interoperability problems, several ways can be defined. Firstly, two software vendors can

collaborate in enabling mutual understanding between their software. Another option is the use of

open standards (Hamil, 2012). Several open standards for divergent purposes and disciplines have

been developed, but one of the most common and most used standards are the Industry Foundation

Classes (IFC) (Choy, Stuhlmacher, & Rooney, 2015). Many software packages allow the user to export

the data to the IFC extension.

Standards are developed on different levels. IFC is a standard which allows software to exchange

data (International Organization for Standardization, 2013). Another type of standards are the object

libraries. Many organisations and companies have developed their own object type library, in order

to standardise their processes (Choy et al., 2015). Often the problem exists these libraries are not

interoperable. That is why concept libraries are developed.

CB-NL is the Dutch concept library for the built environment, which functions as mediator system

between object libraries. Spekkink (2014a) illustrates its function with the example of a door. While

one object library might define a door as the door itself and its frame, another object library might

J. Ter Maaten 21

define the door just as door and calls the door and its frame a door set. CB-NL knows that the door in

the first library is the same as the door set in the latter library.

COINS is another Dutch initiative. This standard provides a core structure to which multiple

information sources can be linked (Interview 2, 3, 4, 7). Developed for the infrastructure sector in

particular, this standard promises to be useful in the future, because it provides interoperability. It

has gained international attention as the next step in BIM (Interview 4).

The notion of Level of Development is one of the most well-known in the BIM society. The American

Institute of Architects (2013) defines the several levels in its Building Information Modeling Protocol

Form:

“LOD 100 The Model Element may be graphically represented in the Model with a symbol or

other generic representation, but does not satisfy the requirements for LOD 200. Information

related to the Model Element (i.e. cost per square foot, tonnage of HVAC, etc.) can be

derived from other Model Elements.

LOD 200 The Model Element is graphically represented within the Model as a generic system,

object, or assembly with approximate quantities, size, shape, location, and orientation. Non-

graphic information may also be attached to the Model Element.

LOD 300 The Model Element is graphically represented within the Model as a specific

system, object or assembly in terms of quantity, size, shape, location, and orientation. Non-

graphic information may also be attached to the Model Element.


system, object, or assembly in terms of quantity, size, shape, orientation, and interfaces with

other building systems. Non-graphic information may also be attached to the Model

Element.


system, object or assembly in terms of size, shape, location, quantity, and orientation with

detailing, fabrication, assembly, and installation information. Non-graphic information may

also be attached to the Model Element.

LOD 500 The Model Element is a field verified representation in terms of size, shape,

location, quantity, and orientation. Non-graphic information may also be attached to the

Model Elements.”

Level of Development and level of detail are both in use as description of the abbreviation LOD

(American Institute of Architects (2013); BIM Acceleration Committee (2014); BIMForum (2013)

versus Choi, Kim, and Kim (2015); Mignard and Nicolle (2014); Spekkink (2012); Succar (2009)). The

New Zealand BIM Handbook clearly states the difference: “In essence, level of detail can be thought

of as input to the element, while Level of Development is reliable output.” (BIM Acceleration

Committee, 2014, Appendix C, p. 2) In the handbook, the authors propose to identify four different

aspects of the concept. Level of detail “[d]efines the level of geometric precision relative to the real

object”, while the level of accuracy concerns the issue of tolerances. Thirdly, the level of information,

or level of data is defined as one of the aspects of the LOD. This level defines “what information is to

be supplied with each element.” The last level is the level of coordination, which describes the

coordination with other elements. (BIM Acceleration Committee, 2014)

22 J. Ter Maaten

From March 2016 the British Government requires BIM Maturity level 2. “Government will require

fully collaborative 3D BIM (with all project and asset information, documentation and data being

electronic) as a minimum by 2016.” (Cabinet Office, 2011) The four maturity levels showcased in

Figure 6 (derived from (Bew & Richards, 2008)) are defined and explained by the BIM Industry

Working Group (2011):

0. “Unmanaged CAD probably 2D, with paper (or electronic paper) as the most likely data

exchange mechanism.

1. Managed CAD in 2 or 3D format using BS1192:2007 with a collaboration tool providing a

common data environment, possibly some standard data structures and formats.

Commercial data managed by standalone finance and cost management packages with no

integration.

2. Managed 3D environment held in separate discipline “BIM” tools with attached data.

Commercial data managed by an ERP. Integration on the basis of proprietary interfaces or

bespoke middleware could be regarded as “pBIM” (proprietary). The approach may utilise

4D and 5D cost elements as well as feed operational systems.

3. Fully open process and data integration enabled by “web services” compliant with the

emerging IFC / IFD standards, managed by a collaborative model server. Could be regarded

as iBIM or integrated BIM potentially employing concurrent engineering processes.”

Figure 6 | BIM Maturity Levels (BIM Industry Working Group, 2011)

One reason for the confusion about BIM, is the scale of it. Some define BIM as the technical

description of buildings or infrastructure objects, while others take the whole of information

management for BIM (Interview 2).

One way to deal with that confusion is the difference between little bim and BIG BIM. Jernigan (2008)

proposed this in his book; little bim is the process of using BIM software within the company, while

BIG BIM is the exchange of BIM models and BIM data between the concerning parties (Van Berlo,

2012). Van Berlo (2012) says little bim focusses on improving internal processes and BIG BIM tries to

improve efficiency between all parties.

J. Ter Maaten 23

It is advised to manage little bim first, before trying to master BIG BIM processes. Van der Geest

(2014) stresses you need to master your internal BIM processes in order to be able to BIM with

external parties.

This section elaborates on the most essential data sources to connect for BIM. Researching, analysing

and describing these essentials results in a thorough analysis of BIM, described in this subchapter.

These information sources are found by interviews (See Table 2), literature research and logical

thinking. Each source is an aspect of the construction work spectrum, which is connected in BIM to

the physical model, because BIM can be viewed as a method to integrate different information and

data streams. The next aspects have been identified and will be elaborated in this subchapter.

Essential 1: Technical details

Essential 2: Requirements

Essential 3: Geospatial information

Essential 4: Time

Essential 5: Finances

Essential 6: Condition of assets

Essential 7: Risks

Essential 8: Documentation

These eight sources form the data sources to be connected in BIM. In each section of this chapter,

one of these data sources is described thoroughly, using recent literature and information gained

from the interviews.

Table 2 shows per interview what aspects of BIM the interviewee considers important to connect

with one another. Because interview 6 had the purpose to understand Systems Engineering and its

relation with BIM, the question on which information sources should be connected was not asked.

Table 2 | BIM Essentials per interview

Inte

rview 1

Inte

rview 2

Inte

rview 3

Interview

4

Inte

rview 5

Inte

rview 6

Inte

rview 7

Inte

rview 8

Inte

rview 9

Inte

rview 1

0

Technical Details

Requirements

Geospatial Information

Time

Finances

Condition of Assets

Risks

Documentation

24 J. Ter Maaten

According to Ahmad “[o]ne of the key advantages of BIM when designing change-ready healthcare

facilities is the ability to generate, analyse and evaluate different flexible design options or scenarios”

(Ahmad, 2014, p. 72). Designing in a BIM project can be done much more efficient than in the

traditional way. Different layouts can be created and they can be analysed and optimised easily,

leading higher sustainability and a better adapted and suitable design (Ahmad, 2014). Higher

sustainability can be achieved because BIM helps with energy analyses.

“The performance outcome of each design option generated can be analysed and considered during

the selection of the most appropriate design to progress with. As a result, BIM modelling can help

with optimisation of cost, improving project productivity” (Ahmad, 2014, pp. 272-273).

Three-dimensional designing in BIM was in the early days the core business of BIM, and as Interview

4 states, largely still is the core of BIM in the AEC industry. This was the most obvious and most easy

aspect of BIM that parties undertook. Design was done by using three-dimensional objects, including

material information, dimensions, weight, etc. For this aspect, as Interview 1 says, BIM is extremely

suitable, and it must certainly be mastered. But when BIM is limited to just improved designing,

many chances are missed, because BIM is much more.

When many technical details are available, then they can be used in analyses and computations. It is

therefore important to incorporate correct and consisted data in the model, for these technical data

are the very basis of other applications within BIM. In short: the quality of technical information

needs to be high-class.

Sacks, Koskela, Dave, and Owen (2010) mention the automated creation of drawings and documents

as an important benefit of BIM. When technical details are imported properly, these drawings will

show consistent and non-redundant information.

All interviewees indicate that the coupling of stakeholders’ requirements to the physical model is

most essential to BIM. As data source to BIM, requirements are mentioned most by the several

interviewees, which indicates its relevance.

The underlying reason to couple client’s and others’ requirements to the model is the need for

verification and validation. Object-oriented requirements can easily be tested in the digital model.

Both Interview 1 and Interview 5 show Grontmij has linked the requirements with the geographical

model, thus visualising these requirements. This turns out to be extremely helpful in the validation

process.

In Dutch infrastructure projects, requirements are almost always managed with the Systems

Engineering approach. In this method, the client specifies his requirements and wishes without

providing solutions. Not only are the client’s requirements managed, all requirements, wishes and

limitations are incorporated (Interview 4). The method is meant to work explicitly, what means that

everything must be documented in order to reduce inefficiency and to stimulate the learning curve

(Interview 3). Though Systems Engineering is not necessary to BIM, it is very helpful and it

complements and strengthen BIM extremely (Interview 1).

J. Ter Maaten 25

The need for GIS-information (Geographical Information System) differs between BIM for the

building industry and BIM for the infrastructure sector. While internal interfaces make designing and

constructing a building difficult to manage, the infrastructure industry is made complex by external

interfaces (Ng, 2012). Interview 5 says a road is embedded in its natural and organic environment,

which results in a very different data set.

Geospatial information is managed in GIS, which models the total of spatial information (Interview

5). Interview 2 states BIM and GIS will not blend together to one new concept, but they will

complement each other. This statement is supported by Ward, Butler, Khan, and Coyle (2014) as

well, as they say “that this has shown how relevant BIM, combined with a GIS, is to large

infrastructure projects”. BIM and GIS are separated by Van den Berg (2011) as well, as he says BIM

considers project-specific information and GIS processes environment-specific information.

“The interoperability between BIM and 3D GIS can enhance the functionality of both domains.

BIM can serve as an information source for 3D GIS, while 3D GIS could provide neighboring

information for BIM to perform view analysis, sustainable design and simulations.” (Cheng, Deng, &

Anumba, 2015) The authors show in their research BIM and GIS can amplify each other’s capabilities,

but the two need to understand each other, to which purpose the authors propose a framework

(Cheng et al., 2015).

More developments in the world of Infrastructure BIM are taking place, as BuildingSMART

International (2015) opened the review process of their new IFC Infrastructure Alignment Conceptual

Model and the Candidate Standard for IFC Alignment. Nearing from the other side, the GIS-side, the

Open Geospatial Consortium (2014) are open for feedback “on the first draft of the InfraGML

conceptual model for land parcels and the built environment.” (Zeiss, 2015)

Considering geographical information and building information, several viewpoints have been taken.

Mignard and Nicolle (2014) seek to combine Building Information Modelling and Geographical

Information Systems in Urban Information Modelling, thus focussing on management of urban

networks. Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch Operational Body of the Ministry of Infrastructure and

Environment, places BIM objects in their geographical context, thus combining GIS and BIM

(Rijkswaterstaat, 2014). Esri extends this view in its whitepaper, showing the power of the

combination of GIS and BIM, as shown in Figure 7 (De Zoeten, 2015). Via Drupsteen, a Dutch

company, produces spherical visualisations of projects, mostly for communication purposes.

Figure 7 | Sight analysis “First” Rotterdam (De Zoeten, 2015)

26 J. Ter Maaten

Scheduling and BIM is subject of an elaborated debate. The time-aspect of BIM is considered the

fourth dimension: “4D models (…) include information that can inform and analyze project phasing,

tenant sequencing, and construction scheduling” (The National 3D-4D-BIM Program, 2007). As an

obvious improvement, scheduling was one of the first aspects of BIM, added to geometrical models.

A 4D model can be used to simulate the project at any given time, as is shown in Figure 8. This

enables the user to simulate construction, recognise clashes, and organise the building site at every

construction phase (Razavialavi, Abourizk, & Alanjari, 2014). Another important aspect is the

marketability and communicability of the 4D model, because it can be used as communication tool to

stakeholders (Harris & Alves, 2013). Bhatla and Leite (2012) used a 4D BIM model, in collaboration

with scheduling software, to set and monitor milestones, to produce a preview of the next four

weeks, and to extract weekly plans from quality assignments.

Based on quantity take-offs of required materials, scheduling can be automated for an large part (W.-

C. Wang, Weng, Wang, & Chen, 2014). This method increases accuracy and consistency extremely,

while mapping uncertainties at the same time. It is even possible to generate schedule variants by

simulating construction (Shen, Orr, Choi, Kim, & Kim, 2014).

Figure 8 | Example of a view on a building site at a given time (Mr. As Built Inc., 2015)

J. Ter Maaten 27

The cost aspect of BIM is often called the fifth dimension (Eastman et al., 2011; P. Smith, 2014).

“Integrating the 5th dimension ‘cost’ to the BIM model generates the 5D model, which enables the

instant generation of cost budgets and genetic financial representations of the model against time.”

(Kamardeen, 2010) Figure 9 gives an example of a 5D BIM project.

In the RICS Information Paper Overview of a 5D BIM project a 5D BIM project executed by Henry Riley

is reviewed. It contains an enumeration of the elements of 5D BIM Henry Riley defined (RICS, 2014):

quantification from models, including automatic updated quantification once rules for sectors,

clients and pricing methods have been established

using NRM standards in conjunction with BIM models

library management:

o applying rate libraries to the quantified information;

o creating cost databases per sector or client

the ability to file share with design team and contractors alike;

improved benchmarking capability

o moving away from detailed measurement and spending more time on improving value;

o understanding where value can be improved and understanding this earlier in the project

timeline, ensuring savings can be achieved through the design development.

Figure 9 | Example of visual cost planning in Vico software (Henrich, 2012)

28 J. Ter Maaten

The use of tablets is increasing. Though tablets do not exist for a long time yet – it was 2010 Apple

introduced its iPad – the building industry has been quick to adopt them. Tekla introduced its Tekla

BIMsight for mobile and tablet in 2012 (Tekla, 2012). Lijbers (2013) argues in favour of the use of

tablets by stating it will improve the error-prone process of processing deviations back into the BIM

model. Davies and Harty (2013) visualise this process by reviewing the case of the construction of a

large hospital in which tablets were used. “[It] allows a user with a tablet PC inspecting for progress,

compliance or defects to select a building object via the 3D floor-plan generated from the BIM and

complete a form to enter the data.” (Davies & Harty, 2013)

While on-site management tasks are sometimes executed with the aid of tablets or mobiles,

construction workers still use traditional drawings on site to produce what needs to be produced.

These drawings often contain the same information as drawings produced in the period before BIM

(Van Berlo & Natrop, 2015). Generic and often redundant information causes many failures and lack

of specific information. Van Berlo and Natrop (2015) suggest a method “to dynamically generate

drawings fit for a specific task or purpose. The main purpose of this concept is to provide site workers

with all the information they need for the task, but nothing more”. These specific drawings are

generated on request and show the needed information only on an A3 piece of paper.

This concept is useful for providing the necessary information to them who need it. Another

advantage is the adjusting-to-reality possibility. Deviations in reality can be processed in the BIM

model and are thus visible on the drawings (Van Berlo & Natrop, 2015). In the traditional approach,

all existing drawings had to be edited or reprinted. Figure 10 shows an example of this feature.

Furthermore, the difference between constructed and to-be-constructed parts can be shown as well.

Figure 10 | A deviation in the foundation was altered in the BIM to generate new drawings on site (Van Berlo & Natrop, 2015)

Monitoring these deviations is important, because further construction can be adjusted to these

deviations. Another reason is to update the BIM model for future use in facilities management or

even for the demolition phase (Becerik-Gerber, Jazizadeh, Li, & Callis, 2012; Volk, Stengel, &

Schultmann, 2014; Y. Wang, Wang, Wang, Yung, & Jun, 2013).

Measuring and capturing as-built data is often done by laser scanning, which has increased accuracy

extremely. Processing these measurements, however, is mostly done manually, or semi-manually.

Mill, Alt, and Liias (2013) report their case study of mapping the main building of the Tallinna

J. Ter Maaten 29

Tehnikakõrgkool/University of Applied Sciences (TTK/UAS) located in the capital city of Estonia. Using

Terrestrial Laser Scanning and a Total Station, they were able to create an external point cloud and

internal Total Station data. Processing the first in Revit and the latter in AutoCAD, a BIM model was

created. An unexpected additional possibility was the identification of façade damage, adding

information to the BIM model.

Though this way of monitoring is satisfactory, it is labour-intensive and error-prone as well.

Therefore automatic monitoring techniques are under development. Bosché, Ahmed, Turkan, Haas,

and Haas (2015) executed some initial tests with their method of automatic recognition of BIM

elements. By matching the as-built model and the calculated as-planned model, they were able to

detect pipes automatically. Though this research field is in its earliest stage, it shows that automatic

detection is possible, which will reduce measuring errors in the future.

Another attempt of automating measurements is undertaken by Brilakis et al. (2010). They tried to

automate the manual process of processing measured data by using artificial intelligence techniques

and artificial neural networks to identify measurements. The concrete detection in Figure 11

illustrates this perfectly.

Figure 11 | An example of concrete region detection (Brilakis et al., 2010)

Braun, Tuttas, Borrmann, and Stilla (2015) tried to monitor the construction process by comparing

as-planned and as-built on geometry only. “For the determination of the actual state, a dense point

cloud is calculated from images of a calibrated camera. To determine the scale, control points are

used, which requires manual intervention during orientation. The evaluation measure

introduced for component verification detects built parts correctly but misses a larger number

of them because of occlusion, noisy points or insufficient input data. Thus there is the need to extend

this geometrical analysis by additional information and visibility constraints.” (Braun et al., 2015)

Additional information retrieved from the BIM model, e.g. colour, can stimulate the process of

automatic recognition. This way BIM model – reality interaction is of optimal use. The better the BIM

model, the better the monitoring process can be executed, the better the BIM model will be

improved.

Laser scanning methods themselves are developed quite well, but the integration with BIM is not

perfect yet. Page (2012) identifies problems with cloud point extraction, data compression and

dimensioning, but thinks laser scanning will be very useful when these problems are tackled.

30 J. Ter Maaten

Risk Management is one of the many important management aspects of a project. It is mostly done

by following a professional risk management method, like the RISMAN method or the ATOM

methodology (Vrancken, 2014). For increasing project size and complexity, risk management

becomes more and more abstract and complex; it becomes increasingly difficult to perform the risk

management job properly (Hartmann, Van Meerveld, Vossebeld, & Adriaanse, 2012).

As Hartmann et al. (2012) show in a case study, BIM can help the risk management process by

visualising the risks. In particular when the BIM model contains the fourth dimension of time, risks

can be made visible easily. Several features can be of help, i.a. viewpoints, text overlay and risk

specific objects. Text overlay is less efficient, though it can be used to show general project risks. Risk

specific objects can be highlighted and smart-tags can pop up when the pointer moves over. These

objects are a very strong feature in visualising risks.

Viewpoints show at a given time a specified part of the project, which can be used to visualise risks.

To be able to define these viewpoints though, the risks themselves have to be identified. Simulating

the construction process helps in identifying these risks, after which the viewpoint can be set (H. Kim,

Ahn, & Kim, 2011).

Ding, Zhou, and Akinci (2014) suggest to display a safety risk evolvement pattern on the 4D model, as

shown in Figure 12. This method visualises risks to assist site workers in their “real-time, on-the-spot

decision making” (Ding et al., 2014). Per risk the chance per activity can be identified, what results in

an elaborated risk table. Combining risk analysis and the BIM model results in an easy way of

displaying risks

Figure 12 | Dashboard for safety control during foundation pit excavation (Ding et al., 2014)

Benefits of BIM are said to be positive risks. A few very strong benefits are meant to prevent or

mitigate risks, for example the clash detection features. The benefits of BIM are further elaborated in

3.5.1 BIM’s Beneficial Elements.

Health and Safety as a project management aspect attracts significant media attention, though it is

often downplayed by constructing parties. BIM can fill this gap by offering automatic safety checking

of construction models. Zhang, Teizer, Lee, Eastman, and Venugopal (2013) developed algorithms

that check the model on its safety level. As fall hazards are one of the most frequent fatalities, they

focused on fall protection. The algorithms detect potential fall possibilities as holes and window

J. Ter Maaten 31

openings, check whether these holes should be covered or blocked, and finally implement fall arrest

systems or covers, as shown in Figure 13.

Figure 13 | Closer views of guardrails and covers for complex geometries (Zhang et al., 2013)

Other research stresses the need of incorporating temporary facilities, like scaffolding, in the model

(H. Kim et al., 2011). The authors propose a new methodology “so that a construction manager could

create falsework models imbedded with safety regulations and guidelines containing the safety

related requirements of a building in the planning/assessment phase.” (H. Kim et al., 2011) This

methodology uses the 4D BIM model to identify the locations of the necessary falseworks, because

one of the most important reasons for accidents is the lack of knowledge of the locations. Combining

the identified locations, construction schedule and regulations check, scaffolding is incorporated in

the BIM model automatically.

