Here are some tips for Preventing and Solving Construction Defects with BIM

The construction industry is faced with the problem of defects in buildings on a regular basis. It will be easier for all parties involved to navigate the system if you can understand the issues and take simple steps to prevent them from occurring in the first place.

Construction Defects Types

Design

Typically, design defects are the result of an unorganized and inaccurate construction document from the design team. There are many ways in which these defects can occur, such as omissions or errors. A change order is typically used to fix omissions that require an additional scope of work by one or more contractors.

Material

When a building material is damaged, either directly from the manufacturer or after it has been installed, it is considered to be a material defect. Material defects can be particularly costly; it’s not uncommon to discover them only after a contractor uses them. The problem is especially acute when it comes to defective materials.

Workmanship

When you think of construction defects, you usually think of workmanship defects. When components or structures are built improperly, they occur due to failure to follow the project’s documents. Workmanship defects can range from aesthetic problems to structural issues. In either case, allocating responsibility and fixing the defect can be a complicated process.

Communication

Due to lack of communication, project stakeholders, construction crews, office staff, and contractors fail to complete the project, resulting in construction defects. Besides rework, excessive delays, budget and cost overruns, and safety hazards, poor communication can also cause billions of dollars in rework. It is one of the most important aspects of project management and the construction industry overall.

How to Solve Construction Defects

Gather Your Documents in One Place

The use of outdated building drawings by subcontractors is a common cause of construction defects. Design errors have been corrected on these old drawings in the latest building models.

This type of issue can be significantly minimized if all stakeholders have access to the most current information. By ensuring everyone has immediate access to important documentation on-site, you can prevent construction defects caused by inefficient document management.

Through the use of construction management software like BIM, companies can avoid the loss and damage of documents and speed up the distribution of files among teams by moving from paper to digital forms.

Using a digital platform like BIM is a great way to manage your documentation so that all users will have access to the latest revisions, reviews, and comments in the same place.

Choosing Right Material

It is important to use only the materials specified in the building plan when constructing a building to minimize defects. In spite of the temptation to replace one material with a cheaper one, it could backfire if the cheaper alternative turns out to be the culprit.

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The Role of BIM in Facilities Management

What do you mean by Facility Management?

Once the building has been constructed and handed over, facility management begins. Throughout the lifecycle of a building, it is a continuous process. As part of this process, the asset and its content equipment, space, furnishings, etc are managed optimally. Facilities management involves all the activities that integrate business administration, asset management, maintenance, contract management, renovations, and refurbishments.

BIM in Facility Management

Both buildings and the technology used to control them are becoming smarter. Building Information Modeling is one of the most popular technologies that organisations may use today (BIM). It helps with the process of extracting measurable information from physical settings is the next stage in the digitalization of facilities.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) allows professionals to refer to and use a central database for maintaining the life of the building. With BIM, a complete database is provided of the structure, plumbing structure, floor plan, space requirements, furnishings, equipment, electrical, etc. In every small detail with regard to its service period, manuals, replacement period, etc.

The detailed guide at this level helps managers achieve operational efficiency at the lowest possible cost.

Functions of BIM in Facility management

Efficient usage of Energy

In addition to having a negative impact on the environment, efficient energy use has a high operating cost as well. In building construction, energy efficiency is of great importance. Facility managers and owners can use BIM to analyze costs and compare alternative options in order to reduce the cost of energy by adopting the most feasible and environmentally friendly option.

Continuous monitoring of the building’s performance over time and other factors, such as comfort, water consumption, electricity consumption, etc., can also be carried out, allowing alternative proposals to be implemented if needed. Information provided by BIM helps formulate the best energy consumption strategy at the lowest cost.

Manages lifecycles more effectively

The building element’s lifetime data is extremely important since it is necessary to predict when it needs to be replaced and how much capital upgrade will cost. The facility manager or owner can use BIM models to analyse the advantages of investing in materials and systems that may have a one-time cost but have a long-lasting effect that gives better payback over the lifecycle of the building by including building design data, such as life expectancy and replacement cost.

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The Importance & Impact of BIM for Structural Engineers in Different Job Roles

There is a special place in the construction industry for structural engineers. These highly skilled team members move between the office and the job site creatively and practically. Nearly every member of the construction team is impacted by their decisions. They lend their expertise to a variety of projects.

