z

m a g a z i n e

2012

VDC IN NCC NORWAYHOW AIDEA PHILIPPINES Transformed the Entire Architectural Practice

- COBIE - Enables UK Building Owners to Get Serious about Asset

Management

TURNER CONSTRUCTIONAND JOBSITE SAFETY

SOLIBRI MODEL CHECKER V8 IS HERE

Case Studies 5 VDCinNCC NCCNorwayExcelsinVirtualDesignandConstruction,aswellasindelive- ringtherightproductwiththerightqualityattherighttime.

9 PellikaanWorkingonNextStepinBIMwithSolibriBettercontrolandmoreeffectivecommunicationsdelivertimesavingsandincreasethequalityoftheprojectintheNetherlands.

12 TransformingtheCompanyDNA HowAideaPhilippinestransformedtheentirearchitecturalpracticeandgained thefullbenefitsfromBIM.

16 COBieenablesOwnerstoGetSeriousaboutAssetManagementAidingbuildingownersinUKtomanageinformationabouttheirassets.

18 RealTimeMEPQualityAssuranceStreamliningBIMbasedMEPdesignandqualityassurance.

20 TurnerConstructionCompany’sContinuousImprovementinJobsiteSafety TurnerConstructionCompanyintheU.S.A.performsmodelbasedanalysisandrulecheckingforsafety.

2012

5S

OLI

BR

I12

9

18

22 BIMandModelCheckingServingPeoplewithDisabilities

Computeraidedaccessibilityevaluationisarealityinservingpeoplewith disabilitiesinFriuliVeneziaGiuliaregioninItaly.

Inside Solibri24 SolibriModelCheckerv8 SolibriModelCheckerv8makesBIMbasedQA/QCeasierthaneverbefore.

27 Autocodesupdate An update fromUS:Nationwide Automated Code-Check Project enters phaseII.

©2012Solibri,Inc.Allrightsreserved.Contentsmaynotbereproducedbyanymeans,inwholeorpar t,withoutthepriorwrit tenpermissionofSolibri,Inc.

PublishedbySolibri,Inc.

Itälahdenkatu21A

00210Helsinki,FINLAND

Phone:+358105486800

Email :info@solibri.com

Editor-in-chiefJaakkoJauhiainen

jaakko.jauhiainen@solibri.com

DesignJonnaNylander

jonna.nylander@gmail.com

CoverpictureHelsinkiOlympicStadium

architecturaldesign:Yrjö

LindegrenandToivoJäntti1938

canopy:K2SArchitectsLtd.2005

Inventorymodelingand

visualization:TietoFinlandOy

www.tietoa.fi

20

HeikkiKulusjärviCEO,Solibri,Inc.heikki.kulusjarvi@solibri.com

Fast Forward- BUT KEEP IT EASY Wearehavinga very interestingandexciting yearaswecontinueoursignificantgrowth,developnewmarketareas,andaddquiteafewnewpartners.OneofourbiggestdevelopmentsisthedecisiontoestablishaSolibriofficeintheUK,sowecanbettersupportboththeUKmarketandourlocalcustomers.TheBIMwaveisgrowingstrongerandspreading.And,wherethereis

BIMthere isSolibri,since theproperutilizationofBIM information re-quiresconsistentQualityAssurance/QualityControl.WearealsoactiveandleadingparticipantsonseveralinnovativeBIMprojectssuchasAu-toCodes,COBie,andAreacalculationsforFM.Weexpecttocontinuethisparticipationonmanynewandinterestingprojectsinthefuture,aswell.Weregularlyaskourcustomershowtheylikeourproducts,howwellthe

qualityassuranceprocessisworkingforthem,andwhatkindoffeaturestheywouldreallyvalue.Duringoneofthesemeetingswecollectedquiteafewdesiredfeatures,whentooursurprisetheysaid:“Well, we just dis-cussed many things, but the bottom line is that we love the ease of use of the Solibri Model Checker. So, keeping the ease of use is far more im-portant to us than any of the nice-to-have things we just listed.“Thiswasveryinterestingandmadeusthinkaboutthisfurther.Naturally,youliketohearthisfromcustomers.However,insteadofre-

laxingandbeinghappyaboutourselveswewerethinking:easeofuseisreallythemostimportantthing.Withoutthat,allthegoodfeaturesinthesoftwarearenotfullyusedandcustomersarenotgettingthemostoutofoursolutions.ThekeycapabilityoftheSolibriModelCheckerisqual-ityassurancebyusingrules,sohowcanwemakethiscorefunctionalityeveneasier?SolibriModel Checker is certainly no “one-trick-pony”, as there are

many,powerfulrulesavailable.Wehavenoticedthatsometimesourcus-tomersaskusforarulethatalreadyexistsinoursystem,butforsomereason they are just not able to find it. Wealsoneed to gain a goodunderstandingof thegeneralqualityof themodel(s)weareanalyzing.Weneedtodifferentiatecriticalproblemsfromlowseverity issuesandcommunicate effectively so the quality problems are easy to resolve.Thesechallengeshelpedusestablishthethemeandfocusforournewversion,v8.

Enjoyreadingmoreaboutthisinthefollowingpages.

5CASE STUDY

JAAK

KO

JAU

HIA

INE

NS

olib

ri,I

nc.

VDC in NCC HOW TO USE TECHNOLOGY TO OPTIMIZE PROJECTS FROM THE EARLY STAGE TO COMPLETION

Deliver ingther ightproductwithther ightqual i tyatther ightt ime.

These are the cornerstones of busi -ness ingeneralandnotreallyunique.WhatisuniqueistheambitionandthewayNCCtacklestheseissues,andthetargets they have set. For industrial,constructionandcivilengineeringmar-ketgrowthtargetsaredoubletheGDPgrowthrate.Fromtheshareholderpointof view,NCC targetsa20percent re-turnonshareholders’equity.

3XRIGHTAchieving prof i table grow th requiresincreasing market share, being thecustomers’preferredbusinesspar tnerand increasing price competiveness.NCCoperatesinmaturemarketschar-acterizedbyprice-basedcompetition.This means that cost reductions and

operational excellence are necessaryforachievingorganicgrowth.

NCCaims toalwaysbe thecustom-er’sfirstchoice.Toachievethisobjec-t ive, NCC focuses on four key areas,one company and one voice, under-standingthecustomers’business,andopennessandclarity.Last,butnottheleast,NCCaimsatdeliveringtherightproduct with the r ight quali t y at therighttime.

VDCandR&DInorder tosucceedNCCmonitorsex-ternal trends closely. One of the keytrendsistheeffectivesupportprovidedby IT. The opinion at NCC is that VDC(Vir tual Design and Construct ion) isthemostsignif icant technologicalad-vancementintheconstructionindustryin thepast30years.NCChasexperi-encefromusingVDConmorethan350projects.NCCcurrentlyappliesVDCinSweden,Norway,FinlandandDenmark.

NCC is a leading construc -t ion company operat ing inthe Nordic countr ies. Thecompany operates in the

industrialbusiness, constructionandcivil engineering, as well as housingand proper ty development. Net salesamounted roughly to EUR M 6 938 in2011,andtheaveragenumberofem-ployeeswas17459.Intermsofmarketshare, leadership in the Nordic con-structionmarketsawbothSkanskaandNCChavinga6%marketshareaccord-ingtothirdpar tyrepor ts.Allinall,themarket is highly fragmented with thetop nine companies generating some30%oftherevenue.

ThekeystrategicissuesforNCCarecustomerloyaltyandprofitablegrowth.

NCCNorwayH

eadquarte

rs.Architectu

raldesig

nandvisualizatio

nsbyH

enning

LarsenA

rchitects.

6 CASE STUDY

Consequently,NCChasbecomealead-ing VDC company in both the Nordicareaandglobally.

To put i t in simple terms, a vir tualprojectisdesignedandbuiltinabuild-ing informationmodelvir tually,beforebeginning the physical construct ion.Fundamentally,VDCisaboutprovidingallthestakeholdersintheprojectwiththedesignandinformationintheformoftheBIM.Theresultiseffective,tight-lycontrolled,andlastbutnottheleast,aqualityassuredimplementation.BIMandqualityassuranceenablestheproj-ecttomeettherequirementsofvariousstakeholders.VDCenablesmeetingtheever t ightening requirements for sus-tainabili ty and energy ef f iciency. VCDalsomakes itpossibletomanageandaccess information available thankstoBIM,while reducing risks,develop-ing and using standardized technicalsolutions,andsystematizingtheuseofconstructionmethodsresultinginbet-ter coordinated purchasing and costsavings.