K. Kim and Teizer (2014) developed a similar method for the automatic design and planning of

scaffolding. It visualises the scaffolding itself and the required work space. Furthermore they stress

that this tool helps create understanding. “Such visualization can increase a project stakeholder’s

awareness about work tasks and spaces that occur concurrently and are likely to cause time or space

conflicts among competing crews.” (K. Kim & Teizer, 2014)

Barista (2015) suggests five ways of using BIM to promote safety: prefabrication, safety hazards

analysis, site coordination, facilities O&M planning, and day-to-day safety coordination. Figure 14 is

an example of how Turner Construction Company implements safety checking into its solutions. By

using the Solibri Model Checker they are able to identify possible safety problems (Barista, 2015).

Figure 14 | Using Solibri Model Checker to search for safety-related problem areas (Barista, 2015)

32 J. Ter Maaten

Documentation of a project is often an undervalued job that is executed poorly. For Asset

Management in particular, though, it is really important (Worrell, 2015). Interview 9 stresses the

possibilities BIM offers regarding documentation. In his view documentation and reporting should be

almost completely automated. At any time should be clear which information is available to whom.

Every stakeholder can subtract a status update form the BIM-model with the information he is

interested in.

One of the most persistent triggers for delays, cost overruns or other typical project management

problems, is the process of change requests and change orders (Verbraeck, 2014). Changes of any

kind hamper the engineering and construction processes to a large extent. To constrain the change

order stream change management is developed, in which every change is approved or rejected.

Though change management is a useful tool, lack of communication and not making clear the

consequences often limit its use. That is why both Bentley (2013) and Autodesk Inc. (n.d.), market

leaders in BIM software, incorporated change management in their solutions. Integrating BIM and

Change Management creates insight, or as Autodesk puts it: “[it] enabl[es] (…) stakeholders across

the organization to fully understand what that change will affect” (Autodesk Inc., 2013b). Bentley

(2013) stresses change management cannot be effective without managing the relations between

relevant information, because only then impact can be estimated properly.

Written Communication is essential in project management processes. Mailings, letters, reports and

logs reflect decisions and contain explanations. In law suits these documents form the burden of

proof. It is therefore important to keep track of these communication documents and to manage

them properly. Vault and Buzzsaw, and ProjectWise are developed by Autodesk and Bentley

respectively. As general project data management tools, these software solutions are designed to

store and manage project data. Information Management, in the sense of written communication,

certainly is part of this (Autodesk Inc., 2013a).

Most important element is the integration BIM offers. Communication can be linked to whatever is

relevant. For instance clicking on the one of the main cables of a bridge shows all relevant

communication efforts. Another example is connecting a client’s mail about design changes to the

designer’s work tasks, while creating a Change Order (Autodesk Inc., 2014).

J. Ter Maaten 33

The final section of Chapter 3 consists of elaborating on BIM’s benefits, disadvantages and

challenges. As final section, it gives a concise overview of these aspect, providing insights in the pros

and cons of BIM. This is important to understand BIM fully and to understand the several aspects of

the corporate vision, which is developed in the next chapter.

Most benefits are derived from literature research and basic knowledge, partly based on interviews.

Most negative sides of BIM are grounded on the interviews, for literature doesn’t provide much

insights in the disadvantages of BIM. During each interview, the negative sides of BIM were

questioned and some useful insights were given. Challenges, finally, are based on both interviews

and literature.

Many authors claim BIM changed the risks substantially. Back in 2007 Lowe said: “Ultimately, the

question will morph into whether team leaders actually increase risks by not using 3D modeling”

(Lowe, 2007). This statement is strongly supported by many authors (Eastman et al., 2011) by

addressing the benefits of BIM, because benefits can be framed as (positive) risks. One of the

strongest benefits is the clash detection option. This feature identifies clashes in the virtual model

and thus prevents them from being executed (Eastman et al., 2011). Eastman et al. (2011) stress the

risk-mitigation function of BIM further by stating BIM can “reduce the financial risk”, “reduce

schedule-related risks” and “decrease the risk for errors and omissions.”

Kreider, Messner, and Dubler (2010) researched 25 BIM uses, which were all found to be beneficial

and to be used to some extent. Though their research does not state each aspect is always beneficial

when used, the authors say their research “can assist future teams when prioritizing appropriate

uses for BIM on their projects” (Kreider et al., 2010). The next 25 elements have been studied (CICRP,

2009):

3D Coordination

Design Reviews

Design Authoring

Construction System Design

Existing Conditions Modeling

3D Control and Planning

Programming

Phase Planning (4D Modeling)

Record Modeling

Site Utilization Planning

Site Analysis

Structural Analysis

Energy Analysis

Cost Estimation

Sustainability LEED Evaluation

Building System Analysis

Space Management / Tracking

Mechanical Analysis

Code Validation

Lighting Analysis

Other Engineering Analysis

Digital Fabrication

Asset Management

Building Maintenance Scheduling

Disaster Planning

As these BIM uses show, BIM can be used to improve almost anything in the building industry. In all

branches of the building industry, BIM results in better collaboration and communication (Azhar,

2011; De Boer, Kranenburg, Fokkelman, & Zeijlemaker, 2015; Fazli, Fathi, Enferadi, Fazli, & Farhi,

2014; McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012; Sacks, Koskela, et al., 2010). Using online object-based

34 J. Ter Maaten

communication (Sacks, Koskela, et al., 2010), information consistency can be guaranteed and

stimulated (Azhar, 2011; Chen & Luo, 2014; Eastman et al., 2011; Sacks, Koskela, et al., 2010).

Improved information consistency is realised by reduced errors, spatial coordination, geometrical

precision, resulting in fewer claims and litigations and less time of documentation needed (McGraw-

Hill Construction, 2012). The automated generation of drawings and documents needs to be

mentioned in relation to this aspects as well (Azhar, 2011; Sacks, Koskela, et al., 2010).

Quality can be controlled much better by using BIM processes (Chen & Luo, 2014; Ding et al., 2014),

resulting in better-performing completed infrastructure (McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012). One of

the most important quality controlling benefits of BIM is the use of clash, conflict, and collision

detection (Azhar, 2011; Czmoch & Pekala, 2014; McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012). This results in

overall better project outcomes (De Boer et al., 2015; McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012). Because

quality is higher, long-term maintenance can be executed much more efficiently (Azhar, 2011; De

Boer et al., 2015; Eastman et al., 2011).

Using simulation (Eastman et al., 2008; McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012) and visualisation (Azhar,

2011; Fazli et al., 2014; McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012; Sacks, Koskela, et al., 2010) for

communication and analyses purposes, many analyses can be done (Czmoch & Pekala, 2014;

Eastman et al., 2011; Sacks, Koskela, et al., 2010). These analyses include energy and carbon emission

analyses (Ding et al., 2014; Eastman et al., 2011), structural analysis (McGraw-Hill Construction,

2012) and rapid generation of multiple design alternatives (Sacks, Koskela, et al., 2010). Also quantity

take-off can be done, resulting in accurate quantity information (Eastman et al., 2011; McGraw-Hill

Construction, 2012).

Because BIM manages information much better than previous efforts, quality can be controlled much

more. That results in reduced total project costs (McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012) and reduced

construction costs (Ding et al., 2014; McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012). It is also possible to conduct

more efficient costing estimation (Azhar, 2011; De Boer et al., 2015; Eastman et al., 2011).

Not only is it possible to improve quality and efficiency, time too is an important aspect that can be

improved. Project scheduling goes much better with BIM and there is more insight in project delivery

(Azhar, 2011; De Boer et al., 2015; Ding et al., 2014; Eastman et al., 2011; Shen et al., 2014; W.-C.

Wang et al., 2014). Reducing workflow cycle times (Azhar, 2011; De Boer et al., 2015; McGraw-Hill

Construction, 2012) results in a reduced project duration (McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012).

Rapid generation and evaluation of construction plan alternatives result in smart and efficient

construction (De Boer et al., 2015; Sacks, Koskela, et al., 2010). This reduces rework extremely,

because everything can be predicted to a very large extent (McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012),

reduces conflicts and changes during construction and improves productivity (McGraw-Hill

Construction, 2012). Based on this analysis of construction plan alternatives and extended analyses,

risk and safety management can be conducted very efficiently (Azhar, 2011; Ding et al., 2014),

resulting in lower risk and better predictability of outcomes (McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012). This

enables to improve review and approval cycles (McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012). This extends to

earthquake analyses and post-earthquake information management (Birely & Pereira, 2014).

J. Ter Maaten 35

Because many analyses can be conducted, quality can be controlled to a large extent, and because of

supplier and subcontractor integration (Eastman et al., 2011), prefabrication of large and more

complex parts becomes reality (Azhar, 2011; McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012; Sacks, Kaner, Eastman,

& Jeong, 2010).

Regarding social aspects of the construction industry, BIM improves learning for younger staff

(McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012), gives higher job satisfaction (De Boer et al., 2015), and results in

marketing new businesses and offer new services (McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012).

In short, BIM can be said to:

improve collaboration and

communication;

improve quality control;

result in overall better project outcomes;

result in higher quality and better-

performing completed infrastructure;

improve information consistency by

reducing errors and documenting time,

automated generation of drawings and

documents, spatial coordination and

geometrical precision, fewer claims and

litigations;

make clash, conflict, and collision

detection possible;

make design analyses possible by energy

analyses, carbon emission calculations,

structural analyses, and rapid generation

of multiple design alternatives;

use simulation for evaluation purposes;

use visualisation for communication and

evaluation purposes;

make costing estimation more efficient;

reduce construction costs;

reduce total project costs;

improve project scheduling and insights

in delivery;

reduce workflow cycle times;

reduce project duration;

make rapid generation and evaluation of

construction plan alternatives possible;

make long-term maintenance more

efficient;

reduce rework;

makes automated quantity take-off

possible;

improve safety management;

lower risks and improve predictability of

outcomes;

improve review and approval cycles;

make prefabrication of larger and more

complex parts possible;

make post-earthquake information

management possible;

integrate supplier and subcontractor;

market new business and offer new

services;

improve learning for younger staff;

improve job satisfaction;

reduce conflicts and changes during

construction;

improve productivity.

36 J. Ter Maaten

According to interview 2 and Interview 4, for many BIM users it is a stumbling stone BIM’s revenues

do not always flow to those who invested in it. For new BIM users in particular, it can withhold them

to implement BIM, because it will be very expensive. Interview 5 states it is therefore important to

overcome this obstacle, for it involves a mind switch. Everybody needs to change into BIM in order to

be beneficial. Interview 4 thinks these problems are transient in nature.

Another aspect of BIM being expensive consists of software and training costs (Fazli et al., 2014). BIM

needs investment (Interview 7). Most software packages have to be bought at high costs and training

needs to be given, which costs very much as well. For small organisations in particular, these costs

can withhold them for a long time before implementing BIM in their organisation.

According to Ahmad (2014) many authors state BIM can block creativity, especially in the design

phase, due to parametric limitations and interoperability. His own research, however, shows most

correspondents disagree with this statement. He states it is important to “develop more

understandings of BIM and its impact on design creativity”, because “[c]reativity is not necessarily

directly affected by design tools, rather the ability of a designer to use the design tools for optimum

creativity.” (Ahmad, 2014, p. 203)

Interview 10 says BIM can become too much. Loads of information are available, but you have to be

able to keep track of the data you need. Interview 3 strongly agrees with this aspects as he says we,

humans, need to be able to mentally follow the data flows. We should not do something we cannot

reason about, because we cannot process that data.

Another aspect is the availability of information to whoever needs information. For all data needs to

be made clear to whom it is available. Some parties need only specified information for a specific

object; other parties do just need to see the overall picture, which requires a totally different

information supply. This should be managed in order to not behave as a disadvantage (Interview 10).

He thinks BIM can become too complex; you can be bogged down by the information overload. The

boundaries of BIM should be defined properly.

Another disadvantage, or something you should get used to, is the need to know detailed

information in preliminary stages (Ahmad, 2014), a statement supported by Interview 5 and

Interview 9 as well.

Consequently to the previous point, engineers should be able to thing in concepts. Needing

information in an early stage requires thinking without in-depth details. Interview 9 states not

everybody can think in that way.

J. Ter Maaten 37

P. Smith (2014) found the “quality of the BIM model was the major concern.” Processing information

stresses the need of liability of that information. He stresses that the principle of rubbish in, rubbish

out, certainly holds true for BIM. “The liability for the use of inadequate or incorrect information in

the model is also a major concern.” (P. Smith, 2014)

Interoperability has long been a hot issue in the BIMing world (Anderson, Marsters, Sturts Dossick, &

Neff, 2014). Because everybody wants to keep using his own software packages and because every

branch of the building industry tree is specialised in its own profession, it is very difficult to let them

speak one digital language (Fazli et al., 2014). But, according to P. Smith (2014), “[t]he scope for this

currently remains limited.” His research shows this issue will improve over time, that it will take quite

a time, and that it is essential for successful BIM implantation in the building industry.

In the interview 3, 4, and 9, they stressed the importance of harmonised libraries, interoperable

information and international standards. Interview 5 and 9 say communication is the core of BIM,

which stresses how important digital exchange of information is.

New ways of working always deliver some juridical problems, for all parties have to get used to it.

This principle applies for BIM as well. Though BIM doesn’t change jurisdiction in the building industry

fundamentally (Chao-Duivis, 2011, 2015), it has some implications. Liability and intellectual property

are two of the major juridical issues, which should be managed properly (BIR, 2014; P. Smith, 2014).

Another problem is the validity of models. In many juridical systems 2D drawings only have legal

validity (Fazli et al., 2014).

Much literature states it is important to make arrangements on communication, liability, and

interrelations (BIR, 2014; Chao-Duivis, 2011, 2015; De Lange, 2015; P. Smith, 2014). Mr. Mundt says

the use of BIM has not been reason to go to court (De Lange, 2015). “Everyone has to get used to the

BIM phenomenon. We all are going through the same learning curve, everyone still is forgiving. That

certainly will change in the future. BIM will be used more often, which leads to more disputes.” (De

Lange, 2015)

Newton (2015) analyses we do not need to explain BIM anymore. On the other hand, working

practice has not changed very much. Design data is documented properly only occasionally and all

other documentation is nearly never connected to is. He states workflow processes change or need

to change in order to implement BIM rightly.

Interview 7 says BIM will change the building industry. Not only requires the implementation of BIM

well-thought and organised processes – a statement supported by Interview 9 as well – but also the

concept of BIM itself changes processes in the way the mobile telephone changed processes.

38 J. Ter Maaten

Chapter three answers the first research sub question, which is divided into five sub questions. This

section concludes Chapter 3 and answers the corresponding research questions.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a working and thinking method in which all relevant

information of an object or asset is connected digitally throughout the life cycle. BIM can be defined

as follows:


Building Information Modelling is the purposeful management of information through the whole

life cycle of a built environment asset by creating a digital representation of physical and

functional characteristics, using components that consist of computable graphic and data

attributes and parametric rules. Thus, BIM is a managed approach to the collection and

exploitation of consistent, non-redundant, and coordinated information across the life cycle of a

built environment asset.

BIM’s roots lie in 3D and parametric modelling of objects with the purpose of automation,

standardisation, cost and failure reduction and ease of work. Having had a dynamic development,

BIM is now nearly common sense in the building industry, running through all branches: from MEP

systems to large infrastructure projects.


Because BIM is object-oriented, all information regarding one object can be exchanged and used

in analyses regarding that object. Exchange of information still is a hot issue, for it is not yet

possible to exchange information without damage or loss of data. Level of Development is the

measure of information depth. Varying between LOD100 and LOD500, BIM-models can be

detailed to a very low or very high extent respectively. The level of BIM adoption and use is

described by the maturity levels. Maturity levels can vary between level 0 and level 3, varying

from no BIM adoption via 3D-modelling and little collaboration to integrated and interoperable

BIM use. Little BIM and Big BIM are terms to describe internal and external BIM use. It is

important to master your internal BIM processes before using BIM externally.

Based on literature research and interviews, eight characteristics of useful BIM have been

identified. Each of these information sources adds a valuable subject to BIM. The following

aspects have been defined: technical details; requirements; geospatial information; time;

finances; condition of assets; risks; and documentation. Though many other information sources

can be interconnected, these eight offer interesting possibilities.


Many thought BIM was limited to extensive technical details and visualising them, and they still

are important to BIM. Adding requirements to the model helps in verifying and validating the

model. The combination of geospatial information and the model makes powerful geospatial

analyses possible. The additions of time and finances are helpful in visualising the construction

and transportation processes and the financial impact of decisions and time. Incorporating the

condition of assets makes it possible to conduct Asset Management and to perform asset-

J. Ter Maaten 39

transcending analyses. Risks, and consecutive health and safety, can be detected and made

visible with BIM. Automated documentation helps in reporting, documenting, and archiving.

In the future, technical details can be derived from supplier’s information automatically and will

be accurate, thus enabling realistic visualisations and virtual reality experiences. Requirements

can be checked automatically, using and checking building codes, governmental regulations,

environmental decrees and national and international law. For infrastructure in particular,

geospatial information gives context and background to assets and is very useful with regard to

requirements, conditions of assets and risks. The aspects of time and finances are also improved

by geospatial information, because project-transcending optimisation is common sense in the

future. Condition of assets is used to a large extent to minimise environmental hindrance and

optimise improvement efforts concerning time and finances. Many risks can be found and

prevented automatically, both within an asset’s boundary and outside the system boundaries;

the latter is exemplified by minimising risks by optimising delivery patterns to several project

sites and thus preventing traffic accidents. Documentation is automated to a large extent and

juridical cases can be fought based on this extensive documentation.


BIM has many benefits. The main goal BIM serves is improved collaboration and

communication. This results in a higher quality of the deliveries and of concerning information.

This higher quality made possible by simulation, visualisation, fault detection, and multiple

analyses. The analyses include carbon, energy, structural and alternative analyses, as well as

cost, time and risk analyses. These analyses result in shorter construction times, less expenses,

less failure costs, less rework, and safer working conditions. Due to higher information accuracy,

long-term maintenance and Asset Management can be approached integrally. Furthermore, BIM

is said to be a catalyst for process improvements, project delivery, end-user satisfaction, and job

satisfaction.

As disadvantages, BIM is said to be expensive, creativity blocking when you are not an advanced

user of software, confusing, information assuming and difficult. BIM requires investments, both

in software and in training. Additionally, some value it negative that they need to make

expenses for other’s benefits, while others state they can save money because they use BIM.

This paradoxically statements show BIM might be expensive at first, but will save money once

implemented fully. For designers in particular, some authors think BIM blocks creativity, but this

aspect is mainly true for designers with little experience with BIM software. This disadvantage

will therefore become less prevailed over time.

Regarding information, a disadvantage of BIM is the overload of information. It is uncertain

which information is needed by whom, who is allowed to access which information, and how

much information can be processed by whom. Furthermore, BIM requires much information.

Different from the past is the level of required certainty in very early project stages; in BIM

processes much information needs to be known in the design phase already. In accordance, the

last disadvantage is that BIM requires another mindset. Because much needs to be known at a

project start, it is important to be able to think in concepts instead of details. Not everybody is

able to do that.

40 J. Ter Maaten


The quality of information and of the model, lack of standards, juridical issues and process

changes still are challenging aspects of BIM. The essence of BIM is information, so to use BIM in

a good way this information needs to be of high quality, accurate and consistent. Analyses are

conducted and decisions are made using that information. The quality of information needs to

be assured, verification and validation are important processes.

Until now, information cannot be exchanged perfectly. Though many developments are taking

place, developing standards and meta-standards, it is not possible to exchange information one-

to-one. This interoperability problem is a major challenge for the building industry and has been

a problem for BIM since its rise started. In the future object libraries will be harmonised and

proper standards can exchange information between software packages or other standards.

Though BIM does not create insuperable juridical problems, the juridical consequences of BIM

have to be considered elaborately. BIM flourishes only in an environment of collaboration,

communication and trust, but it is hard to secure that juridically. Intellectual property and

liability are the two most important issues in BIM practices. Because many stakeholders interact

and collaborate to create a product, it is uncertain who the owner is and who is liable for the

product or incremental changes.

Implementing and using BIM requires well-thought operational and business processes.

Processes need to be defined in workflow management and they need to be adapted to BIM.

Furthermore, business processes will change due to BIM, because BIM improves many things in

de building industry, thus stimulating innovation and process improvement.

J. Ter Maaten 41

The fourth chapter firstly describes the direct context of BIM in order to create, secondly, a corporate

vision about it. Grontmij does not have a written vision concerning BIM, though a good and useful

implementation requires such a vision. The vision presented in this chapter is a proposal, which is

considered the first step in the vision development process. This process is needed to create a good

vision. Though this research project does not provide for a process design for the vision development

process, it provides the first substantive step of that process.

This chapter answers the resulting research sub question. Research question 2.1 is answered in

section 4.1 and question 2.2 is partly answered in section 4.4. Question 2.2 is answered in section 5.3

as well.

Besides Building Information Modelling three related industry trends can be recognised (NASFA,

COAA, APPA, AGC, AIA, 2010): Integrated Project Delivery, Lean/Economic Pressures, and

Sustainability, expressed in Figure 15 as well. “Lean, BIM, and IPD can all be utilized separately, but

they are strongest when used together.” (NASFA et al., 2010) Sustainability is served by all of these

three aspects (NASFA et al., 2010), so it is elaborated separately.