Safety Experts

It is arguably one of the most important aspects of a structural engineer’s job. Structural engineers conduct safety audits and inspections every day, whether it’s assessing a construction project or inspecting an existing building for reported structural issues. A complex inspection should record and action regardless of its complexity.

BIM allows users to access it through any computer log on to sites. Building regulations comply with predefined templates. Furthermore, they can be customized for specific site irregularities and client needs.

Construction Audit

Using this new audit template for future projects can be easily adapted and saved for future use. Once the audit is completed, it is automatically backed up in the cloud and stored in the site project, ready to be integrated into site reports upon handover. A major advantage of this tool is that it makes it easy to take action on any concerns found in the report.

Construction workers or specialists can be assigned these tasks, along with deadlines. Dashboards allow you to keep track of all actions at a glance. In addition to automating logging, site diaries can also be compiled easily every day.

Designers

Software plays an important part in supporting the first element of structural engineering. There are many design tools AutoCAD and RISA general 3D design software, as well as STAAD.Pro structural analysis software and a variety of niche and structure specific tools. As BIM models become more popular, they are becoming more and more popular.

Government projects have become increasingly dependent on 3D modeling software, and private projects of all sizes are increasingly requesting it.

Problem Solver

Often, structural engineers are forced to deal with unforeseeable problems. The structural engineering profession contributes to building structures that last longer, require less maintenance, and have a lower environmental impact by understanding materials and their properties.

Through BIM, users can view a single source of truth for all components of a construction project, manage audits completed by structural engineers, and transmit the results of those actions to construction teams. In addition to voice notes, images, and voice recordings, defects can also be logged along with their location on the digital plan.

Communications

Communicating with other team members is a key to creating sustainable structures. Structure engineers will have daily contact with architects, designers, site managers, and health and safety officers, so collaboration is essential. The necessary actions can be viewed on smart phones by construction teams. In addition, push notifications provide information on the progress of the task.

Project Handover

Handover of the project is the ultimate solution to any problem. Reporting is easy with BIM’s easy templates and automatic data collection.

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Revit families: Different types

Families are essentially a collection of objects with a shared set of characteristics known as Parameters and the corresponding graphical representation. It is essential to utilizing the Software that we understand how everything in the Revit platform relates to a family.

Every element we employ, including Walls, Columns, Mechanical Equipment, and Annotation Tags, belongs to the Revit family, which has a clear hierarchy. The hierarchy’s highest level are the Revit Categories, which cannot be added to, changed, or eliminated.

There are two main families of Revit Categories:-

1. Texts, tags, and dimensions are among the components that make up an annotation category.
2. All elements contained inside the building model, such as doors, windows, floors, and walls, fall under the model categories.

Revit family types

A general classification of Revit families can be made as follows:-

Families related to System

The System Families are the fundamental components that come together on a building site. They are pre-defined components in the Revit platform, and the Revit User Interface cannot be used to add or remove them.

The specifications for these kinds of families are already pre-defined, so you don’t even need to import them into your projects or save them somewhere else. However, inside a System Family, we can replicate and change the “Types.”

‘Types’ are merely groups of variables that may be added, changed, or removed according to the user’s requirements. The reason for this is that most system families are made up of many types in order to be customized to meet the needs of individual projects.

Families related to Component

Standard component families, commonly referred to as loadable families, contain parts that are typically bought, transported, and installed in buildings.

Families that may be loaded include, for instance, doors, windows, furniture, water heaters, and plumbing fixtures. According to the needs of the project, these user-defined families may be established and adjusted in Revit.

The Loadable Families, in contrast to System Families, may be stored as external RFA files and imported into projects as needed.

As a consequence, models are produced more quickly and with greater accuracy. Architects may immediately import the components that are currently accessible in the active project.

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An improvement in Revit’s 3D graphics is in the works

There are going to be many changes and improvements to the 3D graphics of Revit. A new graphics engine will improve Revit and 3ds Max performance, among other applications, according to Autodesk.

A ray-tracing engine will also be integrated directly into the viewport in the ‘next-generation’ system, boosting visual quality. Regardless of the graphics hardware and complexity of the model, it should be possible for users to switch between a shaded view and a photorealistic view easily.