Efficientconstructionrequiresstra-tegicdevelopment.ThisinturnenablesNCCtobuildattherightpriceandwithas small an environmental impact aspossible.AmongthekeyR&Dareas inimproving construction methods andcol laborat ive procedures is v ir tualbuildingwiththefocusonindustrializedproduction,BIM,logistics,andplanningandbuildingprocess.

VDCinDailyBusinessNCCuses technology tooptimizecon-struct ion project projects from earlystagetothecompletionandhandover.VDC in NCC is a combination of toolsand processes to capi tal ize on thenew technology. At NCC Norway, VDCisbeingdrivenbytheVDCDepartmentwhich is responsible for the develop-mentofVDCpractices,workshopsandcoursesforNCCitself.TheVDCDepart-ment also par ticipates in industry fo -rumsanddevelopsteachingprogramsforcollegesanduniversities.

NCC also takes into account thebestpracticeslearnedandthespecificneedsofeachprojectphaseandtask,fromproper tydevelopmenttodetaileddesign and construct ion. For these,NCChasestablishedtheVDCNetwork.I t includes the VDC Depar tment andrepresentativesfromdif ferentprofes-

sionsandgeographicalareas.TheVDCNetworkalsoincludesrepresentativesfrom dif ferent NCC Group countr iescreatingunif iedGroup levelpracticesenablingNCCtocapitalizeontheprac-t ical know how and lessons learned.Earlyinvolvementinaprojectbenefitsthe customer, since i t allows NCC tobringintheirexper tise.

AnInterviewwithØyvindBørstadØyvind Børstad, Manager of the VDCdepar tment at NCC Construction AS,statesthat“one of the most important requirements, i f we want to succeed

in a project, is having control over the design, construction, and related infor-mation. BIM does exactly this. BIM pro-duces results and there is the financial incentive to use BIM.”

The most impor tant BIM usages atNCC are controll ing the design, col -l isions and using combined models.Combined models allow the projec tteam to have one unif ied view of thedesignandtheproject,fromdesigntotender,fromtenderphasetothebuild-ingandhandoverstages.“There is one project, one image, one set of informa-tion to be taken off the model, and one product”saysBørstad.

VDCenab lesmeet ingtheever t ighten ingrequ i rements for susta inab i l i t y andenergye f f ic iency.The resu l t i s e f fect ive qua l i ty assured implementat ion. Qua l i ty assurancemeanscoord inat ingthedes ignandassur ing thequa l i ty o f ind iv idua l mode ls .

7CASE STUDY

“Quality is a consequence of struc-tured processes”saysØyvindBørstad.“The first thing we do, when we receive a BIM, is to run BIM Validation check with the Solibri Model Checker. It allows us to verify the quality of the model, the de-pendability of the geometry and the reli-ability of the information in the model. It’s crucial because we manage projects largely using the information available to us in models, and incorrect BIM informa-tion would present an intolerable busi-ness risk. Solibri’s Information Takeoff allows us to analyze the quality of in-formation from numerous aspects, and visualize and extract the information in the most effective way.”Øyvindcontin-ues.

“Solibri Model Checker is also the best and the per fect tool for us for combining and coordinating design for design review purposes. We absolutely need to have one unif ied view of the project. Solibri Model Checker presen-tations are an excellent tool for com-municating the quality of the model, and design changes required. Solibri Model

Checker is also very useful because of the version control functionality avail -able.”saysMr.Børstad.

Solibr i Model Checker is the onlysolut ion that suppor ts true BIM col -laboration with the abili ty to analyzethemodels,communicatethefindings,andcollectandcombinefeedbackfrom

thedesignersandotherstakeholdersin the same model for decision mak-ingindesignmeetings.TheuniqueBIMcollaborationfunctionalityisbasedonfunctionali ty available only in SolibriModel Checker and the free Solibr iModelViewer,andBCFformatsupport-edbymajorCADtools.

ThefirstthingwedowhenwereceiveaBIM,istorunBIMValidationcheckwiththeSolibriModelChecker“

BIMVa l idat ionana lyzesthequa l i ty o f themode l inginc lud ingbothBIMcomponents andmodel ingo f spaces. AboveSo l ibr i Mode l Checker hasdetecteduna l locatedareaswi th nospacemodeled.

8 CASE STUDY

ProjectØstensjøveien27Oneof themany interestingNCCproj-ects in Norway is Østensjøveien 27,the new NCC headquar ters. I t ’s anexample of advanced use of BIM andsustainability.Thebuildinghassixsto-r ies above ground and a basement.Theareaof thebuilding is17,000m2.Passive house standard, low carbonbuilding materials, and other designfactors give the building 50% reduc-tioninCO

2releasecomparedwithnor-

malbuildings,andaBREEAMratingofVeryGood.Also,thebuildinghasbeendesigned toallowa transformation todwellingsinthefuture,ifneeded.

About90%oftheheatingenergyre-quiredwillbecoveredbyaheatpumpwhich ex tracts heat from the groundthroughver ticalwells.Thebuildinghasanextremelyair tightandwellinsulatedbuildingenvelope.Due tobetter insu-lation,betterairtightnessandamoreadvanced ventilat ion system, the in-vestmentcostsofthebuildingmightbeslightlyhigherthanforotherbuildings.However,thiswillbebalancedbyalessextensiveheatingsystemandthefactthatthebuildingisextremelyenergyef-ficient.

Østensjøveien27isatrueBIMproj-ect wi th advanced analysis such asenergy,acousticandfireanalysis.So-libriModelCheckerhasbeenusedforquali t y control, design coordinat ion,Informat ion Takeof f, design review,andversioncontrol.

ANEXCEPTIONALPROJECT=DeliveringtheRIGHTPRODUCTwiththeRIGHTQUALITYattheRIGHTTIME.

RIGHT3

9CASE STUDY

Theinternationalmaincontrac-torPellikaanfavorsanintegra-tedapproachforitsconstruc-t ion projec ts. They execute

Design & Build projects, using theirexperienceinMaintenanceandOpera-tionstooptimizeresults.Thecollabo-rationandliaisonthatareconsideredtobepillarsofBIMfitperfectlyinthisholisticapproach,soin2009Pellikaanstar ted working wi th BIM. Pell ikaanjoined the Dutch BIM workgroup “Vir-tualBuilding, justdo it” organizedbytheDutchassociationofconstruction-companies (BouwendNL), focused onstimulating national developments inBIMmethodology.Sincethen,theBIMconcept isbeingused inall facetsofthe construction process, during thedevelopmentphaseofaproject,duringthepreparationphaseandattheimple-mentationphase.

Pellikaan Working on Next Step in BIM with SolibriEFFICIENT AND ACCURATE CHECKING AND COMMUNICATING

Thus,forthenewspor tscomplexinNieuwehorne, Pellikaan contacted anumberofpartiesinthesupplyindustrywherethedifferentaspectmodelswerecomparedbasedonOpenBIM.

BASED design & engineering fromthecityofTilburg,astheindependentBIMmanagerwasaskedtodeploySo-l ibr i Model Checker to opt imize thepreparationprocess.Itwasrecognizedthatbettercontrolandmoreeffectivecommunications deliver t ime savingsandincreasethequalityoftheproject.

Design&Build:ConstructionCompanyintheLeadManaging director Roy Pellikaan likesto speak about the role of the cont-ractor as a director: “In our design & build projects Pellikaan feels like a fish in the water when it comes to directing

the construction process. Building is something you don’t do alone, but with the r ight par tners around you. Brin -ging in the exper tise of your par tners should be done at the right time, in the right way. The ability to direct a project using the BIM methodology demands a certain level of knowledge on this sub-ject by your partners. Collaborating on a BIM project therefore requires all par-ties’ patience, confidence and a positi -ve attitude when it comes to knowledge sharing. With the right partners you inc-rease the level of knowledge of the BIM team. Together you can explore new pos-sibilities of BIM for a smooth workflow. “

GettingConfidentwithWorkinginaBIMCollaboration on a BIM project is notobvious from one day to another. You

Mr

RO

YPE

LLIK

AAN

Pelli

kaan

bou

wbe

drijf

MAR

CE

LVA

NB

AVE

LB

ASE

Dd

esig

n&

eng

inee

ring

10 CASE STUDY

Viewof thespor ts complex in Arch iCADandSo l ibr i Mode l Checker.

must be familiar with working in thisnewenvironment.WithinPellikaantheydothisbytakingsmallsteps.Realisticgoalsaresetforeachactivity.Theac-complishedsuccessesprovideanever-increasingenthusiasmforworkingwithBIM,makingthismethodslowlybutsu-rely embedded into the organization.Thisapproach isshown in theprojectNieuwehorne.Due to thegrowingent-husiasmintheworkplaceearlyinintheprocess,soonitwasdecidedtosearchforBIMpar tnersinthesupplyindustryin addition to the three major discip -lines (architecture, construction andequipment).

