Requirements for building information modeling based lean production management systems for construction

Smooth flow of production in construction is hampered by disparity between individual trade teams' goals and the goals of stable production flow for the project as a whole. This is exacerbated by the difficulty of visualizing the flow of work in a construction project. While the addresses some of the issues in Building information modeling provides a powerful platform for visualizing work flow in control systems that also enable pull flow and deeper collaboration between teams on and off site. The requirements for implementation of a BIM-enabled pull flow construction management software system based on the Last Planner System™, called ‘KanBIM’, have been specified, and a set of functional mock-ups of the proposed system has been implemented and evaluated in a series of three focus group workshops. The requirements cover the areas of maintenance of work flow stability, enabling negotiation and commitment between teams, lean production planning with sophisticated pull flow control, and effective communication and visualization of flow. The evaluation results show that the system holds the potential to improve work flow and reduce waste by providing both process and product visualization at the work face

Construction safety and digital design: a review

As digital technologies become widely used in designing buildings and infrastructure, questions arise about their impacts on construction safety. This review explores relationships between construction safety and digital design practices with the aim of fostering and directing further research. It surveys state-of-the-art research on databases, virtual reality, geographic information systems, 4D CAD, building information modeling and sensing technologies, finding various digital tools for addressing safety issues in the construction phase, but few tools to support design for construction safety. It also considers a literature on safety critical, digital and design practices that raises a general concern about ‘mindlessness’ in the use of technologies, and has implications for the emerging research agenda around construction safety and digital design. Bringing these strands of literature together suggests new kinds of interventions, such as the development of tools and processes for using digital models to promote mindfulness through multi-party collaboration on safet

Analysis Framework for the Interaction Between Lean Construction and Building Information Modelling

Building with Building Information Modelling (BIM) changes design and production processes. But can BIM be used to support process changes designed according to lean production and lean construction principles? To begin to answer this question we provide a conceptual analysis of the interaction of lean construction and BIM for improving construction. This was investigated by compiling a detailed listing of lean construction principles and BIM functionalities which are relevant from this perspective. These were drawn from a detailed literature survey. A research framework for analysis of the interaction between lean and BIM was then compiled. The goal of the framework is to both guide and stimulate research; as such, the approach adopted up to this point is constructive. Ongoing research has identified 55 such interactions, the majority of which show positive synergy between the two

Building Model Object Classification for Semantic Enrichment Using Geometric Features and Pairwise Spatial Relations

Semantic enrichment is a process of supplementing/correcting information in a poorly prepared BIM model. Object classifications are essential information, but are commonly missing or incorrectly represented when transferring a BIM model or creating a model using tools customized for other domains in design. Automated compilation of 'as-is' BIM models from point cloud data also requires object classification, as well as 3D reconstruction. We present a systematic approach to classifying objects in a BIM model, for use in future semantic enrichment systems. Previous work on object classification in BIM model enrichment was restricted by its limited ability to accurately interpret geometric and spatial features and by the constraints of Boolean logic rules and the rule compilation process. To address these issues, we propose a procedure for establishing a knowledge base that associates objects with their features and relationships, and a matching algorithm based on a similarity measurement between the knowledge base and facts. An implementation on a synthetic bridge model shows that whereas some objects can be classified by shape features alone, most objects require the use of spatial relations for unique classification. Spatial context is more likely to uniquely identify an object than shape features are

Building Information Modelling, Artificial Intelligence and Construction Tech

Development and adoption of digital information tools in the construction sector provides fertile ground for the birth and growth of companies that specialize in applications of technologies to design and construction. While some of the technologies are themselves new, the majority are based on ideas that have proliferated in construction research for decades but could not be implemented without a sound digital building information foundation. Building Information Modelling (BIM) itself can be traced to a landmark paper from 1975; ideas for artificially intelligent design and code checking tools date from the mid-1980s; and construction robots have laboured in research labs for decades. Yet it is only within the past five years that venture capital has actively sought startup companies in the ‘Construction Tech’ sector. We follow a set of digital construction innovations through their known past and their uncertain present, and we review their increasingly optimistic future, all through the lens of their dependence on digital information. The review identifies new challenges, yielding a set of research topics with the potential to unlock a range of future applications that make extensive use of artificial intelligence.Centre for Digital Built Britai

