A Guide for Specialty Contractors

David E. Quigley

A publication jointly developed by MCAA, NECA, and SMACNA

Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

The Mechanical Contractors Association of America, Inc., The Mechanical

Contracting Education & Research Foundation (MCERF), The National
Electrical Contractors Association, Inc. (NECA), the New Horizons
Foundation, and the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors
National Association (SMACNA) have made every effort to ensure this
publication is as complete and accurate as possible, but no warranty of
fitness is implied. The information provided is on an “as is” basis.

The author, MCAA, MCERF, NECA, The New Horizons Foundation, and
SMACNA shall have neither liability nor responsibility for errors or
omissions, nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use
of the information contained herein. The information contained herein
should not be construed as legal advice. The reader must consult with legal
counsel to determine how laws or decisions discussed herein apply to the
reader’s specific circumstances.

© 2013 by The Mechanical Contractors Association of America, Inc.,

The Mechanical Contracting Education & Research Foundation,
The National Electrical Contractors Association, Inc., the New Horizons
Foundation, and the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors
National Association.
All rights reserved. Published 2013

The material contained herein is owned by the Mechanical Contractors

Association of America, Inc. (MCAA), The Mechanical Contracting
Education and Research Foundation (MCERF), The National Electrical
Contractors Association, Inc. (NECA), the New Horizons Foundation, and
the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National Association
(SMACNA) and is protected under the copyright laws of the United States
of America (Title 17, United States Code) as well as the copyright laws of
other jurisdictions. The duplication, reproduction, exhibition, dissemination,
or transmission of this publication in any form by any means without
the prior written consent of the MCAA, MCERF, NECA, New Horizons
Foundation, and SMACNA is strictly prohibited.
In memory of the many fathers and grandfathers who have passed their
love and passion for their trade to their children. . .
And with great admiration and in loving memory of my father, who
passed it to me.

Robert Howard Quigley 1916–1987

President, R.G. Harrington Inc.
Plumbing and Heating Union Shop
Ware, Massachusetts
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM
BIM v

FOREWARD............................................................................................ vii
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER 1 Spatial Coordination in a BIM Environment......................... 1
CHAPTER 2 BIM and Spatial Coordination Basics.................................. 11
2.1 Project Delivery Methods.............................................................. 11
2.2 Types of models............................................................................. 12
2.3 Types of software........................................................................... 15
2.4 Level of Development Specifications............................................. 16
CHAPTER 3 Building the Team............................................................... 19
3.1. Building an Effective Spatial Coordination Program .................... 19
3.2. Preparing Your BIM Implementation Plan ................................... 20
3.4 Internal Inventory of Skills............................................................. 25
3.5 Internal Communication Procedures ............................................ 28
3.6 Human Resource Requirements.................................................... 32
3.7. Outsourcing.................................................................................. 33
3.8 Working Within the Collaborative Process.................................... 37
CHAPTER 4 BIM Execution Plans........................................................... 39
4.1 The Contents of a BIM Execution Plan........................................... 39
4.2 Model Management Procedures................................................... 52
4.3 Schedules....................................................................................... 59
4.4 Reviewing a BIM Execution Plan.................................................... 61
4.5 Authoring a BIM Execution Plan.................................................... 65
CHAPTER 5 Managing the Process........................................................ 67
5.1 Establishing Norms for the Project................................................ 67
5.2 Setting Up the Project Environment ............................................. 70
5.3 Clash Detection.............................................................................. 75
5.4 Red Flags from the Coordination Process...................................... 83
CHAPTER 6 Documents of Record......................................................... 85
6.1 Working with Documents of Record.............................................. 85
6.2 Receivables from the Design Team................................................ 86
6.3 Internal Receivables from Your Project Team................................ 90
6.4 Inter-Trade Receivables................................................................. 91
6.5 Other Receivables.......................................................................... 93
6.6 Deliverables................................................................................... 93
6.7 Communication with the Design Team.......................................... 98
6.8 Managing Documents During the Coordination Process............. 100
vi Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

CHAPTER 7 Benefits of BIM Beyond Spatial Coordination.................. 103

7.1 By-Products of Spatial Coordination Data.................................... 103
7.2 Improving Project Management.................................................. 107
7.3 Aligning Company Databases...................................................... 112
CHAPTER 8 Evaluating Spatial Coordination Contract Language......... 115
8.1 Reviewing Spatial Coordination Contractual Requirements........ 115
8.2 Specific Legal Considerations Concerning Spatial Coordination.. 118
8.3 Spatial Coordination Related Provisions for Consideration......... 122
8.4. Other Important Industry Contract Reference Material:
ConsensusDocs.org..................................................................... 127
CHAPTER 9 BIM Technologies for an IT Infrastructure........................ 129
9.1. What is an IT Implementation Plan?........................................... 129
9.2 Hardware Specifications.............................................................. 133
9.3 Software Requirements............................................................... 134
9.4 Types of Software Used in Spatial Coordination.......................... 135
9.5 Stand-alone vs. Network-Based Licensing................................... 140
9.6 Software Versioning and Upgrades.............................................. 141
9.7 Making the Right Decision for Your Firm..................................... 145
Acknowledgements.................................................................... 147
Appendix A: Examples of Internal Deliverables................................ 151
Appendix B:
An Outline for Developing a BIM Implementation Plan.................... 153
Appendix C: Scrubbing a Design-Intent Model................................. 156
Appendix D: Industry References and Software............................... 160
Glossary.......................................................................................... 164
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM vii

Driven by facility owners who have recognized that using these

new technologies and associated processes will ultimately reduce their
By Steve Shirley construction risks, the U.S. contracting industry has finally embraced the
Chairman, MCAA vision of what BIM can do and has “turbocharged” its adoption. Industry
BIM Committee stakeholders who cling to entrenched ways of doing business are finding
themselves at odds with owners and clients who are looking to use
collaborative BIM to eliminate waste and duplication of efforts while

H aving been involved in the

mechanical contracting business
for the past 40 years and with Building
holding everyone accountable for the timeliness and quality of their
work products. It’s a new game in so many ways. Change can be difficult
and true progress can be even more challenging. Relinquishing familiar
ways to face a new and uncertain future can be daunting, but the
Information Modeling for more than a
industry is moving ahead. The choice is to embrace progress or be
dozen, I’ve had a unique opportunity left behind.
to be part of the transformative,
MEP contractors have been some of the greatest beneficiaries of this
game-changing process that technologi-
revolution and some of its biggest victims. The frontline of this BIM
cal innovations have brought to revolution has been the virtual building-systems spatial coordination
the design and construction industry. process. What was once an exercise by a small cadre of professional
I do not doubt that BIM is bringing craftsmen has grown into a major production, involving numerous
the power of the digital age to an stakeholders with a multitude of ideas and approaches. Even the small-
industry overlaid with inefficiencies yet est MEP contractors must be vigilant in recognizing and adapting to the
forces in play. With the emergence of BIM, old standards and procedures
full of opportunities for improvement.
and previously-held “rules of thumb” simply don’t apply any longer.
As MEP contractors, we are constantly challenged with new rules
FOREWARD and requirements from clients with differing understandings and
expectations relative to BIM. For MEP contractors new to the BIM
environment, the spatial coordination process can seem overwhelm-
ing, and little guidance or assistance has been available to help along
the way. Achieving MEP Spatial Coordination through BIM is focused on
bridging this gap. It is the work of a great number of individuals in the
MEP industry, from hands-on practitioners to managers, consultants,
and CEOs. It is not a “how-to” manual but rather a “take this into
consideration” set of guidelines. Organized to address some of the most
important current elements of BIM associated with spatial coordination,
this Guide also recognizes that these elements will continually change
to meet the demands of business.
I am confident that this Guide will prove to be helpful in educating
MEP contractors on the challenging and expanding demands upon our
industry. I applaud the MCAA, SMACNA, and NECA for recognizing that
the BIM revolution is transforming the industry and thank them for
generously providing the structure and resources to develop this Guide.
viii Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

The path I followed for the next 35 years gave me a unique perspec-
tive on the power of innovation and technology standards to transform
an industry. I was active in the development of three industry standards.

M y father was a Master Plumber. He The first was the initiative of the U.S. Defense Department to create a
single universal programming language aimed at reducing the cost of
owned and operated a mid-sized
development and maintenance for large defense projects (air, land, and
union plumbing and heating firm in sea). The second was the creation of a graphical user interface standard
western Massachusetts for almost 40 for the UNIX operating system. This open standard made it possible
years. He had me cutting and threading to use software applications on many different hardware platforms,
pipe when I was 8, welding at 15, and eliminating the redundant work required to support them all. The third
pre-fabricating sprinkler systems at 17. was a de facto industry standard from Microsoft to increase software
At 18, I became a union plumber. developer efficiencies by utilizing standard, “intelligent” objects within
an object-oriented design.

A s much as I loved working with my In each case, a large and influential entity—the U.S government, a
consortium of the largest computer manufacturers, and the world’s
father, I felt I had another calling—
largest software publisher—invested significant resources, money, and
teaching and computer technology—
reputation over a long period of time to achieve the same goal: remov-
which I pursued with his full support. ing the barriers to communication between programs and people. Each
recognized that without the intervention of a standard and defining sets
of rules for communicating and sharing data; people to people; people
to software and software to software, the inefficiency and duplication
of effort inherent in following the status quo would grind innovation in
INTRODUCTION these industries to a halt.
Does this sound familiar? The building services industry has been
struggling with the same issues and is the now in the process of adopt-
ing its industry standard—Building Information Modeling—designed
to address the same requirements for better communications, defining
reasonable rules for engagement, setting reliable expectations, and
improving the construction workflow through innovation.
To date, the acceptance, growth, and implementation of BIM across
the construction industry is still in its infancy. To understand how, why,
and at what rate standards are adopted, the work of Everett Rogers,
a world-renowned innovation researcher, is helpful. Rogers identifies
five qualities that can be used to predict the adoption of an innovation
through an industry and its constituencies.
1. Relative advantage: The degree to which an innovation is perceived
as better than the idea it supersedes by a particular group of users, mea-
sured in terms that matter to those users or perceived as advantageous
2. Compatibility with existing values and practices: The degree to
which an innovation is perceived as being consistent with the values,
past experiences and needs of potential adopters
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM ix

INTRODUCTION 3. Complexity or better described as simplicity and ease of use: The

degree to which an innovation is perceived as difficult to understand
and use
4. Trial-ability: The degree to which an innovation can be experimented
with on a limited basis
5. Observable results: The easier it is for individuals to see the results
of an innovation the more likely they are to adopt it*
If you replace “an innovation” with “BIM”, you have a fairly accurate
description of why BIM is beginning to take hold throughout the building
services industry and within each of its stakeholder constituencies. This
is especially true for MEP contractors, who tend to be more pragmatic
and need to see results before embracing an innovation. First, in refer-
ence to Roger’s quality of “relative advantage,” MEP contractors who
have adopted BIM methodology and technologies would never go back
to the old way of construction; the benefits outnumber any limits or
constraints. Second, as they gain more experience, contractors
have found that BIM is indeed “compatible with existing values and
practices.” Their roles and responsibilities are enhanced, and they are
recognized as major contributors to the construction process. Third,
BIM and its technologies are not difficult to incorporate into the existing
workflow, which the success of the early adopters demonstrates. Fourth,
in regard to “trial-ability,” most software technologies in this practice
make trial versions of their software available to potential customers.
Fifth, the observable results are in. The majority of the early adopters
have gone to great lengths to measure their results, and keeping in
mind that nothing in life is perfect, the results are largely positive.
Those contractors improved on each project, which strengthened their
commitment to continue with BIM.
Well-run BIM projects eliminate waste and reward the many skills
required to plan and perform the work. Contractors remain 100%
accountable with their contract deliverables, which, in turn, are reliable
and accurately reflect what will be manufactured and built. The BIM
Forum’s Level of Development Specification** also provides a standard
reference for the completeness and content of project model elements,
which also clarifies expectations and improves communication; when
a coordination team receives an LOD 350 or LOD 400 model from a
contractor, they know it contains exactly what they expect. Nasty,
expensive, last-minute surprises are infrequent and all but eliminated.

* Everett Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, 5th ed. (New York: Free Press, 2003), pp. 15–16.
** Level of Development Specification ©2013 by BIMForum
x Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

INTRODUCTION BIM is a better way to build. From what I’ve seen in my work on
standards, BIM is here to stay. If you have been waiting on the sidelines,
now is the time to engage, because there is no turning back. Those
MEP contractors who embraced this innovation early have learned
much from their many BIM projects that can be of value to you. That
information is available in this Guide.
The changes that BIM introduced support the fundamental
motivation of every steam and pipe fitter, tin knocker, electrician, and
specialty contractor: the pride in a job well done. It is also worth noting
that these early adopters consistently bring their best game to the table.
It is my hope that other domains in the building process will rise to the
occasion by bringing their A-game to their LOD commitments, joining
the MEP and specialty contractors who are already pushing the industry
to new levels.

David E. Quigley
Milford, New Hampshire
October 2013
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 1

This chapter presents a brief history of spatial coordination within the

1 MEP and specialty contractor segment of the construction industry.
This is valuable for anyone who wants to better understand what led up
CHAPTER 1 Spatial Coordina-
to spatial coordination and 3D modeling using BIM. It then describes how
tion
Spatial Coordination
BIM has changed the building industry and what is required of companies
in a BIM Environment
that want to respond to those changes. Finally, the chapter describes
what the rest of Guide covers and some different ways to use it.

T he goal of the construction spatial

coordination process is to integrate
physical objects, components, and
• 1.1 The History of Spatial Coordination on page 1
• 1.2 The Traditional Drafting and Coordination Process on page 2
systems into the architectural spaces
• 1.3 Building with BIM on page 4
allocated in the contract documents.
In the last 30 years, the tools and • 1.4 Using This Guide on page 8
processes used for spatial coordination
have evolved dramatically. The con- 1.1 The History of Spatial Coordination
struction industry has adopted For more than 50 years, spatial coordination drawings have been
new technology—Building Information Documents of Record for most major commercial building projects
Modeling, or BIM—that presents an (Figure 1.1 on page 3). These drawings were the product of an itera-
opportunity for MEP contractors to tive review of contractors’ installation and shop drawings to identify
perform spatial coordination with a how and where these systems interfered with each other and with
greater degree of accuracy and the structure. A small team of representatives from each contractor
performed this coordination, carefully reviewing and revising their
collaboration.
drawings and realigning them as needed. When they were satisfied that
they had eliminated all the “clashes,” they submitted their final drawings
to the Design Teams for review and approval.
The submission of these coordination drawings was often a major
milestone on many projects. Often, MEP contractors could not begin
fabrication and installation until the Owner, Construction Manager,
Architect, and Engineer of Record had signed off on them. This exercise
was one of the measures taken to ensure that the participating contrac-
tors were providing some level of coordination and to give the designers
assurance that the contractors were following their design intent.
Yet, despite painstaking efforts by professionals in the field, these
drawings were rarely able to eliminate all MEP problems and interfer-
ences. The discrepancies presented many contractors with very costly
challenges, especially when design-related issues were being resolved
concurrently with coordination and construction.
The enhanced tools now available to MEP contractors and the
industry in general, in particular Building Information Modeling, have
significantly changed the processes and improved the results of these
coordination efforts. BIM has also brought new opportunities and
challenges.
2 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Spatial Coordination 1.2 The Traditional Drafting and Coordination Process

in a BIM Environment
The traditional MEP contractor’s drafting and coordination activities
began with the receipt of drawings and specifications from the
Engineers of Record. MEP detailers would then enhance or re-create
the information contained in these documents with additional detail
needed for their installation, shop drawing, and submittal approval
processes.
MEP engineers usually followed an iterative process of establishing
their design performance requirements. They selected preferred system
profiles, coordinated these selections with the Architects and structural
and other specialty engineers, chose the equipment to use as the basis
of their designs, and performed necessary calculations to meet the
criteria for system performance and compliance with the building code.
Then they initiated a drafting program to capture all this information
and also provide some level of design coordination to ensure that their
designs could be constructed and would fit within the allocated spaces
in the structure.
1.2.1 2D Drafting and Coordination
When the drafting and coordination processes were done solely on
paper, the engineering drawings restricted the display of MEP-related
systems to a single-line format or reflected these systems in a double-
line format but without adequate coordination by the Design Team.
In almost every case, these drawings could reflect only the MEP
equipment and products used as the basis of the design, not the
products actually purchased. In addition, much of the critical informa-
tion, including graphical representations relating to equipment or
important components, could not be adequately presented in a
drawing and was often buried in the written specifications and notes
on the drawings—or was simply ignored. Incidental items, such as
hangers and the routing of conduit, were usually left for the contractors
to coordinate among themselves.
Because the design engineers’ selections and specifications were
based on performance criteria, MEP contractors usually had to work
prescriptively to purchase and install their products to fulfill their
contractual obligations. Design engineers, to avoid the appearance of
anticompetitive practices and any associated legal problems, would
permit multiple options for equipment or product selections that all
would satisfy their performance requirements, but they would draft
and coordinate only to their first choice. The responsibility for modifying
and coordinating products that were not the basis of the design into
the drafting and coordination efforts fell to the installation MEP
contractor. Adjustments for size, weight, fit, access, and maintenance
were common.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 3

Spatial Coordination The professional draftsmen employed by MEP contractors, many

in a BIM Environment with trade knowledge acquired over many years, tackled the construc-
tion coordination process with only their individual aptitudes for 3D
visualization, their light tables, and their common desire to avoid
problems and clashes for the installation crews. An experienced,
technically proficient MEP coordinator could anticipate and resolve
thousands of clashes, yet it was and still is beyond the capacity of any
human being to fully visualize, from plans and even 3D drawings, the
complexity of all building systems. It was not possible for anyone to
detect all potential physical interferences, recognize the optimum
installation routing and sequence, determine whether every required
clearance or tolerance had been provided for, and meet tight schedules
and budgets.
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Figure 1.1 History of Spatial Coordination and the MEP Contractor

1.2.2 3D Drafting and Coordination

In the late 1980s, the price and capabilities of computer-aided design
(CAD) technology had reached the point where the commercial con-
struction industry began to adopt computerized drafting and modeling.
These enhanced 3D renderings of 2D drawings represented a significant
improvement in quality and accuracy, and the technology was embraced
early by MEP contractors, structural steel designers and fabricators, and
a few enlightened architects. The balance of the commercial construc-
tion industry continued to use 2D drafting and coordination processes.
Although early CAD software represented MEP components as solid
objects, the ability to shape, route, and adjust MEP work products was a
big improvement over traditional processes, one that justified the con-
siderable investment. The adoption of CAD also provided the transition
for many knowledgeable craftsmen to a new tool: the computer.
4 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Spatial Coordination 1.3 Building with BIM

in a BIM Environment
During the early to mid-2000s, Building Information Modeling
migrated from Europe and from other industries to the U.S. construction
industry. Most contractors viewed it as “3D detailing on steroids.”
They did not anticipate that this new technology would revolutionize
both the industry and their business processes. Some jumped in only
when their clients demanded it or simply to stay “in the game.” What
most didn’t recognize was that BIM instigated the open exchange of
digital information that had already overwhelmed other industries.
This disruptive innovation caught many MEP contractors totally off
guard. New expectations brought new consequences. New players were
now involved; these first-time stakeholders, who didn’t know the old
rules, had bigger expectations. Some MEP firms were selling services
they could not perform adequately; learning curves were ignored. Chaos
seemed to reign, and in some areas, it still does. BIM did more than put
new technical capabilities in the hands of designers and contractors;
it thrust completely new social dynamics upon an industry that was
not prepared for it. Also destroyed when the paradigm shifted were
long-utilized budgets and resource allocation tools that MEP
contractors had rolled into their concept of detailing.
The game had changed—but how?
The BIM models contain far more information than the 3D CAD
models did just a few years ago. The objects used in CAD models
can describe the size, shape, and location of the system components.
To this basic geometry, the objects in BIM models can add the
manufacturer, the SKU number, the price, the weight, product
options, special instructions and maintenance information. And you
can easily add other manufacturer-specific information to BIM model
objects, for example, spec sheets and hyperlinks. The biggest change
is that the demand for information begins much earlier in the project.
Instead of identifying issues (coordination or design) through the
construction cycle, they are now identified in the coordination phase.
Project Teams, and not just detailers, must engage much earlier—
Project Managers, Project Engineers, design professionals, and
site foremen.
1.3.1 Incorporating BIM into the Spatial Coordination Process
As it has taken hold, BIM has brought new opportunities to the design
and construction industries. Its importance, usefulness, and potential is
widely recognized. The McGraw Hill Smart Market report in Figure 1.2
on page 5 indicates that by 2009, BIM had become a big deal.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 5

Spatial Coordination
in a BIM Environment

Figure 1.2 McGraw-Hill Market Research, 2009*

The adoption of BIM has also brought new challenges. The biggest
one MEP contractors face is in the area of spatial coordination. In this
arena, all industry stakeholders are confronting new business demands
and expectations, adopting new business practices, discarding or
changing old means and methods, and learning to play a new game.
The BIM models reveal what the MEP coordinator in the traditional
process cannot see: the full complexity of the building and its systems
from different perspectives in three dimensions.
The use of BIM technology makes it possible to generate virtual
models of the building and its systems.
When changes are made, the models can be regenerated quickly,
making any ripple effects evident immediately.
It is not easy to execute the processes and make the changes that
will bring the most value from these powerful tools. BIM builds on the
knowledge and skills that have made MEP contractors successful. To be
successful on BIM projects, MEP contractors need to approach spatial
coordination, and ultimately the way they do business, differently.

