Baucentrum

A Preferred Vision for America’s Construction Industry (Part Two: Industry Integration into the Information Age)

By Philip J. Bona, AIA

Shared Values: The early conclusions reached in Part One of this series recommend a greater value to the future construction industry by cooperatively integrating elevated priorities and skill sets in the workforce, and evolving materials and processes into a cohesive and collaborative relationship. In this Part Two, I suggest that we start by measuring our strengths and weakness first, and then determine how to create an advanced industry made up of skilled and certified design professionals, constructors, craftsmen, and managers. This industry would share the belief that it is a privilege (not a right) to contribute to the built environment and would prescribe to the following tenets:

* Conduct business responsibly

* Promote cooperativeness

* Operate collaboratively

* Recognize the value of the individual

* Trust early and often

* Be accountable for your own actions

* Have pride of workmanship

* Promote training standards

* Require apprenticeship and internship

* Certify individual skill sets

* Maintain ethical business practices

* Mandate quality control

Mutual esteem or respect is the keystone that locks this arch of values in place, and respect is a commodity that is earned through one’s attitude, experience, and proven skill sets. Adopting common core values or guiding principles allows the diverse cross-disciplinary development, design, and construction team to share a common playing field. It is superior performance again and again that becomes the standard by which mutual esteem and respect is gathered and given to each individual contributor in the Owner, Architect, Engineer and Constructor (O/AEC) enterprise.

Those who initiate and finance projects and set the AEC partnership process in motion need to be able to trust and respect the quality and integrity of their partners, so as to minimize risk, control cost, and create a sustainable built environment that meets their needs and the needs of society. The industry must change to deserve that trust.

Shared Information: Over the past decade a few technological visionaries have recognized the value of integrating building data into a parametric based information database. Using 3-d CAD and database software, “Building Information Modeling” or BIM1 has been created and it will change the industry. The diversity of business opportunities within a new “Information Age” will create a long needed cultural and pragmatic shift in the O/AEC building process that requires the rapid implementation of a more comprehensive endeavor around the BIM concept.

Adoption of a standard database across all contributors to the construction process creates a new paradigm for our industry. This paradigm will be based on the use of truly intelligent, logical, parametric, three, four or five dimensional (incorporating time and financial aspects) data that will integrate the business of conceiving, constructing, and maintaining the built environment into a synergistic enterprise.

The creation of a highly robust multi-dynamic database offers the opportunity to orchestrate all aspects of building design and implementation into an interactive responsive virtual and perpetual building data model including:

* Tangible aspects of a local real estate market

* Accurate modeling of existing local environment

* Available project financing options

* Owners and users

* An owner’s needs analysis

* Geographic and geologic site data

* Internet based communication management

* Architectural and engineering design

* Best practices updating

* Warrantable construction details

* Interactive code analysis/compliance checklists

* Regulatory compliance

* Full time construction inspection checklists

* Energy and material life-cycling

* Recycling management

* On-line access to manufacturers and materials

* On-line access to suppliers and current costs

* Construction operations & prefabrication

* CMs, constructors and construction trades

* Post-construction lessons learned

* Facility management

* Maintenance inventories and schedules

Shared Processes: The new process would look like this.  It will start with an expanded USGS mapping, GPS technology, and City/County Assessor archive database.  Using advanced software developed by vendors such as ArchiCAD, Catia, Revit, and Triforma, the graphic envelope representing the form and composition of a building and the constraints of the property it sits on is designed and dimensioned. The design concept is explored and finalized.  It is then reviewed and approved by the owner and the appropriate regulatory agencies.  This architectural design process will use the 3-d graphic software component. Then data will be applied to the model’s components.

Assembling the database on information from the owner’s program, the mapped site utility infrastructure, the master product list, and the structural system, a symbiotic data matrix will be created. In the hands of a skilled architect, trained in these methods, the data model constructs a spatial simulation model of the design made of accurate images of virtual 3-d objects like concrete, masonry, wood, metal, glass, plaster, roofing and every other component.

Once the A/E disciplines have further explored the options, iterations, and systems, and applied all the specified products hyperlinked from their manufacturers on the internet to the simulated objects representing them, the model will be able to perform self-checks on systems coordination, conflicts, and constructability.  Then, this virtual model may be simply extracted (or reported on) as conventional 2-dimensional printed plans, sections, details, elevations, material lists, and specifications.