These par tners were found for thesteel constructionandsystem floors,twomajorcomponentsof theproject.ForthisprojectNieuwehornepar tnerslikeStrategyArchitects(ArchiCAD),En-gineeringVerhoevenLeenders(Revit),Construct ion Company Hulleman vof(Tekla)andVBIteamedup.Byexchan-ging information through IFC,submo-delswerecomparedvisuallywitheachotherveryquickly.

SolibriasaComprehensiveToolChecking visually and f inding ‘issu-es’betweenseveralmodels canbeadif f icult and a t ime consuming task.Pellikaan explains: “At f irst the check was done by generating many sections of the 3D model. In fact this method is going back to the old familiar 2D metho-dology. And also, not all problems were found this way, as it turned out later when we started to use the Solibri Model Checker.“

Inordertooptimizethecontrolpro-cess, Pellikaan asked their BIM par t-ner, BASED Design & Engineering, tocompare the models again, now withdeployment of Solibri Model Checker.MarcelvanBavel,ownerofBASED,ex-plains:“We are familiar with the way of working within Pellikaan. Therefore we were able to deploy Solibri fast and effi-ciently. With the use of the BIM Validati-on Check we first checked the quality of the dif ferent sub-models. With dif ferent Solibri Model Checker Rulesets, we com-pared the models. The ‘issues’ of these checks were compared with the findings of the manual controls, per formed by Pellikaan’s internal BIM Coordinator. It

11CASE STUDY

was good to see that they corresponded with each other. “

The100%confidenceinSolibriwases tabl ished. Sol ibr i Model checkeraddit ionally found more bot t lenecks,whichwerevisuallyalmost impossibleto f ind. Soon i t became clear thatcheckingwithSolibriismuchmoreac-curatethanthevisualcheckin3D,andmuch less t ime consuming. Anotherverypower ful featureofSolibri is theabilitytoreportthefoundissuesquick-ly and clearly to all par t ies involved.Thus the discussions were ef fect iveandef f icient.Solibrinotonlybecameacontroltoolbutalsoacommunicati-on toolduringconcurrentengineeringsessions wi th all designing buildingpar tners.

ItbecameclearthatcheckingwithSolibriismuchmoreaccurateandlesstimeconsumingthanvisualchecksofthe3Dmodel“

BetterResultsbyBetterPreparationThe time savings obtained by an ef f i -cientcontrolofmodelsisdirectlyusedtoimproveotheraspectsoftheprepa-ratoryprocess.Ahigherqualityofpre-parationresultsinfewererrorsduringexecut ion and makes i t possible toachieve a bet ter end product, in lesst ime and for a sharper budget . The

peopleintheorganizationareworkinghard to improve the preparation pro-cesswithoptimaluseofSolibri.

ContinuousProcessImprovement“Together with BASED Design & Enginee-ring, we explored how ‘quantity takeoff ‘and ‘classification’ can be used to sup-port our calculation department. Again we set small goals resulting in achieving continuous small successes.”

Pellikaan is convinced that Solibricanbedeployed inmoreareaswithinthe organizat ion. Roy Pellikaan con-cludes: “The way Solibri checks, visu-al izes and communicates increases the enthusiasm for BIM in the workp -lace. This enthusiasm is now being brought to the bui ld ing s i te where the builders and planners use Solibri Model Viewer in their communications with the construction par tners. “

12 CASE STUDY

Transforming the Company DNA500 – 90 – 50

Over500projectsinmorethan90cit iesinover50countr iesrangingfromcorporateoff icestocommercialcen-ters, industr ialcomplexes,residentialbui ldingsandleisurefaci l i t ies

160

Over160highlypro-fessionalarchitects,inter iordesigners,plannersandgraph-icsdesigners

4

Four integratedser-vices:architecture,planning, inter iordesignandgraphicenvironment

JAAK

KO

JAU

HIA

INE

NS

olib

ri,I

nc.

Architectu

raldesig

nandvisualizatio

nsbyA

ideaP

hilip

pines.

13CASE STUDY

AideaPhilippinesisoneoftheleadingglobaldesignpracti-ces,rankedatnumber86byWorld Architecture 100, the

best-readarchitecturetitleinthemar-ket. Aidea Philippines has completedmorethan500projects,in90cities,in50countries.

What dis t inguishes Aidea is theirc omprehens ive In teg r a te d D e s ig nService. At Aidea, Integrated Designcombines archi tecture, planning, in-terior design and a graphics environ-ment inaunifiedserviceofferingthatis based totally on BIM. Establishedin1995,AideaPhilippinesgrowthhasskyrocketed.Akeybusinessdriverhasbeen the need to change, identif y ing

theneed,andtakingdecisiveandboldact ion in t ransforming the companyDNA.

TransforminganArchitecturalBusinessIn the beginning of the 21st centuryAideawasfacedwithabusinesschal-lenge.Thecompanyhadgrownrapidly.It seemed that growing would requirecontinuously hir ing more employees.Collaborat ion on projects was beco-ming harder, as the number and thesizeofprojects increased,and itwas

becomingincreasinglydif ficulttomain-tainqualityindesignandcoordinationandstillensuring flawlesssiteexecu-tion. At the same time Aidea, like anyother professional service company,experiencedincreasingpricepressurewhenbiddingdesignservices.

How to meet these challenges? Atthattime,BIMadaptationwasjustbe-ginning to take place in a handful ofadvancedorganizationsglobally.Aideamanagementconsideredtheiroptionsser iously. Cont inuously hir ing moreemployeeshardlyseemedtobeanal-ternative.

AbelardoM. To lent inoJr. , thePres ident o f A ideaP ih ipp ineswi th thedes ign team.

Design processCONCEPT DESIGN SCHEMATIC DESIGN DESIGN

DEVELOPMENTCONSTRUCTION

DOCUMENTCOMBINED SERVICES

DRAWING

INTEGRATED CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS

14 CASE STUDY

tionalrestructuringandestablishinganewBIMprocess.

Aideamanagementmadeaboldbu-sinessdecision.Adatewasset.Onaspecif ic day, at a cer tain t ime Aideawouldstar tusingBIMonly.All2DCADtools would be removed. All ongoingprojects would be redone, using BIM,and all new projects would be usingBIM. There would be no going back.This is of ten referred to as Big BangAdoption.

HowAideaworkstodayA major company t ransformat ion ismost ly about changing the companymindset,acquiringnewcapabilitiesandimplementingthenewway,theinternalprocess. Therefore Aidea has had toalterboththecompanyorganizationalstructureand theprojectorganizatio-nalstructure,createthecompanyway–or theprocess–anddocument theprocess intheAideaBIMmanual.TheManualisasummaryofAideaBIMPrin-ciplesandGuidelines,BIMstandardsandBIMAudits.

From the organizat ional point ofview, thebiggest changehasbeen tobreak Aidea into six design studios,each wi th i ts own BIM Manager. Inaddition, there is a corporate QualityAssuranceandInnovationsUnitwithacorporatelevelOfficeBIMManager.InatypicalprojectthestudioBIMMana-

gerauditstheprojectforcorrectexecu-tionofBIMprocessesandcompliancetoBIMstandards,monitorcompliancetoBIMprocessesandstandards,andassists the project in BIM/CAD con-cerns.

The Aidea design process consistsofConceptDesign,SchematicDesign,Design Development and IntegratedConstructionDocumentPhases.Af terthe project kick-of f, a BIM strateg ymeetingisheldforeveryproject.Mo-deling is already star ted during theConceptDesignphase.

Eachprojectstagehaspredetermin-edBIMAuditpoints.QualityAssuranceandQualityControlusingSolibriModelChecker isdetailed in theDesignDe-velopment stage and very detailed inthe Contract Document stage. WhenConstructionDocumentsareproducedQA/QC with Solibri is done mostly onrevisions.