*McGraw Hill Construction, The Business Value of BIM in North America, 2009.
Printed with permission.
6 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Spatial Coordination The new game has the same objective as the old game: to construct
in a BIM Environment a building on time, on budget, and up to code. But, the new game
demands players who can deal with a myriad of new people in new
roles and with what frequently seems like an overwhelming amount
of data.
1.3.2 Clear Lines of Communication
Large volumes of information must be gathered and shared. All mem-
bers of the Coordination Team, (who are called “Project Participants” in
this Guide) must communicate effectively with each other and within
their own companies, both to obtain, confirm, question, analyze, and
modify information used for the project and to recognize the needs,
actions, and consequences of their participation on the project.
Project Participants must learn to speak a common language. For
example, what “the Model” refers to is understood differently by
different people, and without realizing it, Project Participants can be
talking past each other.
1.3.3 The Technical Skills and Experience of the Project Participants
With BIM, the distinct realms of knowledge, expertise, and respon-
sibility of design engineers and MEP contractors have not changed;
engineers remain responsible for design, and contractors remain
responsible for construction-coordinated installation. However, to
participate effectively, MEP contractors need to acquire a level of
modeling skill that is equal to, or greater than, that of engineers. MEP
contractors need to create models with the accuracy and detail required
to coordinate their systems and products within allocated spaces, to lay
out and insert decks and walls for sleeves and inserts, to prefabricate
components racks and assemblies, and to provide the installation crews
with the information and references they will need to efficiently install
their systems.
1.3.4 The Social Skills of the Participants
In a BIM environment, constructive working relationships and the
interpersonal skills that build and nurture them matter more than
ever. Coordination remains a collaborative process, but the team
of contractors with field experience and technical knowledge now
includes stakeholders with different skills and levels of understanding.
Inexperienced but computer-savvy individuals can be put in charge of
large and complex projects. To accomplish assigned tasks, your Project
Team must be able to work with a broad range of personalities whose
agendas may conflict.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 7

Spatial Coordination 1.3.5 An Understanding of the Responsibilities and Roles of All

in a BIM Environment Participants
The MEP contractors who have pioneered BIM warn of a persistent
difficulty: lack of clarity about the roles and responsibilities, details and
definitions, and the internal processes of the Coordination Team. The
fog rolls in from vague or arbitrary statements in the documents or
when critical roles have not been assigned.
In a Design-Bid-Build contract environment, the spatial coordination
process is usually led or managed by the Construction Manager or
General Contractor. However, the primary installation contractors
perform most of the actual work. Any Coordination Project must
assign the critical roles and responsibilities to specific individuals or
firms. When expectations about the scope of responsibility and commit-
ments are not clear to all before the project begins, the exposure to risk
and higher expenses for MEP contractors can increase significantly.
1.3.6 A Clear Set of Expectations and Deliverables
To establish reasonable expectations for the scope of the work by
an MEP contractor on a BIM project, the three major MEP trade
associations (MCAA, SMACNA, and NECA) approved a definition of
“normal and expected spatial coordination.”
This is the summary from that definition:
Spatial Coordination using 3D Modeling is a cooperative and collabora-
tive effort among the design professional, owner, general contractor or
construction manager and the trade contractors. Normal and expected
spatial coordination performed by the trade contractors after the
execution of a contract is not design. Rather, it is the reflection of the
design in a three-dimensional model. Trade contractors rely on complete
and accurate designs when bidding projects in order to provide accurate
bid pricing. In return, trade contractors, such as those represented by
the MCAA, SMACNA and NECA, using that design, are able to produce
reliable models by which the project can be constructed in a more
efficient, timely and cost effective manner.
It is important to recognize that this definition explicitly excludes
redesign from the proper use of construction spatial coordination with
3D modeling. Design and redesign are not part of “normal and expected
spatial coordination.”
Project Participants require a clear understanding of the scope of the
expected coordination process, what the Owner (who is usually paying
the bills) expects in the form of process efficiencies (for example, fewer
changes and deliverables), what the construction management firm
has contracted for or is expecting, what other trades are expecting, and
what their own companies expect from the process.
8 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Spatial Coordination 1.3.7 A Supportive Infrastructure

in a BIM Environment
Many MEP contractors who have taken on BIM projects have
learned—the hard way—that success often depends on getting their
own houses in order. A BIM Implementation Plan is an important first
step. This plan is based on an inventory of the skills and equipment you
have, from which you can identify what you need and consider how to
fill any gaps.
Sending a detailer into the world of BIM spatial coordination with-
out instruction, support, or the tools to perform is a recipe for disaster.
These individuals cannot succeed in a vacuum. The full support of your
project management teams, your field installation supervisors, your
purchasing and procurement personnel, and your senior staff is
necessary (Figure 1.3 on page 8).

Figure 1.3 Internal collaboration and support

1.4 Using This Guide

BIM is much more than an item to be checked off to win major
projects. BIM is changing how the construction industry does business.
With the BIM process, you and the other stakeholders can construct,
in cyberspace, a completely coordinated, fully constructible model of
the building you are going to build. This model can provide all of the
information needed to design, coordinate, procure, schedule, sequence,
prefabricate, build, test, commission, and maintain the building.
The cost and effort of entering into the BIM process is substantial.
Many of the MEP “BIM pioneers,” after finishing a number of projects
with this new delivery methodology, discovered that most of their
early investment paid off. The BIM efforts had forced them to replace
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 9

Spatial Coordination disjointed and nonstandard practices and communication patterns

in a BIM Environment with linear, repeatable operating procedures. They found the data they
needed from previous bids and projects and learned to repurpose it.
They learned to recognize the risks buried in vague specification and
contact language, and they challenged expectations that were unreason-
able. They developed new skills that enhanced their value to potential
clients and parlayed those investments into a better bottom line. They
became stronger companies.
The adoption of BIM in any aspect of your business processes is a
journey, not a destination. If you are considering taking your company
in that direction, you need to have confidence that the road will lead to
a place you want to go. This Guide was written to prepare you for that
trip, and particularly if you are working on a BIM project for the first
time.
Consider this Guide an industry reference for acceptable standard
practices for spatial coordination for a well-defined, consistent, and
repeatable framework for spatial coordination of Mechanical, Electrical,
Plumbing, and Fire Protection systems (MEP). You won’t learn how to
perform spatial coordination, and you won’t find much that is focused
on the concerns of a particular trade; indeed, a great effort was made to
keep the focus on what is important to all trades. But you will learn how
to review, use, and contribute to the many documents that establish the
scope of the work; how to set up a BIM coordination program in your
company; how to contribute productively to the Coordination Team;
how to recognize the red flags along the way; and repeatable, standard
practices to adopt for accomplishing all of this.
You can read the Guide cover to cover, or you can read Chapters 1 and
2 and then focus on the chapters that cover areas your firm may need
to pay greater attention to. Or, you can share the Guide with contractors
you’re partnering with on a project to reach a consensus on your
approach to spatial coordination. You can also use the Guide to train
your Project Team on BIM and its role in spatial coordination.
Here is a summary of what lies ahead:
• Chapter 2, “BIM and Spatial Coordination Basics,” on page 11
introduces the fundamental concepts and technology that frame the
subject and are used through the Guide.
• C
 hapter 3, “Building the Team,” on page 19, is aimed at executives,
senior managers, or Construction Managers who are responsible for
managing or overseeing the implementation and adoption of 3D
modeling and BIM technologies within your firm.
10 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Spatial Coordination • Chapter 4, “The BIM Execution Plan,” on page 39, is aimed at
in a BIM Environment senior and project management and presents what you should expect
to find within a competent BIM execution plan. The chapter provides
options and suggestions for what to do when you receive an
Execution Plan that is vague, missing critical BIM information
and possibly contains well-known ”red flags.”
• Chapter 5, “Managing the Process,” on page 67, is aimed at project
managers, virtual construction managers or whoever is representing
the firm on a project Coordination Team.
• Chapter 6, “Documents of Record,” on page 85, is aimed at the
senior executives, Project Managers, or Construction Managers who
are responsible for the receivables and deliverables of a firm within
the scope of Design-Bid-Build projects with spatial coordination. The
Guide introduces all the required and many optional documents of
record that are critical to a successful project.
• Chapter 7, “Improving Your Operations,” on page 103, is aimed at
senior operational managers and Project Managers. It introduces the
secondary uses of the data that is generated throughout the building
lifecycle of projects built with BIM through a 3D spatial coordination
process.
• Chapter 8, “Contract Language,” on page 115, is aimed at senior
management responsible for the firm’s contract business. This chapter
explains issues and language within the contract documents that your
firm must identify and fully understand before engaging in any
BIM project.
• Chapter 9, “BIM Technologies for an IT Infrastructure,” on page 129,
is aimed at senior management, IT managers, or whoever is
responsible for your firm’s IT Implementation Plan. The chapter
frames a majority of the key elements needed within a capable IT
infrastructure designed to support spatial coordination and BIM.
However you choose to use the Guide, it is hoped you will come
to see that when the majority of the Project Team agrees to and
follows common coordination practices, your project is more likely
to run smoothly.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 11

• 2.1 Project Delivery Methods on page on page on page 11

2 • 2.2 Types of Models on page 12
CHAPTER 2 • 2.3 Types of Software on page 15
BIM and Spatial • 2.4 Level of Development Specifications on page 16
Coordination Basics

T his Guide reflects some basic

assumptions and also makes
abundant use of specific concepts and
2.1 Project Delivery Methods
A handful of project delivery methods are used to build and deliver
commercial building projects.
terminology, all of which are explained
One method is Design-Build in which the design and construction
in this chapter. services are contracted by a single entity, known as the design-builder
or design-build contractor, and the design phase and construction phase
overlap. Design-Build places the responsibility for design errors and
2.1 Project Delivery Meth- omissions on the design–builder, relieving the owner of legal liability
ods and managerial responsibilities. The burden for these costs and
associated risks are transferred to the design-build team.
The delivery method mostly widely used is Design-Bid-Build. In this
method, the owner contracts with separate entities for the design and
for the construction of a project. Design-Assist deliveries are a variant
of this type of delivery, often permitting earlier participation by a
contracting team to assist the designers or engineers in expediting
their processes or reducing potential post-design problems.
There are notable differences in each approach with specific
implications of risk, responsibilities, schedule, and costs. Because of
these differences and the MEP contractor practices unique to each
delivery method, this Guide focuses exclusively on the Design-Bid-Build
method. Most MEP contractors are familiar with the standard protocols
and methods for Design-Bid-Build projects, and those MEP contractors
who have not worked with BIM can more easily grasp the nature of the
operational changes that BIM introduces.
The other delivery methods that use BIM and spatial coordination
require the contractor to take a different perspective, use different
procedures, and maintain a different set of expectations of the other
participants. That said, the suggestions, lessons learned, and general
practices of BIM discussed in this Guide are easily transferred to the
other delivery methods.
12 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM AND Spatial 2.2 Types of Models

Coordination BASICS To understand how an MEP contractor’s detailing and coordination
efforts relate to BIM, you need to understand what is meant by “the
Model.” Considerable effort has gone to defining this term—through
establishing standards, practice documents, and industry nomencla-
ture—yet none of this has aligned expectations of what the Model
actually represents. A model from one stakeholder may represent a
version of the project that is completely different from what another
stakeholder was expecting to receive.
2.2 Types of models As used in this Guide, the Model represents the building project as
designed, with all its details and systems. The Model is the Design-Intent
Model created by the Design Team and is the base model that is extend-
ed during the coordination phase to create the construction model. The
MEP contractors and other trades contribute models of their respective
systems to the Model. The coordinated model, the construction model,
and the as-built model represent the Model at different stages of its
development. In this Guide, the terms “the Model,” “Design-Intent
Model,” and “coordination model” refer to the same thing.
In the early textbooks and academic presentations about BIM, one of
the core tenets of the methodology is the capability to take an architec-
tural conceptual model, and at every phase of the project, pass a version
of this model to the next domain (that is, from architect to engineer,
from engineer to contractor). Each version reuses existing elements
and extends them with the knowledge, skills, and data relevant to the
specific domain and the area of responsibility in the building process.
Aggregating, integrating, or combining information into a single model
(that is, the Model) is intended to eliminate redundant effort.
The ultimate goal has always been to achieve this seamless flow from
conceptual model to the turnover construction package by extending
the model and never redrawing. But we have not achieved that goal yet.
Therefore, it is important to know what type of model you are receiving
and what kinds of data can be derived and reused from it.
Two primary types of models are used in the design and construction
industry: Integrated Models and Federated Models. A few other models
are derived from the base Federated Model, but these should be viewed
as contributing models, not the Model.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 13

BIM AND Spatial 2.2.1 The Integrated Model

Coordination BASICS
An Integrated Model is created with a single authoring platform that
all design, construction, and maintenance stakeholders use throughout
the construction cycle (Figure 2.1 on page 13). This method of extend-
ing the Model inside a single design platform is as close as the industry
has come to achieving the BIM ideal, yet it is rarely used. The reason is
that, although some commercially available software platforms meet
most needs of the architects and designers and some needs of the
engineers, these platforms do not provide all of the applications and
functions that MEP contractors need and use.
The time may come when a single authoring platform or software
environment supports the needs of each building services stakeholder,
but at this writing, it has not.

The Model
The Model The Model
(inc. MEP Models)

Design Construction F/M

Phase Phase Phase

LOD 300 LOD 350 and LOD 400

Figure 2.1 Typical Integrated Model

2.2.2 Standard Federated Models

A Federated Model is assembled from the various models created by
the stakeholders on the construction project (Figure 2.2 on page 14).
Although most of the intelligence and attributes of components in the
contributing models remain with the software application that created
them, the rendering of this federation of models is considered to be the
Model.
The use of 3D CAD technology and Building Information Modeling
in the U.S. expanded when the cost of specialized project review (also
known as model review) software became available. Most stakeholders
in the design and construction phases were able to view and process,
or scrub, models created on other platforms (for example, Design-
Intent Models) yet continue to use their specialized software platform
applications. These new rendering programs also provided enhanced
visualization capabilities and powerful features such as clash detection
and recording.
14 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM AND Spatial

Coordination BASICS Federation
“The Model” of Models

MEP Models

The
Model Architect’s Model

Other Trade Models

Design Construction F/M

Phase Phase Phase

LOD 300 LOD 350 and LOD 400 Scrub

Figure 2.2 Standard Federated Model

2.2.3 Modified Federated Models

To work around the current limitations of software, some projects
are melding the heterogeneous features and benefits of the Federated
Model with the seamless integration of the Integrated Model (Figure 2.3
on page 14). In this process, the Design Team maintains control of the
Model, and its specialty consultants process and integrate information
from MEP models into it. Despite this duplication of effort, this model
provides an Owner with a more robust deliverable.

The
The Model (Design Team Model)
Model

MEP Model

The
Model Architect’s Model

Other Trade Model

Design Intent Construction F/M
Phase Phase Phase
LOD 300 LOD 350 and LOD400 Unknown/Varies Scrub

Figure 2.3 Modified Federated Model

Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 15

BIM AND Spatial 2.2.4 Federated Construction-Only Models

Coordination BASICS
The Construction-Only Model is the same as Standard Federated
Model except that the modeling stops at the construction phase
(Figure 2.4 on page 15). No model deliverables are required
(or desired) by the Owner.

“The Model”

MEP Models

No
The
Architect’s Model F/M
Model
Model

Other Trade Models

Design Construction F/M

Phase Phase Phase

LOD 300 LOD 350 and LOD 400 Scrub

Figure 2.4 Federated Construction-Only Model

2.3 Types of Software

One of the questions that senior MEP executives who are new to BIM
2.3 Types of software and spatial coordination raise most frequently is why so much software
is needed to support the practice.
Chapter 9, “BIM Technologies in an IT Infrastructure” on page 129,
answers many of these software-related questions and defines the five
types of software to acquire and in which to build competency in so
that Project Teams can support the workflow. It doesn’t take long to
appreciate the value that these tools deliver at different stages in the
project lifecycle.
The only question remaining is why MEP contractors need two CAD
authoring software applications.
CAD (or authoring) software comes in a base version that is not
tailored for specific uses or to specific users. Some base platforms are
AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, AECOsim Building Designer, and Revit MEP. Their
publishers develop their products to provide the greatest benefit to
their entire, and quite diverse, user base.
16 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM AND Spatial The domain-specific tools sometimes referred to as “plug-in” soft-
Coordination BASICS ware, are installed “inside” these base platforms. Software publishers
that serve a specific domain—for example, fire protection equipment
or plumbing systems—extend these base platforms to meet the specific
requirements of their respective domains. Rather than invent or rein-
vent a base platform on which domain-specific software operates, these
publishers build functions onto these base platforms to improve and
power their own products.
2.4 Level of Development Thus, the principle: to get the benefits of a domain-specific specialty
Specifications software tool, contractors need to have the base platform, too.

2.4 Level of Development Specifications

To understand what a Level of Development* (LOD) is, you must
understand what it is not: Level of Detail.
In 2011, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) introduced the
term “Level of Detail” in preliminary draft of their Digital Practice
Documents. The definition states that Level of Detail “equals the level
of visual appearance of a particular element in a model.” It describes
the levels of visual rendering on a computer screen that represents an
object’s physical appearance.
Ever since this definition was released, many groups, regions, and
contractors have used this term interchangeably with another term,
Level of Development, issued as part of the same document release.
The Level of Development Specification** represents an industry effort
to establish a standard reference and a way to define “the degree of
completion of a building model for the purposes of spatial coordination
and construction.” The LOD Specification also offers a way to precisely
describe what you received, what you should have received, what you
agreed to receive, and what you agreed to produce or provide.

*AIA Document E203-2013 Building Information Modeling and Digital Data Exhibit.
Copyright © American Institute of Architects 2013. All rights reserved.

** The definitions for LOD 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 included in this Specification
represent the updated language that appears in the AIA’s most recent BIM protocol
document, G202–2013, Building Information Modeling Protocol Form. The LOD 100, 200,
300, 400 and 500 definitions are produced by the AIA and have been used by permission.
Copyright © 2013. The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved. LOD 350 was
developed by the BIMForum working group. Copyright © 2013. The BIMForum and the
American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 17

BIM AND Spatial Although there are six Levels of Development (100, 200, 300, 350,
Coordination BASICS 400, and 500), the levels most important to MEP contractors are LOD
300, LOD 350, and LOD 400. The definition of what is to be modeled at
these levels is determined at the start of the project and is often found
and referenced in the BIM Execution Plan. Project Participants need to
agree on both the modeling expectations and what the Owner is looking
for as a final BIM deliverable, if required.
Elements that are modeled in a LOD 300 model—such as a 4"
conduit, a wall-mounted plumbing carrier, or a 14x24 rectangular duct—
are modeled as specific elements or composite assemblies at a specific
location and represent an accurate shape and orientation (for example,
thickness) of the specified assembly. For a Design-Bid-Build contrac-
tor, this is a good place to start your detailing activities. Non-geometric
information such as standard ratings and special specifications may also
be attached. A solid model element with accurate thickness and location
that also contains the information usually included in any of these types
of elements satisfies the requirements of LOD 300.
The official description of what the Design Team is expected to
deliver in its Design-Intent Model at LOD 300, is defined as follows:
The model element is graphically represented within the Model as a
specific system, object, or assembly in terms of quantity, size, shape,
location, and orientation. Non-graphical information may also be
attached to the Model Element.*
There is, however, no uniform deliverable product that design firms
are contracted to provide in a Design-Intent Model. What this means in
practical terms is that the information you need to begin your detailing
and coordination work may or may not be delivered in the Design-Intent
Model. There is no guarantee that the design model passed to you
contains accurate, constructible, and coordinated LOD 300 elements.
Therefore, you should rely more on what the Execution Plan and
contract documents define as the set of domain-specific LOD elements
that you should expect to receive. If you cannot find any references to
these details, submit an RFI for clarification.
But regardless of whether the Design-Intent Model provides fully
compliant LOD 300 elements, your task is to use what you can while
working within it and avoid any redesign of it. So part of your BIM
Execution Plan will define the elements that you are contractually
obliged to model if you are to deliver a set of elements at LOD 350
to begin coordination. When coordination is complete, you have the

* Level of Development Specification © 2013 by BIMForum

18 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM AND Spatial option to generate elements at LOD 400 within your construction
Coordination BASICS model, which can in turn, be utilized for component or assembly
manufacture, fabrication, and installation.
The official definition of LOD 350 includes all of LOD 300 and adds
some new information (emphasis added):
The model element is graphically represented within the Model as a
specific system, object, or assembly in terms of quantity, size, shape,
location and orientation, and interfaces with other building systems.
Non-graphical information may also be attached to the Model Element.*
The Coordination Team and Project Coordination Manager can expect
that the LOD 350 model elements you have submitted to the first
coordination meeting are ready to be federated into the coordination
model. Your model must include enough detail for installation and
cross-trade coordination.
The official definition of a LOD 400 model includes more detail than
an LOD 350 model (emphasis added):
The model element is graphically represented within the Model as a
specific system, object, or assembly in terms of quantity, size, shape,
location, and orientation with detailing, fabrication, assembly, and
installation information. Non-graphical information may also be
attached to the Model Element.*
For MEP contractors, this model is equivalent to what are often
considered as industry-standard shop drawings. You can use it as a
construction submittal, declaring that it has completed the coordination
process. You are ready to begin manufacturing, fabrication, and
installation, upon sign-off and authorization.