One Graphics System (OGS) was completely restructured with the new viewport system, which takes vector data and converts it to pixels using rasterization.

Modern Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) are notoriously hard to use in Revit. In 2015, the ‘draw visible elements only’ feature was added to the graphics engine, which has only seen a few improvements over the years.

Other updates and improvements

While Revit uses an older graphics API, the frequency of the CPU remains a major bottleneck for its 3D performance, as it is with many other tools that use older graphics APIs. When working with large models, the GPU resources on AEC Magazine’s workstations are often underutilized, resulting in poor 3D performance.

This needs to be addressed by Autodesk’s new viewport system, which should allow users to view their models more smoothly without having to rely on software to simplify them.

The use of modern graphics APIs such as DirectX 12 and Vulkan will allow Autodesk’s applications to communicate directly with the GPU hardware rather than routing everything through a graphics driver and make better use of multi-core CPUs.

Modern graphics cards, including Nvidia RTX and AMD and Intel GPUs, support hardware-based ray tracing as well.

Tools to be improved

Nvidia GTC showtime

Real-time ray tracing was used rather than shaded views to assess performance.

Architects, engineers, and designers can switch to full ray-traced quality at the click of a button when working on a model in the viewport. Currently, Revit is dependent on CPU rendering, which can be slow and produce mixed results.

The new engine, according to reports is aimed at offering a real-time experience similar to game engines. While photorealism is important, performance is a top priority.

Reports indicate that non-rendering experts will have no problem using it. Similarly, Revit’s wireframe, shaded, and realistic modes will be paired with this new style.

Nvidia GTC showtime

An Autodesk Inventor-based welding robot model was demonstrated as a path traced reference application. Autodesk Inventor 2022 uses a rasterisation engine that is not as photorealistic as the one used by Autodesk Inventor’s earlier versions.

An environment light and a single directional light lit the scene. In the demonstration, several aspects of the render quality in this scene, including contact hardening soft shadows, realistic ambient occlusion, and glossy reflections, focus on the subtle reflection of a red socket on a black surface where highlighted.

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What every Revit user should know in 2023: 10 Tips and Tricks

Revit is a vital tool for architects, engineers, and construction professionals looking to streamline their building information modeling processes. With its powerful features and versatility, Revit can help you design, build, and maintain structures with greater accuracy and efficiency. To get the most out of this software, it is essential to understand the tips and tricks that can improve your workflow and productivity.

Revit is powerful BIM (Building Information Modeling) software that enables architects, engineers, and construction professionals to design, build, and maintain structures with accuracy and efficiency.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are a quick and easy way to speed up your Revit workflow. Common shortcuts include the “Q” key for quick access, “Ctrl + Tab” to switch between open views, and “Ctrl + Shift + Tab” to cycle through open views. Familiarize yourself with these and other keyboard shortcuts to streamline your process.

Quick Select

The Quick Select tool is a great way to quickly select multiple elements in your Revit model. To access Quick Select, you can right click on an element and select “Quick Select”. From there, you can select elements based on parameters such as type, category, and phase.

Use Worksets for Collaboration

Revit’s workset feature allows multiple users to work on the same model at the same time. You can create worksets for different parts of the model, such as walls, roofs, and MEP systems, and assign them to different team members. This helps to minimize the risk of conflicting changes and ensures that everyone is working with the most up-to-date information.

Reference Planes

Reference planes are a powerful tool in Revit that allow you to easily create and manage constraints in your model. You can use reference planes to define symmetry, align elements, and control the orientation of elements. Reference planes can also be used to create section cuts and elevations, making them a versatile tool for any Revit user.

Family Creation

Families are reusable components that can be used to quickly populate your model with elements such as doors, windows, and furniture. Creating custom families allows you to have control over the appearance and behavior of these elements, and can also help to streamline your workflow.

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Top best features of new Revit 2023

The Revit Factory has finally announced that Revit 2023 has been released and is being rolled out globally. Lots of developers are thrilled about this update because it makes Revit faster, easier to use, and more tailored to your workflow.

With more than 30 feature requests derived from Revit Ideas, it is Revit continually evaluated against your developing needs.

