What's a BIM?

I've heard that line over and over -- "What's a BIM?" BIM stands for Building Information Modeling and is sometimes referred to as 5D design. We all know what 3D design is, we live in a 3D world, but what is 5D? In BIM we incorporate a three dimensional model of a project with all the information associated with that project -- specs, product data, submittals, manufacturer data, OEM manuals -- and we add time and labor estimates and statistics as well as resource management.

BIM gives us a preview at what the project will look like, what material it will take to complete, what it will cost to build, and even future maintenance costs. We can schedule construction labor, project material needs, even calculate ongoing utility usage once the building is occupied. We can track our labor and material through construction and use that to evaluate our bid and fine tune future estimates. We can virtually build the building before we break ground and document every phase of construction as we proceed.

One of the major uses of BIM in the industry today is coordination between trades and scheduling the work efficiently. With our 3D models we can see conflicts before the piping starts and avoid them. We can also schedule which trade needs to work in an area, when, and avoid labor stacking conflicts. This saves both time and material. We can then provide this information to our workers for more efficient installation.

Here on the Plumbers Guide to BIM I will look at the cutting edge of design/build technology effecting the plumbing industry.