Stefan Mordue - Building Information Modeling For Dummies

Building Information Modeling For Dummies

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, www.wiley.com

This edition first published 2016

2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, West Sussex.

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1. Table of Contents

Perhaps you keep hearing about Building Information Modeling (BIM) and want to work out what all the fuss is about. You may be a complete beginner in digital design and construction, looking for the basics. You may be a confident CAD user who wants to understand what BIM brings to the party. Or maybe youre already very experienced in implementing BIM processes and youre just interested in what we have to say in Building Information Modeling (BIM) For Dummies. We understand that you could be at various stages of knowledge and levels of experience. BIM is a process and it needs people like you to fuel it.

BIM isnt just a buzzword. Its actually been around for a long time, but the foundations to make it really work werent in place before now. Weve seen BIM generate new efficiencies and new challenges too, and weve also seen how construction is hit hard by global economic recession. Our aim is to give you the push you need to start, accelerate, or maximize your use of BIM. Its our great pleasure to guide you through your BIM implementation journey.

More than likely, youve encountered a lot of conflicting, overly complicated, and unhelpful content about BIM online and in print. We intend to make Building Information Modeling (BIM) For Dummies different, cutting through all the noise and providing you with the clear advice and practical guidance that you need to make BIM a success in your job, whatever your level may be. Think of this book as a reference guide that addresses just what you need to know about BIM.

For the purposes of this book, we want to make it clear that we use the terms model and BIM to mean quite different things. Throughout the book we refer to BIM only as the concept of information modeling for buildings. We use terms like 3D CAD, 3D model, and geometric/geometry model interchangeably.

We structure this book to start with the basic concepts and ideas. We then gradually introduce more complicated, detailed, or supplementary content. Within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If youre reading this book in print and want to visit one of these sites, simply key in the web address exactly as its noted in the text, pretending that the line break doesnt exist. If youre reading it as an e-book, then you can just click the web address and the page will open in your default Internet browser.

One thing we should note is that were all based in the UK, and thats where our expertise comes from, but weve tried wherever we can to balance this with a US perspective throughout and a global reference where relevant.

BIM is such a fast-moving target that during the writing process things shifted and new documents were released. We focus on pointing out the most current versions of guidelines and protocols that we reference at the time of writing.

Now, in order to write a practical guide to BIM and not just another boring textbook, we make some assumptions about you, our dear reader. Those assumptions are as follows:

• You have some knowledge of the construction industry, probably in a professional capacity, in design, contracting, or surveying.
• Youre a student, a client, or the owner of a building from a totally different industry, but you want to have a better grasp of a typical construction project, including the contractual relationships and expected information exchanges.
• You work for a company that has an interest in incorporating BIM into your processes and workflows.

You dont need to know how to use CAD software in order to gain insight from this book, because we think the software platforms are only one part of BIM and that model technicians are just one role in many BIM responsibilities.

You also dont need to have any project management background. We explain the majority of management concepts throughout the book, but you may find understanding how to implement BIM processes easier if youve run jobs or managed a project team.

We include icons in the left-hand margins that highlight particular parts of the text you may want to remember or pay close attention to. Those icons include the following: