More building owners and general contractors are implementing building information modeling (BIM) in their commercial projects.
While BIM is helpful to the building owners, it can pose a challenge for those companies trying to comply.
The Need for BIM Compliance
As BIM becomes a popular requirement for commercial buildings, manufacturers are recognizing the need for BIM compliance. (Image courtesy of Thomas Enterprise Solutions.)
Building product manufacturers (BPMs) have a tricky task with BIM. BPMs themselves do not need to be BIM compliant, but many of their contractor clients do need to comply in order to participate in building projects.
This presents BPMs with a wave of requests for CAD models from clients, which can result in a frenzy to assemble information and present an accurate model.
These companies could continue the current process of on-demand model drafting, but the issue with this plan is that BIM compliance requests are only going to increase as more and more building owners begin to use BIM for their projects.
That leaves BPMs in a difficult position. Without the appropriate formats of models for their products, they could be left out of building projects and schedules altogether.
It is possible for these manufacturers to create their own BIM models, but many of them have hundreds of products. In many cases, this just isn’t a realistic solution.
Uponor: Facing Numerous Requests for CAD/BIM Files
Uponor's wide range of products, including in-floor heating systems like the one pictured, made on-demand model creation implausible. (Image courtesy of Uponor.)
Uponor is a mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) parts manufacturer. It works with contractors and clients to provide materials and advice for plumbing, hydronic and radiant heating and cooling projects. The Uponor product lines feature just over 400 individual parts.
As a BPM, Uponor found that the industry shift toward BIM led its customers to request models of products so that they could be BIM compliant for their projects.
The company was able to generate models on-demand to keep their customers happy, but it was a very labor-intensive and time-consuming process.
“We really didn’t have much CAD data publicly available,” said Mike Rivers, design services manager at Uponor. Instead, Uponor handled product model requests on a case-to-case basis.
Models were created from 2D static drawings and then the appropriate metadata would be written and included. If a client came back later and requested a different format for another project or for the same product after a design change, the process would begin again.
The static drawings were kept on file but were not in a highly-controlled environment, making changes to products difficult to follow and maintain.
The Various Approaches to BIM compliance
There is more than one way to become BIM-ready.
Rather than respond to individual requests, Uponor decided that the best solution was to create a BIM library to provide product models to clients on demand.
There are a couple ways they could accomplish that.
- Uponor could create its own library and models including all of the necessary meta-data. However, establishing a library is more difficult than simply creating a model in Revit and then making carbon copies of the geometry in other formats. Without proper metadata, models can misbehave and cause serious design issues.
- Uponor could use a third-party BIM services company to create a comprehensive library. Using an external service also helps with keeping models up-to-date in a range of file formats. Several companies including SmartBIM and CADENAS offer these types of services. Uponor chose Thomas Enterprise Solutions to create its BIM library.
Finding a BIM Solution
“[T]he engineering guys get dragged into this BIM challenge,” said Dave Bandi, strategic director of AEC/BIM Solutions at Thomas. He explained that engineers at MEP manufacturers like Uponor are tasked with rendering BIM models, but in many cases try to save time by using identical geometries and creating static files.
An example of the customized BIM catalog created for Uponor by Thomas Enterprise Solutions. (Image courtesy of Uponor.)
A further challenge is capturing the right metadata. Without their metadata, these models lose key aspects of the MEP side of BIM. Suddenly, pipes don’t know their temperature ratings and connectors don’t know their pressure ratings.
Thomas created its BIM service to solve the issue for civil and structural engineers with BPM companies. The service provides a central BIM catalog based on the company’s Navigator technology that is then customized for the manufacturer. It features a relatively simple model creation process:
- The manufacturer sends a product and its information to Thomas;
- The product is rendered into multiple formats with the appropriate meta-information;
- The model is then stored in a database managed by Thomas and synced with the manufacturer’s environment where it can be accessed by customers.
The process to update product models and information is also relatively straightforward. For instance, when Uponor initiates a change, the product’s information is updated in a schema and then forwarded to Thomas developers.
These developers update the model in Uponor’s catalog and send it back for approval. The change is live on the site within 24 hours of approval.
A Comprehensive BIM System
The Thomas BIM solution has several useful features that appeal to companies in Uponor’s position.
- It renders models in all relevant file formats including STEP, Revit, DWG, ProE, SOLIDWORKS and AutoCAD MEP.
- It creates models dynamically as they are requested, so there is no need to manage out-of-date static files.
- Libraries are synced daily to the website for the customer’s ease of access.
- It provides metadata for product models, including details such as part numbers and relevant building standards.
Uponor began to implement the Thomas BIM solution about two years ago and so far it has had significant implications for the company. One notable benefit is the ease and efficiency with which Uponor can create and update its product information.
“It’s all based on one consistent set of metadata that we control,” said Rivers.
The Importance of BIM for MEP
With the use of BIM, BPMs like Uponor have greater opportunities for inclusion in building schedules. (Image courtesy of Uponor.)
“The MEP side of BIM is really just starting to take off,” said Rivers. It is an emerging market where BIM library developers like Thomas Enterprise Solutions play a huge role.
“There are projects that are looking for a set system with BIM files for a specific job,” said Rivers. “We get the job simply because we had the content in the right format.”
In the first two phases of BIM adoption, Uponor had over 250 individual parts to catalog with more coming in future phases. With this amount of product options, it would be impossible to maintain a manual system to respond to customer’s requests for models in a timely manner.
The ease of access provided by the BIM system from Thomas is one of the biggest sellers for Uponor’s current customers, according to Rivers.
For more information about the implementation of a BIM library system from Thomas Enterprise Solutions, read the company’s whitepaper Becoming BIM Ready: The Risks of Doing Nothing.
Thomas Enterprise Solutions has sponsored this post. They have no editorial input into this post. All opinions are mine. Erin Green.