Amajortransformationhasofcour-sebeenthehumanside.Inadditiontoextensivetechnicaltraining,thechan-ge relied on cont inuous innovat ion,learningandmentoring,andcarefullyplannedhumanresourcemanagement.HR has been responsible for asses-singproficienciesanddeterminingskillgaps,anddesigning trainingcurriculatoaddressthegapsandcreateadvan-ced capabili t ies. One key aspect hasbeen the internal collect ion of best

Thecompanywayis documentedin theA ideaBIMManua l .

BIMManagerstates BIMStrategy

90% DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

INTERNAL KICK-OFFMEETING

LETTER OF INTENTOR NOTICE TO

PROCEEDPROJECT BRIEF

PROJECT KICK-OFF MEETING

WITH THE CLIENT

INTERNAL

STRATEGIC MEETING

30% DESIGN DEVELOPMENT DESIGN CONCEPT50% SCHEMATIC

DESIGNVISIONING

BIMManager+StudioBIMManagerstrategizetheproject

BIMAuditBIMAuditBIMAudit

BIMSupport(BIM Model,VBEatsite)

60% CONTRACT DOCUMENTS

PROJECT LEARNINGS DOCUMENTATION

CONSTRUCTION ARCHIVING

BIMAuditB

BIM

Audit

Aidea took business seriously andhavebeeninnovativefromtheverybe-ginning.Thesolution thatAideacameupwithwascombiningtheexistingcul-tureof continuous innovationwith le-veraging BIM technology. This wouldhelpAideameetthedriversofchange.Aidea would be more productive andcostef fective.Collaborationwouldbemore ef f icient, and quali t y would beimproved. BIM, technology and integ-rateddesignwouldmakeAidealeanerandcreatecompetitiveadvantage.Thiswould require a major change in thecorporatemindset,aswellasorganiza-

BIMLearning s

15CASE STUDY

practices and lessons learned, docu-mentedintheArchitipssystemacces-sibletoallcompanyemployeesthroughintranet.Aideahasbecomeatruelear-ning organizat ion. All employees areencouragedtocontributetoArchitips.Studio BIM Managers repor t lessonslearnedandsuggestionstotheOfficeBIM Manager on how to improve theapplicationofBIM.

TheBenefitsThebenefitsbroughtbytheboldmovetotransformAideaintoapureBIMcom-panyarenotlimitedtothelowhangingfruit.Thebenefitsarise fromcompre-hensive BIM process implementationthroughoutthecompanyandusingBIMBIGTime.

Aidea has taken a very mature ap-proach tobusinessdevelopmentwithcareful assessment of the resul ts .SinceBIMisdeeplyrootedintheInteg-ratedDesignprocessand the resultsarecarefullymonitoredAideahasalsobeenable toverifybenefitsbydesignphase. BIM-based design is slight lymore ef f icient in the concept designphase,andviceversa in theschema-ticdesignphase.ThisisbecauseAideaputsgreateffor tintotheschematicde-signphase.Therealbenefitsarecap-tured in the design development andcontractdocumentphases.Bothpha-sesareroughlytwiceasfastwithBIM.

In terms of product iv i t y, BIM hasreduced the total manpower requiredto complete a project by 45 percent.InspiteofAideafollowingastrictpro-cess,put tingmoreef for t intodesign,doing more detailed design analysisand per forming str ic t quali t y audits.ThusAideahasbeenabletodoubletheworkloadintermsofsquaremetersperemployee.

Exploitingtechnologyhasalsomadeitpossibletoimprovecommunicationswhile reducing the t ime required tocommunicate.And,theIntegratedBIMDesignenvironmentmakesitpossibletoworkonthesameprojectindifferentg lobal locat ions, and the customershavereal-timeaccesstodesigndocu-ments.

Lastbutnotleast,BIMandtechno-logyhaveallowedAideatoexpandser-vicesfromthetraditionalarchitecturaldesignscopetoafullend-to-endinteg-ratedBIMserviceoffering.

InterviewwithSirJojo“Aidea Philippines has implemented a comprehensive Integrated Design pro-cess, with strict quality control and BIM audits across the process, and an end-to-end BIM solution for Integrated De-sign. As a firm, Aidea is one of the most technologically leveraged design practi-ces globally”saysMr.AbelardoM.To-lentinoJr.,thePresidentandfounderofAidea Philippines, or Sir Jojo as he iscalledatthecompany.

“Aidea has been able to achieve tar-gets set for the company transformati-on and answer the demands set by ex-ternal trends“saysMr.Tolentino.“Our productivity has doubled, allowing us to

produce higher quality designs cost ef-fectively, collaboration on projects has improved significantly, and the accuracy of design coordination and the BIM qua-lity in all project stages has improved significantly. Leveraging technology has enabled us to become lean and to create a competitive advantage in the interna-tional context.”Mr.Tolentinocontinues.

“The most impor tant factor in our business is that Aidea provides a uni-que service of fering and design qua-l i t y. In th i s re spec t So l ib r i Mode l Checker is the right tool for Aidea BIM qual i t y as sur anc e” c onc lude s Mr.AbelardoTolentino.

Aidea offe rs fu l l serv ices f rom arch i tectura l and in ter io r des ign to prov id ing in tegratedconst ruct ion documents. A idea a lso p laces great emphas is on BIM qua l i ty assurance anduses formal B IMaud i t methodology.

16 COBie

JAAK

KO

JAU

HIA

INE

NS

olib

ri,I

nc.

AnImperativeforChangeIn 2010, in common with many othercountries,thenewUKGovernmentwasforced to address the country’s finan-cialdifficulties.Asprocurementofpub-licassets(buildingsandinfrastructure),accountsfor40%oftheUK’s£100+bnannual spend on construction, it wasclearthatsmallchangesherecouldhavea big impact. Hence in May 2011 theGovernment set ambitious targets forreducing,by20%, thecostandcarbonfootprintofpublicconstructionprojects.

Intermsofachievingthistarget,thereare two major thrusts driving things.Firstly, the focus for construction pro-jects is now “quality” with benchmarkprices,soContractorsareinvitedtobidtheirbestqualityforadefinedprice.Se-condly,witharound80%ofthecostofabuildingbeinginitsoperation(withonlycirca 20% on design and construction-wherecostshavealreadybeensigni-ficantlysqueezed),thefocusisonhowbest to manage the asset through itsusefullife.Thismeansthatathandoverof a construction project the owner ofthebuildingreceivescomprehensiveandwell-structuredinformationtoensuretheoptimumongoingoperationandmainte-nanceofthefacility.

Thus the UK Government’s strategyforpublicprocurementhascreatedaca-talystforurgentchangeinthewaythatbuildingsaredesigned,builtandopera-ted. It also identifiesBuilding Informa-tionModelling (BIM)asakeybusinessprocesswithultimatecommitmenttoanopenpolicy–OpenBIM–fortechnolo-gysupply. Alsocentral to thisstrategyistheroleofContractorswithauthorityfor thedesign-build-handoverprocess,which includesnewresponsibilities forboth integration of activities and thesupplyofstructuredandaccuratedata

COBie enables Owners to Get Serious about Asset Management

for asset management. This embracesmanytypesofdataincludinggeometric,attribute,specification,meta-data,etc.