Figure 15 | Industry Convergence: Related Industry Trends (derived from (NASFA et al., 2010))

This section describes six developments that form the direct context of Building Information

Modelling. It is important to recognise these developments and to know them in depth, because this

will help in creating a useful, thorough and well-thought vision. The five developments consist of

Integrated Project Delivery, Lean Project Management, Sustainability, the Information Age, the

Internet of Things, and finally Robotising and 3D Printing.

Integrated Project Delivery


Sustainability

Lean/ Economic Pressures

42 J. Ter Maaten

Integrated Project Delivery is “a project delivery method that integrates people, systems, business

structures and practices into a process that collaboratively harnesses the talents and insights of all

participants to reduce waste and optimize efficiency through all phases of design, fabrication and

construction.” (American Institute of Architects, 2014)

The basis of Integrated Project Delivery is collaboration, which has trust at its roots. Collaboration

built on trust focuses on project outcomes. It is therefore important people’s mindset changes, in

order to achieve the promised ‘better outcomes’. Project members should “embrace the following

Principles of Integrated Project Delivery” (LaNear, 2008):

Mutual Respect and Trust

Mutual Benefit and Reward

Collaborative Innovation and Decision Making

Early Involvement of Key Participants

Early Goal Definition

Intensified Planning

Open Communication

Appropriate Technology

Organization and Leadership

Autodesk Inc. (2008) incorporates four benefits in its definition of Integrated Project Delivery –

“optimize project results, increase value to the owner, reduce waste, and maximize efficiency

through all phases of design, fabrication, and construction” – that are benefits of BIM as well. They

state BIM enables IPD, “but the full potential of BIM will not be achieved without adopting structural

changes to existing project delivery methods” (Autodesk Inc., 2008).

LaNear (2008) argues against the thought BIM and IPD are the same. He says IPD is a process and

BIM is a tool. Though BIM and IPD do not necessarily require each other, “the full potential benefits

of both IPD and BIM are achieved only when they are used together.” (LaNear, 2008)

While Kent and Becerik-Gerber (2010) define only three common principles of Integrated Project

Delivery – “(1) multiparty agreement; (2) early involvement of all parties; and (3) shared risk and

reward” – The American Institute of Architects (2014) defines five elements the Integrated Project

Delivery method should contain at a minimum:

Continuous involvement of owner and key designers and builders from early design through

project completion

Business interests aligned through shared risk/reward, including financial gain at risk that is

dependent upon project outcomes

Joint project control by owner and key designers and builders

A multi-party agreement or equal interlocking agreements

Limited liability among owner and key designers and builders

J. Ter Maaten 43

Sacks, Koskela, et al. (2010) researched the interaction between Lean Construction and Building

Information Modelling. They found the following list of Lean Principles, consisting solely of principles

relevant to BIM (Sacks, Koskela, et al., 2010).

Reduce variability

Reduce cycle times

Reduce batch sizes

Increase flexibility

Select an appropriate production control

approach

Standardize

Institute continuous improvement

Use visual management

Design the production system for flow and

value

Ensure comprehensive requirement capture

Focus on concept selection

Ensure requirement flow down

Verify and validate

Go and see for yourself

Decide by consensus, consider all options

Cultivate an extended network of partners

Out of 56 interactions between Lean Principles and BIM Functionalities 48 are underpinned by

scientific research. Only four of these 48 articles suggest that certain interactions are negative while

the other 44 state BIM and Lean complement each other (Sacks, Koskela, et al., 2010). Though much

research can and should be done to further map this research field, the conclusion can be drawn BIM

and Lean fit perfectly together; a statement supported by the Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling

Industry (2009) and Mitchell (2013).

Sacks, Radosavljevic, and Barak (2010) propose the KanBIM concept. This concept is a combination of

BIM platforms for construction and the Kanban system. The Kanban system, as part of Just-in-Time

Management, is an authorisation system which “authorizes production and/or transfers parts from

one work centre to another” (Finch & Cox, 1986) The KanBIM concept is promising though far from

perfect, and it shows that the combination of Lean Construction and BIM is reasonable.

44 J. Ter Maaten

Sustainability is one of the most debated subjects in recent years. For over 50 years sustainability has

gained attention. In the Sustainability Development Timeline several turning points in this global

debate can be recognised (Creech, 2012).

The 1962 book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson is seen by many as the “turning point in our

understanding of the interconnections among the environment, the economy and social

well-being.” (Creech, 2012).

In 1972 the UN Conference on the Human Environment and UNEP took place in Stockholm,

resulting in “establishment of many national environmental protection agencies and the

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)” (Creech, 2012).

1987 is marked by the publication of the report Our Common Future by the World

Commission on Environment and Development. This report popularised the term Sustainable

Development.

The first Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. At this UN event 172 governments

participated and approximately 2400 representatives of non-governmental organisations

(NGO) were present. This event resulted in many agreements, i.a. the action plan Agenda 21,

the Rio Declaration, and the non-binding Forest Principles.

The aforementioned report Our Common Future contains a definition of sustainability that has

become common sense and has been used to a very large extent. Sustainable Development,

according to this report, is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising

the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (United Nations General Assembly, 1987).

Mirvis et al. (2010) state over 75% of executives worldwide thinks sustainability is important to their

companies’ financial success. They also found more than 50% of big US companies continue to invest

in sustainability efforts, back then already two years in the economic crisis, which started in 2008.

KPMG (2013) shows attention for sustainability and reporting on Corporate Responsibility increased

significantly during the last two decades. Their last report (2013) shows 93% of G250 companies and

an average of 71% of the 100 largest companies in 41 countries reports on Corporate Responsibility.

The building industry has a disproportional impact on the environment. De Ridder (2011) clarifies this

by giving the example of the Netherlands, mentioning percentages regarding energy consumption,

CO2 emission, waste production, road transport and failure costs, which “are rather bad when

compared with the 11% contribution of the construction industry to the GNP.” (De Ridder, 2011)

Furthermore, many authors show the building industry is not as sustainable or environment-friendly

as it should be. Yuan (2013) includes environmental degradation, land depletion, energy

consumption, waste generation, dust and gas emission, noise pollution and consumption of natural

resources.

Regarding BIM, sustainability is important: “Recent emphasis on sustainability has raised the profile

of building life cycle management. […] BIM provides value in managing relevant data about current

building conditions and facilitates the analysis of alternatives.” (Schley, 2015)

J. Ter Maaten 45

Interview 9 states that while storing and gathering information was powerful, sharing of information

will become real power. These two opposite sides of handling information clearly show that

information is important. It is information that will have great impact in the information age.

Stating that the amount of transistors on a chip will double every year, Moore’s Law is incorporated

in his 1965 quote: “The complexity for minimum component costs has increased at a rate of roughly

a factor of two per year” (Moore, 1965). Though Moore expected his statement to be valid for at

least ten years and had to change the doubling rate to every two years, it turned out to be accurate

for the next fifty years (Adriaanse, 2014; ASML, 2012; Brynjolfsson & McAfee, 2014), as is supported

by Figure 16.

Figure 16 | Development of Transistors according to Moore’s Law (ASML, 2012)

This development shows that computational power of computers has increased extremely over the

last fifty years. The production and consumption of data and information has increased significantly,

enabling data analysts to perform all kinds of analyses. This trend is evolving into the field of Big

Data. Mayer-Schönberger and Cukier (2013) argue in their book ‘Big data: a revolution that will

transform how we live, work, and think’ mankind has produced more information in the last two

years (before publication date) than in the last two thousand years.

Big Data refers to “ways of handling data sets so large, dynamic and complex that traditional

techniques are insufficient to analyse their content. One approach to meeting the Big Data challenge

is through high performance computing” (HM Government, 2013b). In another document HM

Government (2015) emphasises the role of information in and the possibility of using that

information for the benefit of society: “City leaders around the world are turning to integrated and

intelligent smart systems and associated big-data concepts to deliver vital public services.”

The International Data Corporation (IDC) defines Big Data as “a new generation of technologies and

architectures designed to extract value economically from very large volumes of a wide variety of

data by enabling high-velocity capture, discovery, and/or analysis” (International Data Corporation,

2012). IDC predicts the Big Data market to expand rapidly, stating it is a “fast-growing, multibillion-

dollar worldwide market” (IDC, 2014). Quantifying its market analysis results, IDC “expects the Big

Data technology and services market to grow at a 26.24% compound annual growth rate through

2018 to reach $41.52 billion.” (IDC, 2014)

46 J. Ter Maaten

According to the HM Government (2015) Strategy Plan ‘Digital Built Britain’, the Information

Economy strategy (HM Government, 2013b) encourages the use of “Internet of Things (IoT) in the

form of automated sensors and actuators to automate processes.” The strategy plan states: “the

“Internet of Things” […] capture[s] in-use performance data. […] In service performance data will

transform the way we manage and deliver our assets.” (HM Government, 2015) Atzori, Iera, and

Morabito (2011) add: “The basic idea of this concept is the pervasive presence around us of a variety

of things or objects […] which […] are able to interact with each other and cooperate with their

neighbors to reach common goals.”

The concept of The Internet of Things has been discussed broadly and is defined from various

viewpoints. Atzori et al. (2011) researched the research field of the concept and found three main

visions: the things-, the internet-, and the semantic-oriented vision. In Figure 17 they distinguish

these three visions and divide several main concepts, technologies and standards (Atzori et al., 2011).

Miorandi, Sicari, De Pellegrini, and Chlamtac (2012) basically say the same, speaking of smart objects

that are identifiable (things), communicating (internet) and interacting (semantic).

Figure 17 | “Internet of Things” paradigm as a result of the convergence of different visions (Atzori et al., 2011)

Smart objects are an important aspect of the Internet of Things. They produce and consume

information, thus creating a dynamic and distributed network (Miorandi et al., 2012). To have a clear

understanding of smart objects, Miorandi et al. (2012) define smart objects as entities that are

physical, can communicate, can identify themselves, “are associated to at least one name and one

address”, can compute something, and can sense physical phenomena.

The key benefit of the Internet of Things matches BIM’s core fundamentally: “the enablement of

informed manufacturing where all products, people, processes and infrastructure involved in the

organisation can work seamlessly together, sharing information in real-time to create more

automated, intelligent and streamlined processes.” (Gupta, 2015)

According to Longbottom (2015) BIM, GIS and the Internet of Things supplement one another

perfectly. Combining building information and geographical information with semantic and project-

transcending information, results in very intelligent systems, creating business value.

J. Ter Maaten 47

Robotising at the construction site is gaining attention (Philp & Thomson, 2014; Teaman & Hsu,

2015). A good example of robotising is the SAM100 (Semi-Automated Mason) Robot (see Figure 18),

which “is designed to work with the mason, assisting with the repetitive and strenuous task of lifting

and placing each brick.” (Construction Robotics, 2013) Construction Robotics not only wants to

improve efficiency, but also to attract a younger generation of masons, as the median age of masons

goes up (Construction Robotics, 2015a). The newest development in this field is the introduction of

bricklaying robot Hadrian, who can build a house in two days (L. Wang, 2015).

Another example is the use of demolition robots. Several developments have taken place in recent

years, resulting in inter alia the Swedish Ero. Ero uses water jets to “erase concrete into aggregate

and leave behind pristine, recyclable rebar”, as can be seen in Figure 20 (Sullivan & Sullivan, 2014).

Figure 18 | SAM placing a brick (Construction Robotics, 2015b)

Figure 19 | 3D-printed walls at 3D Print Canal House (DUS Architects, 2015)

Figure 20 | Demolition robot ERO to erase concrete in teams (Haciomeroglu, 2014)

Whereas 3D printing is common sense already in the sense of small objects, it has potential for the

larger scale as well. On the north side of the IJ in Amsterdam a canal house is 3D-printed (DUS

Architects, 2015). Though this project is meant as an open and live pilot project, it clearly shows the

potential of 3D printing. The wide media attention gained world-which, is still increasing (Heijmans,

2014). Elements up to three meters in height were printed, see Figure 19 (DUS Architects, 2015). In

China a 3D printer can print up to ten houses per day, delivering them hull (Off Grid World, 2014).

48 J. Ter Maaten

This section summarises five trends that have an impact on and are important to BIM, as elaborated

in the previous sections.

Integrated Project Delivery is a project delivery method in which collaboration and integration are

keywords. BIM can be applied perfectly in a project in which IPD is used. IPD, as well as other, similar

contract forms, provides a basis for BIM implementation per project. Respect and trust, openness

and transparency, communication and collaboration are important notions of both IPD and BIM.

Several authors say BIM doesn’t necessarily need IPD, but they will amplify each other once used

together.

Lean Construction is a promising concept which supplements BIM in the construction phase. Though

the connection of Lean and BIM has yet been explored little, they seem to fit together perfectly,

sharing many common characteristics. Because BIM offers nearly unlimited digital control, Lean’s

principles can be put in practice to a much larger extent than usual.

Sustainability has gained much attention throughout the last decades and still is one of the most

debated subjects worldwide. The building industry is a relatively major contributor to sustainability

problems. Through the use of BIM, sustainability issues can handled much better than in previous

processes.

The use of Big Data in a BIM environment is a much-debated subject. A BIM expert manages

information and tries to combine as much available information as possible for the good of the

system and its users. The concept of Big Data implies the gathering of as much information as

possible in order to i.a. recognise patterns. The difference is that BIM collects the data needed and

that Big Data collects all data without predefined purpose. That said, Big Data can offer BIM probably

offer many and still unknown possibilities. The combination of walking patterns, lighting patterns,

light reflection, air quality, and the height of buildings might provide an understanding of human

subconscious behaviour in a crowded city.

If objects can identify themselves, can sense some physical phenomenon, and can interact with other

objects or communication platforms, then that is called The Internet of Things. This concept will

have great impact on BIM. In the ideal situation a project manager has, for example, at any time an

accurate summary of the current state of the bridges he is managing, based on the information each

bridge provides. Each bridge alarms its manager in case of concrete decay or when asphalt

renovation is necessary. This situation exemplifies the use of The Internet of Things related to BIM.

Robotising and 3D-printing are on the rise. They provide high-quality parts and automated

construction. These concepts result in a higher manageability of the building site and less waste.

From that point of view, robotising and 3D-printing fit within Lean Construction as well. Speaking in

terms of safety, robots can be used to easily construct in situations with potential danger for

humans.

J. Ter Maaten 49

Table 3 gives an overview of all elements mentioned in the interviews. These elements are derived

from answers interviewees gave on the question what they expect BIM to become in the future.

During each interview the interviewee’s opinion on BIM’s future was questioned, resulting in

different, divergent, and also non-contradictory answers. These answers are summarised in concise

terms and Table 3 gives an overview of these terms. The table indicates per column whether an

interviewee mentions one or more terms in his answers. The terms are put together if possible.

Table 3 | Visionary views of interviewees

Inte

rview 1

Inte

rview 2

Inte

rview 3

Inte

rview 4

Inte

rview 5

Inte

rview 6

Inte

rview 7

Inte

rview 8

Inte

rview 9

Inte

rview 1

0

Total

Different mindset 6

Better communication 5

Information sharing, integration of information sources, COINS 6

Harmonised libraries, CB-NL 4

Real-time information, sensors, Internet of Things 3

Virtual Reality, kinetics, holograms, voice control, domotics 3

Integration with living environment, Smart Cities 2

Systems Engineering 6

Process improvement 5

Computerising and automation, 3D printing 2

Project transcending working, business analyses, multi-BIM 3

Big Data, analyses and testing, Structured Open Linked Data 3

Asset Management-focussed 3

Balance between craft and automation 1

Change of engineering services 2

The keywords used in Table 3 are derived from and consist of terms derived from the interviews.

They summarise the underlying concepts, elaborated and explained by the interviewees. The rest of

this section elaborates on the concepts, thus expressing the ideas of the interviewees per concept.

According to Interview 2, BIM is not very difficult. BIM’s foundation is storing of information in such a

way everybody can use it. The idea that everybody can use it is a fundamentally new idea. It is

another way of thinking about processes. This way of thinking goes along with the integral approach

of the life cycle. Several stages of an asset’s life cycle will be integrated and information will be

exchanged. Integral thinking and information exchange amplify each other.

Interview 3 thinks BIM starts with awareness of information management. Information needs to be

stored correctly and passed on to next phases. Everybody should prevent information from being

reprocessed and resaved again and again. Information has to be consistent and therefore less human

interferences should be taking place. Store useful information and share it with parties that need it.

50 J. Ter Maaten

Furthermore, a mind switch to object-oriented thinking is taking place (Interview 3). Where CAD-

systems use the graphic representation of an object, BIM considers the object itself as its core.

Interview 3 thinks the building industry is now under full development to change to this object-

oriented way of thinking.

According to Interview 4 BIM demands totally different working and thinking patterns. Processes

change, contracts change, software changes. The core of these changes is collaboration. BIM is not a

software tool that can be bought, but everybody working with BIM, has to adapt to it. These changes

are intensive; the interactive aspects of BIM in particular ask much energy. Not everybody can get

used to or are suited for integral working methods.

Interview 7 states BIM demands a different mindset, a different way of working. Transparency and

high-frequency communication are essential to BIM and when parties do not behave according these

principles, they need to get used to it to have a fair chance in the market. Interview 7 thinks

everybody should keep doing his job instead of doing a BIM job. The need for an Information

Manager will increase dramatically, while a BIM Manager is nog a good option.

BIM is a different way of working (Interview 9). Not only integration of information, but also

integration of disciplines is important. He is convinced the latter is more important and more difficult

than the technical coupling of information sources. Typical to BIM are an open and transparent way

of communicating. Previously, collecting information was power; nowadays sharing information is

power.

It is clear to Interview 10 that BIM demands a different mindset. Both internally and externally, the

way of thinking has to change. When one party needs information from another party, the

demanding party needs to know what he needs and the supplying party needs to know that as well.

It is important that the information supplier is open to collect and share the data other parties need

instead of just following the specifications and conditions scrupulously and rigidly.

Communication is improved by using BIM. Interview 1 says parties can be informed in an early stage

and they can be encouraged to object as early as possible. This makes the design phase not much

faster, but reduces iteration times and improves the quality delivered extremely, because in later

stages fewer adjustments need to be conducted.

Interview 3 is convinced that BIM improves communication. Due to high information consistency and

digital models, much less faults are made and miscommunication is decreased dramatically, which

leads automatically to better communication.

Interview 5 thinks a disadvantage of BIM is the load of different definitions of BIM. Because there are

many different definitions, no concrete and radical steps can be taken. If everybody keeps talking at

cross purposes, the goal cannot be reached. And that goal is better communication (Interview 5).

According to Interview 9, most important to BIM is making arrangements. From that viewpoint BIM

in its smallest form does not even need to be digital.

J. Ter Maaten 51

BIM provides a large communication body, Interview 10 says. Aspects as using the right software,

using specific processes, etc. are useful and necessary, but the core of BIM is how do we

communicate and interact with each other and how do deliver a good product?

In Interview 1 is mentioned a central BIM platform should be used per project. All information should

be available to whoever needs it. It is not necessary to use specific software packages, but rather the

opposite: you should be BIMing by using the software you already have. Interview 1 thinks

information regarding an infrastructure asset should be connected via a geographical information

platform.

According to Interview 1, not every information source should be elaborated completely. When you

want to know the soil structure, for example, you do not need to have a full 3D-model of it. It is

important to think this through and to be cost efficient.

Interview 2 argues every party is just interested in the information it needs, though he thinks it still is

important to couple different information sources. For collaboration purposes and Asset

Management these sources should be connected. Though one party might not want a specific type of

information, it is important to store and transfer it to another party, because that party might want

to use.

Information can be exchanged by coupling different sources. Everyone should not work in the same

model or use the same software, but each piece of information can be coupled to another. According

to Interview 2, COINS is the Dutch standard that works and thinks that way. This standard will evolve

to semantically linked files, using the Cloud.

Interview 3 believes in a hybrid way of information sharing: only useful information should be

shared. Everybody has his own scrapbook and delivers products or information. These deliveries only

should be shared with others and the ‘scrapbook information’ will be kept personal or within the

team.

COINS is a BIM standard which acts as coat rack, based on objects. This standard enables the linking

of several types of information, varying from 3D models to documentation. Interview 3 thinks COINS

can be used perfectly in projects in which Systems Engineering is used as well.

Interview 4 thinks as well COINS is a powerful development, being an independent data structure,

using a standard. Though COINS is still under development and has a very technological approach, it

gains international attention already. According to Interview 4, COINS has a fundamental correct

approach of processes information, because it has the data structure itself as basis, on the basis of

which several expressions originate, like 3D representation, geographical information, requirements

and documentation.

According to Interview 7, BIM develops strongly to the coupling of information worlds. Based on the

object structure, many different types of information can be linked to these objects. COINS is the

current Dutch development to arrange this technically. The old vision on BIM as a fancy 3D design

tool is outdated; to the object tree every type of information can be connected, including

requirements, geographical and geometrical information and many more. Interview 7 thinks GIS and

BIM, now sometimes competing, will evolve into one development.

52 J. Ter Maaten

In Interview 9, the interviewee explains the way his organisation developed BIM. Using a message

broker, many databases are connected. The message broker translates an information request from

one program or databases to another program or database and translates the answer back.

