The definition of collaboration is the situation of two or more people working together to create or achieve the same thing. Ryan Simmonds, Sales Director of Metsec Framing, describes how this approach in offsite manufacture promotes efficiency and project success.
Within the definition of collaboration sits key elements for success. Co-ordination with other team members or those working on a project is crucial to ensure nothing is missed, as well as making sure there are no unnecessary duplications. Co-operation is another important area, and one where teams can often fall down through a lack of communication or sharing of vital information.
Together, co-operation and co-ordination help to contribute to true collaboration, with all parties working together to achieve a single goal. Ultimately, collaboration is not only mutually beneficial to everyone involved, but promotes efficiency across projects being undertaken and can better control project costs. Budgetary costs on major construction projects rarely match up with the final cost at handover of the project. In fact, one study estimated that as many as nine out of ten high profile projects go over budget.
(Typical) Planning
There can be a number of reasons why a project exceeds its budget. Project delays, issues with land, materials or financing problems. However, it is often the case that the original budget is set too low by the client, or that the solution is selected by a commercial team, basing decisions on cost rather than a full integrated review. The irony here is that selecting a solution based on price rather than how closely it fits the vision by the end client invariably means that elements are changed as the project progresses, which alters the cost of the project each time.
The Farmer Review of the UK Construction Labour Model explores poor predictability as a major industry failing, but more worrying is the fact that this failure and under performance is accepted by both the industry and, begrudgingly, by clients as well. The design phase of any project - big or small - is vital, however this is often the stage that, in retrospect, the parties involved accept that they did not spend enough time on or engage with the right stakeholders.
Partnering in Planning Stages
So, communication is clearly the weak link in the chain. It's at the initial strategic and briefing stages that end clients and those appointed to deliver the project should engage with groups such as installers and manufacturers to collectively review and critique the design. This lack of collaboration, according to the Farmer report, is at the root of the industry's change inertia.
With all parties working on the project plan together and adopting digitisation through media such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), any issues that are recognised can be resolved while still in the design stages. Without this engagement, projects often progress to the technical design or even the construction stages before stumbling blocks are identified and, by this stage, they are already time-consuming and expensive to rectify.
Additionally, engaging with experts such as structural engineers, fabricators and manufacturers, the end client is able to take account of the advice of specialists at the point where their input is of most value. Like Metsec, many of these stakeholders will have their own design capabilities that they can utilise and BIM allows for this work to be done collaboratively.
Benefits of Collaboration in Construction Projects
Collaboration is a method that the construction industry has historically struggled to adopt, but one that has been consistently demonstrated to greatly benefit the industry as a whole. Collaborating on a project from the initial stages brings numerous benefits including reducing time delays and the need for contingency funds. The appointed design team, contractors, manufacturers and installers all working collaboratively means designs, issues, priorities and construction methods are all agreed upon in the initial stages and fully understood by all parties.
Whilst the theory of collaboration can seem abstract, it is a very real requirement for successful projects. If co-dependent elements of a project are executed in silos with no communication or co-ordination, projects can hit stumbling blocks. For example, if the installer of the framing solution on a project has not communicated with the main contractor as to when they are required onsite, the project can either be delayed as the installer is not ready, or alternatively they'll turn up onsite but not be able to gain access and begin the installation, resulting in wasted days and money. Similarly, if the framing manufacturer and installer have not co-operated and communicated, the project could be delivered before it's required, taking up valuable space onsite, or be delayed - again resulting in lost days.
BIM as a Collaborative Method
However collaboration needs to go deeper, and this is where BIM is vital. A structured, measured and comprehensive approach to team working, BIM has a fixed set of processes and procedures to guide users and participants how best to employ collaborative methods. Design co-ordination is an in-depth and involved process and BIM's regular data exchanges ensure that the whole team is working on the same, and most up-to-date, model.
The notion of BIM is the process of designing, constructing or operating a building, infrastructure or landscape asset using electronic information. In practice, this means that a project can be designed and built using data sets and images digitally, even before the first spade goes in the ground. Detecting conflict at early stages means they are addressed and resolved promptly and still during the planning stages. Without BIM, issues are often only picked up at major project milestones and at this point they can be difficult and expensive to rectify.
The objective of BIM is to satisfy the three components of a successful project - namely time, cost and quality, by managing the project using an efficient, collaborative and reliable method of work. Sharing a 3D model with all parties communicates the planned end result in a clear, concise and fully comprehensible way - helping the full project team to understand the requirements and see what they are working towards.
However, another crucial element of BIM is the promotion, and adoption, of collaborative working. The digital designs are shared with all parties to outline the work planned and gives everyone the opportunity to fully understand what is proposed and all the requirements. The BIM Execution Plan (BEP) is a critical document as it underpins project integration and is a written plan to bring together all of the tasks, processes and related information.
The BEP should be agreed at the outset and defines what BIM means for the project. It outlines the standards being adopted, outputs required, when these should be supplied and in what format, plus any supporting documentation. As a working document, the BEP is regularly reviewed and evolves throughout the project ensuring design teams, suppliers, manufacturers and all other stakeholders have all the relevant information, promoting collaboration between all parties.
The BIM Implementation Plan (BIP) is the blueprint for integrating BIM into an organisation's working practices. This should align to the objectives and aspirations of the organisation, its business partners, its skill base, levels of investment and the nature and scale of projects that it wishes to undertake now and in the future. Hosting both of these documents in a centrally co-ordinated Common Data Environment (CDE) means they can be updated, accessed or extracted at any time throughout the project. Adding all other BIM documents including the 3D drawings gives all of those involved in the overall project full visibility and input, promoting a collaborative approach throughout.
Talking about collaboration and delivering a fully collaborative project through the use of BIM are two very different things, and will have very different outcomes when it comes to a construction project. Whilst there have been moves to adopt a more collaborative approach, using BIM ensures that all stakeholders are consulted at all stages throughout the project and that the most up-to-date documents are hosted in one central location, reducing errors in file versions or timing plans. In addition, the use of BIM means that a design and build is fixed from a certain, agreed point onwards, removing the need for additional contingency budget or project delays due to unplanned changes caused by a lack of communication, co-ordination, co-operation or collaboration.
Original Link - Offsite Magazine