OwnersNeedUsableInformationThe next challenge was to decide howtopresentthisdata,asdigestibleinfor-mation,tothemanyGovernmentdepart-ments (the “owners”) responsible forthe operation and occupancy of thesebuildings.Thesedepartments–MinistryofJustice,MinistryofDefence,Depart-mentforEducationetc.–eachcurrentlywithalowormodestlevelofBIMadop-tion(Level1–2Dor3DCAD),haveallbeenmandatedwithachievingLevel2BIM(collaborativeBIM)by2016.There-forekeycriteriainchoosingamethodofrecordingdata forassets,waseaseofaccessandmanipulationofthedata,aswellasusingtechnologiesalreadyfami-liartousers.AlreadyestablishedinsomeGovernment agencies in the USA theformat which meets these criteria andthereforeselectedfor theUK, isCOBie–ConstructionOperationsBuildingInfor-mationExchange–formoreinformationontheGovernmentStrategyandCOBieintheUKvisitwww.bimtaskgroup.org

COBie (defined as “a specif icationusedtodeliverusefulfacility informati-onbystreamliningtheplanning,design,constructionandcommissioningactivi-ties”)isadataschemaspecificallyforre-cordingMaintenance(warranties,partsetc),Operations(start-up/downproces-ses etc) and Asset (space, plant, ma-chinery,etc),datainaspreadsheetfor-mat.Thisuncomplicatedandveryvisiblelayoutofdataisdesignedtoenableanyusertoextracttheinformationtheymayneed.Toensureprojectscanbevalida-

tedandcontrolledastheyprogresscur-rentlytherearefivedefinedpoints,withoutputdataspecifications,inthedesign-build-operateprocesswhereCOBiedataisrequiredtobedelivered(knownasa‘COBieDataDrop’)

EarlyLessonsByspring2012 the firstproject tousethisnewapproach–a180-cellextensi-onofCookhamWoodprisoninKent-hadreachedCOBieDataDrop2(OutlineSo-lution)andthisprovidedanopportunitytoreviewwhathadbeenlearnt.Becausethisinitialprojectrequiredsuchasigni-ficantchangeofmethodologyforthede-signers the data drop was undertakenfromaproprietaryplatformratherthanfrom an IFC open platform. With 20+“models”produced indifferentsoftwa-re itwasn’tsurprising that ithadbeendifficulttoco-ordinatetheseandtherebydetectandrectifyclashes.CreatingtheCOBieDataDrop(intoaspreadsheetfor-mat)hadbeenparticularlydifficultasex-tractingtherequireddatafromtheBIMshad tobedonemanually.Havingcrea-ted theCOBieDataDrop therewasnoassurancethatthedatawaseithertherightdataoraccurate,sothecontentoftheCOBiespreadsheetneededafurthermanualcheckforquality.WhatwasmostevidentwasthattheseissueshadtobeaddressedtoallowtheprocessofCOBieDataDrops tobescaledupso thatallpublicprocurementprojectscouldfollowastandardmethod.

In parallel with the development ofthe first projects, like Cookham Wood,the Government’s commitment to BIM,andOpenBIMinparticular,hadignitedan interestacross theConstruction In-dustry,anditssupportservices,inwhatthesetermsmeanandhowtheyshould

17COBie

beapplied.Toencourageandclarifythisinterestanumberofneworganisations/bodieshaveemergedrecentlyaimedatrepresentingtheviewsandrequirementsof industry, academia and IT vendors.GraphisoftandTekla,bothlongtermad-vocatesofOpenBIM,havesupportedinthe UK the establishment of the OPENBIMNetworkandtheOpenBIMLearningXchange.TheOPENBIMNetworkaimstorepresenttheneedsoftheconstructionindustryand isendorsedbybuildingS-MART International and facilitated byConstructingExcellence–anorganisati-onthatsetsstandardsofperformanceinUKconstruction.TheOpenBIMLearningXchange isaimedateducation institu-tionsand trainingbodiesand is ledbytheUniversityofSalfordandProfessorAr to Kiviniemi. Both these bodies arehavingapowerful influence inthemar-ketontheunderstandingof,andattitudeto,OpenBIM.

ValidatingtheProcessRecognising that the issues identifiedfromtheCookhamWoodprojecthadim-portantimplicationsforsomeofitsmem-bers,particularlyContractors,theOPENBIMNetworkproposedatrialtoexplorewhether IFC and COBie can work suc-cessfullyintheproposednewworkflows.InJulyeightmajorContractors-BAM,Ca-rillion,LaingO’Rourke,Mace,Skanska,WillmotDixon,WatesandVINCI–agreedtoparticipateinthetrialwiththeprinci-palobjective:“Tovalidateandcheckthe

suitability of anIFCfileaccordingtoa‘COBieDataDrop’ and alsog e n e r a t e t h ec o r r e s p o n d i n gC OBie rep or t sfrom the IFC filein the form ofan Excel spreadsheet .” As ani n d e p e n d e n tpartnerRIBAEn-terprisesNBS issuppor t ing thetrialbyprovidingguidance on thescope,managementandoutputsofthetrial. NBS has provided a neutral BIM,designedbyHOKArchitects,tobeusedforthepurposesofthetrialandcreatedusingNationalBIMLibraryobjects.GoingforwardNBSwillalsoprovidepost trialanalysis,reportingandpublicationofthefindingsthatwillbepresentedattheICE(Institute of Chartered Engineers) BIMConferenceinmid-October.

During the trial, which will be con-ductedoverfourweeks,theeightparti-cipatingContractorsarefreetouseanytechnology theywishproviding it isca-pableoffulfillingmost/alloftheprimaryrequirements:• importandexportIFCdata• check the quality of the data for conformance to COBie definit ions andstandardsofaccuracyaswellas

other conformance requirements suchasBuildingRegulations• Enable rapid and concise reporting ofnon-conformanceofmodeldata• Create COBie Data Drops in the prescribedspreadsheetformat.SolibriModelChecker (SMC)hasbeenidentified as a solution that can meetalloftheabovecriteriaandeachCont-ractorhasbeenintroducedtoSMCandencouragedtoincludeSMCintheiracti-vitiesduringthetrial.Althoughnotspe-cificallypartof this trial italsoevidentthatpracticaluseof this technology inthefuturewillalsoincludeco-ordinationandclashdetectionofanumberofIFC-basedBIMs,aswellas thecreationofCOBiedatawherethishastobeinferredorcalculatedfromtheco-ordinatedBIM.

JourneynotyetComplete!The resultof this trialwill beacriticalsuccessfactorindeterminingthespeedwithwhichtheGovernment’sOpenBIMstrategycanbeimplemented.Successmeans thatconfidence in theability todeliverLevel3BIM(fullyintegratedOpenBIM)atthistimewillbesignificantlyen-hanced, thatContractorswillhaverealunderstandingandexperienceofOpenBIM,andsignificantlytheseContractorswill haveknowledgeandexperienceofSMCasthebasisoftheirowndeploymentofOpenBIMandtherequirementtode-liver the mandated COBie Data Drops.

The nex t issue of Solibri Magazi -ne will set out the trial method in de-tailandmost importantly,willdescribethe results as reported by RIBA Enter-prises NBS, at the ICE BIM Conferen-ceonOctober17th2012.

Sol ibr i Mode l Checker ’s COBie layout in ter rogat ing the IFCmodel , d isp lay ingCOBie in forma-t ionandv isua l i z ingdoors andwindows.

COBie repor t created by So l ibr i Mode l Checker ’s COBie repor t ingfunct iona l i ty.

18 CASE STUDY

Real Time MEP Quality AssuranceTheHeadofficeofAlmaMediaandHighQualityConstructionThe new head office of Alma Media isexpected to be completed by the endofthisyear.Thebuildingisbeingcont-ractedbyEteraMutualPensionInsuran-ce Company and it will be built by theLemminkäinenConstructionCompany.This isadesign-buildproject forLem-minkäinenandtheyaresubcontractingandmanagingthedesignoftheproject.

Lemminkäinen already has severalyearsofexperienceonprojectsutilizingBIM.Forthisproject,theyhavenamedthepersonsinchargeofBIMforarchi-tectural,structural,andMEPdesigns.

Thequalityassuranceon theclientsidewastakencareofbyLemminkäinenthemselves. Lemminkäinen has beenusingSolibriModelChecker(SMC)since2008andqualityassurancehasbeenestablishedasastandardprocedureontheirprojects.

LemminkäinensetthetargetsforthisBIM project to produce better qualitydesignwithfewerflaws.Bycoordinatingthe quality of dif ferent design discip-lines,designershavebeenablemaketheirdesignsfit–andnotjustonce,butrepeatedly. Therehavebeenplentyofchangesduringthedesign.“Proper qua-

HE

IKK

IKU

LUS

JÄR

VIS

olib

ri,I

nc.

lity assurance has been an indispensable tool that made it possible to manage all these changes.” says Lemminkäinen’sProjectManager,TapioVihinen.

For this specif ic project, the BIMspecificationandcoordinationinstruc-tionsweremadebyFinnmapConsulting.Theseinstructionsdescribedthemostrelevant BIM requirements includingpersons in charge, minimum Level ofDesign(LOD),accuracyandqualityme-asuresfordifferentphases.

The Architectural design has beendone by JKMM Architects. They havemany years’ experience with BIM andimproving the quality of architecturaldesigns.JuhaMäki-JyllilähasbeentheChiefArchitectontheprojectandEeroKontuniemi has been the person inchargeofBIM.