According to Interview 2, CB-NL is the Dutch standard that enables semantically linked structures,

because it leaves every working field intact and only connects them. CB-NL links the core model to

the involved ‘worlds’ of information. Though this standard is still under development and its future is

unsure, Interview 2 thinks CB-NL is a promising concept.

Interview 4 thinks the Dutch CB-NL initiative is viable. Whereas many standards are in use or under

development, CB-NL is the mediator standard enabling these standards to understand one another.

This development answers the long-existing problem of interoperability. When several systems

understand each other, much miscommunication and unnecessary communication can be

diminished.

Several standards will grow closer or even overlap one another (Interview 4). Standards are

developed by different industries and because these industries will grow closer, the standards will as

well.

According to Interview 8, uniformity is important. Everybody should use the same codes. When

everybody uses the same codes and nomenclature, it is possible to speak about the same objects

without confusion.

Interview 9 does support the development of the CB-NL library, but questions the way it is

developed. This mediator library should connect several other libraries by harmonising definitions.

However, CB-NL has moved the harmonisation task to the other standards themselves. Though

Interview 9 supports the development, future has to show the benefit of CB-NL.

In order to increase efficiency and cost efficiency, Interview 1 argues it is important to include real-

time information on the condition of assets. For example, when designing a new road it is efficient to

consider the adjacent assets. If the sewerage needs to be renewed one year later, it is much better to

do it right now.

Interview 7 is convinced the integration of building information and real-time and sensor information

will intensify extremely. In his view, real-time information can and will have influence in all life cycle

phases.

Interview 10 thinks The Internet of Things will be very powerful in relation to BIM. Objects will not

only be able to communicate, but also to do that intelligently and autonomously. A bridge not only

communicates the top layer shows cracks, but it knows also when these cracks are dangerous on a

short or long term and when to communicate it.

According to Interview 1, Virtual Reality goes beyond BIM in its approach to model reality; BIM

models reality, but Virtual Reality almost is reality. In his view Virtual Reality focusses much more on

soft, social aspects like experiencing and customer satisfaction.

J. Ter Maaten 53

Interview 5 thinks information can be exchanged perfectly in twenty years and visualisation methods

have increased significantly. Every stakeholder can be informed easily using holograms, voice control

and kinetics.

Interview 8 thinks domotics will become more and more important. For building in particular, every

piece of information regarding the building is connected and can be accessed digitally, except

confidential information.

According to Interview 8 the digital model and the living environment will integrate to a large extent.

Building control systems, sun hindrance, and many aspects more can be linked and analysed because

the living environment is nearly perfectly modelled.

It should be possible to interact with the environment by means of the digital and intelligent models

(Interview 10). Grass cutting patterns in your own neighbourhood should be available and easily

accessible.

Interview 1 values the use of Systems Engineering in combination with BIM. Systems Engineering

gives a main structure which rig BIM with. Though he thinks Systems Engineering is not a necessity in

BIM processes, it is very valuable to do use it.

According to Interview 3, Systems Engineering, still being in its development phase, will be common

sense in twenty years. In his view, Systems Engineering, thinking in objects, provides in capturing

information unambiguously. Interview 3 also thinks Systems Engineering is not necessary to BIM, but

supplements it perfectly and enhances possibilities.

Interview 4 says BIM and Systems Engineering are in line with each other. BIM provides the structure

in which Systems Engineering can be applied perfectly and in which everything can be verified and

validated.

Interview 5 thinks Systems Engineering can be part of BIM. Systems Engineering provides much

information, as well as other information sources like GIS and CAD data, that can be used to the

higher purpose, the more abstract thinking of BIM, i.e. information management.

Systems Engineering as a concept is not necessary in BIM, according to Interview 6, but the

underlying principles are. Other concepts can be used as well to serve the goals Systems Engineering

serves. Processes have to be arranged and structure has to be provided. Interview 6 thinks Systems

Engineering can be very useful in the way BIM is used nowadays, but he also thinks BIM should be

approached from an Asset Management viewpoint, because BIM considers the whole life cycle of

assets.

Interview 9 says Systems Engineering is used to define objects, manage requirements, and identify

and manage risks. In his view Systems Engineering can be used to integrate these types of

information to other BIM-information. Because Systems Engineering defines processes and

definitions in-depth, it complements BIM extremely. Interview 9 thinks Systems Engineering can be

of high added value and helps with working and making arrangements explicitly.

54 J. Ter Maaten

Interview 1 explains BIM supports the process of verification and validation. Previously, verification

and validation was done manually. Drawings were individually processed and verified and, once all

drawings were final, the end product was validated. BIM, in combination with Systems Engineering,

stimulates and requires thinking the process of verification and validation through beforehand. In

short, BIM makes verification and validation easier and requires a deliberate approach.

Furthermore, Interview 1 sees workflow management as important to BIM. Previously defined

processes can be activated in relation to the data available. Workflow management is not common

sense in the building industry, but it can be of great help by providing defined processes,

standardisation and defined information needs.

According to Interview 6, BIM requires to arrange several processes. Just technology makes no BIM,

but many adjacent aspects have to be settled in order to reap the full benefits of BIM. Project

processes, contract processes, supporting business processes, and technical processes all need to be

arranged properly.

Interview 7 believes BIM can be driver for process improvement. Not only supports BIM the current

processes, but it will stimulate process improvement developments as well. According to Interview 7,

the BIM debate says BIM should not be technology push, but it should be following current

processes. Though this is true, BIM will stimulate process improvement as well, the same way the cell

phone improved many processes. The building industry should be open to welcome chances that

change processes fundamentally.

According to Interview 8, improvement of internal processes is essential to BIM. To be able to do BIM

in a good way, it is important to tune internal processes. They need to be adapted to allow every

party and every department to collaborate.

Interview 10 states it is important to adjust and adapt internal processes to one another to be able

exchange information and work together fluently. Because the core of BIM lies in communication, it

is important processes are adapted to support fluent and effective communication.

3D printing is, according to Interview 5, not a very far future. It is important, though, to have correct

and sufficient information, which shows 3D printing can be used perfectly in a BIM-environment. And

furthermore: when 3D printing is possible, what will be printed?

According to Interview 7, the effects of computerising will be extreme. He says recent literature and

research show the consequences of computerisation on society. Computers will conduct semi-

automated tasks and powerful analyses become possible.

Interview 2 wonders whether the possibilities of BIM are limitless. He thinks BIM will evolve towards

information management. This information can be used to conduct nearly unlimited analyses,

because every piece of information can be connected to another information source. Transcending

the level of assets, meta-asset analyses provide very useful insights.

J. Ter Maaten 55

Interview 7 envisions the thought of multi-BIM. Multi-BIM is the concept of coupling different BIM-

models. By doing so, asset-transcending analyses can be conducted. This concept enables parties to

conduct business analyses like delivery patterns in cities, based on project scheduling, and integral

project scheduling for different projects. Also integrated city analyses can be conducted, like

sunshine hours per inhabitant and spatial planning.

According to Interview 9, BIM can be used to conduct object-transcending analyses once it is

technically possible to connect data sources and libraries are harmonised. It should become possible

to compare several projects or to use materials jointly.

Interview 1 strongly argues against the use of Big Data. According to him, using Big Data says you do

not know what you want to know. It shows you have not defined what information you need

throughout the project or throughout the asset’s life cycle. The interviewee argues in favour of

reasoning backwards from goals: “What information do I need to reach the goals and which data do I

need to generate this information?” (Interview 1, translated)

Combining different information sources enables powerful analyses (Interview 2). Combining for

instance traffic flows and intensities, environmental data, condition of infrastructural and built

environment assets, and demographic changes of the last decennia, can result in useful insights in

necessary renovation and revitalisation of neighbourhoods. Interview 2 thinks this development

transcends BIM and becomes Information Management.

According to Interview 2, information needs to be maintained and to be kept up-to-date. Somebody

needs to be responsible for the information. This open data should be structured, which results in

the term Structured Open Linked Data, with the particular asset as its core. With Structured Open

Linked Data, every information source can be disclosed and accessed easily, making Data Mining

possible. Like Google’s technology, Data Mining should result in striking insights and powerful

analyses. From that viewpoint, Interview 2 thinks as much data as possible should be stored, because

you never know where and when it can be used. These data should be semantically linked; it should

make sense to store data.

Interview 7 thinks the benefits of the coupling of information sources will be enormous. Many

analyses can be conducted, varying from clash control to verification and validation of requirements,

verification to building codes and many analyses more. Though using very much information,

information should be collected and maintained purposefully (Interview 7).

According to Interview 1, BIM is strongly related to Asset Management. In his view BIM should serve

Asset Management purposes. Over 70% of the costs of an asset are spent in its operation phase. That

makes Asset Management important. Proper Asset Management requires information about the

managed asset, implying Asset Management needs to be thought of in the initial phases of an asset.

BIM fills the gap between construction and Asset Management. Often much information is lost or not

transferred to the Asset Manager or Asset Owner or not even collected by the constructing parties.

From this viewpoint, BIM is very important, nearly essential to Asset Management, because it

manages the required information.

56 J. Ter Maaten

Interview 1 says a recent study by the UK Institute of Asset Management shows Asset Managers and

Asset Owners value information management as most important out of five aspects. This shows the

significance of (reliable) information. BIM provides in this information, starting in the initial phases.

To an Asset Owner BIM is concerned with providing correct information to the asset producing

parties in order to get correct and enriched information back in such a way the Asset Owner can

manage his assets (Interview 3).

Interview 6 states it is important to work with the purpose in mind. Everything constructed is meant

to function as it is designed for. BIM is concerned with the total life cycle of an asset and that is why

every asset should start with Asset Management, because the scope of Asset Management is the

total life cycle.

For infrastructure applications in particular, Interview 6 thinks BIM and craft need to go together.

BIM is very flexible, everything is possible; but practice is much more unruly. The outside world is no

clean room, but every environment has its own conditions and limitations. The infrastructure sector

is a world of large tolerances, while BIM thinks exact. These differences need to be balanced in the

future. Theory needs to get used to theory.

Interview 8 thinks the engineering work spectrum will move towards higher advising. While

contractors and MEP engineers will elaborate on detail engineering, engineering consultancies focus

on more general and higher subjects.

According to Interview 8, the tight link between the living environment and its digital model result in

a change in engineering services. Engineering consultancies will offer services instead of products. A

future engineer does not design a building, but designs optimal working conditions, for example. The

engineer will try to find added value to the client.

Interview 10 thinks engineering consultancies will transform to project companies. Currently,

engineering companies are categorised in focus areas. Each department has its own specific subject.

This will change to a company in which a project is integrally handled by a BIM group.

J. Ter Maaten 57

The vision is designed on the basis of three different sources: literature research on BIM (chapter 3),

broader trends (chapter 4.1) and interviews with several BIM users and experts (chapter 4.2). This

section summarises all elements that will be incorporated into the vision proposal.

Connection of BIM models (Adriaanse, 2014)

Sustainability (HM Government, 2013a; Nilsson, 2015)

Which information combinations are useful at what time? (Adriaanse, 2014)

International ‘Open Data’ standards (HM Government, 2015)

Cloud to share large files (Nilsson, 2015)

Data is interoperable, accurate and trustworthy (Kemp, 2014)

Better communication (Dufvenberg, 2015)

Integrated Project Delivery

Lean Construction

Big Data

The Internet of Things

Robotising and 3D Printing

Different mindset

Better communication

Information sharing, integration of information sources, COINS

Harmonised libraries, CB-NL

Real-time information, sensors, Internet of Things

Virtual Reality, kinetics, holograms, voice control, domotics

Integration with living environment, Smart Cities

Systems Engineering

Process improvement

Computerising and automation, 3D printing

Project transcending working, business analyses, multi-BIM

Big Data, analyses and testing, Structured Open Linked Data

Asset Management-focussed

Balance between craft and automation

Change of engineering services

Based on the elements mentioned in the three previous subsections, each aspect is described

telegraphically. This draft version can be found in Appendix 2, Section 2.1. Defining and structuring

the relations between all aspects, the vision is divided into four categories. The structuring process is

depicted in Figure 21. This figure shows every aspect of the vision and the relations between them. A

line shows the relation between two aspects when they are interconnected. By sorting and

organising all aspects, four main groups can be recognised. This process has been gone through to

enhance consistency and to create a logical storyline.

58 J. Ter Maaten

Figure 21 | Ordering and Structuring the Vision Elements

J. Ter Maaten 59

This section contains the first version of the vision. The vision is built on the three foundation blocks

as mentioned in the previous section. Every aspect of the vision is referring to literature or

statements by interviewees, as indicated with endnotes. The vision is written from the author’s

perspective and from a future viewpoint, in which 2030 is the present day. The Dutch translation of

this chapter can be found in Appendix 2.

BIM has been a buzzword with great impact in the building industry. Starting as 3D-oriented design

with benefits in sales and failure minimisation, BIM soon transformed into an integral approach of

building projects in the infrastructure sector, as well as the civil and utility sector. Various disciplines

started to collaborate within projects to achieve better results, to avoid failures, and to keep

information up-to-date. It took quite a while before managers were promoting and implementing

BIM, which is now fully integrated within their working methods.1

Working with BIM is mainly promoted by contractors, because not all clients recognise the potential

of BIM.2 Because service-providing parties have intertwined their processes with BIM, BIM is supply-

driven.

The term BIM evolved from Building Information Model via Building Information Modelling to

Building Information Management. With that, the story did not end. Concepts like Project

Information Management and discipline-specific notions like Civil Information Management were

used, but today everybody just uses Information Management. The concept does not need a

buzzword or fancy name3, because it is completely integrated into thinking patterns and it is much

broader than the building and infrastructure sector. The thought of BIM as a process change and a

communication improvement effort is generally accepted4; nobody thinks of BIM as a fancy design

tool anymore.

In BIM’s pioneering years BIM manager was a new job, but its relevance is low nowadays. The BIM

manager is not the only one who is BIMing; it has become a way of thinking. The new job of

information manager increases in relevance every day.5

It is possible to gather as much data as possible, but the previous decennia have shown it is

impractical to do so. Data has to become information, it has to have purpose, to have added value.

That’s why the information needs are defined at the start of every project, considering the whole life

cycle of the object.6 Every participating party collects and manages the necessary information

actively, while parties in need of other information – information not mentioned in the defined

information needs – collect and manage on their own initiative. The principles of Big Data are not

applied, but information is collected and managed purposefully.7

Several engineering consultants – knowledge delivering organisations – aim at supplying the best

information as possible. A true race has been run to reach the goal of 100% reliable information to

belong to the high-end engineering consultancies. Information needs to useful, consistent, reliable,

unambiguous and non-redundant. The information supply has to match the demand and need for

information.

60 J. Ter Maaten

Non-redundant as a notion fits into the bigger picture. Because information should be reusable, it

often is too much for one party to process, but exactly enough for all parties in the corresponding

process.8

Information has long been one of the most valuable goods. Information exchange – in BIMs

pioneering days a hot issue – is of great importance. Information is being exchanged in the cloud

nowadays.9 Many questioned the safety of information flows, but that is no problem anymore.10

Information transfer not only has become much safer, but it is also possible to do that in an

intelligent and semantic way; systems do understand other systems.11 This has been made possible

by the development of international standards, which understand one another. These standards are

developed for their own interest group and are leading in their respective areas. As standards can

interchange information, all information is transferable. In the Netherlands this has been made

reality by the CB-NL initiative, which later evolved into an international standard.

It’s not only possible to connect information, it’s actually done. Energy performance indexes are

calculated automatically, based on the available information12; risk and safety analyses are common

practice; Asset Management is the goal of a project and an asset, and information is collected

keeping that goal in mind.13 Also, interaction with governments is standardised, which is clearly

exemplified by the automatic granting of permits.14

The connection with geographical information adds important value.15 Free space is getting more

and more scarce and nearly all objects are built at sites where something had been built previously.

The environment is entirely modelled in three dimensions.16 Non-confidential information regarding

the environment is shared as open data, to the benefit of whoever needs it.17 Every new asset is

digitally positioned in its environment immediately18, creating the possibility to conduct analyses

transcending the particular object.19 A clear example is tuning staffing to the several projects and

optimising delivery patterns of materials and equipment.

Sensors are interwoven with almost anything. They produce useful information on the condition of

assets and on that basis action can be taken, whether or not automatically.20 The influence of The

Internet of Things on the building industry is major.21 A bridge, for example, indicates by itself if

concrete decay occurs or if the new top layer shows cracks.22 The integration of the living

environment and intelligent digital models is nearly perfected.23

BIM not only has a major influence in the operation and maintenance phase of assets, but also in the

construction phase. At the building site, everything is fully under control and every delivery is on

time.24 Robotising and automation have resulted in decreasing numbers of incidents, failures and

waste during the last decennia.25 Prefabrication and 3D printing are used to minimise deviations in

geometry and quality and to prevent waste and storage.26 3D printing boomed in the second

decennium of the 21st century; entire bridges and houses were printed27. These developments have

stabilised. Many components are 3D-printed nowadays, but it’s often limited to transportable and

complex parts. The housing and utilities industry, where 3D printing has huge applications.

Because of the ever-increasing computational and graphical abilities of computers, a trend of

increasing complexity is visible. Designs are increasingly complex.28 This has resulted in several

J. Ter Maaten 61

developments in materials sciences and mechanics.29 All materials can be reused30, and several

materials are self-healing.31

The past decades have shown many challenges had to be dealt with to use BIM effectively. One of

the major problems was the difficulty of conceptual thinking.32 Many engineers had to get used to

that way of thinking and some were never able to master it. A new generation of engineers ‘thinks

BIM’ and thinks conceptually.

In addition, engineering has been given a different purpose. Previously, designing a building or road

was the main purpose, but now the main goal is offering services. The engineer offers a service, like

optimal working conditions, and performs the necessary activities.33

This service-oriented mindset arises partly from the rise of integrated contracts. These contracts,

which influence the whole life cycle of assets, are in terms of background idea in line with BIM;

having both the whole life cycle approach, the attitude of trust and corporation, and a service-

oriented mindset.34 Systems Engineering is incorporated in the current thinking and working practice

too, because the combination of Systems Engineering and BIM appears to be a perfect match.35

1 Interview 10. 2 Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (2009) 3 Interview 2, 4, 7. 4 Dufvenberg (2015); Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (2009). Interview 3, 4, 5, 8 10. 5 Edwards and Corbett (2015). Interview 7. 6 Adriaanse (2014). Interview 1, 7. 7 Interview 1, 4, 5, 7. 8 BouwQuest (2013) 9 Nilsson (2015) 10 Kemp (2014). Interview 7, 9. 11 HM Government (2015). Interview 2, 3, 4, 7, 9. 12 Interview 1, 3, 4, 7. 13 Adriaanse (2014); Miettinen and Paavola (2014); (Schley, 2015). Interview 1, 2, 4, 7. 14 Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (2009) 15 Interview 3, 5, 7. 16 Stoter (2014) 17 Interview 2, 3, 4, 10. 18 Interview 1, 2, 5, 7. 19 Adriaanse (2014); De Boer et al. (2015); HM Government (2015). Interview 4, 7, 8, 9. 20 Interview 5, 7, 8, 10. 21 Atzori et al. (2011); Giusto, Iera, Morabito, and Atzori (2010); HM Government (2013b, 2015). Interview 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10. 22 Interview 10. 23 HM Government (2015). Interview 8, 10. 24 Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (2009); Mitchell (2013); Sacks, Koskela, et al. (2010); Sacks, Radosavljevic, et al. (2010) 25 Philp and Thomson (2014). Interview 5, 7. 26 Heijmans (2014). Interview 5. 27 Heijmans (2015)

62 J. Ter Maaten

28 Schumacher (2008). Interview 2. 29 HM Government (2015) 30 HM Government (2015); National Association of State Facilities Administrators et al. (2010) 31 De Kostera et al. (2015); Stewart (2015) 32 HM Government (2015). Interview 3, 4, 8. 33 Interview 8. 34 Interview 4, 7, 9, 10. 35 Interview 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10.

J. Ter Maaten 63

Chapter 4 answers the second research question, which is divided into two sub questions. This

section summarises Chapter 4 and answers the first sub question. The second sub question, though

partly answered, is not answered in this chapter. Because the second sub question answers the

content of the vision, which is refined and sculpted in Chapter 0, the answer on the question is

defined in the conclusions of that chapter.


BIM is not a trend on its own. In the building industry several other developments can be

recognised. These include Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), or broader: integrated contracts,

and Lean Construction. IPD is a collaborating contract form, which needs transparency,

openness, collaboration and communication. That is why it supplements BIM perfectly.

Constructing lean aims at enlarging efficiency, one of the goals of BIM. In short: both IPD and

Lean fit perfectly together with BIM. All three can stimulate the much needed improvement

of sustainability in the building industry.

Big Data is a hot issue. Loads of data can be used to whatever purpose. Many analyses can be

conducted in order to recognise trends and structures. Though BIM tries to use information

purposefully and Big Data does not, Big Data might become really important to BIM;

especially considering the combination with The Internet of Things (IoT). Objects will be able

to identify themselves and communicate with other objects or structures. Its applications in

BIM are tremendous.

The last important contextual trend to BIM is robotising and 3D printing. This issue tries to

manage the building site to a larger extent and fits within Lean Construction as well. Designs

become much more complex in the future, which causes 3D printing and robotising to

become more and more important.

