On 5th February 2020, another SmartMarket Report which is sponsored by Pinnacle Infotech was published by Dodge Data and Analytics. The report is a comprehensive study conducted among some of the mechanical and HVAC contractors who have adopted BIM in the USA. The study was performed primarily to determine:
- Level of engagement with modeling the mechanical work which the respondents have installed
- How the participants are using the data from mechanical models for coordination, quantity take-offs constructability evaluation, sequencing, shop drawings and other related workflows.
- The extent of using BIM for prefabrication and modularization
- The ways they are deploying BIM in the field
- How BIM is improving key metrics of their project performance
- The benefits these respondents are getting from using BIM
- Challenges they are facing in expanding their use of BIM
About collecting the data
The data analysis present in this report is based on the responses of an online survey conducted during November and December 2019 within 122 respondents who were contractors using BIM for Mechanical constructions.
The findings clearly demonstrate that the use of BIM is offering significant impact on mechanical and HVAC projects
A brief of the findings are given below
- Frequency of hiring external sources to work on the Mechanical Model when Mechanical Contractors don’t rely on internal resources
- This chart below shows the result for third-party BIM service providers (42%) experiencing the fastest growth
- The chart shows 52% of mechanical piping contractors taking the advantages of BIM
- 49% contractors from the Midwest are the most frequent users
Image Source: The Business Value of BIM for Mechanical and HVAC_SmartMarket Report
- Implementing BIM for Analysis
Image Source: The Business Value of BIM for Mechanical and HVAC_SmartMarket Report
- Using BIM for Prefabrication
The study reveals 87% of the respondents are using BIM for prefabrication projects
Image Source: The Business Value of BIM for Mechanical and HVAC_SmartMarket Report
- Benefits of using BIM for Prefabrication Compared With Site Construction
Mechanical and HVAC Contractors are receiving numerous benefits from using BIM for prefabrication. The chart below shows high percentage of contractors citing improvements to key metrics using BIM
Image Source: The Business Value of BIM for Mechanical and HVAC_SmartMarket Report
- Overall Benefits to Mechanical and HVAC Contractors From Using BIM
Multi Trade contractors often report improved fabrication, increased productivity and better utilization of resources.
Whereas, Mechanical piping contractors mostly report enhanced profitability and improved cost performance
Image Source: The Business Value of BIM for Mechanical and HVAC_SmartMarket Report
- Challenges that are restricting the respondents from using BIM, more!
Image Source: The Business Value of BIM for Mechanical and HVAC_SmartMarket Report
- Hiring Third party BIM service provider for accurate spatial coordination
Image Source: The Business Value of BIM for Mechanical and HVAC_SmartMarket Report
- Using BIM for Quantity Take –off for Estimation
- Smaller firms use BIM of quantity take –offs more frequently than bigger ones
- The smallest firms (46%) are suing BIM for quantity take offs as frequently as the very large (50%) firms
- The mid size companies are most reluctant to use BIM to calculate quantity take offs
Image Source: The Business Value of BIM for Mechanical and HVAC_SmartMarket Report
- Use of a BIM Services for Constructability Evaluation
The chart shows the percentage of respondents using BIM service providers to conduct constructability evaluation.
Over one third of the respondents mainly from the south regions report using BIM for constructability evaluation vs. 15% of the multiregional companies
Image Source: The Business Value of BIM for Mechanical and HVAC_SmartMarket Report
This report also shed some lights of Mechanical and HVAC firms using BIM for better construction sequencing, getting accurate shop drawings and for a better workflow. You can read the full report here: https://www.construction.com/toolkit/reports/business-value-BIM-mechanical-HVAC-construction
