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Current Filter: CAD>>>>>Review> 4BIM Editorial Type: Review Date: 05-2014 Views: 6187 Key Topics: CAD Construction BIM Key Companies: 4Projects Key Products: 4BIM Key Industries: Government | |||
| 4Projects by Viewpoint adds 4BIM to its Cloud-based Enterprise Collaboration solutions, providing the prospect of real savings within the construction industry, says David Chadwick The Government's Construction Strategy has served its purpose admirably, focusing people's minds on BIM, whether they are directly involved through participation in a public sector construction project, where they have to be utilising collaborative BIM to Level 2 standard on the BIM maturity index by 2016, or in private sector collaboration, where the concept promises to deliver efficiency savings without Government coercion. If the Government's intention was to inject purpose into an industry struggling through a deep recession at the time the policy was introduced then it has certainly succeeded. If its aim was to save money on public construction projects then it has to be said that it has succeeded there as well as, besides the BIM process enhancing the practice and spirit of collaboration between all members of a project team, it has introduced a high degree of inspection and visibility to construction projects, which has ironed out wasteful and costly practices. The other benefit has been the drawing-in of all other members of a project team - including those outside the design and construction process itself, who still need the information held within the model to send out tenders for construction, organise suppliers and material deliveries, schedule the construction process, ensure legal obligations are met and safety standards maintained. And, of course, to manage the property after construction, a process that is said to comprise up to 70% of the total cost of the life of a building. It is in these areas where savings can now be made. Access to information held within the Building Information Model and associated documents, therefore, has switched from CAD software developers to companies like 4Projects by Viewpoint, Cloud-collaboration specialists who deliver enterprise collaboration tools to the whole industry, using SaaS (Software as a Service) tools to manage and share information on every aspect of a construction project. It is their experience that will enable construction projects to meet the savings that the Government is demanding.
GETTING TO GRIPS WITH IFC The principal feature of 4BIM is a browser based Viewer that provides access to IFC model data to anyone on the team, whether they have CAD training or not, and without requiring them to have the originating CAD software installed on their system. This, of course, is a fundamental principle of COBie, the delivery system being developed by the BIM Task Group subsequent to the handing over of projects to Facilities Management after their construction. Where the IFC data is deficient in information (the conversion of model data into standard IFC format varying quite considerably depending on the originating software) 4BIM provides a Review system, enabling different specialities within a project team to review and tag IFC model elements with the data they and others will subsequently require - specifications, supplier details, energy needs - linking data and documents to the model. 4BIM also comes with an integrated Model Server which allows BIM models and files to be brought together from all construction disciplines and merged for full collaborative review and markup. 4BIM accompanies the collaborative review process with extensive revision level tracking, accountability of use and audit trails that keep track of the latest versions of both models and documents. It also highlights and informs project team members of any revisions, introductions or changes made that they need to be aware of through its active messaging system. 4BIM users also have access to the wealth of other collaborative tools that 4Projects has developed for its clients: Information and Document Management; Communications Management; Forms; Process and Workflow Management; Organisation and Reporting, Integration and Asset Management; KPI and Financial Control; Change Management, and so on. These are supplied using predefined templates, or customised to suit your own requirements. All of this is backed up by Team Directories and Calendars, providing contact details of everyone working on a project or across an entire enterprise, supplemented by a Dashboard for project teams to visualise tasks and activities that require action. Discussion Forums can be integrated with email to provide a simple way for teams to collaborate on points of discussion. eForms enables users to create bespoke online form templates, which are simple to distribute and complete. GeoView integration provides yet another feature, the dynamic and interactive GeoTag tool, for tagging and geolocating projects, assets, and folders for an enhanced 'dashboard' perspective.
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