It is likely that designs will eventually be constructed on site with the aide of wireless hand-held digital tablets with graphic cut, pan, zoom, and rotational 3-D as well as laser measurement and bar-code recognition capabilities. Also, constructors will take greater advantage of building components that are prefabricated and panelized in factories to be merely assembled on site.  Manufacturers, fabricators, builders, and sub-trades will be connected directly to the final approved (on-line password protected) virtual model to benefit from its accuracy and proven constructability.

With this process, the building and site will be able to be constructed in every detail and its accuracy tested and confirmed before a shovel ever touches the ground. The model will be interactively analyzed throughout the concept, design, procurement, and construction phases to allow for efficient and accurate design change management (change is always inevitable).

The BIM will use actual on-line material cost and availability control measures directly from product distributors to evaluate a change and determine the fair and accurate cost and schedule impact of a change. The labor cost of a change will be derived from a work plan developed by the change management team and the actual laborers. Communications among all participants in the building process and the model will be tracked and archived using Internet based project communication software with read-only access of data to all participants at all times.

Intermediate Conclusions: This future is not so far away. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) working with corporations like Autodesk, Graphisoft, Cyon Research, Webcor, Swinerton, and AEC Infosystems, as well as a few large design/build construction companies, the GSA, and the Department of Defense, among others, are assembling the parameters, processes, and participants to be integrated into this process. Over the next 5-10 years, the AEC industry and its use of information technology will evolve dramatically.  Each O/AEC partnership must be based on responsible business practices, integrity, and trust.  The success of this endeavor will depend on changes made by each construction industry participant, by the quality and priorities of education in America, and by our industry’s ability to embrace the benefits of the Information Age.

1 Term coined by Jerry Laiserin, AIA in 1994

Philip J. Bona, Copyright © 2005                      

A Preferred Vision for America’s Construction Industry (Part Three: Changing the Industry Paradigm)

By Philip J. Bona, AIA

New Paradigm: Trends identified in Parts One and Two of this series will be the motivating force causing the construction industry to make significant changes to prepare for the future. These forces of change can be classified into three categories: “technology-driven, client-driven and competition-driven.”1  Additionally, culture-driven and market-driven forces will need to be considered.  Building owners, design professionals, construction managers and constructors must identify how they are affected by these changes.  Their success will depend on their willingness to boldly embrace the potential of this Information Age.

Technology-driven change will lead the future as it has for the past twenty-five years. Building Information Modeling (BIM2), a parametrically enabled 3-d computer database, has been in development for a decade. Just as the industry was reluctant to initiate CAD/D back in the early 1980s, BIM is inevitable but far from being an institutionalized standard. The federal government is using it for a few of its construction projects in 2005.  CAD graphics software companies are all re-tooling their wares to embrace the benefits of parametric modeling. Construction companies like Swinerton and Webcor are taking standard 2-d CAD drawings and recreating their own BIM database from them. They see the benefits as:

* Use of 3-d visions of the drawings and details on demand,

* Greater construction means and methods efficiencies,

* Better understanding of phasing impacts and sequencing,

* Accurate materials schedule management,

* Reduction of change orders because the constructors have better control over the building model,

* Reduction of overall project cost because of greater confidence and clarity in the documents, 

* Providing the owner a program of facilities management with inventory lists and maintenance scheduling.

With these initial benefits, clients will soon see the use of BIM as a necessary approach to building design, construction, and management.  They will demand that design professionals upgrade to BIM technology or they will hire others who will. This same phenomenon happened between clients and architects/engineers back in the 1980’s and it’s going to happen by the 2010s.  In the same fashion, in order to survive competitively, design professionals who are the first to become leaders in the use of BIM will have the obvious edge on those who lag behind.  Most large A/E firms will have the ability to absorb the cost of this upgrade and the client base to demand it.  Small firms will struggle to justify the cost because clients with smaller projects will take longer to benefit from the technology. Culturally, the public will be fascinated with the realities of technologically “smart buildings” and the market will taunt the various manufacturing industries (home products, business products, automotive, food distribution, multi-media, etc.), as well as Internet-based businesses to take advantage of parametric data modeling in the creation and distribution of their products. 

Think Big: Considering all of these factors and forces for change, I see that the following steps are needed to prepare for the coming information technology revolution in the creation of the built environment:

* Advance communication (the exchange of information) processes and document distribution between all participants in the building process, and with the BIM. Services will be provided by a certified communication management vendor. All project communications, correspondence, and deliverable will be tracked, archived, and fully searchable using Internet based project communication/data management software (e.g. Constructware, Project Solve-2, Prolog) Read-only access of all data will be provided to all participants. The project owner will become the owner of the archive, and as the owner will provide, maintain, and retain this project archive.