The interviews resulted in fifteen aspects that are important to incorporate in the final vision. During

the ten interviews, no contradictory statements were made, which stresses the credibility of the

frequently mentioned aspects. The list consists of:

Different mindset

Better communication

Information sharing and combination

Harmonised libraries

Real-time information, sensors, IoT

Virtual Reality, domotics

Integration with living environment

Systems Engineering

Process improvement

Automation, 3D printing

Project transcending analyses

Big Data, analyses and testing

Asset Management-focussed

Balance craft and automation

Change of engineering services

64 J. Ter Maaten

The vision itself consists of many important aspects that can be brought down to several main topics:

definition; information; living environment; engineering changes.

Definition. BIM is fully defined and accepted. BIM concerns communication and collaboration and

has information exchange as its core concept.

Information. The information need is fully defined. Information supply by engineering companies is

in line with the information need. Information should be accurate, consistent, useful, non-redundant,

unambiguous and reliable. Information exchange is possible and safe via internationally accepted

standards.

Living Environment. Objects are intelligent and communicate. The building site of an asset is fully

controlled, minimising waste and maximising quality and speed.

Engineering changes. The new generation of engineers ‘thinks BIM’. Engineering changed from

delivering products to delivering services. Integrated contracts and Systems Engineering are fully

integrated in engineering practice.

J. Ter Maaten 65

The first vision proposal, as presented in chapter 0, is created on the basis of literature research and

interviews with BIM experts. That first version should be evaluated in order to gain scientific

credibility. This chapter contains the evaluation of the first version, resulting in a second version of

the vision on BIM.

This chapter contains firstly the methodology of the evaluation, which is the design of a workshop in

which the first vision proposal will be discussed. Secondly, the results of that workshop are discussed.

The second version of the vision is included in the third section of this chapter. Finally, the second

vision proposal is discussed, including the connection between the vision on BIM’s future and

Grontmij’s corporate vision. Several conclusions mark the end of the chapter.

In order to improve the first vision proposal, it is discussed and evaluated in a workshop. The

workshop is designed as a one-hour meeting with approximately ten BIM experts of Grontmij. The

workshop participants prepare themselves by reading the vision – which is sent in advance of the

workshop – and make remarks individually, consisting of both improvements and additions. At the

start of the workshop, the author presents his graduation project and the progress made to that

point, concluding with a summary of the vision proposal.

After the presentation, the workshop participants gather in two or three groups, in which they

discuss their remarks and define a Top 3 of improvements and a Top 3 of additions. After 25 minutes

each group values the two Top 3’s of the other groups, prioritising the items, which takes ten

minutes. The next step is a plenary discussion, in which the results of the previous round are

evaluated, which takes fifteen minutes. Finally, the author summarises the findings of the workshop.

The program of the workshop is designed as follows:

12.00-12.05: introduction workshop

12.05-12.30: discussion in three groups of 3-5 persons

12.30-12.40: prioritising the results of other groups

12.40-12.55: plenary discussion on Top 3 improvements and Top 3 additions.

12.55-13.00: summary and conclusions

The goal of this workshop is to develop a widely supported and sound vision, which can be

implemented Grontmij-wide. This vision can be used to implement BIM all over the organisation. The

document which was sent in advance of the workshop to each participant is included in Appendix 1,

while the presentation held as first step of the workshop is included in Appendix 3.

The workshop resulted in both additions and improvements. Two groups were formed consisting of

four persons, based on only eight participants. Each group defined its Top 3 of additions and

improvements and the other group prioritised these Top 3’s. This resulted in the following aspects,

including the prioritising between brackets.

66 J. Ter Maaten

1. (Temporary) revenue model (1) 2. Actual risks versus virtual risks (1) 3. Quality of information (2) 4. Relation with failure costs (2) 5. Thinking and acting circular (3)

1. The addition of the revenue model considers the marketability of BIM. Some participants stated

Grontmij should be able to sell its use of BIM, while others refuted this statement by saying BIM

will become common sense, which decreases its marketability.

2. Actual risks versus virtual risks is considered an interesting addition as well. Building and

visualising a digital model and analysing risks and safety digitally contain the risk of losing a

sense of reality. Just recognising and analysing risks does not mean they will not occur.

3. The reliability of information is also valued important. Because BIM is an information managing

approach, the managed information should be of high quality, so BIM makes sense.

4. Knowing BIM increases efficiency and thus reduces failure costs, the vision should contain

something in relation to failure costs. Because BIM enables digital clash control, failure costs can

be minimised. On the other hand, probably other types of failure costs will occur.

5. Thinking and acting circular has to do with life cycle management and the current trend of

sustainability. Though the vision already mentions all materials are reusable, the sustainability

issue should be stressed to a larger extent.

1. Autonomous assets / Asset Management / Life Cycle Management (1)

2. Further elaborate on goals (minimise failure costs by clash detection) of BIM within life cycle. (costs, risks, schedules more clear) Instead of, for example, prefabrication (1)

3. Who is owner / liable for the correctness of information? (2)

4. Better demarcation of vision. Which part is about which process phase? (2)

5. Define Big Data (3) 6. BIM managers are needed to manage processes. Information manager is new job needed. (3)

1. The vision should be clear which part is written in the context of which project phase. For now,

the vision contains many elements, resulting in a non-coherent story. Autonomous assets deals

with The Internet of Things, which is included in the vision already.

2. It should be made clear to a larger extent what goal BIM serves. The vision itself contains many

elements, but the necessity of using BIM is not made clear enough.

3. In addition to addition 3 it is important to define the owner of information. When a party is

responsible for the data, it has the liability to guarantee its quality. On the other hand, it is

difficult to define an owner when everything is stored in ‘the Cloud’.

4. See improvement 1.

5. When you mention the principles of Big Data will not be used in the future – because Big Data

gathers as much data as possible – it is very important to define Big Data. During the workshop

it is stated we can use data from the Big Data bulb for very specific purposes, without gathering

information according to Big Data principles.

6. While this aspect is defined as being important, the prioritising group rejected this item. The

function of BIM manager might be important in the near future to manage processes. On the

other hand, managing processes implies they need to be managed, which means process users

are not used to them. This in turn means BIM manager is a temporary job. Information manager

is less of a process job and more of a substantial job.

J. Ter Maaten 67

Two main remarks have been given during the workshop. Firstly, the vision should be recognisable as

being written for Grontmij. Advice was given to present the vision or an elevator pitch version to

somebody outside the organisation and ask him to recognise the organisation it is written for.

Secondly, the vision should be presented interactively. Grontmij developed some interactive

presentation forms that can be used to present the vision. Not only the plain text should be inspiring,

it should also be made attractive with clear figures.

The final version of the vision proposal should be more coherent and logical, using the phases of life

cycle management. It should also be clear it is written for Grontmij and it should be more appealing.

1. Derived from the first addition is the goal Grontmij should have implementing BIM. With the

use of BIM Grontmij can improve the information they produce and provide. The use of BIM

itself will not be marketable in the future, but ‘offering 100% relevant, accurate, consistent,

reliable, non-redundant, and unambiguous information’ is.

2. The second addition has to do with the old conflict between theory and practice. Though the

vision states the living environment is almost perfectly integrated with intelligent models,

there is always this conflict. This addition will be added to the vision, expressed as ‘BIM users

know how to translate digital analyses and their results to reality’, using the example of

actual risks versus virtual risks.

3. The quality of information is an important addition to the vision. It can be added to the

vision, based on two aspects. The first is the fully defined information needs and the second

is market forces. The quality of information is improved by these points, because it is always

clear what information is necessary at what time and because market forces eliminate

underperforming parties.

4. Adding failure costs to the vision would say something about the purpose of BIM, see

improvement 2.

5. The sustainability issue can be derived from the last addition. This aspect will certainly be

added to the vision, especially because Grontmij’s corporate vision mentions ‘Sustainability

by Design’ as its leading principle.

1. It is prioritised at number one to improve the vision by defining which part concerns which

life cycle phase.

2. The vision in its first vision has no clear roots. The necessity and purpose of using BIM should

be made clear. This aspect will be processed together with the first addition.

3. While partly referring to the third addition, this improvement is going to be processed by

adding a part on the ownership of information, including its relationship with ‘the Cloud’.

4. See improvement 1.

5. Every term in the vision will be explained concise. Not only Big Data, but other notions as

well will be explained before used, thus clarifying their meaning and minimising confusion.

6. The last improvement is included already and still under discussion.

68 J. Ter Maaten

This section contains the final version of the vision. This final version is made by editing the first

version based on the workshop results. In this section the English translation is included, while the

Dutch version can be found in Appendix 2, Section 2.3. To understand the vision clearly, the reader

should acknowledge the vision is written from a future viewpoint, in which 2030 is the present day.

BIM has been a buzzword with great impact in the building industry.1 Starting as 3D-oriented design

with benefits in sales and failure minimisation, BIM soon transformed into an integral approach of

building projects in the infrastructure sector, as well as the civil and utility sector. Various disciplines

started to collaborate within projects to achieve better results, to avoid failures, and to keep

information up-to-date. It took quite a while before managers were promoting and implementing

BIM, which is now fully integrated within their working methods.2

Working with BIM is mainly promoted by contractors, because not all clients recognise the potential

of BIM.3 Because service-providing parties have intertwined their processes with BIM, BIM is supply-

driven.

The term BIM evolved from Building Information Model via Building Information Modelling to

Building Information Management. With that, the story did not end. Concepts like Project

Information Management and discipline-specific notions like Civil Information Management were

used, but today everybody just uses Information Management. The concept does not need a

buzzword or fancy name4, because it is completely integrated into thinking patterns and it is much

broader than the building and infrastructure sector. The thought of BIM as a process change and a

communication improvement effort is generally accepted5; nobody thinks of BIM as a fancy design

tool anymore.

In BIM’s pioneering years BIM manager was a new job, active from the first ideas until the design

phase; but its relevance is low nowadays. The BIM manager is not the only one who is BIMing; it has

become a way of thinking. The new job of information manager increases in relevance every day6,

being important in all life cycle phase of an object.

It is possible to gather as much data as possible, but the previous decennia have shown it is

impractical to do so. Data has to become information, it has to have purpose, to have added value.

That’s why the information needs are defined at the start of every project, considering the whole life

cycle of the object.7 Every participating party collects and manages the necessary information

actively, while parties in need of other information – information not mentioned in the defined

information needs – collect and manage it on their own initiative. Though Big Data can be used to

conduct multiple analyses, building information is collected and managed purposefully.8

Several engineering consultants – knowledge delivering organisations – aim at supplying the best

information as possible. A true race has been run to reach the goal of 100% reliable information to

belong to the high-end engineering consultancies. Information needs to useful, consistent, reliable,

unambiguous and non-redundant. The information supply has to match the demand and need for

information. Non-redundant means the total amount of information cannot be larger than all parties

together can process.9

J. Ter Maaten 69

Information has long been one of the most valuable goods. Information exchange – in BIMs

pioneering days a hot issue – is of great importance. Information is being exchanged in the cloud

nowadays.10 Many questioned the safety of information flows, but that is no problem anymore11, due

to the massive international fight against cybercrime. Information transfer not only has become

much safer, but it is also possible to do that in an intelligent and semantic way; systems do

understand other systems.12 This has been made possible by the development of international

standards, which understand one another. These standards are developed for their own interest

group and are leading in their respective areas. As standards can interchange information, all

information is transferable. In the Netherlands this has been made reality by the CB-NL initiative.

It’s not only possible to connect information, it’s actually done. Energy performance indexes are

calculated automatically, based on the available information13; risk and safety analyses are common

practice; Asset Management is the goal of a project and an asset, and information is collected

keeping that goal in mind.14 Also, interaction with governments is standardised, which is clearly

exemplified by the automatic granting of permits.15

The connection with geographical information adds important value.16 In the Netherlands, free space

is getting more and more scarce and nearly all objects are built at sites where something had been

built previously. The built environment is therefore entirely modelled in three dimensions, while the

natural environment is modelled when needed only.17 Non-confidential information regarding the

environment is shared as open data, to the benefit of whoever needs it.18 Every new asset is digitally

positioned in its environment immediately19, creating the possibility to conduct analyses

transcending the particular object.20 A clear example is tuning staffing to the several projects and

optimising delivery patterns of materials and equipment.

Sensors are interwoven with almost anything. They produce useful information on the condition of

assets – starting in the construction phase already – and on that basis action can be taken, whether

or not automatically.21 The influence of the principles of The Internet of Things on the building

industry is major.22 A bridge, for example, indicates by itself if concrete decay occurs or if the new

top layer shows cracks.23 The integration of the living environment and intelligent digital models is

nearly perfected.24 BIM users know how to translate digital analyses into reality.25

BIM not only has a major influence in the operation and maintenance phase of assets, but also in the

construction phase. At the building site, everything is fully under control and every delivery is on

time.26 Robotising and automation have resulted in decreasing numbers of incidents, failures and

waste during the last decennia.27 Prefabrication and 3D printing are used to minimise deviations in

geometry and quality and to prevent waste and storage.28 3D printing boomed in the second

decennium of the 21st century; entire bridges and houses were printed29. These developments have

stabilised. Many components are 3D-printed nowadays, but it’s often limited to transportable and

complex parts. The housing and utilities industry, where 3D printing has huge applications.

Because of the ever-increasing computational and graphical abilities of computers and the use of

BIM, a trend of increasing complexity is visible. Designs are increasingly complex.30 This has resulted

in several developments in materials sciences and mechanics.31 All materials can be reused32, and

several materials are self-healing.33 Besides more complex, designs can be generated automatically.

BIM has been driver for multiple developments and contributed indirectly to further sustainability.

70 J. Ter Maaten

The past decades have shown many challenges had to be dealt with to use BIM effectively. One of

the major problems was the difficulty of conceptual thinking, instead of concrete and detailed

thinking.34 Many engineers had to get used to that way of thinking and some were never able to

master it. A new generation of engineers ‘thinks BIM’ and thinks conceptually.35 This aspect met

quite a bit of resistance, because the older generation in particular had to be retrained in order to

keep being useful.

In addition, engineering has been given a different purpose. Previously, designing a building or road

was the main purpose, but now the main goal is offering services. The engineer offers a service, like

optimal working conditions, and performs the necessary activities.36 This development is a

consequence of a major trend in the building industry, in which contract forms and tender

procedures changed. Fifty years ago, the major part of contracts granted to the lowest bidder, but

that changed to awarding on the basis of highest value or best performance; clients took more and

more a directing role.37

This service-oriented mindset arises partly from the rise of integrated contracts, which are now fully

implemented. These contracts, which influence the whole life cycle of assets, are in terms of

background idea in line with BIM; having both the whole life cycle approach, the attitude of trust and

corporation, and a service-oriented mindset.38 Systems Engineering is incorporated in the current

thinking and working practice too, because the combination of Systems Engineering and BIM appears

to be a perfect match.39 Though Systems Engineering as a concept name is not in use anymore, many

processes are incorporated into the normal BIM working methods; working explicitly has become

very important in BIM.

BIM changed many processes. Like the mobile phone changed the way communication was done,

BIM changed communication too, because information could be exchanged much more efficiently.40

To apply BIM effectively, many processes have been changed and are defined purposefully.41

Processes are optimised and integrated in terms of communication, agreements, and technical and

project management aspects.42 Verification and validation are automated43, risk analyses have

become more effective because BIM connects information, and communication shaped result-

oriented.

1 Adriaanse (2014); Institution of Civil Engineers (2012a); McGraw-Hill Construction (2010, 2012); Memoori Business Intelligence (2015); Samuelson and Björk (2014); J. Williams (2015) 2 Interview 10. 3 Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (2009) 4 Interview 2, 4, 7. 5 Dufvenberg (2015); Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (2009). Interview 3, 4, 5, 8 10. 6 Edwards and Corbett (2015). Interview 7. 7 Adriaanse (2014). Interview 1, 7. 8 Interview 1, 4, 5, 7. 9 BouwQuest (2013) 10 Nilsson (2015) 11 Kemp (2014). Interview 7, 9. 12 HM Government (2015). Interview 2, 3, 4, 7, 9.

J. Ter Maaten 71

13 Interview 1, 3, 4, 7. 14 Adriaanse (2014); Miettinen and Paavola (2014); (Schley, 2015). Interview 1, 2, 4, 7. 15 Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (2009) 16 Interview 3, 5, 7. 17 Stoter (2014) 18 Interview 2, 3, 4, 10. 19 Interview 1, 2, 5, 7. 20 Adriaanse (2014); De Boer et al. (2015); HM Government (2015). Interview 4, 7, 8, 9. 21 Interview 5, 7, 8, 10. 22 Atzori et al. (2011); Giusto et al. (2010); HM Government (2013b, 2015). Interview 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10. 23 Interview 10. 24 HM Government (2015). Interview 8, 10. 25 Addition 2. 26 Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (2009); Mitchell (2013); Sacks, Koskela, et al. (2010); Sacks, Radosavljevic, et al. (2010) 27 Philp and Thomson (2014). Interview 5, 7. 28 Heijmans (2014). Interview 5. 29 Heijmans (2015) 30 Schumacher (2008). Interview 2. 31 HM Government (2015) 32 HM Government (2015); National Association of State Facilities Administrators et al. (2010) 33 De Kostera et al. (2015); Stewart (2015) 34 HM Government (2015). Interview 3, 4, 8. 35 Kemp (2014) 36 Interview 8. 37 Hughes and Kabiri (2013); Rijkswaterstaat (2013) 38 Interview 4, 7, 9, 10. 39 Interview 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10. 40 Interview 7, 8, 10 41 Interview 1 42 Interview 6, 8, 10 43 Interview 1

72 J. Ter Maaten

This section discusses the final vision proposal as included in the previous section. The vision has

been updated and edited from the first version into the second version. This section reasons with

Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle (Sinek, 2009) as backbone.

Sinek (2009) argues every company is able to answer the question what it produces or provides. How

they do it is a question not every organisation can answer and it is only a very limited amount of

organisations that knows why “they do what they do” (Sinek, 2015). Sinek presents this line of

reasoning in his Golden Circle (Figure 22). Though most people tend to think from the outside-in, he

thinks it is essential to think from the inside-out (Sinek, 2009).

Figure 22 | Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle (Sinek, 2015)

According to the Golden Circle, the most important question is ‘Why?’ Most companies have defined

an answer on this question by defining their mission. Grontmij (n.d.) defines its fundamental reason

of existence as "We enable our clients to make informed decisions and well-considered investments

as they develop our natural and built environment." Both informed and built environment are

important aspects of BIM. Building on the analyses of BIM in this report, the conclusion can be drawn

BIM matches perfectly with Grontmij.

The How aspect of the Golden Circle is answered by Grontmij’s corporate vision. This vision is

comprised in four main aspects and as they are defined as the envisioned future of Grontmij, BIM will

help reach that future. The first two aspects in particular are stimulated by the use of BIM, because

BIM increases overall quality and stimulates sustainability efforts. Grontmij’s vision (Grontmij, n.d.)

consists of:

J. Ter Maaten 73

Recognised by our clients for market leadership and quality of delivery.

‘Sustainability by Design’ is our leading principle.

Preferred company for talented professionals and offering ample opportunity for

development.

Among the best on financial performance in the Consulting & Engineering industry.

It is clear BIM stimulates quality and increases efficiency in many ways. With that in mind, it is safe to

say BIM definitely serves Grontmij’s first corporate vision aspect. Many elements in the vision show

BIM supports the second aspect as well. BIM enables multiple analyses to increase sustainability,

such as energy consumption and carbon emission analyses. Also, BIM will be a stimulus for

improvements in materials sciences and other adjacent fields. Furthermore, BIM’s focus on Asset

Management stimulates sustainability efforts as well, because this focus requires to consider

everything beforehand. Though sustainability is not improved once and for all by BIM, BIM certainly

improves sustainability and thus serves Grontmij’s vision on sustainability.

From Grontmij’s point of view, BIM should be recognised as being essential, because BIM is in line

with the mission and serves two of the four aspects of the corporate’s vision. Answering Sinek’s

three question of Grontmij’s use of BIM, the following can be said, in which BIM can be either a verb

or a noun:

Why should Grontmij BIM?

Because BIM serves Grontmij in fulfilling its mission and serving its corporate vision.

How should Grontmij BIM?

Grontmij should use BIM in line with its mission and vision.

To be able to make this answer reality, Grontmij should know what BIM is, what it is not, what it can

and will become, and which place it has in the future. In short: the vision developed in this report is

essential to answer the What?-question of the Golden Circle.

What should Grontmij do to BIM?

Grontmij should translate the BIM vision into a strategy.

The vision as it is defined in the previous section contains many elements of the future. Therefore it

is hard to explain the vision in a few minutes. It is possible to mention the four groups the vision is

categorised in, but they contain many elements as well. The use of a one-liner to explain the vision

has a few benefits to serve the communicability and marketability of the vision. First of all, such a

slogan is easy to remember and makes the vision and Grontmij’s view on BIM recognisable. Secondly,

the one-liner does not need to represent the total of the vision, but can focus on a few main

elements only. Thirdly, the slogan can be used as a ‘BIM Mission’, verbalising the answer on Why will

we use BIM? Lastly, the one-liner can be a working title in the process of translating the vision to a

strategy and to implement that strategy.

The one-liner used to express and summarise the vision, is defined as follows:

74 J. Ter Maaten

According to Wilson (1992) a vision should meet five characteristics to be successful: clarity,

coherence, communications power, consistency, and flexibility. Though some aspects may be hard to

understand at first sight, the vision overall is clear. Coherence is created by grouping all aspects into

four categories. Communications power is essential to a vision and that is elaborated in the previous

section, section 5.4.2. Flexibility is not a difficult point in the BIM vision, because the vision describes

BIM’s future, which means it is uncertain by definition.

Consistency means the vision contains no contradictory elements, but rather the opposite:

supplementing and each other enhancing aspects. Integrated contracts is a good example hereof.

Integrated contracts fit with BIM, because of their very nature. They do fit with BIM as well because

BIM considers the whole life cycle of an asset and information is exchanged throughout the life cycle.

In short: if aspects fit together from multiple viewpoints, it is consistent.

Realising the vision consists of two parts. Firstly, the vision as it is defined has had one iteration

round and cannot be considered final. Secondly, the vision should be made reality and the way it is

done needs to be defined; the vision should be translated into a strategy.

Concerning the vision development process, the vision is built on the basis provided in this report

and has seen one iteration round. In order to gain further recognition within the organisation, higher

management layers should get in touch with the vision and learn about BIM and its benefits to daily

practice and the organisation itself. Furthermore, the vision development process should contain an

international workshop with BIM experts with the aim of improving, adding and updating BIM

aspects in-depth. Another large-scale workshop should be arranged, not necessarily international, to

envision further on the results of the international workshop. Finally, a small committee should

finalise the vision, in consultation with both management and lower hierarchical levels.

While the vision development process may take quite a while, it is important to implement BIM right

now, because many things can be done already. BIM is a large development and it is therefore an

“ideal catalyst to improve project delivery and end user satisfaction” (J. Williams, 2015). He argues

organisations should use the opportunity to exploit BIM’s benefits. Van Berlo (2015) states

management of many Dutch firms recognise the need of BIM and start thinking about it. He also sees

BIM is built bottom-up, starting with easy aspects, based on common practice. He argues these two

developments need to meet each other in the middle, which emphasises again the need of the vision

developed in this report. Concluding: Grontmij should start BIMing with aspects already possible and

the vision should be translated into a clear and effective strategy.

Furthermore, reflecting on the previous comments, BIM’s processes side should not be forgotten.

Throughout this report, processes and process changes are mentioned multiple times. It is stated

BIM is likely to be a driver for process change. Concluding and reflecting on that, it should be said it is

not easy to implement, embrace and incorporate BIM in every day’s practice. Many processes really

do change due to the use of BIM. Communication and collaboration change, ways of thinking change,

forms of contracts change, client expectations change. And the list can be made longer and longer.

J. Ter Maaten 75

Chapter 5 is the final substantive chapter of this report. It is dedicated to the improvement of the

first vision as presented in the previous chapter. The first vision proposal is evaluated in a workshop.

The set-up of that workshop and the results from the workshop are described and the second vision

proposal is defined in this chapter. Based on this second version, research question 2.2 can be

answered.

In order to improve the first version of the vision, a workshop has been held within Grontmij. Its

purpose was to collect improvements and additions to the vision. Consisting of a discussion round in

small groups and a plenary discussion, useful results were created. More general comments said the

vision should be recognisable as being written to Grontmij or similar engineering consultancies and

the vision should be interactive, using figures, slogans and communicable and marketable language.

Additions to the vision include the goal Grontmij should have to implement BIM, the interaction

between reality and its digital representation, quality of information, and sustainability. The

workshop encouraged to improve or to make clear the division of life cycle phases, the goal of the

vision, the ownership of information, and the use of the names of current developments.


sector look like?

Definition. BIM is fully defined and accepted, and roots in intrinsic motivation. BIM concerns

communication and collaboration and has information exchange as its core concept.

Information. The information need is fully defined. Because information needs to be purposeful,

the information collecting principles of Big Data are not used. Information supply by engineering

companies is in line with the information need. Information should be accurate, consistent,

useful, non-redundant, unambiguous and reliable. Information exchange is possible and safe via

internationally accepted standards. Many analyses can be conducted, because information is

interconnected. Based on geographical information, assets are connected and business and

object-transcending analyses can be performed.

Living Environment. Objects are intelligent and communicate pro-actively. The building site of

an asset is fully controlled, minimising waste and maximising quality and speed by using

robotising and 3D-printing. BIM has been a driver for developments and sustainability.

Engineering changes. The new generation of engineers ‘thinks BIM’. Engineering practice

changed from delivering products to delivering services. Integrated contracts and Systems

Engineering are fully integrated in engineering practice. Because of BIM and due to BIM many

processes have changed.

Using Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle, the necessity of the BIM vision becomes clear. Why should

Grontmij BIM? Because BIM serves Grontmij in fulfilling its mission and serving its corporate vision.

How should Grontmij BIM? Grontmij should use BIM in line with its mission and vision. What should

Grontmij do to BIM? Grontmij should translate the BIM vision into a strategy.

76 J. Ter Maaten

The vision as a whole is not very marketable, because it consists of many elements and because it is a

story, which should be told coherently. In order to fill this gap, a one-liner is defined to express the

background idea of the BIM vision. This slogan is defined as follows:

The vision meets the five characteristics of a successful vision, as defined by Wilson (1992), because

the vision is clear, coherent, communicable, consistent, and flexibility. The development process of

the vision consists of at least three more steps. These include an international workshop with BIM

experts, a large-scale workshop and a small-size committee to finalise the vision. Furthermore,

Grontmij should start BIMing with aspects already possible and the vision should be translated into a

clear and effective strategy.

J. Ter Maaten 77

This final chapter concludes the thesis report. Concluding every chapter and the research described

in it, it aims to answer the main research question. Furthermore recommendations and ideas for

further research are given.

This research report aims to answer the research question. This question is defined as: In which way

should a corporate vision concerning BIM be defined for large engineering companies in the

infrastructure sector?

The answer on the research question cannot be given by a single statement, because the full text of

the vision is the answer. A summary of the vision and also the answer to the research question is

defined as follows:

A corporate vision concerning BIM for large engineering companies in the infrastructure sector

includes an in-depth understanding of BIM and of social and technical developments. In 2030, BIM

as collaboration and communication method is fully accepted; information can be exchanged and

analyses can be done using that information; and BIM is Asset Management focused and

maximises efficiency.

Building on a heritage of 3D-oriented design and some connected information sources, BIM develops

into a way of thinking and working in which all relevant information of a physical system is connected

digitally throughout the life cycle, using objects as the base line. Using many different types of

information, BIM can increase efficiency and quality of the managed objects and makes digital

analyses possible, thus minimising failures, waste and inefficiency.

BIM as an important trend in the building industry does not stand alone. Integrated Project Delivery,

Lean Construction, Big Data, Internet of Things, and Robotising and 3D-printing are all relevant

issues, which have and will have influence and impact on BIM.

These trends, in combination with information retrieved from interviews and literature, resulted in a

long list of aspects that are important to incorporate into the vision. These aspects are grouped into

four categories: definition, information, living environment and engineering changes.

In 2030 BIM is fully defined and accepted. Information is accurate, consistent, useful, non-

redundant, unambiguous and reliably and safely exchangeable. BIM is focused on Asset

Management. Regarding the interaction with the living environment, objects are intelligent and

communicate and the building site of an asset is fully controlled, minimising waste and maximising

quality and speed. Engineering changes: a new generation of engineers ‘thinks BIM’, engineering has

changed from delivering products to delivering services, integrated contracts and Systems

Engineering are fully integrated, and processes are adapted to and inspired by BIM.

78 J. Ter Maaten

The answer on the main research question is created by using two sub questions. These sub

questions are each divided into several questions. Chapter three answered the questions of the first

sub question and chapters four and five give answer to the second sub question.


Building Information Modelling is the purposeful management of information through the whole

life cycle of a built environment asset by creating a digital representation of physical and

functional characteristics, using components that consist of computable graphic and data

attributes and parametric rules. Thus, BIM is a managed approach to the collection and

exploitation of consistent, non-redundant, and coordinated information across the life cycle of a

built environment asset.


Because BIM is object-oriented, all information regarding one object can be exchanged and used

in analyses regarding that object. Exchange of information still is a hot issue, for it is not yet

possible to exchange information without damage or loss of data. Level of Development is the

measure of information depth. Varying between LOD100 and LOD500, BIM-models can be

detailed to a very low or very high extent respectively. The level of BIM adoption and use is

described by the maturity levels. Maturity levels can vary between level 0 and level 3, varying

from no BIM adoption via 3D-modelling and little collaboration to integrated and interoperable

BIM use. Little BIM and Big BIM are terms to describe internal and external BIM use. It is

important to master your internal BIM processes before using BIM externally.

Based on literature research and interviews, eight characteristics of useful BIM have been

identified. Each of these information sources adds a valuable subject to BIM. The following

aspects have been defined: technical details; requirements; geospatial information; time;

finances; condition of assets; risks; and documentation. Though many other information sources

can be interconnected, these eight offer interesting possibilities.


Many thought BIM was limited to extensive technical details and visualising them, and they still

are important to BIM. Adding requirements to the model helps in verifying and validating the

model. The combination of geospatial information and the model makes powerful geospatial

analyses possible. The additions of time and finances are helpful in visualising the construction

and transportation processes and the financial impact of decisions and time. Incorporating the

condition of assets makes it possible to conduct Asset Management and to perform asset-

transcending analyses. Risks, and consecutive health and safety, can be detected and made

visible with BIM. Automated documentation helps in reporting, documenting, and archiving.

In the future, technical details can be derived from supplier’s information automatically and will

be accurate, thus enabling realistic visualisations and virtual reality experiences. Requirements

can be checked automatically, using and checking building codes, governmental regulations,

environmental decrees and national and international law. For infrastructure in particular,

geospatial information gives context and background to assets and is very useful with regard to

requirements, conditions of assets and risks. The aspects of time and finances are also improved

J. Ter Maaten 79

by geospatial information, because project-transcending optimisation is common sense in the

future. Condition of assets is used to a large extent to minimise environmental hindrance and

optimise improvement efforts concerning time and finances. Many risks can be found and

prevented automatically, both within an asset’s boundary and outside the system boundaries;

the latter is exemplified by minimising risks by optimising delivery patterns to several project

sites and thus preventing traffic accidents. Documentation is automated to a large extent and

juridical cases can be fought based on this extensive documentation.


BIM has many benefits. The main goal BIM serves is improved collaboration and

communication. This results in a higher quality of the deliveries and of concerning information.

This higher quality made possible by simulation, visualisation, fault detection, and multiple

analyses. The analyses include carbon, energy, structural and alternative analyses, as well as

cost, time and risk analyses. These analyses result in shorter construction times, less expenses,

less failure costs, less rework, and safer working conditions. Due to higher information accuracy,

long-term maintenance and Asset Management can be approached integrally. Furthermore, BIM

is said to be a catalyst for process improvements, project delivery, end-user satisfaction, and job

satisfaction.

As disadvantages, BIM is said to be expensive, creativity blocking when you are not an advanced

user of software, confusing, information assuming and difficult. BIM requires investments, both

in software and in training. Additionally, some value it negative that they need to make

expenses for other’s benefits, while others state they can save money because they use BIM.

This paradoxically statements show BIM might be expensive at first, but will save money once

implemented fully. For designers in particular, some authors think BIM blocks creativity, but this

aspect is mainly true for designers with little experience with BIM software. This disadvantage

will therefore become less prevailed over time.

Regarding information, a disadvantage of BIM is the overload of information. It is uncertain

which information is needed by whom, who is allowed to access which information, and how

much information can be processed by whom. Furthermore, BIM requires much information.

Different from the past is the level of required certainty in very early project stages; in BIM

processes much information needs to be known in the design phase already. In accordance, the

last disadvantage is that BIM requires another mindset. Because much needs to be known at a

project start, it is important to be able to think in concepts instead of details. Not everybody is

able to do that.


The quality of information and of the model, lack of standards, juridical issues and process

changes still are challenging aspects of BIM. The essence of BIM is information, so to use BIM in

a good way, this information needs to be of high quality, accurate and consistent. Analyses are

conducted and decisions are made using that information. The quality of information needs to

be assured, verification and validation are important processes.

80 J. Ter Maaten

Until now, information cannot be exchanged perfectly. Though many developments are taking

place, developing standards and meta-standards, it is not possible to exchange information one-

to-one. This interoperability problem is a major challenge for the building industry and has been

a problem for BIM since its rise started. In the future object libraries will be harmonised and

proper standards can exchange information between software packages or other standards.

Though BIM does not create insuperable juridical problems, the juridical consequences of BIM

have to be considered elaborately. BIM flourishes only in an environment of collaboration,

communication and trust, but it is hard to secure that juridically. Intellectual property and

liability are the two most important issues in BIM practices. Because many stakeholders interact

and collaborate to create a product, it is uncertain who the owner is and who is liable for the

product or incremental changes.

Implementing and using BIM requires well-thought operational and business processes.

Processes need to be defined in workflow management and they need to be adapted to BIM.

Furthermore, business processes will change due to BIM, because BIM improves many things in

de building industry, thus stimulating innovation and process improvement.

These five sub questions answer the first sub question. The first sub question and its answer are

defined as follows.

1. What are the advantages, disadvantages, and challenges of BIM to large engineering

companies in the infrastructure sector now and in the future?

BIM is a way of thinking in which all relevant information of a physical system is connected

digitally throughout the life cycle, using objects as the base line. To its largest benefits belong

increased efficiency, increased information consistency, enabling of analyses, and improved

quality. Concerning disadvantages, BIM is said to be expensive, creativity blocking when you are

not an advanced user of software, confusing, information assuming and difficult. The quality of

information and of the model, lack of standards, juridical issues and process changes are

challenging aspects of BIM.

Chapter four answers sub question 2.1 and chapter five gives answer to sub question 2.2. Both

answers provide a basis for answering sub question 2.


BIM is not a trend on its own. In the building industry several other developments can be

recognised. These include Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), or broader: integrated contracts,

and Lean Construction. IPD is a collaborating contract form, which needs transparency,

openness, collaboration and communication. That is why it supplements BIM perfectly.

Constructing lean aims at enlarging efficiency, one of the goals of BIM. In short: both IPD and

Lean fit perfectly together with BIM. All three can stimulate the much needed improvement of

sustainability in the building industry.

Big Data is a hot issue. Loads of data can be used to whatever purpose. Many analyses can be

conducted in order to recognise trends and structures. Though BIM tries to use information

purposefully and Big Data does not, Big Data might become really important to BIM; especially

J. Ter Maaten 81

considering the combination with The Internet of Things (IoT). Objects will be able to identify

themselves and communicate with other objects or structures. Its applications in BIM are

tremendous.

The last important contextual trend to BIM is robotising and 3D printing. This issue tries to

manage the building site to a larger extent and fits within Lean Construction as well. Designs

become much more complex in the future, which causes 3D printing and robotising to become

more and more important.


sector look like?

Definition. BIM is fully defined and accepted, and roots in intrinsic motivation. BIM concerns

communication and collaboration and has information exchange as its core concept.

Information. The information need is fully defined. Because information needs to be purposeful,

the information collecting principles of Big Data are not used. Information supply by engineering

companies is in line with the information need. Information should be accurate, consistent,

useful, non-redundant, unambiguous and reliable. Information exchange is possible and safe via

internationally accepted standards. Many analyses can be conducted, because information is

interconnected. Based on geographical information, assets are connected and business and

object-transcending analyses can be performed.

Living Environment. Objects are intelligent and communicate pro-actively. The building site of

an asset is fully controlled, minimising waste and maximising quality and speed by using

robotising and 3D-printing. BIM has been a driver for developments and sustainability.

Engineering changes. The new generation of engineers ‘thinks BIM’. Engineering practice

changed from delivering products to delivering services. Integrated contracts and Systems

Engineering are fully integrated in engineering practice. Because of BIM and due to BIM many

processes have changed.

The answers on these two sub questions answer the second main sub question, which has been

defined as follows.

2. In which way should a corporate vision concerning BIM for large engineering companies in the

infrastructure sector be defined?

A corporate vision concerning BIM for an organisation should contain a realistic and reliable

image of BIM’s future. It should be applied to the organisation’s culture and working area.

Furthermore, the vision should be based on relevant developments in sectors important to BIM,

on recent literature on BIM and its future, and on visionary but realistic aspects.

82 J. Ter Maaten

Several interviews mention you do not need to master every aspect of BIM in order to ‘do BIM’.

Many elements are done already, or can be done easily. An organisation does not need to buy

expensive software packages to implement BIM. It can start by connecting information sources with

the software the organisation has in use. The implementation of BIM therefore has two sides. On the

one hand, the organisation should just start BIMing. On the other hand, it is important, for large

organisations in particular, to know what BIM is, to have a clear understanding of what the goal is of

BIM implementation, and to tackle the challenges thoroughly.

Start BIMing from now on actively is certainly a recommendation. BIM requires a different mindset

and that can be promoted from higher management levels. When colleagues ask your help, think

along proactively, try to find what information they need, and try to really help them. For example,

when somebody asks soil drillings, do not give him these manually, but send him, proactively, three-

dimensional data digitally. It does not take much time and saves the one who need it much time.

Another example is to use the combination of geospatial data and requirements management by

using Geoweb and Relatics. This combination is powerful in managing requirements in their

environment. In short: use BIM in everything it is possible already.

The vision presented in this report will become the corporate vision on BIM after a vision

development process. Having had one iteration round, the content of the vision gives direction and

context to the final Grontmij BIM vision. It needs to be handled by the departments of

communication and word processing before publication, for the vision has to be appealing,

imaginative, interactive, and flawless. Therefore many aspects of the vision should be visualised

using photographs, drawings and figures. Not only plain text makes the vision recognisable as being

written for Grontmij, but the form it is presented in contributes to this as well.

To implement BIM in Grontmij, this report and the report of Panaitescu need to be seen as diptych.

This report providing the needed vision and Panaitescu’s report outlining the way to implement BIM,

both point in the right direction of BIM adoption.

In the author’s view, BIM can be beneficial to Grontmij in three different ways.

First of all, BIM improves working methods and increases efficiency, and thus increases

quality of work. Because quality of delivery is mentioned in Grontmij’s corporate vision, this

aspect is important to Grontmij.

In combination with the first point can be said that BIM improves processes, both influencing

and initiating process changes. The second point, therefore, concerns BIM being a driver for

innovation. Implementing BIM requires effort, energy and money, and processes need to be

defined. When processes are defined, they can be improved.

J. Ter Maaten 83

The last aspect of BIM as a benefit to Grontmij has to do with its market position. BIM can

serve the last three aspects of the corporate vision, because BIM improves sustainability,

offers ample opportunity for development and can result in outstanding financial

performances. Once Grontmij’s use of BIM is well-known, it will attract talented

professionals and beautiful, large and complex projects.

BIM is not only a nice way of thinking to improve quality, speed, processes, etc.; it is not only

necessary to Grontmij; but it is a necessity. Changes in the field of engineering cause anticipation by

engineering consultancies. More work needs to be done with less people for less money. This makes

BIM really important to the Grontmij business. Furthermore: other engineering companies will

implement BIM in a fast pace too, which forces Grontmij to take steps to become or go ahead.

84 J. Ter Maaten

In his inaugural speech, Adriaanse (2014) says: “In future years, the building industry will discover

which information combinations should be utilized at what time” [translated]. Because BIM has

numerous, almost innumerous, applications, the building industry should know what is necessary,

what is useful and what is only fancy. This research subject is very important, because of the life cycle

approach. At the very start of an object, when an idea is envisioned, it should be made clear which

information is needed for the object to fulfil its function throughout the whole life cycle.

GIS, IoT and Big Data can all be beneficial to BIM. These combinations offer interesting applications,

enabling valuable analyses and creating many possibilities. GIS processing geographical data, IoT

enabling communication with and between objects, and Big Data making quantitative analyses based

on large amounts of data possible, all three have large applications in BIM. To further explore these

fields, much research has to be done.

The combination of GIS and BIM is a recent debate. The last two years have shown much

development in this field and several conferences have been held on this subject. This area has been

given its own name, which is GeoBIM. Especially for large infrastructure projects, GeoBIM can be

extremely beneficial. This new field requires much research. GIS and BIM overlap partly, so research

should be conducted to which extent GIS and BIM can be approached together. Furthermore, it

should be researched how GIS and BIM can be connected optimally; does GIS need to be approached

by BIM or the other way around?

The Internet of Things offers interesting possibilities to the construction sector. Though this

development is mainly concerned with gadgets, equipment, machinery, mobile devices, etc., it is also

possible to connect and communicate with construction objects and infrastructure assets. In the

infrastructure sector many assets will be provided with sensors and other measuring and

communication equipment. In the operation and maintenance phase in particular, this will result in

very accurate status information, supporting proper Asset Management. Research has to be

conducted to explore the possibilities of the combination of The Internet of Things and BIM, both in

the operation and maintenance phase and the construction phase. These two phases should be

approached separately, because the applications will be very diverse.

Big Data is a subject close to The Internet of Things. While The Internet of Things and sensor

technology produce large amounts of data, Big Data uses that information for very specific purposes.

Many analyses can be performed using much information, recognising patterns, deriving

correlations, and much more. Big Data by nature seems to be contradictory to the way BIM uses

information. It is therefore very important to research this subject. Do Big Data and BIM go together?

And if they do fit together, it is important to know the possibilities, which is another research subject.

Systems Engineering and integrated contracts both have much in common with and supplement BIM.