*Level of Development Specification © 2013 by BIMForum

Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 19

This chapter covers the following topics:

3 • 3.1. Building an Effective Spatial Coordination Program on page 19
CHAPTER 3 • 3.2. Preparing Your BIM Implementation Plan on page 20
Building the Team • 3.3 Roles and Responsibilities on the Coordination Team on page 21

A
• 3.4 Internal Inventory of Skills on page 25
s a senior executive of an MEP
• 3.5 Internal Communication Procedures on page 28
contractor, the responsibility for
building a BIM spatial coordination • 3.6 Human Resource Requirements on page 32
program falls to you. The BIM • 3.7. Outsourcing on page 33
Implementation Plan is the foundation. • 3.8 Working Within the Collaborative Process on page 37
This plan identifies the skills, processes,
and technologies you need to have to 3.1. Building an Effective Spatial Coordination Program
do the work successfully and a schedule Do not wait until you have been awarded a BIM and 3D modeling
for filling the gaps between what spatial coordination project to establish within your company the
you have and what you need. This capabilities that you will need to perform the job accurately and
chapter focuses on the considerations effectively. Spatial coordination with 3D modeling is a valued capabil-
for evaluating the skills and processes of ity of many MEP contracting firms and should be instrumental to your
your current operations. The technology estimating and negotiating process for any project. When you find a
requirement for spatial coordination, 3D modeling, or BIM in a Request
issues are addressed in Chapter 9 on
for Proposal (RFP), you want to be prepared to add to the proposal a
page 129. description of your company’s unique capabilities to complete the job
and fulfill the BIM special requirements of the project.
It is important to carefully review the spatial coordination or BIM
requirements before your firm bids on any project. Your estimators
should evaluate the costs of meeting the specification requirements,
your operational personnel should review coordination and related
construction schedules, your detailing or modeling manager should
3.1. Building an Effective identify the special requirements and procedures related to this custom
Spatial Coordination Pro- project, and your executives should analyze the contract terms and
gram associated risk that might apply.
Do you have the trained personnel available to do this? Unfortunately,
most contractors discover that they do not only after they have won
the bid. They assume that the project requires a high-level detailing
process, only to find that the BIM requirements demand much more
time, resources, and expense than anyone had anticipated.
Once burned, smart MEP contractors are quick to adjust to the needs
and demands of their clients and the industry in general. It takes a
concerted effort to understand all the dynamic aspects of spatial
coordination and Building Information Modeling and to recognize how
Owners, General Contractors and Construction Managers, Architects,
and design professionals are positioned to address technology’s new
influence in the construction process.
20 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BUILDING THE TEAM

Assembling your Project team

3.2. Preparing Your BIM 3.2. Preparing Your BIM Implementation Plan
Implementation Plan Projects vary in size, composition, and complexity, but your processes,
protocols, and metrics should not. If you were to bid on a project that
requires BIM coordination, do you know which aspects of your busi-
ness can function as they do now? Or which departments or processes
must transform to meet the new demands and expectations? Have your
project teams identified and staffed all the functional areas required for
a BIM project?
If you cannot answer these questions in the affirmative or you simply
do not know, you need to begin work on a BIM Implementation Plan.
A BIM Implementation Plan is a business strategy document that
outlines the resources your company needs to buy and to hire and
identifies the changes to current internal processes that are required
to fully support BIM projects. The first step in preparing this plan is to
inventory the skills and equipment your firm currently has and analyze
how your business data flows within the firm. The second step is to
identify any gaps between what you have and what you need to meet
the demands of current and future BIM projects. The third step is to
prepare a schedule for your organization to evaluate, select, and
incorporate the technologies you will need to adopt.
There are no standard templates for developing this plan; each one
is unique. Because the BIM technologies can transform your company’s
processes, an executive with a broad view of all aspects of the
company’s capabilities and goals should oversee the work. That
executive, in turn, needs to find the champions—the seasoned and
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 21

BUILDING THE TEAM respected individuals within your company who have the patience
and persistence to keep your plan on task and still meet any immediate
commitments or obligations for your firm.
These plans should describe the existing internal processes for plan-
ning and executing spatial coordination, including communication, data
exchange, and how the information gleaned from the process is applied.
The plan describes how you want these processes to change to meet
new or desired expectations. The plan also makes note of future
opportunities and of any data collection and reuse that might
enhance your business practices. This plan should be prepared with
the expectation that it will be revisited and evolve as the company’s
skills grow and to accommodate new technologies and tools.
If you are new to BIM and do not feel you have a good understand-
ing of what the industry is demanding in your specific area of business,
consider setting up formal discussions with your clients, your peers, your
vendors and your technology providers. What you learn will help you
see where your gaps are, and at the very least, what you need to meet
your immediate needs.
The sections that follow include guidelines that you may want to use
as starting points for various aspects of your Implementation Plan. They
3.3 Roles and Responsibilities focus on the skills and processes that the Implementation Plan must
on the Coordination Team address. The technology issues that the plan must address are covered
in Chapter 9, on page 129.

3.3 Roles and Responsibilities on the Coordination Team

Project specifications, BIM Execution Plans, or other project-specific
BIM documents usually define the roles and responsibilities of Par-
ticipants on the Coordination Team. External stakeholders include the
Owner (and/or his designee), the Architect, the Construction Manager
and General Contractor, the trade-specific engineers of record, Lead
MEP contractors, and other trade-specific participants.
The first step for your Project Team members is to document the
background and skills of each Participant on the Coordination Team.
Who is taking on which role? What is each person responsible for?
What experience do they have in the industry and with spatial
coordination? What and how much authority do they have? Do
they have the skills that will help everyone succeed?
This information is useful because the more experience your
representatives on the Coordination Team have, the sooner they can
recognize when critical roles are being performed properly. If they see
shortcomings that will hamper progress, experienced team members
should raise their concerns right away. Documenting such gaps is
something that all prudent MEP contractors should be willing to do.
22 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BUILDING THE TEAM The three critical roles on the Coordination Team are the Project
Coordination Manager, the Model Manager, and the Lead MEP
Subcontractor. On some projects, one person performs more than
one of these roles; on others, the roles are assigned to individuals
employed by different firms. Their basic responsibilities do not change,
but their responsibilities within the current project must be defined and
understood. Their titles well may be different from those used here.
There is also an authorized representative from each of the trades
participating in coordination.
As the needs and expectations of spatial coordination have expanded,
many stakeholders have looked to their MEP contractors to lead or
manage some or all of their coordination efforts. MEP contractors
are often asked to assemble initial drafts of BIM Execution Plans
(see chapter 4 on page 103).

The Coordination Team leadership roles require field experience

and computer skills

These are significant responsibilities. If you are willing to step into

these roles, you should be confident that you have the resources,
capabilities, and bench support for them. You should also be adequately
compensated for the additional work and the risk you assume. Many
qualified MEP contractors take on these responsibilities because they
are compelled to by contract requirements, or choose to do so because
they are best qualified to perform these functions, or want to have
significant control over those factors critical to a successful project
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 23

BUILDING THE TEAM The following sections describe the responsibilities of the basic roles
on a Coordination Team.
3.3.1 Project Coordination Manager
The Project Coordination Manager (PCM) is generally responsible
for the oversight and management of the spatial coordination process;
another name for the role is MEP Coordinator. The General Contractor
or Construction Manager generally assumes this role.
The Project Coordination Manager has these responsibilities:
• Managing the Coordination Team to ensure full participation and
adherence to the BIM Execution Plan
• Creating coordination schedules that are based on the project
schedule and agreed to by Project Participants; managing these
schedules to keep them up to date and reconciled
• Obtaining and distributing all contract drawings and documents,
design change drawings and documents, and all CAD and model
files that the Coordination Team needs to create initial models
• Ensuring that all documents, drawings, files, and information from
the design team are current
• Acting as liaison between the Coordination Team and the Architect,
engineers, and Owner.
• Notifying appropriate parties and obtaining resolution from the
Design Team when spatial coordination issues prevent the
Coordination Team from achieving satisfactory coordination in
accordance with the Design-Intent Model or with contract
documents and drawings
• Acting as an arbitrator when members of the Coordination Team
cannot agree to a mutually satisfactory solution to coordination
issues.
3.3.2 Model Manager
The Model Manager is responsible for facilitating coordination meet-
ings and managing the Model. This position may be specified in the BIM
Execution Plan as a unique position; the responsibilities might also be
incorporated into the roles of the Project Coordination Manager or Lead
MEP Contractor. Either way, it is a critical role that must be defined.
It can be filled by the Project Coordination Manager, the General
Contractor or Construction Manager, the Lead MEP subcontractor, the
Architect or Engineer, or an independent BIM specialty subcontractor.
The Model Manager is responsible for these tasks:
• Setting up and maintaining a secure online file-sharing site
• Assembling the initial master model
24 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BUILDING THE TEAM • Setting up the initial file structure of the model folders (also known
as model directories) and establishing conventions for naming
project files
• Establishing elevations and the point of origin (or insertion point)
for all models
• Communicating information to the Coordination Team
• Confirming that the model files of all Project Participants align
properly and can be inserted properly into the master model file
• Resolving any model alignment or coordination issues with all
Project Participants
• Maintaining the model throughout the project
• Performing interference/clash-detection checks
• Generating clash detection reports
• Facilitating coordination meetings
It is a best practice for individual firms to generate their own
clash-detection reports and resolve as many conflicts as possible prior
to the coordination meetings. Coordination meetings should focus
on major interferences or design restrictions, not minor, easily resolved
interferences. If attempts to resolve clashes end in stalemate, the
Project Coordination Manager should intercede.
3.3.3 Lead MEP Subcontractor
The responsibilities of the Lead MEP Subcontractor vary across
projects, and the role might not be specified in the contract documents
or the BIM Execution Plan. On some projects, the responsibilities of
the Model Manager are assigned to this role. On others, the Lead MEP
Subcontractor may coordinate the work of other MEP contractors on the
team, modeling the major systems within the Lead MEP Subcontractor’s
scope first and providing that model to other Project Participants, who
then model their own systems.
Any responsibilities assigned to this role must be clearly defined in the
project’s contract documents or BIM Execution Plan. When sequential
modeling is specified, the systems with the greatest coordination
impacts such as sloped piping and large duct work mains are modeled
first; that model, preferably federated with the architectural and
structural system models, is then provided as a “background” for the
modeling of smaller, less bulky systems such as domestic water,
electrical, and fire protection. Alternatively, the BIM Execution Plan
might designate the Lead MEP Subcontractor as the Model Manager,
MEP Coordinator, or MEP Spatial Coordinator.

Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 25

BUILDING THE TEAM Because these roles can be filled by a number of different individuals
in different organizations, it is important that the Coordination Team
sort out the details and agree to their responsibilities. It is highly
recommended that you address these expectations during the bidding
and procurement process because they have an impact on your
financial commitment.
3.3.4 MEP Subcontractor
Each MEP contractor on the Coordination Team must have these
responsibilities and authority:
• Collaborating with the Coordination Team about the requirements
and guidelines of the Execution Plan and all applicable contract
documents
• Modeling prescribed components at full scale, using the required
units insertion points and project orientation, at required elevations,
free from interferences with structure and their own components
• Capable of and authorized to make decisions regarding the placement
and coordination of their components
3.4 Internal Inventory of 3.4 Internal Inventory of Skills
Skills
The inventory of current skills can begin by constructing two
organization charts, one that represents your current staffing and
another designed to support the requirements or goals of your spatial
coordination program. Then compare the charts. The differences should
dictate what to include in your BIM Implementation Plan.
If your company is small to mid-sized, you may only need to assign a
single individual the responsibility of upgrading the firm’s CAD detailing
department to support the required receivables and deliverables. If
your company is large, you might include a thorough review of every
department and how each could be improved to better support the
cooperation and collaboration needed throughout the entire
organization.
The requirements for successful spatial coordination are far more
comprehensive and time-consuming than old-school detailing ever
was. The skills inventory, especially for large contractors, should also
consider when a shift to segmentation of steps or tasks may be pru-
dent or necessary. The practice of assigning one individual to perform
all tasks related to a specific project may need to change; assigning an
individual to similar parts of many tasks is an alternative. This strategy
requires stricter standardization processes, but permits a more focused
use of any individual detailer’s or coordinator’s time and skill and allows
for a more concentrated attention and improved efficiencies to each
individual component.
26 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BUILDING THE TEAM To begin your inventory, consider the roles and responsibilities of
an internal team that meets the common requirements for spatial
coordination with 3D modeling.
3.4.1 BIM Manager
Most successful BIM Managers come from within the company and
have a track record of successful construction management in one
form or another. Additional training may be necessary, but having
someone who has demonstrated a strong understanding of construction
management is probably more important than someone with
established CAD skills.
When looking outside the firm, a more likely prospect is a successful
lead detailer or MEP coordinator. These skills and personal attributes
are essential:
• Strong field experience, preferably in layout
• Trade knowledgeable
• Self-motivated, ambitious, hardworking, intelligent
• Computer literate
• Excellent social and communication skills
The BIM Manager typically reports directly to senior management
and has these responsibilities:
• Managing the BIM process
• Supervising coordinators and detailers
• Working internally with estimators, project management, field per-
sonnel, fabrication facilities and externally with Architects, Engineers,
General Contractors, Construction Managers, other trade contractors,
and Owners
• Establishing schedules and budgets
• Monitoring the process to measure compliance with quality
requirements and any other internal metrics established and
defined by the organization
• Filtering clashes and evaluating clash reports prior to coordination
meetings
3.4.2 Lead Detailers or Project Coordinators
Lead detailers require a strong knowledge of construction techniques
and methods; they are often a tradesperson with long experience in
laying out mechanical, electrical, or plumbing systems. Some good lead
detailers also come from drafters and detailers with several years’
experience. These candidates usually rise to the top as their abilities
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 27

BUILDING THE TEAM and skills develop. If not familiar with your company’s existing CAD
platforms, the best candidate may also require specialized CAD training.
Also of great value is someone who has taken the lead role on multi-
ple projects. These are people who can make or break a project, so their
ability and willingness to accept a great deal of responsibility is essential.
A Lead Detailer or Project Coordinator has these responsibilities:
• Working with the Project Team
• Attending coordination meetings
• Coordinating the efforts of individual detailers assigned to the project
• Reviewing the status of these items with the Project Manager:
o Schedule
o Deliverables
o Submittals
o RFIs
o Design changes
o Cost impacts
3.4.3 Detailers
Many detailers, and indeed some of the most competent ones, come
directly from the field. What they bring is a thorough understanding
of the materials, equipment, and how systems and elements are
connected and installed. Many capable organizations offer afternoon
or early evening classes to their field personnel who are interested in
making the switch.
Competent detailing candidates have also come from architectural
or engineering firms. Entry-level candidates should have a two-year
associate’s degree or equivalent in CAD or BIM technology. Some
construction management programs are offering minors in BIM
technology and almost all are addressing BIM technology in one
form or another. Your local MCAA, SMACNA, or NECA chapter of
affiliate can often guide you to qualified candidates.
Detailers, also known as drafters, have these responsibilities:
• Detailing sections of the model
• Incorporating Design-Intent Models, contract documents and
specifications, and the Project Team’s requests and expectations
into a virtual detailing model that represents the intended MEP
installation for the building
• Understanding and interpreting architectural and structural details
as they affect the MEP installations
28 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BUILDING THE TEAM • Identifying interferences with the architectural structural and other
MEP elements
• Generating contract and internal company deliverables from the
model. These deliverables include tagging, dimensioning, and
generating fabrication spools and tickets.
 In some companies, the senior detailers do the modeling and the
junior detailers perform the tasks related to extracting deliverables
from the model.
3.4.4 Technical/CAD Manager
This candidate requires a strong CAD and BIM background.
One other consideration, especially with a large department, is
the option to establish a position for a technical manager or technical
lead who works directly for the BIM Manager and takes on the
3.5 Internal Communica- full responsibility for these areas of the model:
tion Procedures • Implementation
• Management
• Troubleshooting
• Training others on the authoring software and related technologies

3.5 Internal Communication Procedures

Many of your existing workflows will have to accommodate the
new communications, information exchange, and documentation
requirements.
The most critical exchanges of data between the Coordination Team
and company personnel fall in three areas:
• Field and shop personnel
• Project management staff
• Senior executives
The BIM Execution Plan (Chapter 4 on page 39) should help define
your company’s standards, protocols, and expectations of everyone
involved in these communications. The rest of this section consists of
checklists of the items to include in these standards for each area.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 29

BUILDING THE TEAM Internal Standard Practices Checklist

Has your company established exchange standards between the
Project Team and the field and shop personnel? Consider using the
following checklist to determine what standard practices need to
be added.
How to best manage internal questions
Establish minimum standards for deliverables to the shop
Planning of the coordination process (meetings, job reviews,
participants, and so on.)
Create and use a detailing/modeling checklist for intra-company
deliverables
Establish minimum standards for deliverables to the field forces
Implement procedures for establishing the limits of the program on a
job-by-job basis
Obtain input from the field or shop staff before starting job-specific
detailing
Create default matrixes to use in the absence of approved submittals
for commodity products
Set expectations for routing and for systems optimization
Obtain input and approval of field or shop staff after coordination
Implement quality control protocols for detailing, completed models,
and drawings
Delivery and use of interim (not completely coordinated and signed-
off) drawings or models
Hold review meetings for project milestones; set expectations about
what is to be delivered
Follow up on status of material matrixes
Establish post-coordination procurement procedures
Identify prefabrication and modularization opportunities
Establish the priority and desired sequencing of detailing and
modeling efforts
Provide access to documents (FTP or project-specific repositories)
Installation tracking
Establish procedures for “as-built”
Establish procedures for communicating design changes or field
directives
30 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BUILDING THE TEAM Internal Data Exchange Checklist

When establishing the exchange standards across all of your internal
departments and between those departments and the Project Team
members , consider the following issues:
Roles and responsibilities, project-specific applications
Contract reviews and communication of unique language or demands
Schedule creation and implementation expectations
Budget reviews and cost coding
Internal company receivables to the BIM/Spatial Coordination Teams
Submittals
Meeting attendance and recordkeeping
Notification requirements
Authority and authorization limitations (lines of instruction)
The use and maintenance of logs (for example, Issues, RFIs)
Red-Flagging
Meetings and reviews
Measuring and monitoring the process
Addressing delays and impacts
Training issues
File management, file access, repository maintenance
Client relations
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 31

BUILDING THE TEAM Project Team to Management Team Inventory Checklist

It’s important that the project team and the management team have
the same understanding of these standards, resources, and events.
Resource training
Outsourcing
IT standards – software and hardware platforms
Infrastructure
Database standards and security
Company detailing standards
Roles and responsibilities – company standards
Internal malfunctions of the team
Team meetings – timing and expectations
32 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BUILDING THE TEAM 3.6 Human Resource Requirements

In any coordination process, one bad apple can spoil the team. A
poorly performing Project Participant can delay the work and increase
the costs for the rest of the team, along with generating numerous
problems that migrate out to the field. When you staff your Project
3.6 Human Resource Team or review the existing Coordination Team, you must recognize
Requirements that some detailers or coordinators lack the people skills necessary to
collaborate effectively. Choosing an effective representative to be your
company’s spokesperson during coordination can go a long way toward
gaining the cooperation of Project Participants.
A good BIM Implementation Plan should state the minimum
experience requirements for team members and clearly define what
the company expects of these representatives when they work on
teams that include your clients. Team members should know their
trade and be authorized and capable of making decisions.
Effective team members have these personal attributes:
• Are driven to meet their goals and commitments
• Understand the difference between spatial coordination and design
or engineering
• Recognize the directions or adjustments to the scope of work that
constitute extra work
• Know when to seek clear direction from your project managers or
responsible authority
• Make it known when the coordination process is getting off track
or is unproductive
• Document delays and wasted time
If you are not confident that your detailers or coordinators
understand your company’s expectations of behavior on the
Coordination Team, lay it out in your BIM Implementation Plan.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 33

BUILDING THE TEAM 3.6.1 Recruitment

Many MEP contractors, especially those who are new to spatial
coordination, will at times find themselves shorthanded. In such
situations, you must look for ways to recruit talent to meet those needs.
Depending on the urgency to meet specific needs, various methods
are available to source qualified candidates:
• Current employees who could quickly learn the skills they might lack
• Local trade unions, particularly those that might provide comprehen-
sive detailing training for their active or retired members and
apprentices
• Local colleges, community colleges, universities, and technical schools
that have programs for your technical or engineering classifications
• Local temporary labor placement agencies
• National specialty placement firms that cater to your industry
Concentrating on these sources should not prevent you from
advertising in local publications or web-based placement sites. You
never know when you might come across someone who will fit your bill.
You, or your local trade association, may also want to consider
teaming up with a local college to sponsor baseline training programs
that might help provide the training to meet your future needs.
Regardless of where these new hires are sourced, never assume that
these individuals are truly ready to meet your needs and adequately
represent your firm despite the experience or qualifications they have.
Test them when possible, and train them to understand your BIM
processes.
3.7. Outsourcing 3.7. Outsourcing
For contractors new to the BIM coordination process or for
established BIM contractors who find their internal modeling resources
spread too thin, outsourcing may be a viable option. This option should
not be considered lightly. Special consideration must go to researching,
selecting, and managing any qualified subcontractors.
One of your project management functions is to effectively manage
the significant degree of responsibility and subsequent risk that you
may be entrusting to another party. Many consultants will offer BIM
coordination assistance for a fee, but most do not, or will not, accept the
responsibility for it or the consequences of nonperformance. Approach
such situations with caution. You will find that, in most cases, your team
will still need to intensively monitor and manage these consultants or
subcontractors, and be actively involved in the process.
34 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BUILDING THE TEAM 3.7.1 Selecting an Outsource Firm

Researching and interviewing qualified firms or individuals is
paramount. A lot of consultants will promise just about anything to
make a sale. Qualified candidates should have solid industry-related
references. They should have experience and specialized capabilities in
your firm’s area of expertise. Create a list of questions and expectations
and present them to each firm or individual that you are considering.
Look for how their work processes will handle both your internal
requirements and those of the project, and record their responses.
Various types of CAD/BIM services available to the MEP industry:
• Individual CAD/BIM detailers. These are one-man shops typically
suitable for smaller projects or supplementing your staff.
• CAD/BIM job shops. These are niche contractors that specialize in
providing CAD/BIM services. Contractors in this category include
both local firms and overseas firms. Local firms usually provide
detailers that meet and work directly with the MEP contractor.
Overseas firms typically provide a local contact who coordinates
with detailers and modelers located overseas.
• Engineering firms. Some MEP engineering firms also offer CAD/BIM
services.
• Specialty material or equipment vendors. Some MEP vendors sell
packages that include CAD and modeling services along with
packaged and sorted materials and/or fabricated skids or modules.
• Other MEP contractors. Established MEP contractors who are
participating in the coordination process on a specific project are
often willing to provide BIM coordination services to other MEP
contractors.
• A peer-group company (that is if you belong to a peer group).
A peer-group company that has established BIM/coordination
capabilities may be one of the best options because a certain
level of familiarity and trust is already established.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 35