* In order to realign the balance between a project’s assessed risk, the quality of the design documents, and the services provided by each participant in the design and construction process, insurance underwriters will change their method insuring.  All professional liability coverage and contractor bonding will be integrated into a comprehensive project specific policy paid for by the project owner allowing them to take the lead in controlling risk. Design professionals, CMs, and constructors will not need to pass the cost of insurance on to the owner allowing them to offer reduced fees. 

* The BIM is regularly audited by the project insurance underwriter allowing periodic adjustments to be made during the project in the delivery of each participant’s services and quality. The insurance underwriter will have the database rights to access the model and the project communications archive for its own peer review, performance audit, and risk management assessment.

* Insurance underwriter’s representatives will certify full time on-site construction inspectors who are trained to oversee quality and minimize risk. The insurance companies would have a new risk management market niche and offer this service within the cost of the project policy. Continuous inspections and auditing of the quality of services of each of the design and construction professionals will resultant in the lack of construction disputes and claims. This will force the quality of design and construction to improve especially due to the new technologies.

* Local municipalities in conjunction with utility companies will create their own virtual municipal infrastructure information model (say - MIM) including accurate data on streets, sidewalks, property lines, zoning information with heights, daylight planes, setbacks, underground utilities, and envelope massing of adjacent buildings. They will make this (read only) information model available on-line and down-loadable to the data model.

* The International Building Code will be translated into database format querying the model so that compliance and non-compliance conditions will be immediately known in the areas of structural regulation, fire/life safety, accessibility, and energy efficiency constraints. It will provide a score card indicating code deficiencies and non-compliance checklists, suggesting corrective measures to bring the condition back into compliance.

* State, County, and Local building, planning, fire, and public works departments will connect on-line to the BIM through the on-line permit application. Quick compliance confirmations will result from regulatory/code compliance analysis using the models integrated score card.

* Construction methodologies will fully utilize building system prefabricators to assemble factory-made components (panelized walls, floor structures, roof structures, casework, mechanical ductwork, lengths of conduits, etc.) that are fabricated using the primary BIM data.  Each physical component will be bar-coded with its matching BIM component number and assembly sequence (part A fits into part B) and readable on wireless hand-held digital tablets used on site by all trades and team members.

* Each local building product Wholesale Supplier/Distributor (WS/D) will be networked into the AEC process through its representative manufacturers. WS/Ds will provide continuous and constantly updated actual costs integrated on-line into the BIM. This will allow the owner and construction team to be confident of current and forecast actual costs throughout the design and construction. The owner will procure materials directly with WS/Ds, under a guaranteed price, pursuant to the model’s specified bill of materials. WS/Ds will be contracted prior to the completion of the model and will set particular requirements for the actual testing and confirmation of the model’s accuracy. The WS/Ds will deliver their specific products to the site sequentially based on the BIM’s recommendation for critical path purchasing, delivery, and assembly in coordination with the CM. WS/Ds are responsible for all product submittal verification pursuant to the BIM. Substitutions are then controlled by the product market and cost data available at any moment and analyzed through the BIM’s change management functions.

* The architect, engineers, WS/Ds, construction managers, constructors, builders at risk sub-trades, vendors, and inspectors will all be certified in their area of expertise beyond their traditional industry standards by project insurance underwriters on a project by project basis. They will each be selected by the owner and the underwriter on the basis of qualifications, experience in the project type, history of audited previous project relationships, compliance with their industry’s apprenticeship or internship programs, proven ability to meet the demands of the project, and lastly established rates for labor services and reimbursable expenses.  They will all be selected prior to the completion of the model and will participate in the actual testing and confirmation of the accuracy of the model.

* Architects and engineers will be able to be certified, beyond their state license, as they can demonstrate their expertise through continuing education in one or more of a given project type (Health Care, Hospitality, Residential, Education, Commercial/Office, Transportation, Government, Historic Preservation, Justice, etc.)  This certification will be awarded to the design and construction team by insurance underwriters during the owner’s selection of a specific project team.  The owner along with the Insurance underwriter will make the selection on the basis of qualifications and experience in the project type, history of audited industry relationships, compliance with Internship and apprenticeship programs, proven ability to meet the demands of the project, and lastly established rates for services and reimbursable expenses. 

* The architect will contract with a client for master planning, programming, and creative design services much as before. However the creation, modifications, maintenance, implementation, and management of the BIM database will be provided as services on retainer at billable rates, much as a tax accountant or legal counsel. This approach will be based on a long-term client relationship that begins with the need to create or expand the owner’s facilities and carries on through post construction facilities management business consultant services.  It should be a healthy successful mutual business relationship based on trust, experience and technological information delivery that could last for decades. The architect’s fee structure using the BIM approach would no longer be tied to construction as a percentage, rather, it would be based on industry-wide fee standards, valued design, and information management services, in an effort to continually assess and reassess the needs of the owner’s facilities by modeling against the life-cycle costing of the growth and operations of the owner’s enterprises – even at the level of a residence.