StructuraldesignhasalsobeendonebyFinnmapConsulting,byPeterLinde-berg and the person in charge of BIMhasbeenHarriAutio.

MEPDesignandQualityAssuranceProjectus Team is an engineering firmspecialized inHVAC(heating,ventilati-on,airconditioning)andelectricalen-gineering. They have had the respon-

sibilityofthewholeMEPdesignontheproject. On the mechanical and plum-bingside, includingsprinklersystems,themainresponsibilityhasbeentakenbyMikkoYlesmäkiandMikkoYlesmäkihasbeeninchargeofBIM.OlliHoskariwas inchargeformodeling issuesandErkkiHakanenforelectricaldesign.

The interesting aspect of ProjectusTeam’sprocess ishowwellandsyste-maticallytheyhavedevelopedtheirBIMprocess. Design is based on BIM andQualityassuranceisanactiveandcon-tinuouspartoftheworkflow.Theyhavereally put their mind into streamliningtheirBIM-basedprocess.

TheirmainBIMbaseddesigntool isMagiCAD,aproductfromaFinnishsoft-warecompanycalledProgman.Forqua-lity assurance they have, like most ofthedesignersontheproject,selectedSolibriModelChecker.

ProjectusTeam’stypicalworkingen-vironmentconsistsofworkstationwithdouble screens. While one screen ismainlydisplayingthe2Dkindofworkingenvironment,thesystemisactuallypro-ducingrealBIMinformationatthesametime.Ontheotherscreenyou’llseesi-multaneouslyandautomaticallyupdatedBIMinSolibriModelChecker’s3Dview.Thiswayofworkingenablesalmostreal

TheH

eadofficeo

fAlmaM

edia.A

rchitectu

raldesig

nandvisualizatio

nbyJK

MMArchitects.

19CASE STUDY

timequalityassurance,wherepotentialflaws are spotted early on. This is es-peciallyconvenientwhenbasedonaninterferencecheck,orotherrule-basedchecksavailableinSMC,thereisaneedto make changes to the design. Now,other designers’ models are availableandthechange indesignorfixcanbecarriedoutinstantly.

Themodelsfromotherdesignersareupdatedwhenneeded.Thisprocessismost efficient when all MEP design isdonebythesamecompany.

InformationcreatedinMagiCADcanbe analyzed in many ways by SolibriModelChecker.Oneexampleistocheckthat the dimensioning of air ducts isdonecorrectlybycheckingthattheairpressure and air velocity have valuesof the rightmagnitude.Versionmana-gement is a great way of focusing onthemostrelevantchangescomingfromotherdesignersor controlanddoublecheckthechangesdonebyyou.Thisisalso useful when you need to explainto the client how his (or her) changerequests have ef fects on the design.Versionmanagementalsogivesaclearpictureofhowthedesignevolves.

RealtimeQualityAssuranceastheStandardProcedureProjectusTeammadeastrategicdeci-sion tobase theirdesignprocessandproceduresonBIM.

They have their whole staff trainedtouseBIMandtools likeSolibriModelChecker.

“We purchased our first Solibri Model Checker licenses in spring 2010 and at the end of the same year we made an agreement with Solibri, Inc. to establish a corporate-wide quality assurance sys-tem.”statesSeppoMäki-Pollari,theGe-neralManageroftheDivision.

QualityAssuranceProjectus Team also had the role ofBIM coordinator for the entire projectof Alma Media Head Office. BIM coor-dinationisarelativelynewtaskinbuil-dingprojectsandtherearestillalimitednumber of knowledgeable companiesfor the job. Projectus Team, as one oftheforerunners,hasshowntheirskillsontheproject.Therewillbemoreknow-ledgeableBIMcoordinatorscomingwithincreasingspeedduringthenearfuture.

ThetasksandrequirementsofBIMcoor-dinatorswillalsobeharmonizedase.g.“CommonBIMRequirementsofFinland”(CoBIM)werepublishedinMarch2012.

ThisprojecthadspecificBIMrequi-rementdefinedbyFinnmapConsulting.The star ting point was that the mainprinciples of modeling practices andcontentwereagreedearlyon.

BIM requirements described whatbuildingcomponentsandsystemsshallbemodeledduringdifferentlevelsofthedesign(LOD).

The modeling of MEP systems wasquite comprehensive, including decli-nesofallsewagepipessothataccuratespatial coordinationwaspossibleand

voidsetc.couldbeproperlydimensio-nedandlocatedinthemodel.

ProjectusTeamhashadverypositiveexperiences of Quality assurance andBIMuse.Thedesignworkismuchmoremeaningfulwhentheoutcomeisvisibleearlyonandthedesigniswellmadethefirsttime.

Summary”We are convinced that BIM is an ef-fective way for making high quality MEP designs. Sure, star ting a new kind of quality assurance process takes time, but every day we make progress”,saysSeppoMäki-Pollari.

Real t imeBIMQua l i ty Assurance us ing two screens in progress: MagiCADandSo l ibr i Mode lChecker useds imul taneous ly on twoscreens.

Pro jectusTeamhada lsothero le B IMcoord inator. P ic ture showsades igncoord inat ionprob-lemdetectedbySo l ibr i Mode l Checker that is now f i xed.

20 CASE STUDY

Turner’sRiskManagementandIntegrated Building Solutionsgroups conducted a study ofincidents across the country

anddeterminedthatfallsfromheight,and incidentsrelatedtomaterialhan-dlingcouldbeaddressed through theintegrationofinnovativepracticesandtechnologies,par ticularlytheapplicati-onofBIM.

This is also par t of a larger move-ment across Turner to integrate Leanconstructionprinciples includingCon-tinuous ImprovementandRespect forPeople.ALeanapproachseekstodeli-verthegreatestvaluetoitsclientsandtheneliminatewastefulactivities.Theresultscanbestriking:withbettercol-laborationandcommunication,jobsiteorganization, and scheduling throughuseof toolssuchas theLastPlannerSystem™ project teams can achievedramatic reductions incost, timeandsafetyincidents.

Workingwithagroupofprojectsu-perintendents, safety managers, r iskmanagement professionals, and BIMspecialists, theTurner team formedaBIM+SafetytaskforcetoexamineworkthatwasalreadybeingdoneinBIMandexpand i t to include addit ional safe -tyapplications. Thisgroupworked todevelopa rigorousmodelingstandardandreviewprocessfocusingonthekey

JEN

NIF

ER

DO

WN

EY

Turn

erC

onst

ruct

ion

Co

Turner Construction Company’s Continuous Improvement in Jobsite SafetyMODEL BASED ANALYSIS AND RULE CHECKING IN SOLIBRI FOR SAFETY

AtTurnerConstructionCompany, jobsitesafety isoftheutmost importance.Weareproudtohaveastrongsafetyrecordandweknowthattomaintainandimproveit,wemustcontinuetoevaluateoursafetypractices,andcontinuously improvethem.Ourgoal istoel iminatework-relatedincidentsonour jobsites,andforal lteammemberstoreturnhomesafelyattheendofeachandeveryday.

areasoffallsfromheightandmaterialhandlingtasks.

TurnerusesBIMtodevelopplansforequipmentlogisticsplans,siteorgani-zationandaccess,andfallprotection.Forexample, inNewYorkCitywherearigorousBIMsubmissionprocessis inplacewiththeDepartmentofBuildings,Turner uses BIM to plan and studysi te logist ics for their jobsi tes. TheBIM+Safety task force looked to takethissubmissionprocessfur therbyes-tablishingastandard,model-checkingprocedure to ensure compliance withrigorousstandardsofsafety.

Turner’sBIMspecialistsdevelopedacustom,Rulesetpackage–a50pointcheck–whichuserscanapply toanymodel.TheRuleCheckingprocessusespreset Classif icat ions to map modelinformation from the orig inal model,developed inBIM-authoringsof tware,toSolibri.Rulesetssearchamodelbyproject phase, confirming i t containsrequired geometr y and building ele -ments.Forexample,inasuperstructu-recheck,runningamodelthroughtheruleCheckingprocessinSolibriwillve-rify that themodel containsplans forprotection at all slab edges and slab

21CASE STUDY

openings,and thatedgeprotection isata regulationheightof42 inches;acheck for f ire ex t inguisher locationsin the model using the rule -checkingprocess will not only verif y standardspacingandheight requirements,butalso thatextinguishersarepresentatallhoists,elevatorshafts,andsiteent-rancesper code. ThecustomRulesetpackageverifiesthemodelaccordingtopresetClassifications,whichenablesausertoimportamodelandrunarapidanalysisforcompliance.