BUILDING THE TEAM Qualifying design firms and setting project expectations
To screen a potential outsourcing firm, start with the list of questions
here to develop your own list.
1. Do you provide coordination drawings only? __________________
_______________________________________________________
2. Do you attend coordination meetings and who represents your
firm’s interests in the process?______________________________
_______________________________________________________
3. Does your firm require installation drawings, including deck, pad,
insert and sleeve drawings? ________________________________
_______________________________________________________
4. Will the design firm generate material lists with a specific material
scheme for sorting, bagging, and tagging material?_____________
_______________________________________________________
5. To what degree will prefabrication and 2D modeling be taken up
in the process? Will deliverables include equipment, module, and
spool drawings?_________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
6. Will there be a deliverable to support and drive Total Station
surveying equipment?____________________________________
_______________________________________________________
7. Does the design firm use the type of modeling software compatible
with the project specs?____________________________________
_______________________________________________________
8. Who manages the submittal process and will the design firm
produce the “as-builts”?___________________________________
_______________________________________________________
9. What previous spatial coordination projects has the design firm
completed?_____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
10. Are the design firm’s insurance and bonding capabilities adequate
for the project or does the MEP contractor provide it?___________
_______________________________________________________
36 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BUILDING THE TEAM Some firms can meet your needs on small projects, but would be
overwhelmed by large ones. Recognize that in most cases you are
actually contracting with individuals, not firms, and these individuals
must meet the requirements and qualifications that you have for your
own employees.
Once you have chosen a firm or an individual, assign a small or simple
project, or have them supplement your team’s efforts on a current
project so that your personnel can evaluate the work. Your staff needs
to understand the work being delegated to subcontractors or consul-
tants and to convey expectations for performing it. Putting all of this in
writing, with schedules and standards, is important, particularly when
some of the information needed is not available when the consultant
joins the project. Accountability is important, and vigilance is key.
Establishing a relationship with multiple outsourcing firms is also
something to consider. As with any other subcontractor, the more
familiar you are with each other—your respective capabilities, strengths,
and weaknesses—the more flexibility you have with developing the right
approach for a particular job. By developing a strong relationship, your
outsource firm can become nearly as integrated with your BIM struc-
ture as an in-house department. Having multiple options also allows for
competitive balance in pricing. Oftentimes the smaller outsourcing con-
tractors have a limited amount of work that they can take on at a given
time. You do not want to have all of your eggs in one basket, only to find
you have a major project and your outsourcing contractor is unavailable.
If you are an electrical contractor, keep in mind your unique
circumstances if you are considering outsourcing 3D modeling and
coordination work. The limitations of the typical electrical Design-Intent
Model are often schematic; they do not show the connections between
the primary electrical systems and other electrical elements that require
power. Unlike the other trades, an electrical contractor must both model
and provide a level of “pre-design.” When this type of work is out-
sourced, you are potentially at the mercy of how the firm or individual
you’ve hired approaches pre-design as part of the 3D modeling and
coordination process. Before this contractor begins work, you should
gather information from the field to prepare a set of directives for the
contractor to follow and for your team to use when reviewing the
contractor’s work.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 37

BUILDING THE TEAM 3.8 Working Within the Collaborative Process

Large-scale collaboration is the new normal. Your firm’s Project Team
is now working at various levels with parties who, just a few years ago,
did not participate in the coordination process. These parties include the
Owner, the Design Team, and many other trade contractors, all of whom
have needs and agendas.
3.8 Working Within One of the primary responsibilities of the Coordination Team
the Collaborative leaders (see Section 3.3 on page 21) and of your company’s BIM
Process Manager is to identify where projects are struggling or getting off-track.
The coordination process can be derailed or adversely impacted in many
ways. Many of these problems can surface quickly. A Coordination Team
that includes qualified, experienced, and professional coordinators
should be able to recognize such problems or symptoms and to bring
any trends or upcoming issues to your attention. And, obviously, they
should not to be the cause of such problems or difficulties.
On some projects, the Coordination Team participates in team-
building exercises before work begins. This approach can be especially
effective when key Project Participants have not worked together before
or when the project is large and complicated. Many clients hire facilita-
tors to run these exercises and continuously energize such teams.
The collaboration is also reflected in the models that each contractor
delivers. These models should reflect an awareness and understanding
of the architectural elements, the structural elements, and other MEP
elements. They should acknowledge the relationship between the
subcontractor’s model and the models and systems of other Project
Participants. The models must also include the necessary amount of
detail and be free from interference with structures while providing
reasonable access to equipment and devices for maintenance—and
coordinate all this while the other trades are competing for the same
space. Collaboration, cooperation, and standardized building systems
and modeling processes are truly needed to make this repeatable, job
after job.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 39

The contents of a typical BIM Execution Plan are of value and

4 importance to MEP contractors, relevant to the coordination process,
CHAPTER 4 and critical to the roles, standards, responsibilities, and rules for how
BIM Execution Plans the project will be managed and built. An MEP contractor needs to
know where to look and what to look for in this pivotal construction
document. A number of elements and variables in a BIM Execution Plan

T he purpose of a BIM Execution Plan

is to define and communicate the
“rules of the road” to all participants
can impact your estimate, detailing and virtual coordination costs, and
installation scheduling, procurement processes, and labor and resource
planning.
in the coordination process. Having a This chapter describes what you, a senior executive or Project
complete and comprehensive Execution Manager, should expect to find in an Execution Plan and how to
Plan, with allowances provided for input review it. Your review should allow you to evaluate whether it contains
by the major participants, is often important data and addresses the critical elements of a successful spatial
the difference between a successful coordination process with BIM before you bid on it. Also, although many
MEP contractors participated in the coordination process long before
coordination process and one that
some of their Construction Managers, trade partners, and designers
falls short. did, the responsibility for preparing Execution Plans has shifted to the
Construction Managers. Some information about how to write one is
available in section 4.5 on page 62.

This chapter discusses these topics:

• 4.1 The Contents of a BIM Execution Plan on page 38
• 4.2 Model Management Procedures on page 52
• 4.3 Schedules on page 59
• 4.4 Reviewing a BIM Execution Plan on page 61
• 4.5 Red Flags in an Execution Plan on page 62
• 4.6 Authoring a BIM Execution Plan on page 65

4.1 The Contents of a BIM 4.1 The Contents of a BIM Execution Plan
Execution Plan
The contents of any Execution Plan reflect the size, complexity,
and schedule of the project and the contractual responsibilities,
deliverables, and competence of the participating individuals and firms.
For any coordination process, a comprehensive BIM Execution Plan
should, at a minimum, cover the following issues:
• Overview of the Process on page 40
• Team goals and Objectives on page 40
• The Organizational Structure of the Coordination Process on page 40
• Project Meetings on page 41
• Document Management and Maintenance on page 44
• Collocation on page 45
40 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Execution Plans • Receivables on page 48

• Deliverables on page 49
• Orders of Precedence and Space Allocation on page 50
• Temporary Power, Lighting, and Services on page 52
A BIM Execution Plan that is included in the specifications or Request
for Proposal should be reviewed carefully to completely understand the
information it provides and the consequences of accepting or taking
exception to its language or requirements before you bid the project.
4.1.1 Overview of the Process
Most BIM Execution Plans clearly define their scope of activities.
Many Owners will have their own Execution Plans or requirements
for them; however, the Construction Managers currently author most
of them.
4.1.2 Team Goals and Objectives
A BIM Execution Plan usually defines its goals as they relate to the
project. These goals normally include the following:
• Improve communication between all stakeholders
• Reduce the cost of a project to the Owner
• Reduce the schedule of design and construction
• Improve field efficiencies
• Improve design efficiencies
• Increase productivity
• Increase accuracy
To this list, add any internal goals that are included in your company’s
BIM Implementation Plan.
4.1.3 The Organizational Structure of the Coordination Process
Every BIM Execution Plan must include an organizational structure for
the coordination process.
Each Execution Plan should identify the Project Participants and
indicate the expected degree of their involvement, including the
anticipated starting and disengagement points during the process. It
should also identify the nonactive participants who can or should be
called upon as necessary. If you recognize, either when reviewing this
Plan or during the kick-off meetings, that significant parties are not
included or that they will not participate in the process until it is too
late to avoid problems, this omission should be addressed as soon
as possible.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 41

BIM Execution Plans Each Execution Plan must assign basic leadership roles to specific
individuals and clearly describe their responsibilities and authority.
These roles, although they may have different titles, are presented in
section 3.3, “Roles and Responsibilities on the Coordination Team” on
page 21.
• The Project Coordination Manager
• The Project Model Manager
• The Lead MEP Coordinator
• The individual domain-specific and MEP Project Team leaders
or managers
Note that these roles and any others included in the Execution Plan
can be filled by one or more individuals, or several roles can be assigned
to one person. Regarding these role assignments, it is important to
understand the following:
• All the responsibilities assigned to the role
• Whether all important responsibilities have or have not been
addressed
• Whether the individuals assigned to roles have the experience
and credentials to perform them successfully
4.1.4 Project Meetings
The BIM Execution Plan should provide basic information about
project meetings:
• Which meetings are required
• When and where these meetings will be held
• Who is expected to attend
Some of these meetings are held only once; others are held
throughout the coordination process. Video conferencing software and
web-based meeting applications make it possible to hold some of these
meetings in cyberspace. This might become the standard practice or just
an option to accommodate weather, travel schedules, or emergencies.

1. Kick-Off Meetings
A comprehensive kick-off meeting held before the Coordination
Team begins work is an extremely good idea. To prepare for such a
meeting, many best-in-class Construction Managers meet with the
major contractors to preview their approach and obtain input on
many of the subjects that will be addressed.
For most projects, each MEP contractor sends many representa-
tives to the kick-off meeting. Successful projects invite representatives
from the Owner, the Architect, and the Design Team. When the project
42 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Execution Plans is large, complex, or of long duration, a collaboration facilitator often
attends or leads the meeting. The BIM Implementation Plan should
designate who attends this meeting, but at the minimum, your Project
Manager and BIM/Spatial Coordination Manager should attend.
The agenda for this meeting should be provided in advance, giving
each participant adequate time to review it and prepare.
Kick-off meetings often set the tone for collaboration and coopera-
tion, and it is hard to get a second chance to make a first impression and
establish credibility. You company should be represented by experienced
individuals who know the business, understand the expected processes,
and can and will communicate concerns and issues effectively.
First impressions go both ways, and what you observe or learn in the
kick-off meeting may raise concerns about the experience, competence,
flexibility, or practicality of Project Participants or those in leadership
roles, and other red flags. If you or your representatives recognize
challenges ahead that were not addressed, you want to communicate
your concerns to all the appropriate parties.
Document any critical details from these meetings that are included in
the agenda or the hand-outs. Also, review the official minutes to ensure
that any important verbal clarifications or instructions provided during
the meeting are appropriately documented.
If a spatial planning meeting has not been included in either the
Execution Plan or the agenda for the kick-off meeting, the kick-off
meeting is the forum in which to request one.

2. Spatial Planning Meetings

The spatial planning meeting is the second meeting, or set of meet-
ings, in the cycle. At this meeting, the members of the Coordination
Team plan the process for the work ahead. Issues to be addressed
include the conceptual routing of major MEP components and systems
within the architectural spaces allocated for their installation. The
primary goal of this meeting is to establish the ground rules that the
detailers should follow when they begin drafting their systems routing
and elevations so that the number of first-pass clash-detection conflicts
is low. Some Participants may attempt to claim space, and the
Coordination Team should resist this effort.
It is a good practice to include the facilities maintenance personnel in
this meeting. They may have concerns about access or maintenance that
are not incorporated into the design documents; they may have other
prudent input that would best be addressed before coordination work
begins. When the project is finished, you will hand off your work prod-
uct to these individuals. Having them in the loop is good client relations.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 43

BIM Execution Plans This meeting is rarely included in a BIM Execution Plan; however, this
exercise can unquestionably expedite the coordination process and is a
proven best practice. If not mentioned during the kick-off meeting, your
firm’s representatives should vigorously request one.

3. Coordination Meetings
Spatial coordination is a meeting-intensive process, and the
coordination meetings are where the bulk of the work is done. Chapter
5, “Managing the Process” on page 67, covers much of this work and
what needs to be in place for the Coordination Team to be successful.
The BIM Execution Plan should provide this information:
• The project schedule
• A list of attendees
• The time and location for the meetings
Your BIM Implementation Plan should indicate the roles and respon-
sibilities of your personnel who attend these meetings. Your project
management staff and your team’s coordination leader should attend
these meetings. If your Project Managers cannot attend every meeting,
they should attend the first few as the project moves forward in order
to understand the tone and context of how these meetings will run
throughout the construction phase.
The trade-offs of physical versus virtual attendance are probably most
important for coordination meetings. The early meetings may benefit
from mandating physical attendance; once the Coordination Team has
learned to work together effectively, virtual attendance can be just as
effective and less burdensome.

4. Design Team Meetings

The BIM Execution Plan should acknowledge the occasional necessity
for members of the Design Team to attend particular meetings. Ideally,
the Design Team participates in the kick-off meeting and the spatial
planning meeting.
For the coordination process to be successful, the Design Team must
attend all meetings that address space allocation problems, missing
design information, or issues that might change the performance of an
engineered system. The old-school attitude of “submit a formal question
and we will respond when we have to” runs absolutely counter to the
practices of a successful coordination process. Follow-up confirmation
documentation is a proven method for recording the decisions and in-
structions from Design Team members during any coordination meeting.
If the Project Coordination Manager is not responsible for creating
and submitting such documentation, the BIM Execution Plan should
specify the roles or the individuals who are.
44 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Execution Plans Any confusion over what constitutes “normal and expected
coordination” and what constitutes “design or redesign” can contrib-
ute to tension between the Coordination Team and the Design Team.
Meeting with the Design Team early to discuss this subject contributes
to good relations. Push to include a definition of “coordination means
and methods” in your job scope and use it to determine when a change
to the Design-Intent Model constitutes redesign or a design change that
justifies the additional cost of change orders.
Make the Design Team aware of the coordination schedule and
encourage them to make themselves available via online conferencing
should the need arise.
Before coordination is complete, many MEP contractors have found
it useful to offer the principal MEP Design Engineers a thorough
fly-through of the MEP models (Figure 4.1 on page 44). This review
provides these professionals with an understanding of the effort that
has gone into the coordination process and serves to circumvent
unnecessary punch lists or installation questions or critiques.

Figure 4.1 Fly-through of an MEP Model Before Sign-off

5. Sign-Off Meetings
Many, if not most, BIM Execution Plans establish sign-off protocols for
the project. Most projects require interim partitioned area sign-offs
of both models and drawings. After these models and drawings are
approved, they should be “locked and archived within the Document
Control system for the project. (For more details, see Chapter 5,
“Managing the Process” on page 67)
4.1.5 Document Management and Maintenance
Most projects today use two separate document control systems; one
stores BIM-related modeling and drawing data, and the other manages
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 45

BIM Execution Plans other types of documents, such as submittals and RFIs. What informa-
tion is stored in which system varies from project to project.
When working with coordination documents, every Project
Participant needs to be working from the same set of common BIM-
related documents, receive changes made to these documents as soon
as the changes are available, and incorporate the changes into their
own work.
The Project Coordination Manager has several responsibilities in
this area:
• Fulfill any contractual obligations for Documents of Record, as
described in Chapter 6 on page 85.
• Promptly post or otherwise distribute all data pertinent to the goals
of the BIM Execution Plan
• Provide notice and access to all updated documents and records to
all participants
• Maintain complete, accurate, and current files and records of all
version updates, data exchanges, issues and RFI logs, instructions,
and communications and make this information available to all
participants, as needed
• Maintain complete, accurate, and current files and records of all
information provided during the process by all Project Participants
• Provide methodologies for all Participants to copy any Documents of
Record needed to satisfy any company-specific or legal requirement
that may be contained in these files and records
Regarding document management and maintenance, the BIM
Execution Plan should clearly define these items:
• Who will actively manage and maintain all common files and records
• Where these files and records reside (FTP sites or other repositories)
• All access and security protocols
4.1.6 Collocation
Some BIM Execution Plans require that the members of the
Coordination Team, along with personnel of the other major trade
contractors, collocate in a common facility (often referred to as a “BIM
cave”), usually at the construction site. The goal of collocation is to
foster collaboration, promote direct communication, and accelerate the
recognition and resolution of coordination issues.
MEP contractors rarely make the decision to collocate. They do so
because it is usually imposed under the terms of the RFP or contract.
Depending on the contract requirements, collocation can extend to
every member of the Coordination Team involved with the project, to
46 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Execution Plans some key members of the team only, or to a scheduled blending of both
scenarios. The length of this arrangement is often left vague, defined as
“until the coordination process is complete.”
Collocating your personnel can have a significant impact on your firm
and its resources. The impact may be positive or negative, but it does
need to be carefully studied before bidding the project and clarified as
needed within the BIM Execution Plan. Limitations or restrictions that
fall outside your normal business practices may be required.
New contracting types such as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) are
becoming popular. Most of these project delivery processes have clear
expectations that certain key personnel are housed together to achieve
their project goals (Figure 4.2 on page 46).

Figure 4.2 A Collocation Site

Before you agree to such an arrangement, consider the impact on

your business.
Collocation can cost you significant control of your operations and
your assigned staff. Construction Managers usually expect your col-
located staff to work only on their project; therefore, they may not be
available to work on other projects even when they have nothing to do
on this one. If your ability to juggle tasks and projects to make the best
use of your personnel on projects for other clients is compromised, can
you still operate and meet your other commitments for the duration of
this project?
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 47

BIM Execution Plans Also, your collocated staff members may find themselves operating
in a gray zone. Construction Managers may go directly to detailers
with tasks, directions, or critiques that purposely or unintentionally
circumvent your established chain of command. Who will supervise
your collocated personnel?
Collocation also affects your personnel. Can the people who are
not working on the project contact their colleagues with questions on
other projects or for informal mentoring and guidance? Will you need
to supplement your staff to fill the gaps? If so, how will the need to do
more supervision affect the productivity of your remaining staff?
Also, special effort may be needed to provide adequate support to
your collocated staff. For example, detailers can become isolated and
removed from the resources and mentoring they get from working with
the rest of your staff.
When you choose the personnel to send to the BIM cave, you need
to consider the skills and personal attributes that will contribute to the
success of the project.
• Can the individual adapt to a new organizational structure, work
under new supervision, and maintain a proper chain of command
both within the project and your company?
• Does the individual have the discipline to document their work,
maintain adequate daily logs, and resist the distractions and the
constant demands on their time that they may not be accustomed
to in your firm’s environment?
• Can the individual stay within the scope of the coordination process?
Can the individual avoid two common areas of mission creep, namely,
providing design-related solutions without the EOR’s approval and
providing more detail and development than required?
The cost of collocation can be determined more by time spent on site
than the scope of your firm’s contract. Your estimate may have to be
based on the duration of collocation and required staffing rather than
the multipliers you usually use to estimate project coordination. How
will cost tracking and budget objectives be monitored and measured?
Will the Engineers of Record also be collocated? Will they oversee all
design and model developments, and author and sign off on all
coordinated drawings and models?
The size, layout, and technical infrastructure at the collocation site
are factors that impact an effective working environment. Although the
collocation site is temporary, it needs to provide your personnel with
the resources that support the level of productivity that is available in
your office.
48 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Execution Plans The site must provide each Project Participant a cool, comfortable,
well-lit, and well-equipped individual workspace; it must also provide a
separate space where the team meets for the clash-detection process.
Avoid cramming people into one conference room or a spare office that
is also used for team meetings.
As for the equipment required, keep in mind that detailers often need
two large monitors for their design software and storage space for con-
struction documents and other records. For clash-detection meetings,
consideration should be given to the type of projector that the budget
and the space can accommodate. A large wall-mounted monitor is rec-
ommended; a high-lumen projector (5,000+ lumens) is another option.
Other equipment includes the infrastructure for remote access, printers,
scanners, and other devices and networks that require shared access.
The management of the file-sharing server deserves attention. This
includes equipment and policies, which are described more fully in
Chapter 9, “BIM Technologies for an IT Infrastructure” on page 129.
These are the basic issues:
1. How it is to be managed?
2. Who is responsible for ensuring that seamless, shared, and easy
access to digital documents is available 24x7 throughout the process?
3. How will the Coordination Team interact with the Design Team?
4. Will proper Documents of Record be kept?
5. Will you have remote access to the Documents of Record?
6. Will your company have copies of all final documents, including
drawing and model revisions?
4.1.7 Receivables
Every BIM Execution Plan must start somewhere. Within the context
of this Guide, the Execution Plan and the spatial coordination process
that follows must begin with the information and documents that
Project Participants receive before they begin work on the Coordination
Team.
Most Execution Plans include a list of receivables that the Design
Team provides to the Coordination Team. This information almost
always includes these items:
• A list of drawings and their version dates
• Comprehensive specifications
• Sections of any Requests for Proposal
• Applicable references
• Copies of or links to appropriate Design-Intent Models
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 49

BIM Execution Plans On a Design-Bid-Build project, any receivables from the Design Team
that do not achieve the Level of Development that the Coordination
Team expects should be clearly identified at the kick-off meeting so
that appropriate schedule adjustments or scope-of-work issues are
addressed. When Design Teams recognize that their Design-Intent
Models may not satisfy the specified Level of Development or Level of
Detail and fail to notify anyone of this condition early, the Coordination
Team finds itself dragged into the coordination process under far more
difficult circumstances.
4.1.8 Deliverables
Good BIM Execution Plans list or describe the deliverables expected
from the Coordination Team and the format (or software platform) in
which to produce them. These deliverables include the items described
in the project specifications as deliverables to the Owner at the end of
the process, and all documents, drawings, and models required dur-
ing the procurement, prefabrication, construction, and commissioning
phases of the project.
The Level of Development specified for domain-specific Deliverables
and Receivables, which defines what you can expect to receive and then
deliver in a LOD 350 and LOD 400 construction drawing, is an impor-
tant component of a BIM Execution Plan. For example, an Owner might
expect that the LOD 400 construction model delivered as a contract sub-
mittal includes ½" conduit, but electrical industry standards may exclude
the modeling of conduits smaller than 2". Such a disconnection from the
parties who are paying the bills can be a very unpleasant experience.
Another challenge arises when Construction Managers or outside
authorities demand models or annotated drawings from the models
that may never have been clearly described in any documents. Such
demands introduce confusion, delay, and questions of responsibility
into the process. All such deliverables should be clearly delineated in
the BIM Execution Plan.
Each contractor may also have deliverables that, although not shared
with the other participants, are needed for internal purposes, such as
procurement, prefabrication, materials control, task management, and
labor tracking. Some of this information will be derived from your firm’s
input into the coordinated model, and some of it will be derived from
the input of other firms that contribute to this model. When reviewing
a BIM Execution Plan, your staff should also be aware of these
deliverables, particularly their scheduling requirements, and be
willing to communicate your needs to the other members of the
Coordination Team.
50 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Execution Plans 4.1.9 Order of Precedence and Space Allocation

Long before the advent of BIM, the industry wrestled with its need
to establish some semblance of priority and order for space allocation
on construction projects. The term “order of precedence” has peppered
standards and specifications in the construction industry for years.
When spatial coordination was done with only 2D drawings, even
when orders of precedence had been specified or defined, many
problems arose from the misunderstandings or misinterpretations of
engineers or trades relative to conflicts with hangers and support
systems for higher priority components. It took some very skilled
professionals to evaluate and work through such matters, with their
best—and only—tool being a light table. The use of 3D modeling and
BIM has made more details visible to many more stakeholders.
The necessity for ground rules carries over to the world of virtual
construction. A good BIM Execution Plan recognizes and incorporates
provisions for equitable space allocation and order of precedence,
yet these provisions may not be exactly the same as those found in
construction specifications.
Although the intent of most members of the Coordination Team is
to be fair and reasonable with the rest of the Project Participants, there
is a pecking order that is used to establish order of precedence. This
installation sequence can vary from project to project and is affected by
size, weight, importance of systems, maintenance requirements, and so
on. This is a common sequence:
1. Structures
2. Major pieces of equipment
3. Reflected ceiling lighting and light fixtures
4. Gravity steam and plumbing lines
5. Major ductwork
6. Large piping mains
7. Large electrical conduit and cable trays
8. Pneumatic tubes
9. Water lines, plumbing vents, medical gas lines, sprinkler lines,
other small bore piping
10. Small conduit, hangers and supports, and other small or
incidental items
Most BIM Execution Plans that describe an order of precedence
follow this sequence. Few Execution Plans recognize that these
sequences also should be evaluated during the coordination process.
Unique or unorthodox installation requirements or decisions can wreak
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 51

BIM Execution Plans havoc later on if the Coordination Team encounters them after its own
process is underway. Discussing these situations in detail during a spatial
planning meeting can prove worthwhile and informative to everyone.
Having an established order of precedence should not be construed
by any contractor as a right to claim space or exercise unilateral author-
ity over the other Project Participants. It doesn’t take a lot of experience
to understand that common sense enhanced by technical knowledge
offers the best approach to evaluating and resolving conflicts without
imposing unreasonable costs or impacts on system performance.
Well-thought-out BIM Execution Plans may include several orders of
precedence, each tailored to the requirements of different areas in the
building. For example, installation sequence in a mechanical or electrical
room is significantly different from that in an office or garage space.
Another consideration in determining order of precedence is
the quantity and spatial usage of any particular trade that supplies
material and equipment to a particular type of building. As illustrated
in the LOD 350 model detailed by an electrical contractor in Figure 4.3
on page 51, it makes perfect sense that the first contractor or prece-
dence is the electrical contractor because the most significant amount
of material and equipment is the electrical system. In Figure 4.4 on page
52, the most significant amount of material and equipment comes
from the mechanical contractor, who should expect that similar
consideration to the proper order of precedence be given to the
sheet metal contractor.

