Improving the Design Process Quality Using BIM: A Case Study

Abstract

Given the constant search for increasing accuracy in construction projects as well as expanding efficiency on the implementation of real estate projects and meeting high quality requirements, design companies have been exploring new ways to enhance their processes, focusing on improving information flow, conceptualization and consistency in the development of their products. As a result, companies have sought BIM (Building Information Modeling) to improve their processes, but do not always decide to implement it, partly due to the limited availability of metrics that prove its efficiency. Aiming to improve this scenario, this paper presents metrics obtained before and after the implementation of BIM in a real case. Focusing on the quality improvement of design and coordination processes on projects using BIM methodology, this paper has, as object of study, a multidisciplinary design company that serves mainly the mixed use and medium-sized buildings construction market. The research method applied was the action-research, with a case study comparing the quality indicators of similar projects under 3 different scenarios: the first, elaborated using a 2D CAD tool; the second, using BIM platforms and; the third one, using BIM supplemented with the help of BIMserver, Insight and Dynamo applications. The data for analyses was gathered through the company’s management database, focusing on the analysis of the resources spent on design development and on rework due to lack of quality. It was verified that the implementation of BIM, with the proposed tools, has reduced the rework due to design errors by 42.5%.