* Traditional general contractors will eventually evolve into two complementary but exclusive professions to clarify their roles to the public: builders at risk and construction managers.  The best builders would be responsible for building and the best managers would manage the subcontracts and the process. 

* The builder at risk will be further certified in their area of expertise by insurance underwriters for each project and selected by the owner on the basis of qualifications, experience in the project type, history of audited sub-trade relationships, compliance with their industry’s apprenticeship program, proven ability to meet the demands of the project, and lastly established rates for labor services and reimbursable expenses.  They will be selected prior to the completion of the model and will participate in the actual testing and confirmation of the accuracy of the model. The builder’s company will be responsible for only the labor to assemble the major site and building components because the cost of the materials and pre-assembly will have already been defined between the owner, the architect, the construction manager, and the fabricators/manufacturers and the WS/Ds during the final stages of completing the BIM.

* The cost of construction for the materials of a project will be established between the owner and the WS/D without mark-up by the builder.  The builder will only charge the owner for the cost of their labor and their sub-trades’ labor.

* Each traditional building sub-trade (sheet metal, electrician, plumber, etc.) will also be further certified by insurance underwriters in the area of their expertise and selected by the project team based on their qualifications, experience, references, and composition and compliance with their industry’s apprenticeship program, proven ability to meet the demands of the project, and lastly, established rates for labor services and reimbursable expenses.  They will be selected prior to the completion of the model and will participate in the actual testing and confirmation of the accuracy of the model. They will be responsible for only the labor to assemble the site and building system components because the cost of the materials and pre-assembly had already been defined between the owner and the various system fabricators during the final stages of completing the BIM. 

* The builder and each sub-trade will rely on the accuracy of layout and assembly using BIM data and its bar-coded components provided by the WS/Ds.  They will also rely on the cooperation and quality control offered by the insurance underwriter’s construction inspectors.

* The construction manager will also be further certified by insurance underwriters in the area of their expertise and selected based on their qualifications, experience in the project type, history of audited client relationships, compliance with their industry’s apprenticeship program, proven ability to meet the demands of the project, and lastly established rates for labor services and reimbursable expenses. They will be selected prior to the completion of the model and will participate in the actual testing and confirmation of the accuracy of the model.

* As owner’s representative, the construction manager will also be responsible for mobilizing the site, providing machinery infrastructure (cranes, construction elevators, etc.), managing the workflow of the builder and the other trades, and the delivery of the WS/Ds' products using the insurance underwriter’s certified project BIM to determine work flow, sequencing, construction schedule, construction progress milestones, payments to the construction team, and overall quality control through project closeout.

* The owner, the architect (providing the BIM), the design sub-consultants, the construction manager, the WS/Ds, the insurance underwriter, the builder at risk, the sub-trades, and the Internet Project Communication Vendor will all sign a collaborative partnership agreement prior to the testing of the model.

* This agreement could resolve that all participants would conduct business responsibly, with integrity and in an ethical and respectful manner; would agree to maintain a spirit of collaboration, mutual support, and mutual and fair profitability; and would promote a strong and mutual pride of workmanship each and every day for the benefit of a sustainable and quality built environment.

* What if Trade Unions evolved and changed their role to be ombudsmen and offered counseling and mediation services to all project participants, maintaining standards for ethical business behavior, respect and fairness in daily human interactions on the construction project.

* What if the industry took this opportunity of implementing BIM and parametric data driven construction systems to finally, as a nation, adopt the metric system of measurement to align with our global neighbors.

All of these recommendations can be implemented today. The recommendations paint a THINK BIG picture of an industry paradigm that is more positive, collaborative, ethical, and thriving AEC controlled, and client-driven enterprise using information technology to its most logical end and satisfying the needs of an evolving global culture and sustainable built environment for America’s future.  During the next year the AIA will host a forum and invite industry leaders from each discipline to come together and discuss the future and the needed change discussed in this series.

1 Jerry Albert Laiserin, AIA, “Invisible Computing: Designing the Information Age Practice; Computer-Aided Practice PIA – The Best of …; Copyright 1996 The American Institute of Architects; Washington, DC.

2 Term coined by Jerry Laiserin, AIA in 1994.

Philip J. Bona, Copyright © 2005