Figure 4.3 Electrical coordination-ready model at LOD 350

52 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Execution Plans

Figure 4.4 Mechanical coordination-ready model at LOD 350

4.1.10 Temporary Power, Lighting, and Services

The needs of temporary services, such as power and lighting, are
frequently overlooked when establishing an order of precedence.
How to accommodate these temporary services, especially power,
falls within the scope of the Coordination Team’s work. Every contractor
needs to know the locations of the penetrations, conduits, and raceways
used for these temporary services; how long they will be needed during
construction; and how much clear access is required to remove them.
Because most temporary systems are not indicated on any contract
drawing and are never included in a Design-Intent Model, establishing
this order of precedence in the BIM Execution Plan should prevent the
Coordination Team from overlooking these systems or failing to give
them appropriate level of consideration before the coordination process
4.2 Model Management begins. Thinking this through before work begins avoids turmoil and
Procedures installation sequence nightmares.

4.2 Model Management Procedures

The success and efficiency of the coordination process depends on
how easily the team can submit, share, update, and merge electronic
files.
4.2.1 File-Sharing and Posting Conventions
The BIM Execution Plan should establish policies and protocols for
sharing project files. These policies include establishing the software
platforms and versions that will be used to aggregate individual models
from MEP contractors into the Model.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 53

BIM Execution Plans An acceptance of any file-sharing process is instrumental to the

successful exchange of critical information. Although most Design-Intent
Models indicate or stipulate the Design Team’s preferred platform for
the construction process, this choice is not always cast in concrete. The
BIM Execution Plan should clearly establish the expectations for the
project.
The BIM Execution Plan should define a repository for this
exchange of data; details about how the data will be managed should
be provided at the kick-off meeting. The MEP Coordinator is often the
most qualified party to establish the most effective file-sharing practices
and procedures.
The BIM Execution Plan should include the following standards or
protocols. If this information is omitted, consider submitting an RFI
to clarify any concerns.
• A clear statement of where shared project files are to be stored
(repositories). If an FTP site is used, the account name and password
details should be given to every authorized Project Participant. If
a web-based cloud application is used, all location and access
information should be provided.
• The naming conventions for files that are shared (see section 4.2.3 on
page 55).
• A network path to the repositories and a notification mechanism to
inform Project Participants when files that their models use have been
updated. These practices contribute to efficiencies and process quality
when sharing and exchanging this data.
• To maintain the integrity of working files, the PCM or MEP contractors
should “scrub” a copy of any files they intend to use for this project.
Scrubbing removes all external references and linked files from any
shared files. (For details on scrubbing, see Appendix C on page 156.)
One exception may be the equipment OEMs, which carry through to
the software platform used for spatial coordination.
• Establish a schedule for uploading files. This schedule should allow
adequate time before any coordination meeting for the Lead MEP
Contractor to merge these files and for each contractor to prepare
adequately for the next coordination meeting.
• Establish a protocol for responding to changes or revisions issued by
the Design Team or Owner.
4.2.2 File Formats and Compatibility
The BIM Execution Plan should list the electronic file formats that will
be supported.
54 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Execution Plans Every software application creates files in a proprietary format that
is described by the three-letter extension at the end of the file name.
Generally, these files cannot be opened, viewed, or edited by other soft-
ware applications unless the software publisher has released, licensed,
or otherwise enabled the creation of data file viewers or converters.
This is an obvious problem for a business process that requires people
to share electronic information. To address it, the publishers of most
spatial coordination applications have negotiated with software manu-
facturers of BIM and 3D/CAD applications to incorporate technology
that allows the spatial coordination applications to open files created
in dozens of different proprietary software file formats and to view and
possibly edit the data from those files once imported.
Be aware that this data-exchange “highway” is usually a narrow one-
way street. The data imported into the spatial coordination application is
a subset of the data in the original source file (typically, little more than
the geometry), and it is rarely possible to export files from the spatial
coordination applications back into their native file formats.
Nevertheless, the ability to import geometry from multiple propri-
etary file formats into the spatial coordination application is usually
sufficient to allow the Coordination Team to collaborate, while allowing
individual members to use the modeling application that they prefer.
That said, the greater degree of compatibility among file formats on
a specific project, the more easily information can be shared, and the
richer the shared data set can be.
Another data-format compatibility option can be found in pub-
licly available, open data standards, such as the IFC file format of the
buildingSMART Alliance. Open data standards provide a neutral data
exchange format between proprietary software applications. Software
applications that support open data file standards typically allow users
to import and export files in the open-standard format. In practice, this
does not always work. It all depends upon whether the software
applications support the open-standard file formats are compatible.
It is imperative that each Project Participant identify their native file
format to the Model Manager, and cooperate in any testing that may be
needed to confirm that their data files can be imported correctly into
the spatial coordination application.
Some project specifications may be less flexible, requiring Project
Participants to submit files in a specified format. If a proprietary file
format is specified in the contract documents, be sure to resolve this
issue during the bidding phase. Ignoring or dismissing this requirement
can be a costly mistake (see Chapter 8, “Evaluating Spatial Coordination
Contract Language” on page 115).
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 55

BIM Execution Plans 4.2.3 File-Naming Conventions

Although it is often overlooked or disregarded, a coherent, logical,
and comprehensive file-naming convention for the project can greatly
streamline the coordination process. These conventions should,
whenever possible, be addressed in the BIM Execution Plan.
The importance of file-naming conventions to successful spatial
coordination cannot be overstated. When files are named consistently,
the Model can be updated easily and frequently, and all Project
Participants can learn a great deal about the organization and status
of the coordination effort simply by scanning the model file names.
When a file-naming convention does not exist or is not followed by
even one team member, confusion reigns. Files may be accidentally
deleted or overwritten, errors multiply, team members become frustrat-
ed with each other and the process itself, and productivity plummets.
The Model Manager uses the spatial coordination software selected
for the project to merge the individual models into a single Federated
Model or several submodels, and then performs clash detections on the
Federated Model. This is an iterative process that is performed until the
coordination process is completed.
If a file-naming convention is adhered to, the Model Manager should
be able to automatically or semi-automatically update the Federated
Model with every iteration of the native model files. If the files are
inconsistently named, the update process can be extremely laborious
and prone to error.
A data file name is more than just a name: it is vital part of efficient
information management, greatly reducing the cycle time for the entire
coordination process. Some modeling systems allow for model updates
as frequently as the moment the model is saved, ensuring that all team
members always have the most current information available. Taking full
advantage of this powerful collaboration technology is possible only if
the update process can be automated. A good file-naming convention
has a very big payoff for a very small investment.
File-naming conventions should use easily recognizable abbreviations
that accurately identify the content of the file. The use of underscores,
rather than spaces, to separate words or abbreviations in file and folder
names is strongly encouraged. This practice helps ensure that file and
folder names are not inadvertently truncated during data transfer.
A good file-naming convention uses a standard nomenclature,
with distinct words or abbreviations, representing distinct types of
information that always appears in a specified order. The following
are typical required elements of a file-naming convention:
56 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Execution Plans • Project name or number

• Building or area
• Floor level
• Trade or discipline
• Additional elements can include:
• Company name
If files will be updated automatically, do not include the date and
revision or version number in the naming conventions. Automatic
updating involves overwriting existing files of the same name. If team
members include any information other than what the updating script
looks for, the automatic updating process fails; the date and time that a
file is saved is recorded in a separate data field by the operating system,
so including the date or revision number in the file name is not usually
necessary. Also, most file-sharing websites have the ability to track
revisions and pull them up, if necessary. This function has practically
eliminated the need to add dates and revisions numbers to documents.
If the date and the revision or version number are required in the file
name for some other reason, this information should appear at the end
of the file name. This convention makes it easier for the Model Manager
to identify and consistently remove this information before updating
the Model.
Here’s how a file-naming convention works. Consider the following
information:
University Hospital; Area A1; Basement (Level 0); Electrical,
Ace Electric Company; 2012-07-24; Revision 1

The file that includes this information can be named this way:
UNHP_A1_L0_ELEC_AEC_2012-07-24_v1

When Model Manager truncates this file name to remove the date and
the version number before updating the model, the file name is short-
ened to this:
UNHP_A1_L0_ELEC_AEC

Consider now the information in another file for this project:

An HVAC Model for Area 2, Fifth Floor, created by Northwest
Mechanical Contractors, Inc.

The file name for the same submission date and version is this:
UNHP_A2_L5_HVAC_MCI_2012-07-24_v1
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 57

BIM Execution Plans As you can see from this example, a file-naming convention that is
used consistently makes it possible for any team member to scan a list
of files and identify the content and author without having to open a
single file. An important element of a file-naming convention is that the
number of characters (letters or numbers) in each part of the file name
be consistent for all files. The example above uses four characters for
the project name, two for the building area, two for the level, four for
the trade or discipline, and three for the authoring company.
When this convention is followed, scripts can be run on large data sets
of files, which is an extremely useful information management tool.

Figure 4.5 Project Layer Standard Document

4.2.4 Model Partitioning

When you start to model your systems, you need to consider how
to partition your model to set a limit on file size. Smaller files can
dramatically improve system performance, but other considerations
may be in play. For example, you may need to deploy multiple resources
58 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Execution Plans on a project. Because two people can’t work in the same file
simultaneously, you may need to partition the model based on the
division of labor. A plumbing contractor could partition by splitting the
medium-pressure duct from the low-pressure duct plumbing from piping
systems, and even go as far to separate drainage systems from pressure
plumbing. The trick is to keep the file size manageable, say less than
15 MB, while ensuring that the detailers who work in them can do so
whenever they need to.
4.2.5 Drawing Sectioning and Key Plans
All construction projects need Drawing Sectioning and Key Plans. The
Design Team usually provides these plans, which carry over, in some
fashion, to the 2D deliverables from the coordination process. If there is
a benefit to modifying the numbering, sectioning, or points of reference
from the construction models for these drawings instead of using the
Design Team’s protocols, the kick-off meeting is a good forum to raise
the issue.
The sectioning of drawings, breaking them into logical and manage-
able sections or areas, is often determined by the Design Team’s drafting
criteria, for example, how much area a typical 1/8" or 1/4" scale drawing
covers. Designers may divide their drawings by structural grid lines or
concrete expansion joint locations. Complex areas may be sectioned
into smaller parts when detailed drawings are needed, for example,
for mechanical or electrical rooms.
All sectioned drawings also require the imposition of a point of
reference, usually North arrows.
4.2.6 Default Standards and Tolerances
Detailing and coordination efforts on a project should have
pre-established standards and tolerances by which all participants
on that project should abide. These standards and tolerances should
be discussed and agreed upon during the project’s kick-off meeting.
An example of a common standard for is the layer document in Figure
4.5 on page 57. Examples of common tolerances frequently found
on MEP projects include a set of minimum clearances to be maintained
whenever possible between objects of different systems or structures,
steel fireproofing tolerances, dimensions for areas of influences for
hangers and inserts, “no-dig” zones for foundation areas of repose,
electrical panel clearances, and supplemental clearances for fire-
sprinkler inspection. Annotations for elevations and dimensions are
usually defined to be within 1/8" tolerance, except for underground,
which is not typically at the 1/8" level of precision.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 59

BIM Execution Plans 4.3 Schedules

Many BIM Execution Plans include coordination schedules, some
only make reference to schedules included under different areas of the
specifications or contracts, and some simply assume that the coordina-
tion process will stay ahead of the actual project construction schedule.
If schedules are included in the Execution Plan, it is imperative that
your entire estimating, operations management, and coordination staff
are aware of this and review these schedules very carefully. If the major
subcontracting community, especially the MEP trades, have not been
given the opportunity to have input into such a schedule, then the
4.3 Schedules earlier you are able to provide input, the better your chances to make
the Execution Plan a useful and mutually effective document.
In the preliminary planning phase of a construction project,
Construction Managers often make serious errors when assembling
their spatial coordination schedules. These errors are the most common:
• Attempting to start the coordination process before all prerequi-
site components or information for a given area is available. Less-
experienced Construction Managers often fail to consider that MEP
coordination components are integral parts of the building’s systems;
trying to coordinate particular systems before the adjoining systems
have been locked down can invalidate any coordination work that is
done too soon. One example of this problem is trying to coordinate
under-slab plumbing piping before walls or equipment locations are
locked down on the slab above. Such synchronization problems can
arise in particular types of projects, such as health care facilities, and
in specific domains; electrical contractors in particular, often find
themselves in a position of starting coordination long before they an-
ticipated. In this respect, it may be prudent to anticipate the need for
additional resources and time in your budget and planning process. In
addition, some Construction Managers and General Contractors may
require that you to begin coordination before you can get approved
submittals or finalize value engineering options. This could become
an issue. Equipment is typically larger than shown; if a placeholder
piece of equipment is used for coordination, when the equipment is
purchased and installed, there is a strong possibility that, in a cascad-
ing and problematic way, connections on equipment, piping, electri-
cal, duct, and fire protection systems all have to move. Coordination
before approved submittals is almost a guarantee of rework.
• Disconnecting the coordination schedule from the construction instal-
lation schedule. The primary purpose of the coordination process is
to assist the construction process. Certain drivers of the deliverables
from the coordination process are critical to its success. Among these
are dates for sleeving and inserting decks, equipment and long-lead
60 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Execution Plans procurement release dates, and fabrication release dates. A good
coordination schedule should start from these important milestones
and work backward, making the adjustments required to benefit
the entire construction project. Rarely can this be done without
significant MEP input into a schedule.
• Assuming that the coordination process and model partitioning
must follow, in lock step, the concrete pour sectioning. For MEP
contractors, this can be very difficult if you are working to an
aggressive coordination schedule that has no float available. Some
building systems cannot be coordinated accurately if the starting
point is the middle or the wrong end, for example, coordinating
ductwork branches and mains before knowing where and how
the duct risers fit.
• Assuming that no construction in an area can start until the
coordination process is complete. One of the first elements of a
model that the construction process needs (sleeves and inserts) is
the last thing that is typically added to the Model. Every effort should
be made to coordinate and complete this piece of the Model before
construction starts.
• Tying construction-related coordination schedules to a permit
approval process. This coupling may be necessary for a few elements,
such as seismic or FM (Factory Mutual) approvals, but making direct
links between these activities should be discouraged.
4.3.1 Phasing
Some BIM/Execution Plans lay out a coordination phasing process
that is different from yours or from that of the local construction
industry’s normal detailing and coordinating process. Such phasing
plans can dictate the population of the components and/or intelligence
into your MEP models in a fashion that is inconsistent with your
standard sequencing. This inconsistency can impact your process in
a number of ways:
• Increasing the number of coordination passes or iterations to finalize
an area. Simply by definition, a three- or four-pass process can
require five or more passes just to follow a phasing plan.
• Inserting components into your models at a different point time
than normal, thus requiring additional detailing passes through
your internal models.
• Frustrating your experienced detailers. They know that everything
they produce in an early phase will change because they know what
must happen in a later phase, for example, coordinating duct mains
before the king-studs for doors are in place. Morale can drop when
dealing with professionals under such situations.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 61

BIM Execution Plans 4.3.2 Scheduling and Sequencing of Construction

Some BIM Execution Plans stipulate what and how the Models
developed by the Coordination Team are to be used for construction
sequencing or scheduling. BIM is an extremely powerful tool for
visualizing construction sequencing. The more that construction
superintendents and trades supervisors use BIM, the higher the
payoff for everyone involved.
Some Execution Plans, usually those authored by consultants, go
so far as to attempt to merge the spatial coordination process into a
dynamic CPM scheduling process. Although a good CPM is critical to the
success of any large construction project, tying two dynamic processes
to each other can become far more of a project than the construction
itself. MEP contractors are well advised to avoid becoming entangled in
such programs, if possible.

4.4 Reviewing a BIM Execution Plan

4.4 Reviewing a BIM Execu-
Any BIM Execution Plan must be reviewed carefully by individuals
tion Plan
within your firm who understand the coordination process, estimates,
schedules, budgets, contracts, and risks. Originally intended to assist
the Coordination Team in guiding their work, many of these plans have
evolved into detailed contract specifications or requirements with full
legal and financial implications.
There are a number of expectations delineated in certain BIM
Execution Plans that MEP contractors should keep an eye out for. How
to effectively recognize, address, and respond to any of these issues is
solely a business decision; however, the sooner any contentious issue is
seen, the better the chance is to resolve it. You may even find language
in a BIM Execution Plan that precludes you or other prudent contractors
from bidding a project.
It is not an uncommon practice for certain stakeholders to use
industry-standard procurement processes to force or attempt to force
unreasonable terms onto unsuspecting bidders. Building an appropri-
ate evaluation of any BIM-related RFP requirements into the discipline
of your bidding program can help avoid such complications. Submitting
RFIs to the owner before preparing a bid is one method of raising and
addressing your concerns and may bring these issues to the attention
of other prudent competitors.
Be leery of any Execution Plan that appears to have been copied
out of a book or contains any gross misunderstanding of a spatial
coordination process. Some of the potential red flags are listed in
the next section.
62 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Execution Plans 4.5 Red Flags in an Execution Plan

Most MEP contractors have their own methods of determining
what might constitute a red flag for their business. Language found in
contracts, specifications, drawing notes, RFPs, and other documents
have for years kept MEP contractors actively and vigilantly searching
for any new, unexpected duties that may be pushed into their scope.
BIM Execution Plans are no different.
Any red-flag issue or problem that your firm might encounter in a
BIM Execution Plan is far better addressed early in the process than
after the issue becomes potentially contentious.
The red flags that the spatial coordination process with BIM has
unveiled over the past few years are described below.
1. Requiring an Integrated Model instead of a Federated Model
This is a serious issue. For an Integrated Model, all stakeholders
(usually designers and contractors) involved in the coordination process
are using the same software platform to create their model input.
Architects or Owners are the parties that might most often make this
request. As noted in Chapter 9 on page 129, commercial MEP
contractors rarely perform their detailing and coordination process on
the same platform as Architects do. If this model is a requirement, your
firm has four options: change software platforms; create your input with
the tools you have and have the files converted for use on the required
platform on an ongoing basis or at the end of the project; find another
solution; not bid for the project.
2. Providing an Integrated Deliverable from the Construction
Coordination Process
Even if MEP contractors use their standard software platform for the
coordination process, some Execution Plans require a single-platform
deliverable at the end of the project. Which stakeholder is responsible
for converting the Federated Model information for an Integrated Model
created at the end of the project is not always clear. It is most often
assumed that, if the Design Team originated the Model and are updating
that Model as the coordination process progresses, that they are also
responsible for scrubbing the MEP Federated Models and integrating
them into the Model. If it is unclear who handles this conversion, it
should be clarified in the kick-off meeting.
3. Providing an integrated or useful facilities maintenance model
Requirements such as this one can be misleading and costly. If such
deliverables are requested, make sure that you can identify detailed
specifications as to the content, format, software platforms, and so
on that must be provided.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 63

