BIM Automation Checklist – Right Approach & Practices for the Construction Industry

Building information modeling is at the inventive core of the great technological shift happening in the construction industry. BIM is relentlessly transforming the way the AECO processes operate. It is instilling systematic approaches and precisionary practices in the process through smart visualization, seamless coordination, and integrated reporting.

With time, as construction projects are facing more complexities in terms of technology adoption and resource configuration, it is becoming more difficult to execute and manage them through manual workflows.

Further, with new-age construction processes operating in dynamic functional environments and involving heavy-duty resource operations to meet evolved construction standards and serve competitive submission timelines, the conventional practices that rely largely on manual processes are becoming obsolete with time.

Also, as AECO professionals are finding it crucial to keep pace with the fast-evolving construction workflows and technology practices, manual processes are losing relevance faster than ever.

This is where BIM-driven automation becomes more practical and applicable, allowing teams to evade the manual hustle and adopt more streamlined and resource-efficient processes to plan and execute construction projects.

How BIM Automation Helps Construction Projects Achieve Greater Value?

With the help of BIM automation, construction teams can get systems, resources, and practices routed through a systematic plan of action and value compliance aligned with project efficiency goals. BIM process automation is driven by standardized process frameworks, digital automation tools, value-optimized delivery systems, and performance-driven iterative workflows.

BIM automation allows teams to streamline practices and minimize errors in the process while eliminating manual biases and latencies. It also allows project members to focus on design innovation and digital integration as routine project operations and repetitive tasks are managed through workflow automation.

BIM automation also enhances process coordination, as all the functionaries involved in the project have their process-wide roles, tasks, and deliverables that are co-attributed and aligned in an iterative functional process for optimum team collaboration and value engagement.

How to Implement BIM Automation within a Construction Process?

Implementing BIM automation within construction processes requires a critical assessment of current workflows and methods, followed by building a detailed execution roadmap and ensuring functional compliance across the project lifecycle.

It assumes a more viable form by implementing a standardized execution system for various functions and stages. A process map will then be developed with identified value objectives, approaches, and roles. This is implemented at the granular level and appointed throughout the process by conducting training and transferring knowledge to project professionals and stakeholders.

This requires a thorough digital process alignment and implementation of standard functional protocols, resource allocation plans, structured efficiency-enablement models, and process-rooted communication systems for consistent, accurate, and seamless project execution.

BIM Automation Checklist

Mentioned below are the primary value drivers and key parameters to consider while implementing BIM automation within your processes.

Data Validation

Data validation helps the project team in ensuring the accuracy and consistency of the data during the process of automation. It plays an important role in aligning data as per the set standards related to the implementation of structure and format. Here, it is important to maintain a unified system of naming and versioning of data. This may further include verifying the input data for file names, tag parameters, and resource elements as per the naming conventions. With the entire project data following standard guidelines of naming and representation, it facilitates the automation flow, making the process fast, error-free, and interoperable at scale.

Model Quality Check

The quality of the model needs to be measured and fine-tuned to meet the standard requirements of the project. To ensure quality in the process, details about the geometric integrity, design alignment, elemental stability, and data compliance need to be appraised across the design framework. This may be followed as per the LOD criteria of the project and accordingly validated or fixed to fulfil the standard quality requirements for detailing and presentation.

Standard Compliance

To ensure consistency throughout the process, it is important for the compliance team to adhere to the project's local codes and industry standards. The standard compliance followed within the applied system should be checked across project properties like system families, templates, and libraries. This is important for ensuring consistency with the implementation guidelines and helps with cohesively establishing compliance for transparent communication, safer data handling, and enhanced resource collaboration.

Parameter Management

Data management in a BIM model is largely driven by parameter management. The automation process requires assigning parameters to each element correctly from the beginning. This also requires maintaining records for every new entry or update, to maintain consistency across the process. When applied following the right practices as per the project’s standards, parameter management can promote smooth and flawless data operations, which in turn facilitate value analysis and decision-making across the project lifecycle.

Clash Detection and Resolution

Automated clash detection can help resolve the conflicts between different components and workflows exhaustively across the system with the help of predefined value parameters. Automated processes are not just fast, but they can also help with efficient handling and organization of conflicting elements and clashing functions for smooth and flawless coordination. Automated parameter updates and clash reporting help achieve process efficiency while reducing the chances of costly rework in the process.

Drawing and Documentation Automation

Automating the production of construction drawings and documents through advanced BIM tools and artificial intelligence programs can reduce manual errors and turnaround time to a great extent. While doing this, one needs to ensure that all files are created and updated according to the updated documentation guidelines. Also, verify if all the document elements including annotations and title blocks are placed as per the documentation standards. Further, thoroughly verify if the documents are updated as per the latest project information and reflect the latest work updates. These initial checks sanitize the process and help optimize processing time and accuracy at length.

Data Export and Reporting

Project data related to costs, materials, and schedules can be exported across systems with higher assurance of security, integrity, and consistency through automated processes. Here, BIM automation services can serve project owners in developing an integrated system for data export and reporting so that data can have a smooth flow through the channel. While doing this, it is advisable to verify and validate data metrics, formats, and structures as per the defined protocols and standards to get the best results with the automated workflows.

Model Coordination

To integrate different disciplines like architecture, structure, and MEP within the system, it requires seamless functional compliance and process-wide resource alignment. This gets even more important if the projects involve complex operations and run over a stretch of time. Such projects need automation support to streamline workflows for precise model coordination. BIM automation plays a significant role here by running automated application checks over the model to identify existing functional conflicts and possible elemental gaps that may occur due to modifications and fix them in time to avoid any issues later in the final stages.

Project-Specific Requirements

While setting up automation for any project, it is important to look into its specific needs. The automation settings need to be adjusted based on the project-specific requirements of model detailing, compliance practices, and system deliverables. Before planning for automation, make sure the automation process is attuned to implement and integrate third-party tools and supporting scripts as required. To ensure project-specific automation is planned and defined well, the process needs to be defined well at all implementation points and application factors across the length.

Conclusion

BIM automation is proving to be a leap in technological application in the modern construction landscape. It is not just the problem-solver attending to complex workflows to efficiently manage time-consuming tasks and resolve system conflicts but also a transformative force and value-enabler for controlling costs and optimizing the turnaround time for overall project success. To implement automation in the project process cohesively and sustainably, it is important to adopt the right approach and align it with apt practices, perceptively running it through the BIM automation checklist furnished above. Applying automation cautiously, keeping it aligned with the project's specific requirements, keeps the process sanitized and compliant throughout to achieve the best results through automation.

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