Expert Sees 4D, 5D BIM ‘Taking Off’

Expect the use of 4D and 5D building information modeling (BIM) technology to flourish in the future, Turner Construction’s Treighton Mauldin told a group of construction professionals attending a webinar that WPL Publishing held April 17. He sees 4D, which addresses scheduling, and 5D, which involves estimating, “taking off because they bring all of the aspects of a plan, an estimate, a model, and a schedule into one environment that can be easily monitored and managed and communicated to the rest of the team, which is a huge benefit, and it really starts to eliminate errors in communication, miscommunication, and, in the end, makes people more money.”

This is not to suggest that such significant growth will take place without some people encountering some difficulties with the technology, Mauldin suggested. Regarding 4D, for example, he explained that the user experience is not always optimal. “Usually, the biggest hurdle to using 4D is people don’t know where to start with it.” He reported that many project teams believe they need to tie their entire models to their schedules, “which isn’t the case and that’s not always the best way to do it. Obviously, when you start and implement, you need to clearly define the goal that you want to accomplish with using the 4D…. It doesn’t need to be the entire model; it can be a portion, and that’s actually the way that I’ve gotten the most benefit out of it.”

Mauldin further recommended that planners be the ones to manage 4D models. “Whoever is doing the planning on site -- whether it be the scheduler, the project engineer, the superintendent, or … a ‘BIM guy’ ” -- should be the person managing 4D, he said.

For 4D, Mauldin said he prefers Synchro software over comparable programs from Navis, Bentley, and others. "I prefer Synchro because of its ease of use. It’s got a built-in scheduling tool, so you don’t need to have an additional scheduling tool. You can schedule right in Synchro. You can model in Synchro, you can divide models in Synchro, and it has a very user-friendly interface.”

Benjamin Crosby, BIM director for Yates Construction, also said he has encountered some misconceptions about BIM technology. "I have talked to lots of people. They always want to get a model or they want to get the model, and they think that it’s done and complete and ready to build off of. I’m trying to explain to them that there are levels to the model and it builds as the design comes along, and as construction comes in, you’re adding to it and you’re fleshing it out….”

There is also a common misunderstanding about the differences between BIM, 3D CADD, and FlyThroughs, Crosby said. “They’re all wonderful, and they can all be used to what state they need to be used, but they are different things. I’m constantly trying to re-explain that as I’m bringing people up.”

Concerning tablet technology, Crosby reported that he “constantly” finds himself saying "‘OK, we’re buying these tablets for the superintendents. We have a program to use it. It’s not a toy for them to play with.’ The superintendents realize that it’s a working tool. It’s trying to convince the people that are actually spending the money that they aren’t just going to be toys, that they are actually going to be used.”

During the webinar, John Jurewicz, who leads BIM integration efforts for Lend Lease, provided attendees the following chart of the different types of BIM:

To inquire about purchasing a recording of the webinar, entitled “BIM Models and Information Technology in the Field: How Contractors and CMs are Leveraging Project Data During Construction” (part of the “BIM Roadmap 2012” webinar series), call WPL Publishing at (301) 765-9525.