BIM Execution Plans 4. Adequate time is not allowed for the actual coordination process
BIM is usually squeezed into the coordination process and often,
adequate time is not allowed to complete the process effectively.
5. The coordination model must be “clash free”
Every project has some exposed clashes. There are situations where
the standard layering protocols and standard detailing process always
clash, for example, at connection points for equipment and piping. Mi-
nor clashes often indicate insulation wrapping conflicts or maintenance
clearance intrusions that are a product of the BIM tool and irrelevant
to the actual construction program. Therefore, it is not reasonable to
require or expect that the final coordination model is “clash free.”
(See Chapter 5, “Managing the Process” on page 67.) This is also a
great opportunity for the MEP Participant on the Coordination Team to
bridge the gap between poorly applied technology requirements and
the reality of how valued BIM construction is done in the field.
6. Composite drawings
Creating multi-trade, overlaid, 2D deliverables from the coordination
process is a time-consuming process. Additionally, most 2D deliverables
presented in such a manner are far too cluttered to be useful. Often
structural engineers will find a way to insist that the construction team
deliver such documents for review. The entire Coordination Team needs
to be well aware of any requirement for composite drawings, and the
approval procedures related thereto before any coordination process
begins.
7. Incorporating all changes and modifications during the
coordination process
Any language that imposes an unlimited number of coordination
passes and restricts reimbursement or recovery of the costs beyond the
standard and acceptable industry practice should be questioned and
removed. Attempting to place such a requirement on an MEP contractor
does not differ from the imposition of construction-related unforeseen
circumstances in any appreciable way.
8. Unlimited spatial coordination meetings
Any language that imposes an unlimited number of coordination
meetings and restricts reimbursement or recovery of the costs beyond
the standard and acceptable industry practice should be questioned
and removed. Attempting to place such a duty on MEP contractors
does not differ from the imposition of construction-related unforeseen
circumstances in any appreciable way.
64 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Execution Plans 9. Imposition of any team roles and responsibilities beyond your
contracted scope
If your firm is expected or willing to accept any roles and responsi-
bilities relating to the coordination process for the entire project, you
should document clear definitions, expectations, and limitations.
10. Imposition of Design responsibilities
Any language in a BIM Execution Plan that potentially shifts the lines
of authorship or responsibility for design-related activities should be
avoided. For MEP contractors, by definition, the standard and accept-
able industry practice involves fitting construction components into
allocated spaces, not stepping into any design responsibilities.
(See Chapter 5, “Managing the Process” on page 67.)
11. Access to original source files
Some BIM Execution Plans include a requirement for MEP contractors
to turn over their source files for the discretionary use of the Owner and
sometimes the Construction Managers. Many of the source files that
MEP contractors use contain proprietary information that your firm
derives from these files, as well as specialized components that your
firm may have spent considerable funds to develop. If such source files
are requested to be delivered from this process, clarify the amount
of information you are willing to provide. In addition, your company
should have a rigorous scrubbing protocol in place and run any source
files that may include proprietary information before handing them
over. (For more information about scrubbing model files, see Appendix C
on page 156.)
12. Continuous postings and updating
A BIM Execution Plan that stipulates continuous, daily updating
is an indication of problems to come. Except in extreme situations,
updated models should be posted on a published schedule. Keeping
the Coordination Team focused on meeting their expected commitments
and maintaining the sanity of the process is usually far more important
than having a continuous stream of updates. Collecting the appropriate
Documents of Record for such practices can also become unmanage-
able. Some Execution Plans have gone so far as to require continuous
participation in the coordination process, whether or not your personnel
are collocated. Such requirements don’t recognize that actually perform-
ing detailing and clash resolution is still an effort by professionals who
must have the time and space to think through any system placements
or modifications.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 65

BIM Execution Plans 4.6 Authoring a BIM Execution Plan

An MEP firm that has skilled BIM talent capable of authoring a BIM
Execution Plan for a project certainly has many advantages. If your
company has not prepared an Execution Plan, many resources and
references are currently available online to assist you.
The best, most comprehensive resource is the BIM Project Execution
Planning Guide and templates published by the Computer Integrated
Construction Research Program of the Pennsylvania State University
4.5 Authoring a BIM Execu- Department of Architectural Engineering. It is available at no cost at
tion Plan http://bim.psu.edu/. That document is a reference resource, intended
to encompass every conceivable workflow and information flow for
every conceivable construction project.
Because of its comprehensive nature, the material that does not
apply to your project may be greater than the material that does.
Fortunately, you do not need to read the entire book to get started.
The book includes a Microsoft Word template for a BIM Execution
Plan. Fill out the sections of this template that apply to your project or
organization, and refer to the guidelines as needed; the guidelines will
make a lot more sense to you this way. This approach—deleting from
a master template—is always easier and faster than trying to write a
document from scratch. You will increase your knowledge of BIM
execution planning and your skill in completing a BIM Execution Plan
on an as-needed basis, gradually acquiring more knowledge as the
number and complexity of projects that you plan increases. Because
you will have the guidelines and the original template available for
reference, you don’t have to worry about leaving something out. If
you have deleted something from your Execution Plan that turns out
to be important, you can always put that section back in.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 67

At the start of a project, the work required to set expectations,

5 norms, and schedules is best done collaboratively. Participants on the
CHAPTER 5 Coordination Team get a chance to work together on issues that will
Managing the Process make a difference to the work they do. As they learn from each other—
and to be frank, size up the team and the state of the project—they
can begin to build productive working relationships. This chapter is

C omplex commercial construction

projects depend on the timely and
unfettered exchange of information
particularly useful if you are an MEP Project Manager, Construction
Manager, or a senior executive.
Pulling this off successfully requires experience, collaboration skills,
within a Coordination Team. If you have and flexibility from all Project Participants and the firm and focused
any management role on a project, management and leadership from the Project Coordination Manager,
establishing the environment in which the Model Manager, and the Lead MEP Subcontractor. A successful
this can happen is your first—and most collaboration empowers everyone who participates. Striking the balance
important—job. between cooperation and vigilance over the process will demand the
constant attention and energies of the Project Team Leader.
This chapter describes issues that should prompt a Project Participant
to speak up when necessary. It specifically covers the following tasks
that both promote and require collaboration:

• 5.1 Establishing Norms for the Project on page 67

• 5.2 Setting Up the Project Environment on page 70
5.1 Establishing Norms • 5.3 Clash Detection on page 75
for the Project • 5.4 Red Flags from the Coordination Process on page 83

5.1 Establishing Norms for the Project

The best foundation for coordinating a project is a BIM Execution Plan
(see Chapter 4 on page 39). By spelling out the work to be done and
who is responsible for doing it, nothing significant will need to be done
on the fly. The assumption for this chapter is that when you’re ready to
begin work, your team will know what’s expected of them.
5.1.1 Agreement on Spatial Coordination
Your management task will be much easier if everyone on the
Coordination Team has a common understanding of what constitutes
spatial coordination. The three major North American MEP Contractor
Associations—the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning National Association
(SMACNA), the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), and
the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA) have issued
a definition of the traditional MEP coordination process referenced in
the National BIM Standards. This definition is reproduced below.
68 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Managing the Process a. Standard and acceptable industry practice for spatial coordination
performed under the contract documents is a collaborative process
executed between the primary installation contractors and overseen
by the general contractor or construction manager. This practice for
spatial coordination seeks to integrate objects, systems, and compo-
nents into spaces allocated in the contract documents. Standard and
acceptable industry practice for coordination does not include adding
pipe, ductwork, fittings, conduits, cable tray, junction boxes, or other
appurtenances to remedy spatial constraints. Such work falls beyond
the scope of what is considered standard and acceptable industry
practice for coordination and will be performed as expressly directed
pursuant to the terms of the contract. Achievement of spatial coordi-
nation under the contract documents that represents standard and
acceptable practice in the industry assumes:
o The contract drawings have been fully designed and coordinated
by the owner and/or its design professionals such that, if installed
as shown on the contract drawings, the finished product will
result in systems operating as designed by the owner and/or its
design professionals.
o Systems fit within the spaces allocated on the contract drawings as
qualified below.
b. Spatial coordination that is standard and acceptable practice in the
construction industry does not include relocating systems from their
allotted spaces as shown on the contract drawings when such relo-
cations require added materials, shop or field labor, or coordination
time. Any such relocations or alterations of components and/or sys-
tems may compromise the integrity and/or the planned performance
of the system(s) as designed by the owner and/or its design profes-
sionals. Responsibility for the integrity and/or planned performance of
the relocated systems will remain the sole responsibility of the owner
and/or its design professionals.
c. Depending on the complexity of the project, from one to three itera-
tions each of clash identification and attempts at clash resolution are
considered standard and acceptable industry practice for coordina-
tion. Further iterations fall beyond the scope of what is considered
standard and acceptable industry practice for coordination.
d. The physical spaces for electrical, mechanical, sheet metal and
plumbing equipment rooms must be adequate to allow for the
installation of equipment as shown on the contract drawings. All
designed spaces must include clearances in and around equipment
as required by the contract documents, applicable codes and the
equipment manufacturer’s specifications. Adequate spaces must be
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 69

Managing the Process included in the design to accommodate incoming and outgoing
services to and from the equipment and for maintenance as required
by the contract documents.
Summary: Spatial coordination is a cooperative and collaborative
effort between the design professional, owner, general contractor or
construction manager, and the trade contractors. Normal and expected
spatial coordination performed by the trade contractors after the execu-
tion of a contract is not design. Rather, it is the reflection of the design
in a three dimensional model. Trade contractors rely on complete and
accurate designs when bidding projects in order to provide accurate bid
pricing. In return, trade contractors, such as those represented by the
MCAA, SMACNA, and NECA, using that design, are able to produce
reliable models by which the project can be constructed in a more
efficient, timely and cost effective manner.4
But, to take your task one step further, you should make sure that
your Project Participant colleagues also agree with this definition. Most
unsuccessful projects fail because communication breaks down. Gaining
an understanding of and agreement on the recommendations and
practices in this joint definition is a great starting point for open
communications, which in turn, are based on shared expectations
and a common approach.
5.1.2 Consequences for Dilatory Participation or Refusal to Participate
The success of the coordination process can often depend on the
weakest link. The consequences for parties who are critical to the
success of the coordination effort but do not participate, who are
understaffed, or who are otherwise unable to keep up with the other
Participants should be clearly laid out in the BIM Execution Plan.
If Participants are not active in the coordination process, you need
to understand that this will be a major issue for the project. You want
to make it clear to your senior management as early as possible what
the consequences will be. If the Participants had the opportunity to
contribute to the scheduling of the coordination process but did not
do so, the consequences for holding up the other Participants should
include penalties up to their removal from and replacement on the
project. In areas where the clash-detection tasks have been completed
without their participation, these parties should either model and install
their components around the finalized systems or be expected to reim-
burse the other contractors their added costs to revisit and re-coordi-
nate the completed areas impacted by their lack of involvement.

4
National Institute of Building Sciences buildingSMART alliance, The National BIM
Standard--United States, V2, National Institute of Building Sciences,
www.nationalbimstandard.org, section 5.5.1, accessed April 18, 2013.
70 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Managing the Process 5.2 Setting Up the Project Environment

Your first task is to collaborate with the Coordination Team to make
some decisions about technical issues and administrative policies (listed
below) that are pivotal to the project work. You also want to build a
relationship with the Design Team and open the door to collaboration.
• Points of Reference on page 70
• Deviations from Established Points of Reference on page 71
• Partitioning the Models on page 71
• Coordination Schedules on page 72
• Meeting Schedules on page 73
• The Design Team on page 75
5.2 Setting Up the
Project Environment 5.2.1 Points of Reference
Points of Reference (PORs) are a necessary element of any spatial
coordination process. Without mutually shared reference points, each
Project Participant would create only those references that are ad-
vantageous to their operations; this approach creates problems when
other contractors use references, dimensions, elevations, or starting
points that are different yet have similar names. Communication among
designers and contractors, inspectors and installers, fabricators, and
vendors can become unnecessarily troublesome if these points are not
established before the coordination process begins.
Design Teams, which are usually headed by an Architect of Record
(AOR), will as standard practice, provide the Coordination Team with
their chosen PORs. These PORs are often based on an established local
civil monument (also known as “Northing & Easting”) and may incor-
porate some or all elevations from sea level. AORs rotate their project
layout and 2D drawings to “square up” the building to facilitate their
drafting process and to illustrate “True North” on their drawings and
Key plans. AORs may also establish what they perceive as proper control
lines for a project, such as grids and numbering designations, as well as
what they consider to be 3D starting or insertion points, such as 0,0,0
and X,Y,Z coordinates.
This does not mean that the Coordination Team must adopt the
Design Team’s references, but they usually do. The Coordination Team
should carefully review these established PORs and determine whether
to follow them, to modify some, or to use different PORs.
The Coordination Team should also recognize that structural
designers and contractors, many of whom do not actively participate in
the coordination process, often have PORs that are different from both
the AOR’s points and the Coordination Team’s points.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 71

Managing the Process 5.2.2 Deviations from Established Points of Reference

The use of alternative PORs by construction stakeholders does not
remove their obligation to comply with the PORs used for coordination.
The means and methods of construction often dictate that PORs for
installers must be different from the PORs used for coordination. At
times, installers do not take the time to “true up” their physical layouts
with the primary PORs used for coordination purposes.
Examples of this failure to use the coordination PORs include framing
contractors who use wall centerlines instead of the AOR’s PORs, bath-
room fixture installers who guess at final floor elevations or use door
frame locations to determine the elevation of their equipment, and
contractors who shift their inserts and hangers slightly to facilitate their
installation activities. Contractors who choose to “wing it” disrupt or
seriously diminish the value of participation in the coordination process,
cause considerable problems and consternation with field personnel,
and cost many Participants money.
The Project Coordination Manager should ensure that those contrac-
tors who participate and comply with this program have precedence
over those contractors who do not, or will not, install their products in
accordance with the coordinated models.
5.2.3 Partitioning the Models
If the BIM Execution Plan has not established a milestone for it, one of
the first tasks for the Coordination Team is to establish how to partition
The Model. This process may seem simple, but if it has not been well
thought out, it can create nightmares for Participants when their models
have been populated with significant amounts of “intelligence.”
More often than not, Construction Managers want to partition the
models used for clash detection along simple grid lines or along con-
crete expansion-joint locations. This approach can be difficult for MEP
contractors because risers and gravity systems do not always work well
under these lines of demarcation. Having the major Participants help
develop these lines is an early opportunity to build a collaborative
environment.
Inexperienced Project Coordination Managers may not understand
that the size of the models has a great impact on the speed and efficien-
cy of the clash-detection process. This is one of the main reasons why
it is important that any Design-Intent Models received from the design
team should be scrubbed before they are used in the coordination
process. (See Appendix C, “Scrubbing a Design Model” on page 156.)
As a rule of thumb, model partitions for a standard commercial
project should not represent an area larger than 50,000 square feet.
72 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Managing the Process Hospitals, laboratories, and other heavily concentrated facilities may
require smaller partitions.
Another consideration, specific to the size and partitioning of the
Model has to do with the degree of 3D modeling object representation
used in the process. The specificity of modeling detail should be visited
before partitioning a model for efficiency. Not only is this important
for the usability of the Model, but depending on the specific elements
required to be included (such as hangers, bolts, nuts) the requirement
may have a huge impact on load times.
5.2.4 Coordination Schedules
Realistic coordination schedules that are coupled with the construction
schedule are critical. These schedules should be prepared by the
Construction Manager and the Coordination Team.
Most major construction projects require the partitioning of their
models into manageable sizes to keep the programs from getting too
large for the hardware or software being used, and for setting priorities.
Actual construction installation schedules also require such partitioning.
The coordination and construction installation packages may or may
not be completely aligned. Creating reasonable coordination schedules
that stay ahead of actual construction, yet allow for enough time to
systematically perform coordination, is often what separates the best
construction managers and Project Teams from their competition.
Any workable clash-detection schedule must provide adequate time
for all major participants to perform, at a minimum, these tasks:
• Hold a kick-off meeting and a subsequent spatial planning meeting
for the project
• Obtain and process (scrub) any receivables from the Design Team
• Obtain, process and receive approval on all required submittals
• Evaluate and make a rough-detail model of their systems and
products. This step can require considerable time for MEP contrac-
tors because the nature of their components obliges them to evaluate
entire systems, not just area-by-area sections.
• Run a first-pass clash detection (to bring the initial installation
routings under the guidelines detailed in the LOD 350 specification)
• Modify or correct models for conflicts discovered during the first pass
• Supplement these updated models with support systems
• Run a second-pass clash detection (acknowledge resolution of
first-pass conflicts and review newly added support systems)
• Modify and correct models for conflicts discovered during the
second pass
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 73

Managing the Process • Supplement updated models for structural and seismic input
(where applicable)
• Supplement updated models for final model approvals
• Run a third-pass pass clash detection
• Annotate or create Documents of Record for sign-offs
• Submit sign-off Documents of Record for engineer’s review
and approval
These schedules must also take into account some tasks that are not
related to clash detection yet can drive the process because of actual
construction schedules or conditions:
• Specialty contractors who need to create fabrication documents
• Creation of installation drawings and details (2D deliverables) for
construction purposes
• Reviews and approvals from governing authorities
• Integration of shop drawings from other entities (for example,
millwork, OFE, kitchen equipment)
You may need to include some “float” to provide the time to
discover, communicate, and resolve any deficiencies in the design-
related receivables or gaps of information that might create
unexpected conflicts and problems.
These schedules may only be as good as the least-involved
contributor. You must hold each participant accountable for their
piece of the exercise. However, such accountability can become
a major issue if any of the major Participants were not given the
opportunity to provide input for these schedules. An inexperienced
Construction Manager could assign a leadership role on the
Coordination Team to a computer-savvy individual who is technically
proficient but lacks the knowledge to understand the amount of work
or effort that certain trades, especially MEP trades, must exert to
manufacture their product and accommodate the process.
5.2.5 Meeting Schedules
Any coordination process is meeting intensive. The BIM Execution
Plan should include a schedule of the meetings to be held throughout
the project. These focused meetings include weekly coordination and
clash-detection meetings, but may also involve separate or combined
meetings for design resolution, scheduling, change implementation,
permit-related issues or milestones, and so on. Such meetings can be
scheduled as separate meetings or rolled into a larger meeting with a
fixed agenda. On many projects, the initial schedule assumes that many
74 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Managing the Process issues can be addressed in one large meeting; however, later
developments require separate meetings with a narrow focus to
keep the team effective.

Coordination Meetings
Holding coordination meetings is the norm for the industry. When
they commence and how often they are held will depend on many
factors, but weekly meetings are the common practice. The general
purpose of these gatherings is to perform clash detection on the
Federated Model and to review the status of the many processes
associated with it. This review includes Issues and RFI logs, the
coordination schedule, communications, additions or changes to the
scope, problems, commitments, and so on. These meetings should be
scheduled and led by the Project Coordination Manager. Each meeting
should follow a fixed agenda, which would include old issues and action
items, new issues and action items, and provide ample opportunity to
document any communications, commitments, and concerns raised
during these meetings.
It is a standard practice to hold coordination meetings on the same
day and time so that all participants can prepare for them well in ad-
vance. The venue should be established in the BIM Execution Plan.
The Project Coordination Manager should confirm that the venue has
adequate infrastructure for both physical and virtual participation for
the duration of the project.
As communication technology has developed, the necessity for all
participants to be present physically has diminished. The initial and
early meetings on a project may benefit from mandating this personal
presence, but once a Coordination Team has learned to work together
effectively, allowing Project Participants to attend through video-
conferencing and web-based meeting sites can be just as effective
and less burdensome.

Clash-Detection Meetings
Parties who are interested primarily in the clash-detection section of
the coordination meeting may or may not have participated in the
coordination meetings. Establishing who is expected to participate in
clash detection and their roles in that process, and addressing their
specific issues and concerns can run parallel to the Coordination
Meeting agenda, but should be recognized as a separate program
that requires attention from your firm’s leadership and the Project
Coordination Manager.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 75

Managing the Process 5.2.6 The Design Team

It is of great benefit to everyone for the Design Team to be represent-
ed in the initial Coordination Team meetings. These meetings can set the
tone for true collaboration, in particular, establishing with the designers
that the scope of Coordination Team’s work specifically excludes
design or redesign. What is shared in these meetings can also alert
smart designers and construction managers to potential problems,
risks, or delays to the project.
Your meeting with the Design Team should cover these items:
• Introduce all the participants
• Have all parties understand schedules and expectations of the
coordination process
• Establish lines of communication
• Discuss expectations from each team
• Discuss how to handle and document any suggestions and
recommendations
• Explain the use and format of the coordination Issues Logs and
the RFI Logs
• Establish a protocol to prioritize issue resolutions
Without the consistent representation of the Design Team in the
coordination meetings, the Project Coordination Manager may want to
ask the designers or engineers to participate periodically, to insist they
join ongoing meetings upon request, or to establish a series of meetings
to review current items in the Issues and RFI logs.
5.3 Clash Detection 5.3 Clash Detection
The objective of clash detection is to find all the actual or potential
spatial conflicts and provide the abilities and procedures to resolve
them before they manifest in the actual construction. Clash detection
is the focus of most of the Coordination Team’s work, and it demands
practical protocols, realistic expectations, achievable schedules, and
standard documentation from all participants.
Before starting a clash-detection process, the Coordination Team
should examine the Models that come from the Design Team. There
is a certain degree of spatial coordination that contractors and the
industry expect to be performed during the development of
Design-Intent Models. For Design-Bid-Build projects, most MEP
contractors expect the Design Team to provide a Model that contains
a complete set of MEP elements specific to their respective domains
that reflect full compliance with the LOD 300 specification. This is the
baseline from which you begin your coordination work. Keep in mind
76 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Managing the Process that you must always refer back to the BIM Execution Plan to identify
contractually what you can expect to receive from the Design-Intent
Model being delivered from the Design Team. Each Design-Intent Model
needs to be assessed individually for the MEP elements it contains and
whether they are at a LOD 300 or not.
There have been and will continue to be situations when a Design
Team presents the Owner and Architect with an LOD 300 Model that
they claim was coordinated within their Design Team and that allows
additional space for LOD 350 and LOD 400 MEP construction modeling.
This is not always the case; the state of the Model should be confirmed,
and if deficient, be raised as an issue as soon as it becomes apparent.
Many coordination projects are derailed, delayed, or overwhelmed
when the Design Team has not allocated sufficient space to accommo-
date the MEP systems that are designated for the architectural space
provided for them.
5.3.1 When to Start the Clash Detection Process
Starting clash detection too soon creates different problems from
starting too late, but both waste time and money.
Work should not begin until all major participants are on board
and engaged, until all models are at LOD 350, and until significant
information is available or decisions have been made (for example,
underground plumbing drainage systems must wait until wall locations
and dimensions are locked down). Starting too soon sentences the
Coordination Team to multiple clash-detection passes with no time
off for good behavior.
On the other hand, construction schedules that do not provide
adequate time to perform all the necessary activities often mean that
shortcuts must be taken. Areas may have to be skipped, coordination
may have to be piecemeal or not performed systematically, which can
be far more difficult for contractors who install systems than for those
who install components.
When all major participants contribute to the clash-detection
schedule, the results are better—and far less expensive—for everyone.
5.3.2 Coordination Protocols
Clash detection can begin when all requirements of the Execution
Plan have been developed, reviewed, and acknowledged by the
Coordination Team, and a schedule for this program is developed
and agreed upon.
Comprehensive logic diagrams of this process can be developed
for any project. On large projects with long construction schedules,
creating these diagrams in collaboration with all major Participants
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 77

Managing the Process can be of significant value, especially in communicating procedures

for inexperienced parties or Participants who have yet to join the team.
5.3.3 Document Control and Maintenance
Among the many responsibilities of the Project Coordination Manager
is to communicate expectations and document important actions during
clash detection.
Certain aspects of Document Control are of high importance, in
particular, the use and maintenance of Issues and RFI Logs, version
control of models and drawings and the common use thereof, authoriza-
tions and directives, and change orders. The maintenance and updating
of the models that the construction team uses can be onerous and time
consuming. These are important functions, and performing them is a
serious and significant responsibility.
The Coordination Team has a duty to ensure that responsible parties
are fulfilling their obligations. Often, a Project Participant will notice
that accurate documentation or maintenance is not being adequately
managed, or that the Model Manager has become cavalier about
maintaining the necessary records, updates, or justification for changes
and alterations to design documents related to clash detection. These
lapses can become very serious problems for your firm. If such situations
arise, your team should know how to raise the issue and with whom,
both within your firm and within the Coordination Team. It is also
important that your Project Team knows how to keep records for
those activities that directly impact the scope of your work.
Another concern arises when the Project Coordination Manager is
crossing the line between design and coordination. Sometimes, even
when alerted to the risk, a PCM may not follow proper channels to get
the design professionals’ sign-offs. As questionable as it might sound,
many Construction Managers place individuals who are not trained to
understand the difference or who don’t concern themselves about the
potential consequences of coordination morphing into design into roles
where they have that very responsibility.
5.3.4 The Process of Clash Detection
After all Project Participants have had adequate time to evaluate and
process the receivables from the design team and have generated their
first model within the first partitioned area, they should submit to the
Project Coordination Manager an initial “desired” or “individually
optimized” LOD 350 model of their system.
From this point on, the Coordination Team performs a series of
clash-detection passes to identify and resolve most significant clashes
and conflicts.
78 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Managing the Process Prerequisites

Each Project Participant has an obligation to run clash detections
before any clash detection meeting to identify and resolve the problems
within their own control, with unmovable structures, and with any
component or system that was addressed during previous clash-
detection meetings. Failure to do this seriously slows the entire
process, ensuring that collective frustration levels will rise, and quickly.