Systems Engineering is a method of working explicitly, of being object-oriented and of organising

verification and validation. All three aspects are important to and enabled by BIM. Integrated

contracts and BIM share the aspect of collaboration and communication, as well as the function

delivering aspects, in contrast with the traditional product delivering. It is important to know if

Systems Engineering does fit with BIM entirely, because it has several very strict and defined aspects.

Furthermore, it is interesting to research whether integrated contracts are the most beneficial

contract form to BIM or not.

J. Ter Maaten 85

During the creation of this report, much literature has been used. It shows BIM is a very actual

subject. The building industry thinks, acts, reasons, discusses, talks, and debates about BIM. Large

percentages think BIM is a good development, but are somehow reticent too to implement and

embrace it fast and thorough. Adding BIM is perceived in many different ways and a majority still

thinks BIM has to do with digital 3D-design, it is not surprising BIM is not common sense already.

This research project has given me an in-depth understanding of BIM, starting from its roots more

than fifty years ago through the CAD and computer development until thirteen years ago. From then,

BIM began its rise on the building industry spectrum and nowadays it is implemented in the civil

sector too. It has convinced me BIM is more than just designing in three dimensions in a digital

shared environment. BIM’s potential is unlimited, because the boundaries are still unknown.

In my view, Asset Management will become really important to BIM. Or better: Asset Management

will use BIM to improve itself dramatically. An object is designed, constructed, delivered and bought

to fulfil its function in the operation and maintenance phase. Therefore the thought of BIM being a

basis for Asset Management is justifiable.

Grontmij should definitely implement BIM, if only for information management. Information is the

new gold and the amount of information produced and processes becomes more and more every

day. This requires a proper way of managing information, for which BIM is perfectly suited.

Furthermore, BIM has many benefits, as elaborated in this report, which will not be exploited in case

BIM is not going to be implemented.

The implementation of BIM has a few challenges. Money is required to buy necessary software, to

give trainings and demos, and to implement it throughout the whole organisation. This takes –

expensive – time as well. Draftsmen need to be retrained to modellers and other functions need to

change as well. Grontmij can choose to stay the shoe smith, but that function will become extinct.

Choosing to transform from the shoe smith to the car garage gives Grontmij the benefit of going

ahead of a pioneering development.

Performing my graduation research project was not too easy. It took over two months to define my

research proposal, but once I got that straight, the research project itself took only six months,

including a delay of one month. Looking backwards, I am grateful and satisfied, for it did go well.

What I found useful was to have a clear view on the targeted results. Setting up the report structure

beforehand helped me in keeping that structure and the research goal in mind. The structure did not

change very much, which shows the usefulness of structuring at the start of the project.

Furthermore, I chose to work concentrated on my graduation work instead of being involved in the

Grontmij activities. I still support that decision, for it kept me concentrated on graduating and I still

learned very much regarding the work spectrum of ‘my’ team.

J. Ter Maaten 87

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Figure 1 | Corporate Vision E2CS (E2CS Partners LLC., 2007) ................................................................. 2

Figure 2 | Creating the mission and vision (derived from Raynor (1998)) .............................................. 8

Figure 3 | “GLIDE code (…) generat[ing] the staircase shown” (Eastman & Henrion, 1977) ................ 16

Figure 4 | Over the wall – Traditional design and construction process (Evbuomwan & Anumba) ..... 19

Figure 5 | You can throw both drawings and models over the wall… it is all about making

arrangements (Spekkink, 2014b) ........................................................................................ 19

Figure 6 | BIM Maturity Levels (BIM Industry Working Group, 2011) .................................................. 22

Figure 7 | Sight analysis “First” Rotterdam (De Zoeten, 2015) ............................................................. 25

Figure 8 | Example of a view on a building site at a given time (Mr. As Built Inc., 2015) ..................... 26

Figure 9 | Example of visual cost planning in Vico software (Henrich, 2012) ....................................... 27

Figure 10 | A deviation in the foundation was altered in the BIM to generate new drawings on site

(Van Berlo & Natrop, 2015) ................................................................................................ 28

Figure 11 | An example of concrete region detection (Brilakis et al., 2010) ........................................ 29

Figure 12 | Dashboard for safety control during foundation pit excavation (Ding et al., 2014) .......... 30

Figure 13 | Closer views of guardrails and covers for complex geometries (Zhang et al., 2013) ......... 31

Figure 14 | Using Solibri Model Checker to search for safety-related problem areas (Barista, 2015) . 31

Figure 15 | Industry Convergence: Related Industry Trends (derived from (NASFA et al., 2010)) ....... 41

Figure 16 | Development of Transistors according to Moore’s Law (ASML, 2012) .............................. 45

Figure 17 | “Internet of Things” paradigm as a result of the convergence of different visions (Atzori et

al., 2011) ............................................................................................................................. 46

Figure 18 | SAM placing a brick (Construction Robotics, 2015b) .......................................................... 47

Figure 19 | 3D-printed walls at 3D Print Canal House (DUS Architects, 2015) ..................................... 47

Figure 20 | Demolition robot ERO to erase concrete in teams (Haciomeroglu, 2014) ......................... 47

Figure 21 | Ordering and Structuring the Vision Elements ................................................................... 58

Figure 22 | Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle (Sinek, 2015).......................................................................... 72

Table 1 | Relations between research questions, methodology and thesis chapters ............................ 4

Table 2 | BIM Essentials per interview .................................................................................................. 23

Table 3 | Visionary views of interviewees ............................................................................................. 49

Table 4 | Interview questions divided per interviewee ...................................................................... 101

99

1 Interviews.......................................................................................................................... 101

1.1 Interview Methodology ....................................................................................................... 101

1.1.1 Interviewees .................................................................................................................................. 101 1.1.2 Interview Questions ...................................................................................................................... 101

2 Vision – Dutch Version ....................................................................................................... 103

2.1 Summary of the Vision in Concise Sentences...................................................................... 103

2.2 First Version of the Vision in Dutch ..................................................................................... 105

2.2.1 Definitie en Acceptatie van BIM .................................................................................................... 105 2.2.2 De Rol en Invloed van Informatie .................................................................................................. 105 2.2.3 Interactie met de Leefomgeving ................................................................................................... 106 2.2.4 Het Ingenieurswerk Verandert ...................................................................................................... 106

2.3 Second Version of the Vision in Dutch ................................................................................ 108

2.3.1 Definitie en Acceptatie van BIM .................................................................................................... 108 2.3.2 De Rol en Invloed van Informatie .................................................................................................. 108 2.3.3 Interactie met de Leefomgeving ................................................................................................... 109 2.3.4 Het Ingenieurswerk Verandert ...................................................................................................... 110

3 Workshop set-up ............................................................................................................... 113

3.1 BIM’s Stip aan de Horizon ................................................................................................... 113

3.1.1 Doel en Resultaat van de Workshop ............................................................................................. 113 3.1.2 Opzet van de Workshop ................................................................................................................ 113 3.1.3 Voorbereiding voor de Workshop ................................................................................................. 114 3.1.4 Samenvatting van de Visie ............................................................................................................ 114 3.1.5 Visie ............................................................................................................................................... 114

4 Workshop PowerPoint Presentation ................................................................................... 117

101

This appendix contains the names of those the author interviewed and the dates these interviews

were conducted. Included too are the questions asked per interview. Only the first page of this

appendix is not confidential, for the transcripted interviews are included in this appendix as well.

The interviewees are mentioned in alphabetical order, which is NOT the order in which they are

mentioned and referred to throughout the report.

Arjen Adriaanse, University Twente

Hans Bruinsma, Grontmij

Patrick Clement, Grontmij

Frans van Dam, Rijkswaterstaat

Martijn van Drunen, Grontmij

Martijn van Kouwenhoven, Grontmij

Bart Luiten, TNO

John van Rijn, Grontmij

Renzo van Rijswijk, Strukton

Dik Spekkink, Spekkink C&R

The interviews are held in Dutch and therefore Dutch questions are used. The following questions

are asked during the interviews.

Table 4 | Interview questions divided per interviewee

Inte

rview 1

Inte

rview 2

Inte

rview 3

Inte

rview 4

Inte

rview 5

Inte

rview 6

Inte

rview 7

Inte

rview 8

Inte

rview 9

Inte

rview 1

0

What do you understand by BIM?

Which five sources are essential to connect?

What are disadvantages of BIM?

What role is BIM going to play in the future?

In which context should BIM be considered?

Do you need to connect as much data as possible?

Is the connection of BIM and GIS useful?

Is Systems Engineering necessary for BIM?

Are Integrated Contracts necessary for BIM?

What processes is BIM going to change?

How are you BIMing in practice?

To what extent is BIM different to the several parties?

What is the essence of Systems Engineering?

103

This appendix contains the Dutch translation of the seperate versions of the vision. Firstly, the first

vision in very concise sentences is added. The first version of the vision, which was evaluated in the

workshop, is included in the second section. Finally, the final version of the vision is described in the

last section. In short, this appendix shows the development of the vision clearly.

This section contains the summary of the first version of the vision in very concise sentences. These

compendious notions contain all elements processed in the vision.

Gedachte dat BIM een procesverandering is en over communicatie gaat, is algemeen

geaccepteerd. Onduidelijk is of BIM als term nog gebruikt wordt. De nieuwe rol van

informatiemanager is in werking. Alle hiërarchische lagen zien nut en noodzaak van open

communicatie en informatie-uitwisseling. BIM wordt vanuit opdrachtnemers aangeboden in

plaats van door opdrachtgevers vereist. Alle overheidspartijen en grote private klanten eisen

BIM.

In projectontwikkeling is duidelijk welke informatie nodig is. Partijen die andere informatie

nodig hebben, participeren op eigen initiatief. Big Data in projectontwikkeling wordt niet

toegepast, maar informatie wordt doelgericht ingewonnen en onderhouden.

Ingenieursbureaus streven naar 100% betrouwbare, niet-dubbelzinnige, niet-overbodige,

nuttige en consistente informatielevering. Dat is een van de hoogste doelen. Informatie

wordt effectief overgedragen en efficiënt hergebruikt.

Informatie-uitwisseling gebeurt online. De veiligheid van informatiestromen is sterk

verbeterd. Ook kan data makkelijk uitgewisseld worden, doordat systemen elkaar begrijpen.

Er zijn verschillende internationale, accurate standaarden.

Veel verschillende soorten informatiebronnen zijn semantisch gekoppeld, onder andere

eisen, documentmanagement, GIS, ERP, Asset Management, sensoren, klanten, contracten.

Vergunningen worden verleend met behulp van BIM. Duurzaamheids- en energieanalyses

met BIM.

BIM en GIS zijn sterk gekoppeld om toenemende ruimteschaarste. Omgeving is volledig 3D

gemodelleerd. Informatie beschikbaar als open data, tenzij vertrouwelijk. Objecten staan in

hun omgeving en zijn daardoor gekoppeld. Het is mogelijk om objectoverstijgende analyses

te doen.

Sensoren en accurate metingen leveren toestandsinformatie, waardoor actie geïnitieerd en

ondernomen kan worden, al dan niet geautomatiseerd. De integratie van de leefomgeving en

intelligente modellen is in hoge mate gerealiseerd. Materialen geven zelf aan als ze gesloopt

of vervangen moet worden. Internet of Things.

Robotisering, automatisering en volledige controle van de bouwplaats zijn praktijk.

Prefabricatie en mobiel 3D-printen worden gebruikt om afwijkingen in geometrie en kwaliteit

te minimaliseren en afval en opslag te voorkomen. Dit zal een grote rol spelen, volledige

constructieonderdelen worden op locatie geprint (Heijmans stalen brug). Lean Production

104

wordt hierdoor gestimuleerd en Just-in-Time management wordt ondersteund door

mogelijkheid van plannen.

Ontwerpen worden veel complexer, wat werk van ingenieur ook complexer maakt. Dat

stimuleert ontwikkelingen in materiaalkunde, mechanica en dynamica. Hergebruik van alle

materialen. Materialen zijn ook zelfhelend.

Het denken in concepten en het ver vooruit denken vragen een nieuwe generatie ingenieurs,

waardoor de huidige vergrijzing opgevangen kan worden.

Bouwen als doel verandert naar service als doel met bouwen als noodzakelijke activiteit.

Ingenieur wordt aanbieder van services, zoals optimale werkomstandigheden.

Huidige trend van geïntegreerde contracten wordt versterkt door BIM. Dit zorgt ervoor dat

geïntegreerde contracten de standaardwerkwijze worden, wat het punt van de ‘service als

doel’ ondersteunt. Systems Engineering is geïntegreerd in het BIM-denken, omdat het goed

aansluit op het BIM-denken.

105

BIM was een modewoord met grote invloed in de bouwwereld. Wat begon als 3D-georiënteerd

ontwerpen voor verkoopdoeleinden en foutenminimalisatie, groeide al snel uit tot een integrale

aanpak van bouwprojecten in zowel de infrastructuur- als de B&U-sector. De verschillende disciplines

binnen een project gingen samenwerken om tot betere resultaten te komen, fouten te vermijden, en

informatie up-to-date te houden. Het heeft vrij lang geduurd voordat managers BIM actief gingen

promoten en implementeren. Inmiddels is BIM ook in het managementtakenpakket volledig

opgenomen.1

De werkwijze waarin BIM toegepast wordt, wordt met name door opdrachtnemers aangeprezen en

gestuurd, want nog niet alle klanten zien de potentie van BIM.2 Omdat de dienstverlenende partijen

in de bouwketen BIM hebben verweven in hun werkwijze, is BIM aanbod-gestuurd.

De term BIM evolueerde van bouwinformatiemodel via bouwinformatiemodellering naar

bouwinformatiemanagement. En daar is het niet bij gebleven. Ook termen als

projectinformatiemanagement en branche-specifieke termen als civiel informatiemanagement zijn

gebruikt, maar nu spreekt iedereen van informatiemanagement. Het begrip heeft geen naam meer

nodig3, omdat het volledig is opgenomen in de manier van denken en omdat het breder is dan de

bouwen infrastructuurwereld. De gedachte dat BIM een procesverandering is en over

communicatie gaat, is algemeen geaccepteerd4; niemand spreekt meer van BIM als ontwerp-tool.

In de beginjaren van BIM was BIM-manager een nieuwe functie. Inmiddels is die rol niet meer

relevant. De BIM-manager is niet meer degene die alleen BIMt, want iedereen BIMt; het is een

denkwijze. In plaats daarvan is de informatiemanager een nieuwe rol, die wel relevant is en ook nog

steeds in relevantie stijgt.5

Het is mogelijk zoveel mogelijk data te verzamelen, maar de achterliggende decennia hebben ook

aangetoond dat dit onpraktisch is. Data moet informatie worden, het moet nuttig gebruikt worden,

want anders is het niet van toegevoegde waarde. Daarom wordt de informatiebehoefte per project

vastgesteld, waarbij gekeken wordt naar de volledige levenscyclus van het object.6 Alle

participerende partijen verzamelen en beheren de benodigde informatie actief; terwijl partijen die

andere informatie nodig hebben – informatie die niet vermeld is in de gedefinieerde

informatiebehoefte – dit op eigen initiatief (laten) verzamelen en beheren. Het principe van Big Data

wordt dus niet toegepast, maar informatie wordt doelgericht ingewonnen en beheerd.7

Verschillende ingenieursbureaus – kennisleverende organisaties – streven naar het aanbieden van de

beste informatie. Een ware wedloop om te komen tot 100% betrouwbare informatie is gelopen om

tot het topsegment van de ingenieursbranche te behoren. Informatie moet nuttig zijn, consistent,

betrouwbaar en ook niet-dubbelzinnig en niet-overbodig. Het informatieaanbod moet zo goed

mogelijk aansluiten bij de informatievraag en -behoefte.

Niet-overbodig is daarbij een term die in het grotere geheel past. Omdat informatie herbruikbaar

moet zijn, is de informatie voor één partij meestal teveel om te verwerken, maar is het precies

genoeg voor alle partijen in het betreffende proces.8

Informatie is al lange tijd een van de meest waardevolle goederen. Het uitwisselen daarvan – in

BIM’s beginjaren een hot issue – is daarom van groot belang. Tegenwoordig wordt informatie online

uitgewisseld.9 Waar velen twijfelden aan de veiligheid van online informatiestromen, is dat nu geen

probleem meer.10 Informatieoverdracht is nu niet alleen veilig geworden, maar het is ook mogelijk

106

doordat data op een intelligente, semantische wijze uitgewisseld kan worden; systemen begrijpen

elkaar.11 Dit is bereikt door de verschillende internationale standaarden, die elkaar begrijpen. Deze

standaarden zijn elk bedoeld voor zijn eigen doelgroep en zijn per branche leidend. Doordat de

standaarden ook onderling informatie kunnen uitwisselen, is alle informatie overdraagbaar. In

Nederland is dit principe in praktijk gebracht door het CB-NL-initiatief, wat later is uitgegroeid tot een

internationale standaard.

Niet alleen is het mogelijk informatie te koppelen, het wordt ook daadwerkelijk gedaan. Zo worden

energielabels automatisch toegekend op basis van de beschikbare informatie12; zijn risico- en

veiligheidsanalyses praktijk; wordt Asset Management steeds als doel van een project gezien en

wordt informatie voor dat doel ingewonnen.13 Ook interactie met overheden is gestandaardiseerd,

met als duidelijk voorbeeld het automatisch verlenen van vergunningen.14

De koppeling met geografische informatie is van grote toegevoegde waarde.15 Ruimte wordt steeds

schaarser en bijna alle objecten worden gebouwd op plaatsen waar al iets anders stond. De

omgeving is daarom volledig driedimensionaal gemodelleerd.16 De informatie die daarbij niet

vertrouwelijk is, is beschikbaar als open data, zodat elke partij er zijn voordeel mee kan doen.17 Alle

nieuwe assets worden digitaal direct in hun omgeving geplaatst18, waardoor het mogelijk is om

analyses te doen die het specifieke object overstijgen.19 Een duidelijk voorbeeld is het afstemmen

van personeelsinzet aan de planningen van de verschillende projecten en het optimaliseren van

leveringspatronen van materiaal en materieel.

Sensoren zijn verweven in vrijwel alles. Ze geven nuttige informatie over de toestand van een asset

en op basis daarvan kan actie ondernomen worden, al dan niet geautomatiseerd.20 The Internet of

Things heeft grote invloed op de bouwwereld.21 Een brug geeft nu, bijvoorbeeld, vanzelf aan of er

sprake is van betonrot of dat de nieuwe toplaag al scheuren vertoont.22 De integratie van de

leefomgeving en intelligente modellen is bijna volkomen gerealiseerd. 23

BIM heeft niet alleen grote invloed in de beheer- en onderhoudsfase van assets, maar ook in de

productie ervan. Op de bouwplaats is alles volledig onder controle en komt alles precies op tijd aan.24

Robotisering en automatisering hebben in de achterliggende decennia gezorgd voor een grote

terugloop van incidenten, afwijkingen en afval.25 Prefabricatie en mobiel 3D-printen worden gebruikt

om afwijkingen in geometrie en kwaliteit te minimaliseren en afval en opslag te voorkomen.26 Met

name in het tweede decennium van de 21e eeuw namen de ontwikkelingen van 3D-printen een hoge

vlucht. Huizen en bruggen konden worden geprint.27 Die ontwikkelingen zijn inmiddels gestabiliseerd.

Veel onderdelen worden tegenwoordig 3D-geprint, maar dit blijft meestal beperkt tot

transporteerbare en complexe onderdelen, met uitzondering van de woning- en utiliteitsbouw, waar

het wel zeer grote toepassingen heeft.

Door de toenemende rekenkracht en mogelijkheden van computers is er een duidelijke trend

zichtbaar van toenemende complexiteit. Ontwerpen worden steeds ingewikkelder.28 Dit heeft

geresulteerd in verschillende ontwikkelingen in materiaalkunde en mechanica.29 Niet alleen is het nu

mogelijk om alle materialen opnieuw te gebruiken30, ook zijn verschillende materialen zelfhelend.31

Dat voor een effectief gebruik van BIM veel uitdagingen aangegaan moesten worden, hebben de

achterliggende decennia wel aangetoond. Een van de grotere problemen was het denken in

concepten.32 Veel ingenieurs moesten daar erg aan wennen of konden het niet. Een nieuwe

107

generatie ingenieurs is inmiddels ingewerkt in het denken in BIM-termen en het conceptmatige

denken.