It strikes a balance between minor improvements and significant new additions:

1. Improvements that make life better today,
2. Also, the game-changing innovations for the future, like the new granular Data Exchange workflows enabled with Revit 2023 and Autodesk Docs in the AEC Collection.
3. The new Revit really revs, with various speed upgrades designed to facilitate quicker processing, particularly when dealing with big models.

Highlighted Revit 2023 features

Expansion and fine-tuning of go-to modeling tools

The 2023 release is jam-packed with updates that address everything from procedures for documentation to standard design.

Since removing sharp edges from instruments you’re already familiar with, your work will immediately benefit. Scheduling by sheet, for instance, will guarantee that the information in your documentation sets is accurate.

Conditional formatting has now been included in crucial schedules for families and types as a result of a Revit community upgrade. Additionally, there are new settings for the labeling and presentation of displaced objects, which further clarify complex annotations.

Working with flexibility

The demand for greater speed, variety, and quality control that clients will value motivates structural engineers to switch to a new analytical modeling process.

Model in the context of 2D and 3D views to define design intent independently from the physical model, or begin with a parametric, analysis-first approach to developing the analytical model based on the engineering requirements for structures such as buildings, roofing structures, pavilions, stairs, and more.

It has more automated steel connection libraries, including adaptive placement and improved visualization, and several enhancements for rebar. Revit 2023 offers a more comprehensive toolkit for structural engineers and detailers.

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Create 3D Renderings with Lumion for Revit

It’s a great way to obtain good quality views on your projects promptly by using Lumion software. You can enhance your Revit skills with this. This BIM system offers 3D drawing capabilities that are intelligent. Architectural, engineering, and construction firms use Autodesk Revit as the main design tool.

For architects who want to convey their vision using a Revit model, Lumion rendering software is the ideal solution. Lumion creates a live connection to your Revit project even if you have no experience with 3D rendering.

It is possible to capture your project in a compelling, immersive way in less than an hour, whether it is a real-life context or a conceptual one.

It allows you to quickly create images, videos, and 360-degree panoramas that are suitable for VR, and Lumion shows your design in a thick forest next to the ocean.

Real time rendering with Lumion Live-Sync for Revit

Lumion Live-Sync is a free plug-in that allows you to link your Revit modeling project with your Lumion rendering project in real time. Download the Live-Sync plug-in from the Lumion website and install it in Revit to quickly connect the two programs so you can make changes to the model in Revit and Lumion will reflect them in real time.

You can always see how your BIM choices affect the photorealistic or conceptual representation of your project when you’re in the early stages of design, for example. You can alter how the light flows in the living room by changing its dimensions.

Make sure the design concept for the roof fits with the project’s real-life neighborhood by testing it out. Take a walk on a crystal-clear night through an office building or a landscape design on a rainy morning.

Workflow of Lumion

It is possible to shape a mountain, a hill, or create a river or lake. More than 5,600 models are included in the library of content, making it easy to create realistic exteriors, interiors, urban and rural scenes in a matter of minutes. When you import your model into Lumion, you can easily illustrate the beauty of your designs in your design’s real-life or conceptual context due to the intuitive world-building environment. More than 1200 customizable materials in the content library allow you to make the design truly stand out, giving your clients a lasting impression.

2 Key ways importing Revit Models into Lumion

A. Export from Revit to Lumion

There is no compatibility issue between Lumion and CAD or 3D modeling programs or file formats. The Live-Sync design creates a seamless experience between your Mac and PC, but you can also export your project as a Collada.

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What is the benefit of using the latest technology like BIM in Wastewater?

Asset management becomes more efficient when you combine wastewater treatment with the latest technologies like BIM, SCADA, PLC, & drones. It is important for the human health & environment while having water & wastewater treatment.

Technology Integration

Building Information Modeling (BIM)

Infrastructure projects around the world are taking advantage of advanced technologies such as Building Information Modeling or BIM. There is acceleration in the implementation of BIM for water projects. Using BIM improves water projects with a higher level of client satisfaction.

A BIM model improves the design and development of a project. In the water sector, Dodge Data research reveals that multi-party collaboration results in reduced errors and conflicts and better communication through 3D visualization because of BIM.

When users realize how BIM supports the entire facility lifecycle, they are more likely to mandate its use and gain an advantage over the competition. Using BIM will enable engineers and contractors to improve project delivery and owners to manage assets and operations more effectively.

Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition Systems (SCADA)

Wastewater treatment plants also benefit from supervisory control and data acquisition systems. It is standard practice to use SCADA systems, and updating to cloud based SCADA systems can improve reliability and efficiency.

In water management plants, chemical and toxin levels can be monitored with a cloud based supervisory control and data acquisition system. In addition to providing precise records, the SCADA system also facilitates easy access to those records from anywhere. From any satellite or WIFI-enabled device, managers or operators can access data anytime.

Data collected from polluted areas in real-time can be compared, studied, and shared with investigators quickly and efficiently using a cloud based SCADA system. A thorough analysis of the data points will lead to the best information, and that will in turn lead to more rapid action by investigators.

Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) Using Human Machine Interference (HMI)

A Human Machine Interface is used in conjunction with Programmable Logic Controllers to operate Water Treatment Plants. Installing the PLC and HMI system can be accomplished by wastewater treatment managers, ensuring minimal downtime.

Monitoring wastewater treatment systems with innovative Human Machine Interface Systems is effective. Chemical & engineering decisions can be made by PLCs to optimize treatment. HMI systems typically include graphical controls for monitoring all aspects of water treatment systems, including chemical usage, system history, pH, tank levels, and alarms.

Displaying information on a high resolution touchpad screen makes monitoring the system easy.

Drone

With drones, costs can be reduced, operational efficiency can be improved, and clean water can be delivered more efficiently. In order for water treatment facilities to provide freshwater to their municipalities, they have to deal with energy consumption, overhead costs, and infrastructure failures.

By using drones, plant managers can collect visual information that can help them identify energy-saving opportunities, like areas losing water and modify the area to improve infiltration of storm water.

There are various useful ways to use drones for managing wastewater treatment requirements in the wastewater treatment sector & analysts making projections.

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A Complete Guide to New Rivit 2022: What Are the New Highlights?

Purchasing Autodesk Revit 2022 became available on April 6th, 2022. IT administrators, students, and educators can purchase an educational license from Autodesk.

There are many things you can do with Revit. Applicants must check if they meet the requirements outlined by Autodesk. You are implementing more efficient design to documentation workflows, enhancing interoperability for project teams across all design phases. It is also improving design products that will enhance your experience when working with Revit.

Integration Improvement

Revit 2022 can easily integrate with everyday tools. It is now possible to work round-trip from Revit 2022 to Rhino and FormIt Pro. You can import the model into Revit using a link feature. Revit 2022 can also instantly incorporate Rhino modeling updates into current working models. That enables all teams to access updates to the model. Using the interoperable option 3D Sketch, Revit models can also be transferred to FormIt and modified.

Scheduling & Tagging

To help you communicate design intent and create design deliverables, Revit 2022 incorporates several tagging and scheduling features. Several improvements to schedules, annotations, tags, and setting up projects will make them more precise, faster, and less prone to errors. With Revit’s Rotated Tags, flexible revision numbers, slopes, elevations, and grids in 3D views, designers can clearly communicate their intent and capture design intent.

A Wide Range of Options awaits at Revit 2022

Architects, in particular, will benefit from the improved modeling and informed design features in this release. In addition to tapered walls and slanted wall profiles, Revit 2022 includes new categories that make it easier to model common design elements, such as food and medical equipment, vertical circulation, and more. Furthermore, it comes with the latest updates to the Generic Design and Route Analysis tools. So you can make better design decisions based on more informed geometric analysis.

The improved documentation tools will benefit engineers of all stripes. Steel connections and rebar improvements have also been added for structural engineers, further expanding their capabilities. Scheduling improvements in Revit make it easier to document design intent for MEP engineers and fabricators. Enhancements were made to the Design to Fabrication tool to provide a smoother, more consistent workflow. Mechanical system analysis is directly displayed in Revit with detailed load and sizing reports, as well as energy analyses in 3D views.

Upgrade Features of Modeling

Rebar Modeling

As well as improving rebar modeling, the new version is also faster. Engineers can now design and place rebar elements easily in beams, columns, and slabs. Modeling the reinforcement also requires accurate measurements of the re-bars diameter. Taking these measurements will also eliminate rebar clashes. Structural representations are now more accurate and fast. In Revit 2022, you can record the loads that are borne by various building systems. That helps you determine the size of the system elements.

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