Prioritization
As the Coordination Team becomes more experienced in performing
clash detections, Participants learn which work products to include and
exclude from their first-pass models.
Best practices stipulate that the clash-detection process for commer-
cial facilities begin by resolving gross conflicts and work its way to minor
conflicts. Nonmovable systems, large-volume components (such as duct
mains), and gravity systems normally take precedence in space-claiming
and in clash resolution.
Areas that are unusually complex, of high density, or where significant
design problems arise may need to be separated from the regular
clash-detection program and be managed independently of the balance
of these areas and their associated schedules.
The construction schedule or installation means and methods
can change the clash detection or installation priorities causing the
acceleration or delay of an area. Large equipment installations or
deferred approval components might have this impact. When the clash
detection process is affected, or gets behind, regardless of the reasons,
a careful evaluation of the impact of the various costs of deviating from
any standard protocols should be made.

Conflicts
Conflicts will always arise. An initial clash-detection exercise
generates literally thousands of conflicts in an area. This is to be
expected, especially when members of the Coordination Team have
not worked together before, or simply lack the experience to populate
their models in a sequence that will allow them to effectively coordinate
with other stakeholders.
Coordination Teams often recognize conflicts within the Design-Intent
Models received at the start of a project. Even elementary but serious
conflicts such as gravity systems and structures may be presented and
described as LOD 300 elements. If the systems as designed, but before
any contractor coordination efforts begin, do not fit within the allocated
ceiling space or if the walls are not wide enough to accommodate riser
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 79

Managing the Process pipe or conduits, such issues often indicate that adequate design
coordination did not take place or was not a serious concern of the
Design Team. Again, establishing with the Design Team at the outset
that the purpose of clash-detection is not to complete the design should
help establish the ground rules of all stakeholders to perform to the
level expected.
One method of minimizing conflicts is to spend extra time “planning
the planning.” Have the Coordination Team commit to baseline space
allocation, routing, and rules set forth in the BIM Execution Plan. These
preliminary meetings also help new participants to recognize that
spatial coordination encompasses more than product-to-product clash
resolution, but extends to product-to-access clearances, code spaces,
hanger locations, and so on.
Planning-the-planning exercises often help everyone to agree upon
certain default situations (fireproofing tolerances, common PORs, and
so on) and work as a team from a common starting point.
5.3.5 The Process of Clash Resolution
Resolving “clashes” should be a team effort, making adjustments to
the benefit of the construction project and all parties to it. Although the
BIM Execution Plan should clearly establish a baseline order of prece-
dence for component installation, a certain level of give-and-take is
required of all Project Participants. Common sense should always prevail
in any clash-resolution process. It is unreasonable to expect a 40"x20"
duct to be offset around a 1" water line. On the other hand, that same
40"x20" duct may need to move to accommodate a 10" gravity storm
drain pipe that needs slope to drain.
Should any individual participant or firm decide to adjust to clashes
only when it works to their advantage, the Project Coordination
Manager or the Construction Manager may need to become involved.
You should also be wary of those who might attempt to stand on
preapprovals of governing agencies, such as for sprinkler systems,
to justify their unwillingness to modify or change their routing. If they
submit their plan for agency approval before the coordination process
is complete, they may have to resubmit a modified plan. This is not
unusual; changes in scope constitute similar considerations.
If consensus cannot be reached during these meetings, the Project
Coordination Manager may be called upon to exercise the authority
to resolve the issue. If the impacts of these resolutions are significant
enough, you should follow your company’s procedures for elevating
the issue.
80 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Managing the Process Clash reports can be generated within the virtual design coordination
software and distributed to the Coordination Team to track the responsi-
bility for resolution of trade work where residual clashes are present.
Clash reports should be generated before and after clash detection
meetings; however this process should not begin until after the second
pass. Restraint is prudent because of the extremely large number of
conflicts and clashes that are usually encountered before the official
clash detection process is underway.
The process of clash resolution can very easily become the point
where contractors extend their efforts across the line that separates
coordination from design. Spatial solutions can be visualized, but
system impacts are harder to define. When these circumstances arise,
it is always better to have the Design Team ready and willing to partici-
pate. The Coordination Team does not need to wait while designers
go through various what-if scenarios; instead, it has the authority to
approve spatial modifications with the expectation to re-evaluate any
calculations or system performance criteria used initially and confirm
this conflict does not impact those calculations or criteria.
The Project Coordination Manager should keep the minutes of these
meetings and post or distribute the resolutions of all major conflicts.
Resolution of major clashes should be documented and tracked in a
manner that is consistent with the required Documents of Record and
that can be audited.

“Clash Free”
Inexperienced Project Participants and Project Coordination Managers
can get bogged down with the number of clashes and can lose focus on
resolving the large and critical clashes that must be remedied first. Some
insist on models that are completely “clash free.”
Attempts to create truly clash-free coordination models are, in most
cases, a waste of time. Minimum insulation overlaps, minor challenges
to access zones, and similar conflicts are costly to correct and irrelevant
to the use of the Model. The primary use of coordination models is to be
a tool to assist in construction.
5.3.6 The Number of Clash Detection Passes or Coordination Iterations
The number of area coordination iterations that a contractor must
participate in has a direct and significant effect on the costs and time
required to perform clash detection and complete the coordination
process.
A rule of thumb that contractors use in commercial Design-Bid-Build
projects is that they should be able to complete the coordination
process in approximately three passes per partitioned area. Certain
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 81

Managing the Process types of projects may require a few more, but even these should be
recognized and acknowledged in an RFP or a kick-off meeting.
The scope of each pass is as follows:
• The first pass identifies gross initial conflicts
• The second pass identifies remaining conflicts, new conflicts created
by the addition of new support or seismic components into the model
or non-resolved conflicts from the initial pass
• The third pass identifies remaining conflicts, and their resolution will
permit the publication and sign-off of the construction model.
On Design-Bid-Build projects, there exists an expectation that the
Design-Intent Model received by the Coordination Team has already
undergone adequate design coordination and is presented at an LOD
300 standard. Projects delivered on a Design-Assist or Design-Build basis
may require more or fewer passes, but neither should be open ended or
left to someone’s guess.

Too Many Passes or Iterations

When more than three passes are required or demanded, the
Coordination Team should investigate, as early as possible, the reasons
for these additional iterations.
The reasons vary, but these are the common ones:
• A major participant or stakeholder is not participating in the process,
and the entire team must revisit areas to eventually coordinate these
additional systems. There can be innumerable reasons for this,
including starting the coordination phase too early.
• Design issues are encountered and the Design Team does not
participate in the coordination process with any sense of urgency.
• The status of the Design-Intent Model or design documents received
from the Design Team, despite what might have been communicated,
is not at the expected Level of Development. The coordination by the
Design Team has not been completed to the degree that all products
or systems required will actually fit into the spaces allocated. Such a
situation may require that construction trade coordination must wait
until design conflicts are recognized, communicated, and resolved.
• The Lead MEP Subcontractor, or a specific representative, is not ad-
equately experienced or trained to manage the coordination process
at a predictable or reasonable pace.
• The information required to perform the coordination is not available
when coordination begins. The procurement process or the product
or equipment approval process is behind the coordination process
82 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Managing the Process • The information that MEP contractors are working from, such
as structural steel drawings, are design drawings, not the final
fabrication shop drawings. This can require revisiting coordinated
areas after receipt.
• The process is bogged down in revisions or changes of scope. Often
the cost of re-coordinating an area is greater than the cost to make
the modification itself.
• Deferred approvals by governing agencies force certain systems,
such as seismic restraint systems, to follow an additional path that
is separate from the coordination process. (This is not an excuse
for nonparticipation.)
Regardless of the cause, every Project Participant should recognize
that too many passes can and will add cost and time to their efforts.
Contractually stipulated documentation and notification requirements
may easily apply under such circumstances.
5.3.7 Communication and Collaboration Among the Trades
Every Project Participant should actively work with the other
Participants, both during and outside regular meetings, to resolve actual
or potential clashes. Without this collaboration, a coordination process
can be seriously delayed or impeded. Although your firm may not be
directly contracted with these other participants, and you may not
have the ability to obtain or demand their cooperation, most trade
contractors are willing to work together when they feel that they are
being treated fairly.
The pertinent information can be exchanged in person, via email,
telephone calls, or other methods. Every contractor involved should
train their personnel to recognize which adjustments made during these
communications are necessary to document and which are not.
The style of some Construction Managers is to demand that all
communications relative to any project be directed through them.
This behavior is counter to what contributes to the success of a
coordination process; no such restriction on the flow of information
should be instigated.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 83

Managing the Process 5.4 Red Flags from the Coordination Process
There are various indicators that experienced Project Participants
recognize in the early coordination process that may signal problems
ahead.
1. No BIM Execution Plan for project
2. Scheduling issues:
a. Coordination schedules were created without input from the
Coordination Team.
b. Coordination and construction schedules are decoupled.
5.4 Red Flags from the Co-
ordination Process c. Schedules are unreasonable, unachievable, or poorly thought out
3. Design issues:
a. The model element receivables from the Design Team are not at
LOD 300
b. Design Team resists or refuses to participate when asked
or needed
c. Resolution of design issues takes far too long
d. Lack of real collaboration with Design Team
e. Changes to the design drawings are not documented with
revision clouds
4. An absence of a systematic issues-resolution process
5. Project Management issues:
a. PCM has little or no experience in the role
b. PCM has little construction knowledge
c. PCM does not understand Levels of Development in the models
d. PCM does not have adequate authority
e. PCM is reluctant to or resists taking issues to the Design Team
f. PCM tends to permit coordination to morph into design
g. PCM makes decisions without appropriate authority or Design
Team confirmation
h. Nonstandard coordination standards used
i. PCM forbids free communications between participants
j. Disorganization of processes and documents: no meeting agendas
or minutes, documents of record
k. PCM makes offline exceptions to MEP contractors or other smaller
subcontractors
84 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Managing the Process 6. Clash-detection issues:

a. Clashes run during the meetings instead of beforehand
b. Focus is on number of clashes instead of worthwhile solutions
c. Expectations of clash-free models
d. No interaction between trades between meetings
e. Even one participant who does not own all necessary
project software
7. Project Participant issues:
a. Major contractor refuses to participate
b. Feckless participants: come to the meetings not prepared, have
not run internal clashes, haven’t executed past issue resolutions,
are tardy or prone to miss meetings
c. Indecisive or lack adequate authority
d. Cannot obtain information or submittals in adequate time
A company’s BIM Implementation Plan may stipulate what needs to
be done when any of these situations arise. If your project management
staff participates in coordination meetings, they should also be expected
to know what action to take.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 85

A project’s specifications usually list or reference most of the

6 Documents of Record that a contractor receives from an Owner or
CHAPTER 6 Design Team at the start of the project. However, many critical docu-
Documents of Record ments are used during the coordination process, and other recognized
Documents of Record are generated and delivered from this program.

A
This chapter highlights the important Document of Record and
ll construction projects have
describes their place in the MEP contractor’s operations. This
Documents of Record, which range
information is useful if you are a senior executive, Project Manager,
from contracts to daily time sheets. or Construction Manager responsible for these Documents of Record.
Coordination programs use and
generate Documents of Record that
• 6.1 Working with Documents of Record on page 85
are necessary to meet a variety of
obligations that all MEP contractors • 6.2 Receivables from the Design Team on page 86
have. • 6.3 Internal Receivables from Your Project Team on page 90
• 6.4 Inter-Trade Receivables on page 91
• 6.5 Other Receivables on page 93
• 6.6 Deliverables on page 93
• 6.7 Communication with the Design Team on page 98
• 6.8 Managing Documents During the Coordination Process on page 100
6.1 Working with
Documents of Re-
cord 6.1 Working with Documents of Record
Some of the pertinent Documents of Record are easy to find in an
RFP package, while others may be scattered or difficult to identify from
the volume of information that is often provided. Many of your clients
require you to use their unique forms and documents during the
coordination process.
Rules and definitions surrounding any documents that are to be
delivered as part of the coordination process may be significantly
different from project to project and may include a greater number
of stakeholders, including departments in your company.
By no means do all Documents of Record relate to the coordination
process, but many important ones do. These documents are usually
the contractual baseline for all coordination efforts.
The success of any coordination process requires disciplined
management of project documents. The documentation processes
require someone with authority to manage, provide clear and
appropriate instructions, and push resolution of issues and to define
and document problems, changes, and impacts caused by or to the
coordination process.
86 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Documents of Record 6.2 Receivables from the Design Team

Before coordination can commence, the Coordination Team needs to
identify, acquire, organize, “scrub,” log, file, and archive a wide range
of information. During the course of coordination and construction,
many new documents are received and must be managed in the same
standard process. It is critical that all Project Participants have and use
the correct and most current version of all information. For information
about “scrubbing” a Design-Intent Model, see Appendix C on page 156.
6.2.1 Contract Drawings
6.2 Receivables from the
Most projects and contracts still defer to 2D drawings as the
Design Team
contractual baseline for all work to be performed. Such bid drawings,
permit drawings, and addendum drawings are necessary and should be
available for any coordination effort. Most contracts include a list of
all applicable drawings and the versions thereof. Many drawings or
specifications describe these documents as “diagrammatical in nature”
or have other disclaimer language imprinted on them; members of
your Project Team should understand your company’s standards and
expectations with respect to such language.
6.2.2 Schematic Documents
If the contract documents are not truly past the design development
phase, schematic documents from the MEP engineers are required to
assist in the development of the MEP systems and the coordination. At
a minimum, these documents should reflect how the MEP Engineers of
Record want the plumbing, hydronic, air, power, and control systems to
be sized and distributed within a building.
Some projects may have drawing receivables in a schematic format,
which by definition means the drawings do not comply with LOD 300.
In the interest of meeting a schedule, a Design Team can issue what
it considers ready-for-construction LOD 300 model elements that lack
complete technical trade deliverables. Exceptions to normal and ac-
cepted industry standards, which exclude this work from the scope of
commercial Design Team LOD 300 coordination efforts, do arise, for
example, low-voltage wiring routing.
That said, if the Design Team delivers schematic or single-line
drawings instead of fully developed drawings that show the location
and volume of each MEP systems, the Coordination Team can conclude
that the expected level of spatial coordination has not been performed.
The schematic nature of certain contract documents presents a
unique prerequisite condition, more often impacting the electrical
contractor that requires an additional design layout effort before
coordination begins. This is the work referred to as “pre-design”
in section 3.7.1 on page 34.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 87

Documents of Record 6.2.3 Design-Intent Models

Many Architects and Design Teams provide a Model that is ready to
begin the construction phase. This Design-Intent Model is included in
the package of information given to the contractors to start construc-
tion. This Model is typically used by the Design Team to “architecturally
coordinate” the contents of a building. Design-Intent Models are usually
good starting points for any coordination effort.
Such Models should contain information such as architectural layouts,
wall locations, structural steel size and location, concrete details, floor
and ceiling layouts and details, and exterior wall details. These Models
may be either the source of the contract drawings or derived from the
contract drawings provided to the Coordination Team.
Although the design community has worked hard to develop indus-
try standards (Levels of Development) for Design-Intent Models, some
Models received from the Design Team may fall short, slightly or signifi-
cantly, of meeting those requirements. Heated arguments, delays, and
frustrations may ensue, particularly when these shortcomings are not
recognized and addressed before construction starts. Depending on the
significance of the omitted LOD elements, it may be important to raise
the issue with the full Coordination Team.
Individual contractors or the Coordination Team may find it necessary
to re-create much of the information expected in these Design-Intent
Models. The Models do not include the information needed to
prefabricate and install comprehensive mechanical systems.

Processing Design-Intent Models

If you receive a Design-Intent Model from the Architect or an MEP
Engineer before the Coordination Team begins work, you will need to
process this Model before you can use it. You may need to convert the
files to a format that works with the software your team uses. Some
elements within the Model, such as furniture, may not be required for
coordination and these elements can be “scrubbed.” (See Appendix C on
page 156.)
Removing the layers that you do not need makes the files smaller,
which in turn makes it easier to manage them. The Coordination Team
requires 2D architectural floor plans and reflected ceiling plans, and
these drawings can be extracted from these processed files.

Disclaimers in the Design-Intent Model

Many of these Models include a disclaimer that disavows the accuracy
of the information within them and warns that you are using them at
your own risk. Such language is a legacy from the period when models
88 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Documents of Record were created after the 2D drawings were completed; however, at times
this language is used because the Models provided by the Design Team
are either more current than the drawings provided or vice versa. Look
to the BIM Execution Plan for clarifications regarding the ability to rely
upon any Design-Intent Model.
6.2.4 Fabrication Models
Having the Design Team’s Design-Intent Models available at the start
of the coordination process is good; having actual fabrication and erec-
tion drawings from the actual suppliers of certain building systems or
components is better. Some trades (for example, structural steel) may
have been released for fabrication before coordination begins. These
trades rarely participate in any coordination efforts and the other trades
are often obligated to work around their drawings. However, the trades
that do not participate often have comprehensive fabrication models;
obtaining and using these models instead of the respective Design-
Intent Models allows better and more accurate coordination.
Maintaining open communication and cooperation with these fabrica-
tion and erection contractors benefits the Coordination Team. Although
they may not be flexible with their plans and drawings after fabrication
is completed, before fabrication is finished they are often willing to work
with the Coordination Team and to make desired changes in the same
manner as other trade contractors do.
When these trades do not provide their fabrication models or
drawings in a timely fashion and the Coordination Team begins work
from the structural Design-Intent Models and drawings that are avail-
able, a quality control or re-coordination effort may be required to
review and respond to actual fabricated conditions. This review may
require additional coordination passes through complete and
coordinated areas, which can become expensive.
6.2.5 Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams
Often, coordination efforts must begin with only general layouts and
piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs) available (Figure 6.1 on
page 89). This situation is far more common on industrial projects
than commercial projects.
Although stand-alone P&IDs do not meet the requirements of an LOD
300 receivable, they should reflect all the piping, including the physical
sequence of branches, reducers, valves, equipment, instrumentation,
and control interlocks. The P&ID may be used to operate the process
system.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 89

Documents of Record A comprehensive P&ID should include this information:

• Instrumentation and designations
• Mechanical equipment with names and numbers
• All valves and their identifications
• Process piping, sizes, and identification
• Miscellaneous—vents, drains, special fittings, sampling lines,
reducers, increasers and swaggers
• Permanent start-up and flush lines
• Flow directions
• Interconnections references
• Control inputs and outputs, interlocks
• Interfaces for class changes
• Seismic category
• Quality level
• Annunciation inputs
• Computer control system input
• Vendor and contractor interfaces
• Identification of components and subsystems delivered by others
• Intended physical sequence of the equipment
• Equipment rating or capacity

IAS
(Instrument Air Supply)

FT
FV-3-3040 10
From Transfer Pump Mixer To Reactor
P-201 IAS M-08 R-102
(Instrument Air Supply)
S
Sample Point
FT
11
From Transfer Pump FV-3-3041
P-201
Piping & Instrumentation
Diagram (P&ID)
www.EngineeringToolBox.com

Figure 6.1 A small and simplified P&ID

90 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Documents of Record A P&ID does not include this information:

• Instrument root valves
• Control relays
• Manual switches
• Primary instrument tubing and valves
• Pressure temperature and flow data
• Elbow, tees and similar standard fittings
• Extensive explanatory notes
Although P&IDs are most common in industrial projects, many MEP
contractors have their engineers create P&ID diagrams for plumbing,
piping, and air systems before their detailing and coordination process
begins. This step provides an internal quality control check for what are
often perceived to be “simple” systems.
6.3 Internal Receiv-
ables from Your 6.3 Internal Receivables from Your Project Team
Project Team Your Project Team needs a significant amount of information
from other individuals or departments within your company. Active
participation of your Project Manager is crucial to ensuring that
receivables from your firm are accurate and delivered to vendors
and the Coordination Team on schedule or as needed.
6.3.1 Submittals and Equipment
Submittal sheets for equipment, materials, specialty products, and
the like, whether furnished by your firm or by others, may be needed
for your Project Team to create intelligent objects or to start the
coordination process.
Approved submittals are preferred, but often the coordination process
must begin before these submittals have made their way through the
assembly, submission, and approval process. You want to have a policy
and procedures for working from non-approved data, particularly to
identify who is responsible for reviewing the approved documents and
validating any possible coordination changes.
If adequate submittal information is not available, your firm should
consider implementing a matrix of default materials or components that
your detailer can draw and coordinate to. This can minimize multiple
detailers duplicating time researching every project specifications or
making “difficult to reverse” decisions on what products you might be
expected to purchase to avoid re-drawing or re-coordinating.
Often, equipment suppliers and material vendors have created
models that are formatted to work with, or interface with, the software
you are using. If you can obtain these models, and not have to create
custom objects, you can save time.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 91

Documents of Record Whenever possible, this submittal data should be uploaded and
maintained at the Coordination Team’s file-sharing location. Other trade
contractors often need valuable data that can be derived only from your
firm’s internal deliverables.
6.3.2 Certified Drawings
The critical nature of the dimensions and weight of certain pieces of
equipment may be integral to the success of an MEP coordination effort.
This equipment may be furnished by the contractors or other parties.
Often manufacturers have purchase-order language, or boilerplate
terms, that permits them to deviate from the information they might
provide during the normal course of any product approval process.
When there is a need for such information to be absolutely accurate,
you can request or require your vendors to provide certified drawings.
Certified drawings should include all details of the equipment includ-
ing exact connection information for all piping, duct, and electrical con-
nections. Some manufacturers will provide a 3D model for this, also.