Integrating RC bridge defect information into BIM models

Reinforced Concrete bridges are a vitally important part of our infrastructure. The status of this infrastructure needs to be monitored on a continuous basis in order to ensure its safety and functionality. This is currently being done by authorities worldwide via bridge inspection reports. The format and storage of these reports varies considerably across different authorities around the world and is sometimes comprised into a bridge management system (BMS). The lack of standardization severely hinders the use of inspection information for knowledge generation use cases of both practitioners and researchers. This paper presents an exploratory analysis and as a result an information model and a candidate binding to IFC to categorize inspection information of RC bridges and to standardize storage of this information in a format that is suitable for sharing and comparing it between different users and varying requirements. We were able to show in three steps, that IFC in its latest version IFC 4 provides sufficient functionality to serve as a basis for integrating relevant defect information and imagery. Firstly, we extracted types of defects and properties needed for bridge assessment from existing bridge inspection manuals. Secondly, we modelled the defect entities, their properties and relations and thirdly, mapped them to appropriate IFC entities. A prototypical implementation serves as a proof of concept for automated sharing and comparing of information needed in RC bridge inspections and for establishing a knowledge base for bridge performance over time and across authorities.This work is partly funded by Trimble Inc. and by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no. 31109806.0007. SeeBridge is co-funded by Funding Partners of the ERA-NET Plus Infravation and the European Commission. The Funding Partners of the Infravation 2014 Call are: Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Milieu, Rijkswaterstaat, Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Bau und Stadtentwicklung, Danish Road Directorate, Statens Vegvesen Vegdirektoratet, Trafikverket – Trv, Vegagerðin, Ministere de L’ecologie, du Developpement Durable et de L’energie, Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnologico Industrial, Anas S.P.A., Netivei Israel – National Transport Infrastructure Company Ltd. and Federal Highway Administration USDOT

SeeBridge Information Delivery Manual (IDM) for Next Generation Bridge Inspection

Innovative solutions for rapid and intelligent survey and assessment methods are required in maintenance, repair, retrofit and rebuild of enormous numbers of bridges in service throughout the world. Motivated by this need, a next-generation integrated bridge inspection system named SeeBridge is proposed. To frame the system, an Information Delivery Manual (IDM) was compiled to specify the technical components, activities and information exchanges in the SeeBridge process. The IDM supports development of the system by rigorously defining the information and data repositories that structure bridge engineers’ knowledge. The SeeBridge process is mapped, parts of the data repositories are presented and the future use of the IDM is discussed

Overcoming “But We’re Different”: an IPD implementation in the Middle East

What are the key success factors and barriers that can be expected when implementing Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) for the first time in a traditional construction culture? We present an in-depth case study of the “Saxum” project under construction in Abu Ghosh, Israel, the first implementation of IPD in this traditional construction culture. The goal is to glean insight into the dynamics that support and/or subvert the required paradigm shift. The researchers interviewed the key participants, visited the site and reviewed source material from this and other IPD projects. Despite cultural and historical factors that were expected to prevent or weaken implementation of a collaborative approach like IPD, the key participants built the project according to the IPD framework. The insistence of the overseas project owner's representative that IPD be employed, coupled with the openness of the local partners to work differently, were found to be critical success factors. The participants' mindset and their behavior changed fundamentally with respect to their traditional roles, as did the character of the project (which was measured on a multi-factor sliding scale from “traditional” to “pure IPD”). Prior to this successful implementation, the opinion of local practitioners on IPD could be summed up as: “Nice in theory, but not applicable in our adversarial construction business culture.” Yet this project has shown that given the right combination of agents, it is not only feasible but also rewarding to adopt. While there are multiple accounts of IPD implementations, we focus here on viewing the case study through the lens of change management with an analysis of the local cultural barriers that were overcome.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version