The team then rev iews the ruleCheckresults, identifyingwhich itemsrequire revisions. The rule Check re-sultsprovidedetaileddimensional in-formation about def iciencies, l is t ingtheactualvalue–height,quantity,spa-cing, etc. – and the desired or code-requiredvalue,sotheteamcanclearlyunderstandtheissue.Theresultsalsoprovide the locationof the issue–byfloorandroom–forreference.TurnercapturesthedetailedinformationfromtheruleCheckresultsinapresentati-onformat,aconcisewaytorepresentthe information live in the model andlistdetailedinformationaboutanyde-ficiencies,andexpor tsthedataintoadetailedspreadsheetformattocaptureresponses.

While reviewing themodel inSolib -riwiththecheckingprocess,theteamalsorunsanumberofITO(InformationTakeof f ) def init ions to quickly reviewthemodel itselfaswellasretrieve in-formation about quanti t ies for manygeneralconditionsitems.Forexample,the teamwillverify that theedgepro-tectionreviewedforlocationandheightisaccuratelyrepresentedinthemodel,andthattheyareconfidentofitsaccu-racy.Solibri’sInformationTakeoffpro-cessalsorepor tslinear-footquantitiesforthismaterial.Byconsolidatingpre-viouslyseparatemanualprocesses,theteamsavestimeandmaintainsahigherlevelofconfidenceabouttheinformati-ontheyreceive.

This safety checking protocol canaid in thesubmissionprocess foranyauthorit ies requiring detailed dimen-sioned submissions for site logistics.Designandconstructionteamsarefa-miliarwiththecodereviewsubmissionprocess,whichisof tenlengthyduetoanumberoffactors,includingtheten-

dency of teams to submit incompletedocumentationandthelackofstandar-dizationoftheformatofsubmitteddo-cuments.CheckingthemodelinSolibriprior to thesubmission, the teamcanbe conf ident that required elementsareincluded.Themodelshowsdetailedandcomprehensive informationabouttheequipmentandoperationsonsite,modeledwithdimensionalaccuracysotheteamdoesnotneedtobuildextraspaceintothesiteorscheduleforina-ccuraciesininformation.

Projectteamsalsokeepthisinforma-tiononhandonsitewithSolibriModelViewer. Turner’s team saves both theChecking resultsaswell asanumberofInformationTakeoffdefinitionsinthemodelsothatmodelinformationisrea-dilyaccessibletoallteammembersattheclickofabutton.Itisimpor tanttotheteamtokeepinformationexchangeclearandfreeofredundancies.

Turner’s continued commitment tosafety is enhanced through the useof advanced technologies for modelchecking.

22 CASE STUDY

LadiProjectFriuli Venezia Giulia region in Italy hasfundedtheprojectLADI.LADIstandsfor”LaboratorioregionaleintemadiAcces-sibilità,DomoticaeInnovazione“,or“Re-gionalworkshoponaccessibility,homeautomationandinnovation”,introducedbyregionallaw26”Generalregulationson innovation, scientific research andtechnological development Ar ticle 22.Actionstopromoteinnovationinthefieldofwelfare”:

Amongtheactivitiesenvisagedintheproject,istheidentificationofasoftwaretooltoevaluatetheaccessibilityofbuil-dings.

AccessibilityofaBuildingTheevaluationofbuildingaccessibilityisanarticulatedsetoftasks,whereevenexperts commit inaccuracies and mis-takes.Thecomplexityandtheresulting

BIM and Model Checking Serving People with DisabilitiesTheUnitedNationsConventionontheHumanRightsofPeoplewithDisabil it iesrecognizes”theimportanceofphysicalaccessibil itytothesocial,economicandcultural,healthandeducationalbuildingsinordertoallowpeoplewithdisabil it iestoful lyenjoyallhumanrightsandfunda-mentalfreedoms.”Theissueofaccessibil itycannotandshouldnotbeonlyl imitedto”lawcompliance”,butrathertothe”bestpossiblesolution”.

validation ”error” comes from multiplefactorswhich,however,canbetracedtoasinglerootcause:inaccurate,missingand/ornotcomparabledata.Thereasonis simple: there is not a single projectthatincludesalltherequiredinformati-on.

BIMCADhasbeeninusefromthebeginningof the 1980’s, and a tremendous de-velopmenthasoccurredfrom2Dto3Dmodeling,andlatelytoBuildingInforma-tionModeling(BIM)which is thefutureofbuildingdesign, isalreadyhere,andbeingusedinpractice.

BIMallowsallprofessionalsinvolvedinaprojecttocollaborateandcommuni-catesmoothlywitheachother.Engineersin mechanical, contractors, plumbers,architects, interior designers, exper ts

oflighting,security,energy,ecologyandevenaccessibilityexperts,populatetheBIM (Building Information Model) withdataassoonasitisavailable.

BIM potentially gives the evaluator/supervisoralltheinformationnecessa-rytocontrolandsupervisetheproject.That informationisavailableandjustafewclicksaway.ThesupervisorneedsatooltomanageBIMmodelingasfastaspossible.

ModelChecking”Is there a way to support the accessibility expert in the evaluation process by auto-mating or simplifying some tasks?” Theanswer is the Model Checking throughtheSolibrisoftware.SolibriModelCheckerefficientlyopera-tesby:1. Reducing the t ime of repet i t ive actionssuchascheckingsizesand distances.2. Enabling3Dmodelvisualization.3. Evaluating spaces and objects in themodel.4. P roduc ing c le ar and comple te reports.InordertoperformaccessibilityanalysisaccordingtotheItalianaccessibilitylaw,thestandardaccessibilityrulesavailableinSolibriModelCheckerweremodifiedand used. This way it was straightfor-wardtoanalyzetheaccessibilityofbuil-dingsandconformancewiththe Italianrequirements in the LADI project. TheLADIproject implementedthefirst Ru-

GIO

VAN

NIB

ELL

OM

OAr

eaW

elfa

red

iCom

unità

23CASE STUDY

lesetDM236.89andhasdevelopedthe(BIM)modelsoffourgovernment/publicbuildings:• Anexistingbuilding.•A newly renovated bui ld ing in ”agreement”withtheItalianlaw.• A recently renovated historic buil- ding in”agreement”with the Italian lawsubjecttohistoricalconstraints.• Anapproved2Dprojectbutnot yet implemented.SolibriModelCheckerandtheDM236.89Rulesetwereusedtoevaluatethefourmodels. The results and benefits fromusingSolibriModelwereevidentandveryinteresting:• Ex tremely fast evaluat ion of the rules on the considered buildings comparedtohumantime.• Cleardisplayofcritical issues,also fornon-experts.• Timespentbytheevaluatoronprob- lemsolving,ratherthanissueidenti- fication.We used Solibri Model Checker for anumberofverydifficulttaskstohandleandaspectstounderstand.Theseinclu-dedforexample,theevaluationofsenso-ryaspectsforthevisuallyimpairedpeop-le,suchascolorandcontrastofwindowsanddoors,tactilesignalsandtactile-footforblinds,thestrengthrequiredtoopendoorsandwindows,andanindexoffric-tionofthefloors.Wehavehadpositiveresults in thesesituationsafterhavingencodedtherulesinSolibriandthedatainthe(BIM)models.

ConclusionsThecomplexityofdesignandevaluati-oniscloselylinkedtothesoftwaretoolsused, their maturity and the technicalskillsofthebuildingdesigners.

The BIM approach to design, sup-portedbyformalverificationofthemo-delsgeneratespromisingresults inac-cessibilityevaluation.

Weareatthebeginningofexploitingthis powerful technology, but we haveprovedbeyonddoubtthatitwillhelpde-signingandbuildingaccessiblefacilitiesforpeople.

Computer Aided Accessibili ty Eva-luationisareality.

Sol ibr i Mode l Checker Check ingresu l ts f romana lyz ingaccess ib i l i t y us ingLADI pro ject Ru lesetDM236.89and thequa l i ty o f themode ledspaces.

24 SOLIBRI MODEL CHECKER V8

Solibri Model Checker v8 RAISING THE BAR AGAIN FOR BIM QA/QC

BIM-based quality assuranceand quality control (QA/QC)are unique and core capa-bilit ies of the Solibri Model

Checker. We offer the most powerful,yeteasy to learnanduse tool for thisjob,andveryefficientQA/QCprocesssupport.

