In June, the Shahrara Asar design team completed a six-session course on building information modelling. The material covered three areas: building 3D architectural and structural models with embedded material data, modelling mechanical and electrical service routes, and running clash detection across the combined model.
The motivation comes straight from site experience. The most common corrective instruction on residential projects is an air duct or drainage pipe running into a primary beam. In 2D drawings this is easy to miss, because each discipline draws its own plan and the sections rarely cover every critical point. In a 3D model, the same clash is listed within minutes.
We tested the approach on two projects currently in design. On one of them, three clashes between duct routes and first-floor beams were resolved before the structural drawings were approved. Had that been caught on site, the options would have been drilling through a beam or losing headroom under the suspended ceiling.
BIM is not warranted on every project; on small buildings the cost of building the model can outweigh the benefit. Our policy is to apply it to buildings above four storeys or projects with complex services, and to rely on targeted 2D cross-checking elsewhere.