Daar komt bij dat het ingenieurswerk een ander doel heeft gekregen. Waar het bedenken van een

gebouw of van een weg eerst het hoofddoel was, is dat nu het aanbieden van services. De ingenieur

biedt een service aan, zoals optimale werkomstandigheden, en voert de daartoe noodzakelijke

activiteiten uit.33

Deze service-gerichte instelling komt ook voort uit de opkomst van geïntegreerde contracten. Deze

contracten, die meestal voor de hele levensduur van een asset gelden, liggen qua filosofie op één lijn

met BIM; de lijn van levenscyclusbenadering, van vertrouwen en samenwerking, van service.34 Ook

Systems Engineering is volledig opgenomen in de huidige denken werkwijze van ingenieurs, omdat

ook de combinatie van Systems Engineering en BIM een perfecte match blijkt te zijn.35

1 Interview 10. 2 Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (2009) 3 Interview 2, 4, 7. 4 Dufvenberg (2015); Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (2009). Interview 3, 4, 5, 8, 10. 5 Edwards and Corbett (2015). Interview 7. 6 Adriaanse (2014). Interview 1, 7. 7 Interview 1, 4, 5, 7. 8 BouwQuest (2013) 9 Nilsson (2015) 10 Kemp (2014). Interview 7, 9. 11 HM Government (2015). Interview 2, 3, 4, 7, 9. 12 Interview 1, 3, 4, 7. 13 Adriaanse (2014); Miettinen and Paavola (2014); (Schley, 2015). Interview 1, 2, 4, 7. 14 Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (2009) 15 Interview 3, 5, 7. 16 Stoter (2014) 17 Interview 2, 3, 4, 10. 18 Interview 1, 3, 5, 7. 19 Adriaanse (2014); De Boer et al. (2015); HM Government (2015). Interview 4, 7, 8, 9. 20 Interview 5, 7, 8, 10. 21 Atzori et al. (2011); Giusto et al. (2010); HM Government (2013b, 2015). Interview 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10. 22 Interview 10. 23 HM Government (2015). Interview 8, 10. 24 Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (2009); Mitchell (2013); Sacks, Koskela, et al. (2010); Sacks, Radosavljevic, et al. (2010) 25 Philp and Thomson (2014). Interview 5, 7. 26 Heijmans (2014). Interview 5. 27 Heijmans (2015) 28 Schumacher (2008). Interview 2. 29 HM Government (2015) 30 HM Government (2015); National Association of State Facilities Administrators et al. (2010) 31 De Kostera et al. (2015); Stewart (2015) 32 HM Government (2015). Interview 3, 4, 8. 33 Interview 8. 34 Interview 4, 7, 9, 10. 35 Interview 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10.

108

BIM was een modewoord met grote invloed in de bouwwereld.1 Wat begon als 3D-georiënteerd






opgenomen.2


gestuurd, want nog niet alle klanten zien de potentie van BIM.3 Omdat de dienstverlenende partijen






nodig4, omdat het volledig is opgenomen in de manier van denken en omdat het breder is dan de


communicatie gaat, is algemeen geaccepteerd5; niemand spreekt meer van BIM als ontwerp-tool.

In de beginjaren van BIM was BIM-manager een nieuwe functie, werkzaam vanaf het eerste idee tot

en met de constructiefase. Inmiddels is die rol niet meer relevant. De BIM-manager is niet meer

degene die alleen BIMt, want iedereen BIMt; het is een denkwijze. In plaats daarvan is de

informatiemanager een nieuwe rol, die wel relevant is en ook nog steeds in relevantie stijgt.6 Deze

rol spreidt zich uit over alle levenscyclusfasen van een object.



want anders is het niet van toegevoegde waarde. Daarom wordt de informatiebehoefte per object

vastgesteld, waarbij gekeken wordt naar de volledige levenscyclus van het object en alle benodigde

partijen al vanaf het begin betrokken zijn.7 Alle participerende partijen verzamelen en beheren de

benodigde informatie actief; terwijl partijen die andere informatie nodig hebben – informatie die

niet vermeld is in de gedefinieerde informatiebehoefte – dit op eigen initiatief (laten) verzamelen en

beheren. Hoewel Big Data wel gebruikt kan worden om allerlei analyses uit te voeren, wordt

bouwinformatie doelgericht ingewonnen en beheerd.8




betrouwbaar en ook ondubbelzinnig en niet-overbodig. Het informatieaanbod moet zo goed mogelijk

aansluiten bij de informatievraag en -behoefte. Niet-overbodig betekent dat de totale hoeveelheid

informatie niet groter mag zijn dan alle partijen bij elkaar kunnen verwerken.9



uitgewisseld.10 Waar velen twijfelden aan de veiligheid van online informatiestromen, is dat nu geen

109

probleem meer11, als gevolg van de grootschalige internationale strijd tegen cybercriminaliteit.

Informatieoverdracht is nu niet alleen veilig geworden, maar het is ook mogelijk doordat data op een

intelligente, semantische wijze uitgewisseld kan worden; systemen begrijpen elkaar.12 Dit is bereikt

door de verschillende internationale standaarden, die elkaar begrijpen. Deze standaarden zijn elk

bedoeld voor zijn eigen doelgroep en zijn per branche leidend. Doordat de standaarden ook

onderling informatie kunnen uitwisselen, is alle informatie overdraagbaar. In Nederland is dit

principe in praktijk gebracht door het CB-NL-initiatief.


energielabels automatisch toegekend op basis van de beschikbare informatie13; zijn risico- en


wordt informatie voor dat doel ingewonnen.14 Ook interactie met overheden is gestandaardiseerd,

met als duidelijk voorbeeld het automatisch verlenen van vergunningen.15

De koppeling met geografische informatie is van grote toegevoegde waarde.16 In Nederland wordt de

ruimte steeds schaarser en bijna alle objecten worden gebouwd op plaatsen waar al iets anders

stond. De bebouwde omgeving is daarom volledig driedimensionaal gemodelleerd, terwijl de

natuurlijke omgeving alleen incidenteel gemodelleerd wordt17 De informatie die daarbij niet

vertrouwelijk is, is beschikbaar als open data, zodat elke partij er zijn voordeel mee kan doen.18 Alle

nieuwe assets worden digitaal direct in hun omgeving geplaatst19, waardoor het mogelijk is om

analyses te doen die het specifieke object overstijgen.20 Een duidelijk voorbeeld is het afstemmen

van personeelsinzet aan de planningen van de verschillende projecten en het optimaliseren van


Sensoren zijn verweven in vrijwel alles. Ze geven nuttige informatie over de toestand van een asset –

al beginnend in de constructiefase – en op basis daarvan kan actie ondernomen worden, al dan niet

geautomatiseerd.21 De principes van The Internet of Things hebben grote invloed op de bouwwereld,

objecten communiceren nu zelf en proactief.22 Een brug geeft nu, bijvoorbeeld, vanzelf aan of er

sprake is van betonrot of dat de nieuwe toplaag al scheuren vertoont.23 De integratie van de

leefomgeving en intelligente modellen is bijna volkomen gerealiseerd. 24 BIM-gebruikers weten hoe

ze digitale analyses moeten vertalen naar de werkelijkheid.25


productie ervan. Op de bouwplaats is alles volledig onder controle en komt alles precies op tijd aan.26


terugloop van incidenten, afwijkingen en afval.27 Prefabricatie en mobiel 3D-printen worden gebruikt

om afwijkingen in geometrie en kwaliteit te minimaliseren en afval en opslag te voorkomen.28 Met


vlucht. Huizen en bruggen konden worden geprint.29 Die ontwikkelingen zijn inmiddels gestabiliseerd.




Door de toenemende rekenkracht en mogelijkheden van computers en door het gebruik van BIM is

er een duidelijke trend zichtbaar van toenemende complexiteit; ontwerpen worden steeds

ingewikkelder.30 Dit heeft geresulteerd in verschillende ontwikkelingen in materiaalkunde en

mechanica.31 Niet alleen is het nu mogelijk om alle materialen opnieuw te gebruiken32, ook zijn

verschillende materialen zelfhelend.33 Naast toenemende complexiteit kunnen ontwerpen ook

110

automatisch gemaakt worden. BIM is dus aanjager geweest van allerlei ontwikkelingen en draagt in

dit opzicht indirect bij aan verdere verduurzaming.



concepten, in plaats van concreet en in detail.34 Veel ingenieurs moesten daar erg aan wennen of

konden het er zelfs niet aan wennen. Een nieuwe generatie ingenieurs is inmiddels ingewerkt in het

denken in BIM-termen en het conceptmatige denken.35 Dit punt heeft voor vrij veel weerstand

gezorgd, omdat met name de oudere generatie moest bijgeschoold moest worden om nuttig te

kunnen zijn.




activiteiten uit.36 Deze ontwikkeling is gevolg van een brede trend in de bouwwereld, waarin

contractvormen en aanbestedingsprocedures veranderden. Vijftig jaar geleden werd het grootste

gedeelte van de contracten gegund op basis van de laagste prijs, maar dat veranderde naar gunning

op basis van prestaties of waarde; opdrachtgevers kregen steeds meer een regisserende rol.37

Deze service-gerichte instelling komt ook voort uit de inmiddels volledig doorgevoerde opkomst van

geïntegreerde contracten. Deze contracten, die meestal voor de hele levensduur van een asset

gelden, liggen qua filosofie op één lijn met BIM; de lijn van levenscyclusbenadering, van vertrouwen

en samenwerking, van service.38 Ook Systems Engineering is opgenomen in de huidige denken

werkwijze van ingenieurs, omdat de combinatie van Systems Engineering en BIM een perfecte match

blijkt te zijn.39 Hoewel Systems Engineering als conceptnaam niet meer gebruikt wordt, zijn veel

principes overgenomen in de standaard BIM-werkwijze; in BIM is expliciet werken zelfs heel

belangrijk geworden.

Qua processen heeft BIM veel verandert. Zoals de introductie van de mobiele telefoon ervoor zorgde

dat communicatie anders werd vormgegeven, zo zorgde BIM ervoor dat communicatie veel directer

werd, omdat informatie gedeeld kon worden.40 Om BIM op een goede manier toe te kunnen passen,

zijn veel processen aangepast en ook doelbewust vastgelegd.41 Zowel qua communicatie en

afspraken als technische en projectmanagementaspecten zijn processen geoptimaliseerd en

geïntegreerd.42 Verificatie en validatie is geautomatiseerd43, risicoanalyses zijn doeltreffender

geworden doordat informatie door BIM bij elkaar komt en communicatie tussen partijen is

resultaatgericht vormgegeven.

1 Adriaanse (2014); Institution of Civil Engineers (2012a); McGraw-Hill Construction (2010, 2012); Memoori Business Intelligence (2015); Samuelson and Björk (2014); J. Williams (2015) 2 Interview 10. 3 Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (2009) 4 Interview 2, 4, 7. 5 Dufvenberg (2015); Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (2009). Interview 3, 4, 5, 8, 10. 6 Edwards and Corbett (2015). Interview 7. 7 Adriaanse (2014). Interview 1, 7. 8 Interview 1, 4, 5, 7. 9 BouwQuest (2013)

111

10 Nilsson (2015) 11 Kemp (2014). Interview 7, 9. 12 HM Government (2015). Interview 2, 3, 4, 7, 9. 13 Interview 1, 3, 4, 7. 14 Adriaanse (2014); Miettinen and Paavola (2014); (Schley, 2015). Interview 1, 2, 4, 7. 15 Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (2009) 16 Interview 3, 5, 7. 17 Stoter (2014) 18 Interview 2, 3, 4, 10. 19 Interview 1, 3, 5, 7. 20 Adriaanse (2014); De Boer et al. (2015); HM Government (2015). Interview 4, 7, 8, 9. 21 Interview 5, 7, 8, 10. 22 Atzori et al. (2011); Giusto et al. (2010); HM Government (2013b, 2015). Interview 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10. 23 Interview 10. 24 HM Government (2015). Interview 8, 10. 25 Addition 2. 26 Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (2009); Mitchell (2013); Sacks, Koskela, et al. (2010); Sacks, Radosavljevic, et al. (2010) 27 Philp and Thomson (2014). Interview 5, 7. 28 Heijmans (2014). Interview 5. 29 Heijmans (2015) 30 Schumacher (2008). Interview 2. 31 HM Government (2015) 32 HM Government (2015); National Association of State Facilities Administrators et al. (2010) 33 De Kostera et al. (2015); Stewart (2015) 34 HM Government (2015). Interview 3, 4, 8. 35 Kemp (2014) 36 Interview 8. 37 Hughes and Kabiri (2013); Rijkswaterstaat (2013) 38 Interview 4, 7, 9, 10. 39 Interview 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10. 40 Interview 7, 8, 10 41 Interview 1 42 Interview 6, 8, 10 43 Interview 1

113

This appendix contains the document which was sent to each workshop participant, on the basis of

which they had to prepare themselves and which gave them a proper introduction into the

workshop.

Dat BIM belangrijk is, weten we allemaal. Dat het steeds belangrijker gaat worden, is ook evident.

Dat we iets met BIM moeten doen, laat al helemaal geen twijfel bestaan. Maar waar willen we

naartoe met BIM? Hoe is de stip aan de horizon gedefinieerd? Deze workshop geeft daar antwoord

op!

Mijn afstudeerstage heeft ook deze vragen als onderwerp. We weten hoe we BIM moeten

implementeren, maar we hebben nog geen doel voor ogen. En als je geen doel hebt, is elke richting

goed. Daarom is een doel belangrijk.

De workshop heeft als doel met elkaar een brede en goede visie te ontwikkelen op BIM voor

Grontmij. We gaan de stip aan de horizon definiëren voor Grontmij-breed. Het resultaat van de

workshop is een visie die we kunnen gebruiken om BIM breedschalig te implementeren binnen

Grontmij.

Bij deze uitleg van de workshop is een door mij geschreven eerste versie van een visie bijgevoegd.

Eerst leid ik de workshop in met een korte presentatie van de visie en van de context waarin die

ontstaan is. Aan de hand hiervan gaan we gestuurde visie evalueren en aanvullen. Als tweede gaan

we uiteen in drie groepen van 3-5 personen om het voorbereide commentaar te bespreken,

gedurende vijftien minuten. Hierbij zijn per groep twee resultaten belangrijk:

Wat zijn de drie belangrijkste verbeterpunten?

Wat zijn de drie belangrijkste aanvullingen?

De derde stap is de belangrijkste. Hierin geeft iedereen bij de andere groepen aan wat hij of zij het

belangrijkste punt vindt. Het doel hiervan is om op een eenvoudige manier een overkoepelende top

drie van belangrijkste verbeterpunten en van belangrijkste aanvullingen te krijgen.

Hierna gaan we in discussie om deze belangrijkste punten te bespreken. Het doel van deze discussie

is om plenair duidelijk te krijgen waarom de genoemde punten belangrijk zijn. De planning van de

workshop is dan als volgt:

12.00-12.05: inleiding workshop

12.05-12.30: discussie in groepen van 3-5 personen

12.30-12.40: prioritering aangeven bij andere groepen

12.40-12.55: plenaire discussie van top drie verbeterpunten en top drie aanvullingen

12.55-13.00: samenvatting en afronding

114

De punten die genoemd worden in de plenaire discussie, worden gebruikt om het eerste

visievoorstel te verbeteren en aan te vullen. Deze tweede versie wordt aan de deelnemers verstuurd

in de week na de workshop.

De deelnemers lezen vóór de workshop het visievoorstel van ruim twee pagina’s (tien minuten) en

schrijven hun commentaar op (vijf minuten). De voorbereiding kost dus een kwartier. Je schrijft

maximaal drie belangrijke verbeterpunten op en maximaal drie belangrijke aanvullingen.

De visie is samen te vatten in vier verschillende aspecten

Definitie. BIM is volledig geaccepteerd en gedefinieerd. BIM gaat over communicatie en

samenwerking. Informatie-uitwisseling is de kern van BIM.

Informatie. Informatiebehoefte is volledig gedefinieerd. Informatieaanbod door ingenieurs komt

overeen met informatiebehoefte. Informatie is accuraat, consistent, nuttig, niet-overbodig en niet-

dubbelzinnig.

Asset Management. Objecten communiceren en zijn intelligent. De bouwplaats van een asset is

volledig onder controle, waardoor afval geminimaliseerd wordt en kwaliteit en snelheid

gemaximaliseerd wordt.

Ingenieurs veranderen. Nieuwe generatie ingenieurs ‘denkt BIM’. Ingenieurswerk verandert van

productaanbod naar serviceaanbod. Geïntegreerde contracten en Systems Engineering zijn volledig

geïntegreerd met ingenieurswerk.

Geschreven vanuit het toekomstperspectief

BIM was een modewoord met grote invloed in de bouwwereld. Wat begon als 3D-georiënteerd






opgenomen.


gestuurd, want nog niet alle klanten zien de potentie van BIM. Omdat de dienstverlenende partijen






nodig, omdat het volledig is opgenomen in de manier van denken en omdat het breder is dan de


communicatie gaat, is algemeen geaccepteerd; niemand spreekt meer van BIM als ontwerp-tool.

115

In de beginjaren van BIM was BIM-manager een nieuwe functie. Inmiddels is die rol niet meer

relevant. De BIM-manager is niet meer degene die alleen BIMt, want iedereen BIMt; het is een

denkwijze. In plaats daarvan is de informatiemanager een nieuwe rol, die wel relevant is en ook nog

steeds in relevantie stijgt.



want anders is het niet van toegevoegde waarde. Daarom wordt de informatiebehoefte per project

vastgesteld, waarbij gekeken wordt naar de volledige levenscyclus van het object. Alle participerende

partijen verzamelen en beheren de benodigde informatie actief; terwijl partijen die andere

informatie nodig hebben – informatie die niet vermeld is in de gedefinieerde informatiebehoefte –

dit op eigen initiatief (laten) verzamelen en beheren. Het principe van Big Data wordt dus niet

toegepast, maar informatie wordt doelgericht ingewonnen en beheerd.




betrouwbaar en ook niet-dubbelzinnig en niet-overbodig. Het informatieaanbod moet zo goed

mogelijk aansluiten bij de informatievraag en -behoefte.

Niet-overbodig is daarbij een term die in het grotere geheel past. Omdat informatie herbruikbaar

moet zijn, is de informatie voor één partij meestal teveel om te verwerken, maar is het precies

genoeg voor alle partijen in het betreffende proces.



uitgewisseld. Waar velen twijfelden aan de veiligheid van online informatiestromen, is dat nu geen

probleem meer. Informatieoverdracht is nu niet alleen veilig geworden, maar het is ook mogelijk

doordat data op een intelligente, semantische wijze uitgewisseld kan worden; systemen begrijpen

elkaar. Dit is bereikt door de verschillende internationale standaarden, die elkaar begrijpen. Deze

standaarden zijn elk bedoeld voor zijn eigen doelgroep en zijn per branche leidend. Doordat de

standaarden ook onderling informatie kunnen uitwisselen, is alle informatie overdraagbaar. In

Nederland is dit principe in praktijk gebracht door het CB-NL-initiatief, wat later is uitgegroeid tot een

internationale standaard.


energielabels automatisch toegekend op basis van de beschikbare informatie; zijn risico- en


wordt informatie voor dat doel ingewonnen. Ook interactie met overheden is gestandaardiseerd,

met als duidelijk voorbeeld het automatisch verlenen van vergunningen.

De koppeling met geografische informatie is van grote toegevoegde waarde. Ruimte wordt steeds

schaarser en bijna alle objecten worden gebouwd op plaatsen waar al iets anders stond. De

omgeving is daarom volledig driedimensionaal gemodelleerd. De informatie die daarbij niet

vertrouwelijk is, is beschikbaar als open data, zodat elke partij er zijn voordeel mee kan doen. Alle

nieuwe assets worden digitaal direct in hun omgeving geplaatst, waardoor het mogelijk is om

analyses te doen die het specifieke object overstijgen. Een duidelijk voorbeeld is het afstemmen van

personeelsinzet aan de planningen van de verschillende projecten en het optimaliseren van


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Sensoren zijn verweven in vrijwel alles. Ze geven nuttige informatie over de toestand van een asset

en op basis daarvan kan actie ondernomen worden, al dan niet geautomatiseerd. The Internet of

Things heeft grote invloed op de bouwwereld. Een brug geeft nu, bijvoorbeeld, vanzelf aan of er

sprake is van betonrot of dat de nieuwe toplaag al scheuren vertoont. De integratie van de

leefomgeving en intelligente modellen is bijna volkomen gerealiseerd.


productie ervan. Op de bouwplaats is alles volledig onder controle en komt alles precies op tijd aan.


terugloop van incidenten, afwijkingen en afval. Prefabricatie en mobiel 3D-printen worden gebruikt

om afwijkingen in geometrie en kwaliteit te minimaliseren en afval en opslag te voorkomen. Met


vlucht. Huizen en bruggen konden worden geprint. Die ontwikkelingen zijn inmiddels gestabiliseerd.




Door de toenemende rekenkracht en mogelijkheden van computers is er een duidelijke trend

zichtbaar van toenemende complexiteit. Ontwerpen worden steeds ingewikkelder. Dit heeft

geresulteerd in verschillende ontwikkelingen in materiaalkunde en mechanica. Niet alleen is het nu

mogelijk om alle materiaal opnieuw te gebruiken, ook zijn verschillende materialen zelfhelend.



concepten. Veel ingenieurs moesten daar erg aan wennen of konden het niet. Een nieuwe generatie

ingenieurs is inmiddels ingewerkt in het denken in BIM-termen en het conceptmatige denken.




activiteiten uit.

Deze service-gerichte instelling komt ook voort uit de opkomst van geïntegreerde contracten. Deze

contracten, die meestal voor de hele levensduur van een asset gelden, liggen qua filosofie op één lijn

met BIM; de lijn van levenscyclusbenadering, van vertrouwen en samenwerking, van service. Ook

Systems Engineering is volledig opgenomen in de huidige denken werkwijze van ingenieurs, omdat

ook de combinatie van Systems Engineering en BIM een perfecte match blijkt te zijn.

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This appendix contains the slides of the PowerPoint presentation held at the vision proposal

evaluation workshop.

BIM and its Envisioned Use in Engineering Infrastructure

Documents

Transcript of BIM and its Envisioned Use in Engineering Infrastructure