The benefits of BIM (Building Information Modelling) have been well documented: sharing of data, faster construction, reduced costs and the anticipation of barriers before construction begins. Even without a government mandate, a recent Enterprise Ireland Digital Transition Survey showed that Ireland is forging ahead with 76 per cent of AEC organisations feeling confident in their BIM skills and knowledge.
When surveyed, 85 per cent of architects, engineers and contractors called for a government mandate. It is thought that BIM will be required in the design, construction and operation of public buildings and infrastructure within the next four years.
The most significant enabler identified by the sample is the development and dissemination of national guidelines to create and implement a collaborative environment that will foster the use of BIM. This would allow all parties to share data and for competing organisations to bid on a level playing field.
"BIM is fast becoming an essential requirement for informed consumers of construction services internationally, and many countries have established BIM requirements at a national level," said Minister of State for Public Procurement, Open Government and eGovernment Patrick O’Donovan.
"It has already been successfully used on a number of complex building projects completed in Ireland in recent years, primarily in the technology and pharmaceutical sectors. It is also being used on the National Children’s Hospital at the St James’s Hospital campus, on the Dublin Institute of Technology’s Grangegorman Campus and across the Public Private Partnership programme.’
An increase in the use of BIM
Nonetheless, 64 per cent of respondents reported an increase in the use of BIM but lack of client awareness of the value of BIM remains the most significant barrier. Autodesk has identified this growth and its CEO Andrew Anagnost recently announced a significant investment in Ireland with the opening of an office in Dublin.
CADS, the engineering software developers, has long had a strong presence in Ireland with its detailing and bar bending schedule solution, CADS RC, being the market leader. It has now reported a particularly strong uptake of SCIA Engineer, the integrated, multi-material platform for structural analysis and design.
A major reason for the popularity of SCIA Engineer is the Revit link that CADS developed. The bidirectional link between Revit and SCIA Engineer means that you can start a project in either package and a change made in one will update the other. The link supports all types of geometry, materials and analytical elements.
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Interoperability workflow between Revit and SCIA Engineer[/caption]
CADS has capitalised on both its detailing and Revit expertise to launch CADS RC3D for Revit which has been designed to enhance the placement, annotation, bar marking and scheduling of reinforcing steel in all kinds of RC structures.
CADS RC3D takes the standard 3D modelling functionality of Revit to the next level allowing reinforcing bars to be sorted into logical groups (bar ranges) and bar marks to be created and managed with ease. Best of all, detailed reinforcement (shop) drawings can be created with a single click! The associated bar bending schedules are automatically created with electronic material lists exported to external production software and Excel.
If you’d like to see how CADS can help you take advantage of the BIM process then
contact CADS to speak to an Engineer or to arrange a demonstration.
You can find out more about
SCIA engineer on the CADS website.