Ourcustomersaregivingusgreatre-viewsontheeaseofuseoftheSolibriModelChecker.This isespecially true

Solibri,Inc.isexcitedtointroduceSolibriModelCheckerwithmanyenhancementsfor…

when visualizing, navigating, or brow-singmodels,andperformingInformati-onTakeoff.Thequalityassuranceandrulesetexecution involvesa fewmorestepsandcanbeabitmoredemanding.Afterall,itisaprocessthatisintendedto produce detailed information thathelpsusimprovethedesign,thequalityof themodelsandthequalityof infor-mationinthemodels.

We have challenged ourselves tomake the quality assurance processeveneasier,andevenmorepowerful.

NewInnovation:Step-By-StepQA/QCSolibr i Model Checker has such anex tensive libraryofQA/QCrules thatsometimesthereseemtobetoomanytochoosefrom.Now,withthe launch

Select iono f a su i tab le QA/QCRole for the job. Basedon theRo le , se lected ru lesets are proposedandexp la ined.

HE

IKK

IKU

LUS

JÄR

VIS

olib

ri,I

nc.

25SOLIBRI MODEL CHECKER V8

of our newest version, Solibri ModelCheckerv8,userswillgethelpf indingthemostrelevanttasksandrequiredrulesets. The user wil l select a sui -table QA/QC role, and Solibr i ModelChecker opens the required ru le -set and guides the user through thesteps.Thatcheckwillproducereliableandusefulresults,thef irsttime.

This is made possible by introdu-cing a step -by-step tool that guides,whenneeded,allSolibriusersthroughthestepsrequiredtoproducereliableandconsistentcheckingresultsfromprojecttoproject,orinternally.

Considerhavingtocheckifthede-sign meets the requirements of theclient forSpaceAnalysis.SpaceAna-lysis is theclient’sstatementon thescopeandspacesneededsothebuil-dingservesitsintendedpurpose.

For t h i s purpo se So l ib r i Mode lCheckernowcontainstherole“SpaceAnalysis” wi th the proposed s teps.Af ter the user has chosen the role,SolibriModelCheckeropensthesug-gestedrulesetsandpresentstheuserwith a simple list of individual stepsneededtoaccomplishthejob.

SelectionofasuitableQA/QCRoleforthejob.

BasedontheRole,selectedrules-etsareproposedandexplained.

Thesesteps includeensuring thatspaces have been classif ied, impor-tingthebuildingspecif icinformation,andthenamingconventionforspacesonthisproject.

This means the user is not if ied ifsome relevant tasks are unf inished,

which could result in inaccurate QA/QCresults.Naturally,thesereminderscanbeturnedof fatanytimeandthenbroughtbackwhennecessarytoseeifanytasksareunfinished.

If,forexampletheclassif icationofspaces is incomplete Solibr i ModelCheckerwillnotifytheuser.

Sometimesanalysisrequiresadditio -nal information that is not availableinthemodelbutwouldgreatly impro-ve the quali t y of the analysis. Thesetasksareshownwith“to-do”list.

InthisexampleSpaceClassif icati -onisnotyetcompleted.

Whenthereareexceptionstoclas-sif icat ion rules, unclassif ied spacescan be visualized and classif ied onthefly.

AssesstheQualityoftheDesignwithOneGlanceTheabili ty toestablishandcategori -zetheseverityofissuesisanotherofSolibri’suniqueinnovations.Wehavebeen asked on several occ as ionsto g ive the user the abil i t y to modi -f y the sever i t y according to compa-ny standards, project requirements,LODphase,etc.This isnowpossiblein Solibr i Model Checker v8. We dostillrecommendthatseveritycatego-rizingshouldonlybechangedby theperson (s) set t ing the standards forthe company. This is a good way toassureaconsistentqualityassuranceprocess.Whenneeded, i t ispossibleto lock rulesets so that unapprovedchangesarenotmade.

Wearealsointroducingthe“ResultSummary” view that instantly showsthegeneral level ofmodelquali tybymeasuring the Issue Densi t y of themodel.Thissystemisutilizingaspeci-f icalgorithmdevelopedbySolibrithatmeasureshowmanyissuesrelativetothevolumeof thebuildingeachrule -sethasandwillbeshownbyasinglenumberforallseveritycategoriesse-paratelyincludinguserresolutions.

Tasksare shownwi th “ to-do” l i s t In th is exampleSpaceClass i f icat ion is not yet completed.

26 SOLIBRI MODEL CHECKER V8

RuleCustomizationMadeEasySolibriModelCheckerv8includes,forthe f irst t ime ever, a comprehensiveset of example rules for ever y sup -por tedSolibri rule,making i teasy tounderstandhoweachruleworks,andhow i t can be adapted for di f ferentusages.Wehavealsoaddedapower-fulsearchcapabili ty forquerying therulebaseaccordingtokeywords.Forexample, we can easily query all therulesfortheword“space”enablingustoquickly seehow theexist ing rulesanalyzespaces.

WithSolibriModelCheckerv8 it ispossibletomodifyarule,thenimme-diatelyusethemodifiedruleformodelchecking. This makes experimentingwithrulesveryfastandflexible.

NewSol ibr i Mode l Checker V8canbeused in W indows tab le t dev ices.

SolibriModelCheckergoesMobileSolibr i Model Checker v8 suppor tsthe new Windows 8 operat ing sys -tem, including the mult i - touch envi -

SOLIBRI MODEL CHECKER V8 will be published on September 18th 2012.

ronment found on Windows tablets.For those on the move, this of fersmanyinterestingpossibilities.

27AUTOCODES

In our previous issue (1/2011) ofthe Solibri Magazine we providedthebackgroundaboutaNationwi-deAutomatedCode-CheckProject

that was underway in the U.S. Therehasbeenquiteabitofprogresssincethatannouncementandwewould liketo use this space to provide periodicupdates,as thisveryexcitingand im-por tantprojectmovesforward.

InJanuary2012theinitialphaseoftheAutoCodesProject(whichwasclas-sifiedasaproofofconcept)wascomp-leted.Thisconsistedof four teen (14)planreviewagenciesfromdifferentsta-tes, counties and cit ies par ticipatinginaprocesswhere theywould reviewa common set of 2D paper drawings,manually, checking only for complian-cewithaccessibilityandegresscodes.Theresultsof thatexerciseweretrulyunexpected.We found that therewassuchinconsistencybetweentheagen-

An Update from the USTHE AUTOCODES PROJECT COMPLETES PHASE I PROOF OF CONCEPT AND ENTERS PHASE II

cies, just in the2Denvironment, thatitwouldbeveryunlikelythatanyownercouldexpect togainapproval formul-t iple locations, from the same set ofplans.Wearenowworking to f ind thebestsolutiontothatinconsistency.

PhaseIIoftheAutoCodesprojectisnowunderway.Newpar ticipantshavejoinedtotheprojectteam,consistingofownersandsof twaretechnologyfirms.OurgoalsanddeliverablesforPhaseIIconsistof:1. DevelopprotocolsforModelAutho- ring,withan initial focusonRetail andHealthcare2. Develop a Process Transformation Protocol, to assist plan review or- ganiza t ions t rans i t ion f rom 2D paper-basedprocesses to the2D/ BIMdigitalprocess.

3. Developathree(3)hourcoursefor the Internat ional Code Counci l , educatingtheirclientsonthetransi- tionprocessinitem2above.4. Continue the testing and develop- ment of rulesets in the area of accessibilityandegress.5. Beginthetestinganddevelopment ofrulesetsforFireandLifeSafetyWeanticipate thatPhase IIwill bean18-24 month project, hopefully wi thinterim deliverables throughout. So -l ibr i remains commit ted to leadingthis ef for t , as we know that estab -lishing quali t y standards for modelsre qui re s b e t te r au t hor ing t hroug -houttheindustry.

JON

ATH

ANW

IDN

EY

Sol

ibri

,Inc

.

z

Solibri,Inc.Itälahdenkatu21A

00210Helsinki,FINLAND

Email :sales@solibri.com

Phone:+358105486800

www.solibri.com

SolibriLLC17470N.PacesetterWay

Scottsdale,Arizona85255USA

Email :sales-us@solibri.com

Phone:4803052120

www.solibri.com