Research paper on BIM Theory

H BIM and close communication between stakeholders

In this regard, BIM also opens opportunities for designers and contractors to negotiate specificities of the construction. For instance, construction companies have to take into consideration geographical specificities of the area, where the building is located. Designers should take into consideration that information to maximise the efficiency of the building. The geographic information is extremely important for the construction of energy efficient buildings. For instance, buildings located in Northern areas need the higher level of energy efficiency, while buildings constructed in Southern areas may need lighter materials because they do not need such high energy efficiency level as buildings in Northern areas. Similarly, the light analysis helps designers to plan the building in such a way that the building will be energy efficient since owners will have an opportunity to use more daylight and minimal use of electricity.

All stakeholders have access to BIM information. In actuality, the access to information on the construction project is crucial for the successful completion of the construction. To put it more precisely, the construction process has to be carefully planned and the access of stakeholders to the construction information can help to increase the efficiency of the planning and implementation of the project. In fact, BIM helps to share information between owners of buildings and designers, between constructors and designers, between designers and architects and other stakeholders. The efficient information sharing helps to elaborate a detailed project that takes into consideration all specificities and attributes of the building respectively to available resources, geographic conditions, and customers’ wants and needs. The accomplishment of such project is likely to be successful, fast and economically efficient because all issues are agreed upon at the stage of the development and planning of the project.

Customers and designers can negotiate the model of the building until the customers are fully satisfied with the proposed model. Only after that the model can be implemented. In fact, this is one of the main advantages of BIM since customers can see what they will receive on the completion of the project and they can share their ideas with designers and constructors, while the latter assess possibilities and practical opportunities for the implementation of the customer’s wants. Designers take into consideration custoemrs’ wants and make propositions of the building plan with all specificities of the building, while customers give them feedback, which designers evaluate and make a new offer, if necessary. Eventually, designers and customers come to agreement on the final project plan, which contractors start implementing.

However, BIM does not limit the communication to the communication between designers and customers solely. Instead, designers have to maintain the close communication with constructors to coordinate their design with technical opportunities for its implementation (Tse, et al., 2005). For instance, designers can create the plan of a building that matches customer’s needs and wants, but constructors can find out some weak points and suggest changes, for instance, replace some materials by others. Designers should consider such a change and communicate the change to the customer. The customer should provide the feedback on the proposed change and either to accept or to decline it. If the customer accepts, the change is introduced into the project plan. If the change is not accepted by the customer, designers consider alternative options, coordinate them with constructors, receive the approval of constructors, and make the new proposal to the customer. The negotiation process lasts until all details of the project are agreed upon and only after that the construction begins.