A Definition of Model Information Content for Strategic BIM Implementation

In response to the increased early workflow implied by BIM processes it is important for design consultants to focus on creating and communicating information that is critical for its purpose (Jernigan 2008) - be it model content for 3d Design Coordination at scheme design stage, or Cost Estimation at Design Development stage, or generation of a suitable Record Model for Facilities Management. Today, with many of the technological matters of integrated information management dealt with (perhaps excluding the matter of interoperability), defining the content and status of BIM information deliveries remains both a practical and theoretical problem.
A development of a participant-friendly method of articulating BIM content is required to clarify what information is needed when and conversely what information is indeed not needed to implement a BIM process at a particular stage in a construction project. Priority must be placed on the information that is vital for current tasks without getting distracted by desires to populate models with additional or other information or objects masking the absence of key information. Here there is a lack of existing knowledge to solve this practical problem.
New BIM tools and new design processes and procedures have led to a certain confusion of what information is needed when for particular BIM uses. This report seeks to explore and enable a method of defining the content of model information deliverables through a review of 2 key primary specific BIM uses: 3d Design Coordination and Early Energy Appraisal through an analysis of practical application.
The scope of this study is limited to a review of information flow within residential projects in a Swedish context and looks at two case projects with a view to identifying and establishing a common definition of the key BIM objects and properties necessary for particular tasks. The study follows a case construction project together with an experimental pilot design project with the purpose of extracting and recording what data is needed to carry out parallel and sequential BIM uses with optimised efficiency. By mapping both processes and the precise information needed to successfully carry out tasks, improved productivity can be realised and a greater quality of design output produced.
The key deliverable from this study is the BIM-Info Delivery Protocol (IDP) which attempts to align consultant BIM-Info delivery expectations and represents a tangible solution to assist consultant disciplines manage BIM-Info