6.4 Inter-Trade Receiv- 6.4 Inter-Trade Receivables

ables Although it is expected that all major stakeholders will participate on
the Coordination Team, certain trades have been slow or reluctant to
do so. If or when some trades do not participate, it becomes imperative
that all appropriate information for their scope of work is recognized
and included in the process.
6.4.1 Structural Steel Fabricators/Erectors
Structural steel drawings and models received from the specialty
trade subcontractor do provide, more often than not, far more complete
and accurate information than that included in the Design Team’s
documents. These components of a commercial building are often
considered immovable, and all contractors must work around them
after they are released for fabrication.
Even if these drawings are not received before the Coordination Team
has finalized a partitioned area, someone on your Project Team should
perform at least a trade-specific review of these documents when they
arrive. If they are received before the partitioned area is coordinated,
these documents and the equipment contained within should still be
considered immovable objects in the sense that all trades complete
their internal clash detection with these components before submitting
their models for coordination (see section 5.3 on page 75).
If these new documents indicate conflicts that did not exist when
the applicable area was coordinated, an all-trades re-coordination
pass may be necessary, and new clashes may affect one or more of the
92 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Documents of Record coordinated trades. Obtaining this important data early can truly
expedite the coordination process.
6.4.2 Wall and Ceiling Framing
Having the details for the interior finishes is helpful for any com-
plete or comprehensive commercial model. Interior finish contractors
can now create accurate models of all elements of their construction,
including wall and ceiling details, supports, and bracing. This information
is needed to coordinate wall openings and the placement of ceiling-
mounted items.
When the coordinated MEP models are properly used to communi-
cate construction scheduling and sequencing, including the complete
framing details in them also enhances the ability of all affected parties
to distinguish priority installation walls from the walls that follow MEP
overhead installations, to accurately reflect soffit framing requirements,
to indicate king-stud supports and clearances, and to indicate other criti-
cal means and methods of installation. When the framing contractors
have not participated in the coordination process and the renderings
and details from the Design Team are the only information available
during the process, considerable rework and re-coordination is required.
The participation of the specialty subcontractors should be the same
as all other participating parties; the precedence of their installations,
their claim to or allocation of space, and the proper sequence of popu-
lating their models should be addressed in the BIM Execution Plan.
6.4.3 Curtain Wall
Manufacturers and installing contractors of curtain walls are now
providing object models for the elements of curtain walls, including
specific bracing and connection details. This information is often needed
to adequately model or coordinate overhead rough-ins or exterior wall
risers. Also, the bracing and framing of curtain walls is sometimes not
accounted for adequately in the Design-Intent Model. This information
can be very helpful for coordination.
6.4.4 Interior Finishes
Many commercial projects have custom millwork, casework, or
furniture-like items that can impact the layout and placement of MEP
rough-ins and services. Having fabrication or erection shop drawings
available for the coordination efforts is preferred, but this information
is rarely available during the early phases of the coordination process.
If the design documents are not adequately followed, a review and
re-coordination effort might be required.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 93

Documents of Record 6.5 Other Receivables

People who are not Project Participants will give you input to which
you need to respond.

6.5 Other Receivables 6.5.1 Equipment or Products Furnished by the Owner or Others
Owners or other parties who are not actively participating in the
coordination process may furnish equipment or systems that require
coordination over and above the information furnished by the Design
Team. Such equipment includes, but is not limited to, the following:
• Kitchen equipment
• Medical equipment
• Laboratory equipment and furniture
• Kitchen equipment
• Process equipment
Again, having the wrong or incorrect design information to adequately
coordinate the MEP rough-ins or systems can require re-coordination.
6.5.2 Facilities Management Input
Obtaining input into the construction coordination efforts from the
Facilities Maintenance personnel before starting the coordination pro-
cess can be very useful. Knowing what these clients expect and incor-
porating some of their standards for access and work space, or simply
knowing how they might be using your completed model after turnover
can help avoid frustrations and problems at the end of a project.
6.6 Deliverables 6.6 Deliverables
Deliverables are the models, documents, and other information
that are derived from or delivered after the coordination process is
completed. These documents are contractually required, expected by
specific industry stakeholders, or needed for your company’s internal
operations. The specific details, the schedule, and which parties will
use these deliverables and for what purposes should be stipulated in
the BIM Execution Plan or contract documents.
Common deliverables include the following:
• Sign-off documents
• Complete and coordinated construction models
• Coordinated 2D shop drawings
• Hanger and insert drawings
• Sleeve and block-out drawings
• Pad or foundation drawings
• Point load drawings
94 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Documents of Record • Composite access layouts

• GPS/Laser scanning data
• Fabrication details and drawings
• Turnover packages
• As-Built construction models
• Facilities Maintenance interface information
A list or matrix of any contractually required deliverables should be
created and maintained by the Project Coordination Manager.
6.6.1 Schedules for Deliverables
Outside of the project construction schedule or even the Project
Team’s coordination schedule, you need to maintain an in-house
schedule to meet project milestones and commitments. These items
can include prefabrication schedules and procurement lead times.
Identifying all deliverables required from your firm to the Coordination
Team is critical to obtaining the benefits of participation and is often
required to meet your budgets. (See Chapter 5, “Managing the Process”
on page 67.)
6.6.2 MEP Coordination Sign-Off Documentation
When the work of the Coordination Team is complete, each trade
should provide a fully annotated orthographic shop drawing of its
system in a PDF file for signature sign-off and submission to the
Architect and Engineer of Record for review and approval.
Any sign-off documents created from the digital model should be
considered Documents of Record, and electronic record copies should
be retained on the project file-sharing site. Printed sign-off drawings are
typically a formally required submittal; these should be scanned and
stored on the project file-sharing site with the original electronic files.
When sign-off documentation is submitted to the EOR for review
and approval, you should ask the EOR to review any changes of sizes,
routings, or configurations that were made by the Coordination Team
to ensure that these modifications do not adversely impact the design
intent. If the Engineer or Architect of Record refuses to do this, you
may want to consider having the Owner insist on compliance with
this request. It will benefit everyone in the long run. (See Chapter 8,
“Contract Language” on page 115.)
In some instances the construction manager may require a digital
sign-off of a coordination model through a third-party cloud-based
electronic signature service. In these cases, all relevant stakeholders
in the coordination process must request that a locked model file be
created and stored for future reference.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 95

Documents of Record 6.6.3 Complete and Coordinated Construction Models

The coordinated model should unquestionably be used for construc-
tion purposes. If contractors are not required to “build to the model,”
much of the coordination effort would be in vain. Old-school construc-
tion superintendents have been known to bypass the process and build
projects as they have always done. Your managers should be vigilant in
making sure that this doesn’t happen or if it does, that it is addressed
properly and corrected.
6.6.4 Coordinated 2D Shop Drawings
Installers still use 2D documents to install products on construction
projects. The coordination and modeling efforts, at completion, must
deliver useful 2D drawings. Typically, these drawings accurately reflect
routing, sizing, elevations, tagging, and other such important informa-
tion. Creating these drawings often requires considerable work after
the coordination process is complete to include for such information
as dimensional annotations, assembly details, and access plans.
6.6.5 Annotation
Annotation is the final step in preparing plans derived from coordi-
nated models for field use. This should be done when all coordination
is completed. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, MEP contractors
must often create incomplete 2D documents on an interim basis simply
to stay ahead of construction activities. Your Project Team may need to
provide pipe and duct sizes, layout dimensions and elevations, installa-
tion details, clearances, tagging, and special instructions concurrently
with ongoing project coordination efforts. All of these activities demand
the time and concentration of skilled personnel. Any interim or not
completely coordinated and signed-off drawings should be tagged or
stamped accordingly.
Having a simple disclaimer such as the following on MEP 2D shops is
very helpful in averting design liability:
The annotated shop drawings’ information and data embodied in this
document reflect the result of the current BIM coordination efforts on
this project. Electrical Engineer needs to confirm that the conductor size
and length associated with the coordinated systems still fall within their
design parameters used to meet the equipment selections and sound
criteria for this project. All information, illustrations, screen shots, and
data contained herein Copyright © your company name 2013, all rights
reserved.
96 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Documents of Record 6.6.6 Hanger and Insert Drawings

Hanger and insert drawings can be in the form of Total Station files to
be loaded into the Total Station machine and used for field layout. Or,
they can be completely dimensioned and tagged hanger drawings used
to lay out and install hangers and inserts. They may be accompanied by
spreadsheets to be used for prefabricating and packaging the hangers,
hanger racks, and supplemental steel.
6.6.7 Sleeve and Block-Out Approval Documents
Information from the coordinated model is used to create layout
drawings for all sleeves and block-outs required for wall and floors.
These drawings are needed for accurate layout of these items. These
drawings may also be required to be submitted to the Architect for
approval before the placing of the work.
6.6.8 Pad or Foundation Drawings
Drawings created to establish pad location, depth, supporting miscel-
laneous steel, and other related information can be generated from the
coordinated Model. These Models can also be utilized for generating
points used in conjunction with Total Station equipment.
6.6.9 Point Loading Drawings
Point loading is the effect that the weight of an object has on the
building structure and the hanger or seismic restraining method. Each
point has an “area of influence” surrounding its attachment location to
the structure. The size of the area of influence is based on the type of
structure and the hanger method. These drawings may also be required
to be submitted to the Architect for approval before the placing of the
work. Again these Models can also be used for generating points used
in conjunction with Total Station equipment.
6.6.10 Composite Access Layouts
Access layouts to accommodate equipment servicing needs, valves,
and other items requiring access can be established within a Model
and coordinated with other trade elements. Rules for access and main-
tenance clearances should be established in the BIM Execution Plan.

Composite Overlay Drawings

It is not uncommon for the Design Team or structural engineers to
require a submission of composite overlay drawings for items such as
deck inserts. These drawings are usually derived from the federated
construction model and indicate the exact location of inserts and many
times the “area of influence” of these inserts. Because these drawings
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 97

Documents of Record are derived from multiple sources, the Project Coordination Manager
should be the party assembling and submitting these to the structural
engineers for their review and approval.
6.6.11 Total Station
Robotic style layout equipment is now being used for MEP layout
operations. This equipment can also be used for sleeves, hangers,
concrete pads, and underground piping systems. There are innumerable
uses of precise layout information derived from the coordinated
models. This system of layout is commonly known as Total Station.
Information from a coordinated model is used to identify layout points
such as hangers. These points are identified and numbered, and carry
specific information such as hanger insert type and diameter. The ro-
botic system is set up on the job site, and control points are established.
The identified points are then established using a laser pointing system
delivered by the robotic unit; when the point is identified, the specific
hanger can be set. The goal is to set all sleeves, hangers, and other items
on decks before concrete pours. When a crew is proficient in using this
type of equipment, several hundred items can be set in one day. Items
can be set before a concrete pour or afterward, and then transposed up
and installed using drilling and setting methods. Setting items before
concrete pours is the preferred method.
6.6.12 Bills of Materials
Bills of Materials (BOMs) can be extracted from the model throughout
the process. Although the software processes makes it easy to create
many of these BOMs, they should be reviewed before they are released.
These BOMs can be used for accurate purchasing, tagging, packaging,
estimating, creating look-ahead task estimates, estimate validation,
labor tracking, and many other purposes.
6.6.13 Fabrication Drawings and Details
When coordination is complete, your model is signed-off, and you re-
ceive authorization to begin manufacturing, fabrication, and installation;
your construction model is now considered to be at LOD 400. Fabrication
drawings can take various forms and may include single spools, multiple
spools, spool maps, equipment skids, plumbing in wall batteries, and
hangers and hanger racks. A complete list of prefabrication deliverables
should be made available to the team at the spatial planning meeting.
This is an area where involving the skilled trades in determining what
and how to prefabricate is absolutely essential to its success.
6.6.14 Turnover Packages
Deliverables to be “turned over” at the end of the project are
normally defined in the project specifications. Some of the documents
required for these packages relate to the spatial coordination process:
98 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Documents of Record • As-built construction models

• Coordinated 2D shop drawings, as built
• Facilities Management interface information
6.6.15 As-Built Construction Models
An as-built construction model may be required for use by the Owner
post-construction. This should be the final, coordinated model from the
coordination process, plus any field modifications made after the model
was closed. It may include all the elements required for the construc-
tion model or just some of that information. Your project manager and
Project Coordination Manager should be aware of any such deliverable
before the coordination process is underway. Otherwise, what is needed
for construction modeling may not be adequate to meet any as-built
deliverable.
Submittal data plus operation and maintenance data may be required
to be attached to the different items of equipment and other elements
within the model for use by the owner.
6.6.16 Facilities Maintenance Interface Information
Turnover package deliverables for use by an owner’s Facilities
Maintenance personnel are becoming more common. You should read
and understand the information to be included before you begin the
coordination process.

6.7 Communication 6.7 Communication with the Design Team

with the Design Team It is extremely important that your detailers and modelers recognize
the difference between coordination and design (see section 5.1.1 on
page 67). All members of your Project Team should understand your
company policies and expectations for handling situations that may
cross this line.
Changes in routing or configuration of MEP systems very often change
pressure drops, velocities, and other critical engineering calculations
that affect the performance of these systems. It is common for detailers,
especially trained craftsmen, to provide fixes for issues encountered
in the coordination process and not obtain the proper agreement,
approval, or instructions from the Architect or EOR. This “shortcut”
can create huge problems for contractors and should be avoided where
ever possible.
Any coordination process should require Project Participants to use
the Issues and RFI Logs created by the Project Coordination Manager.
These logs track open design-related issues, resolution thereof by the
proper Design Team members, and appropriate follow-up instructions
and documentation.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 99

Documents of Record 6.7.1 Requests for Information

Requests for Information (RFIs) are submitted to obtain and record
missing information and to record any resolutions, clarifications, or
instructions from the appropriate design professionals. Many RFIs
are generated by the Coordination Team.
Any critical information that is missing or incomplete and any prob-
lems caused by space limitations should be documented. Each RFI
should convey all information that the Design Team needs to understand
the problem, understand the when an answer is needed, and, when
applicable, point out potential resolutions.
All problems or issues uncovered during the coordination process
should be properly documented and routed from your Project Team to
your Project Manager. Detailers should not proceed with changes to any
Documents of Record or with instructions from the Design Team without
clear instructions from your Project Manager.
6.7.2 RFI Logs
A time-sensitive log of all RFIs should be maintained for all outgoing
and incoming requests when the coordination process begins.
In addition to your Project Team’s logs, your Project Manager should
also keep and maintain a complete copy of all RFIs that your team mem-
bers submitted and any other RFIs that have, or may have, a serious
impact on your abilities to complete your obligations on time.
Use these logs to communicate with the Design Team and compel
timely responses. When responses to RFIs are late or inadequate and
are affecting the coordination process, you should follow the notification
for delay procedures defined in your contract.
6.7.3 Issues Logs
An Issues Log is used to describe, track, and expedite any issues (includ-
ing RFIs) that are, or soon will, affect the coordination process. Use
these logs to document such issues as the absence of adequate infor-
mation, instructions, and delay in responses. These logs are often used
to advise critical parties, to prioritize outstanding issues, and to record
delays, instructions, and directives. Often, these logs reflect the causes
and need for multiple coordination passes.
6.7.4 Changes in Scope or Schedule
At some point, the coordination process has an impact on the scope
of your work or your schedule. Changes to your installation quanti-
ties, system performance, inserting, or fabrication efforts can be intro-
duced as the Coordination Team strives to create workable coordinated
models. You must have both the processes in place and the personnel
trained to recognize when such changes are being made.
100 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Documents of Record Your Project Team must also recognize that participating in the
coordination process does not remove or replace any contractually
imposed notification requirements.
6.7.5 Archiving Documents
You want to establish a system for capturing and filing the receivables
for any project.
Long after a project’s Document Control program has closed, you
may a need to retrieve all the information pertaining to receivables,
deliverables, and other important Documents of Record. Every
contractor who participates in the coordination process should
obtain the project files at the end the project.
6.7.6 Archiving Models
Give special attention to capturing and archiving any models received,
created, or delivered from the Coordination Team. Modeling hardware
continues to improve, and software programs are updated regularly,
often more than once per calendar year. Newly published versions of
software do not always fully support earlier versions.
The march of progress can also wreak havoc on any program used
to archive or maintain the models used on large or long-term projects.
Attempts to access models created even five years earlier can often be
stymied because current hardware or software cannot open or modify
them.
In addition to internal storage of these files, which can be extremely
large, maintain hard copies also. If you believe that a project’s model
files have considerable future value, consider archiving the computers
that currently run these programs.
6.8 Managing Documents
6.8 Managing Documents During the Coordination Process
During the Coordination
Process New and critical pieces of information arrive, often daily, during the
course of a normal coordination process. These documents may include
drawings, sketches, RFIs, and addendums. You should be prepared at
the outset to properly manage the documentation and data files.
Management includes providing timely notification of updates and new
information and providing access to this data to all Project Participants.
6.8.2 Web-Based Document Control Programs
Most large projects use web-based document control software
that is usually managed by the Construction Management firm. These
programs can be simple or very sophisticated. These programs need
to be organized and managed effectively, otherwise participants can
be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information that they are
expected to review; they may not be able to find information they need,
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 101

Documents of Record miss important updates, or be working from outdated or erroneous

information.
The receipt, logging, input, maintenance, notification, distribution,
and overall management of those documents used for spatial coordina-
tion is typically the responsibility of the construction management firm.
Each Project Participant involved in document management should be
provided the appropriate level of security access and trained to properly
use the software.
At the end of each project, it is good practice to download or receive
a copy of the final documents maintained on any web-based software
program.
Because clients use different document control programs, it’s a good
practice to maintain your own documents in a software program of your
choosing and feed documents to each coordination project from it. This
practice permits you to maintain consistency within your organization
for document control, manage your needs and requirements indepen-
dently, and have access to the information long after your client’s
website for the project is taken down.
6.8.3 Model Files
As coordination progresses, the Model is changed and updated many,
many times. Your Project Team should capture or save each rendition of
the Model, at a minimum, after each coordination meeting. Computer
or disk storage space is cheap compared to not having a history of the
changes.
All collaborative modeling applications provide a mechanism for
taking a snapshot of the Model at a particular point in time that cannot
be subsequently edited, but can be opened and reviewed to see the
state of the Model at any specific point in time, which interferences or
clashes had been identified or unresolved, and what actions had been
agreed upon to correct them (provided that information was incorpo-
rated into the Model before the snapshot was taken). A record snapshot
also should be taken and saved at the time of coordination sign-off.
6.8.4 Drawing Logs
A complete log of drawings and sketches received, and for which the
Coordination Team has proper authorization to include in the coordina-
tion process, with revisions, versions, and dates issued, should be vigor-
ously maintained, and readily available, to your project team.
On most projects, these drawings are delivered on a continuing basis,
and these logs require constant and expeditious management. When
appropriate, these logs should be available and managed on any
web-based document control system used for the project. Depending
102 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Documents of Record on your setup, hyperlinks can go a long way toward simplifying searches
for the most current information.
6.8.5 Meeting Minutes
Accurate minutes of all spatial coordination meetings should be kept.
The Project Coordination Manager should maintain the official set of
minutes, and distribute them to the team for review and approval. All
matters requiring action should be documented with applicable due
dates indicated.
You are well served to maintain your own minutes and notes. This
practice permits an internal reminder to distribute the action items
and changes to those individuals within their organization that may be
affected by issues broached during these meetings. Having the Project
Manager or his trained representative participate in all coordination
meetings is advantageous because many detailers and/or modelers are
not usually trained to keep adequate notes or to recognize issues that
might involve additional costs or time.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 103

Beyond the geometrical information about MEP objects, the

7 coordinated model contains information about each object’s exact
CHAPTER 7 location in the building, its item name, a long and short description,
Benefits of BIM Beyond weight, warranty information, special maintenance requirements,
Spatial Coordination manufacturer, order number, labor factor, price, location, dimensions,
material type, and type of connection. Almost every CAD authoring tool
provides functionality to append attributes to these objects, extending

O nce you commit to implementing

spatial coordination and 3D
modeling, the volumes of digital data
the possibilities for sharing data to support facilities management and
future space renovation.
This data costs nothing, but to use it you need to learn where to
that are a by-product of the process find it, how to collect it, and most importantly, how best to manage and
become available to your organization apply it. Once you’ve gained experience using and managing data, you
to improve your operations. will wonder how your firm ever got by without it.
This chapter describes the uses of this new resource and is of particular
interest to senior operational managers and Project Managers.

• 7.1 By-Products of Spatial Coordination Data on page 103

• 7.2 Improving Project Management on page 107
• 7.3 Aligning Company Databases on page 112

7.1 By-Products of 7.1 By-Products of Spatial Coordination Data

Spatial Coordina- The data that you receive and deliver for spatial coordination creates
tion Data by-products that are useful to your operations. You need some of the
data that arrives with the Design-Intent Model to design your systems,
and you can direct some of it to drive fabrication. Also, the data from
which you prepared your estimate can be used to measure productivity
in the field.
7.1.1 Data for Fabrication
The most common examples of the by-products from spatial coordi-
nation concern the data extracted from the coordinated construction
model for use as input into MEP trade-specific, prefabrication and
fabrication processes. For example, the electrical or the piping and
plumbing contractor produces shop drawings (also called cut sheets
or spool sheets). Shop drawings represent an accurate geometric
description of an object, component, or assembly taken directly from
the coordinated model with all of the details and instructions to
manufacture the element in a controlled shop environment. An HVAC
contractor can use the data for direct fabrication. The HVAC detailer or
the shop’s ticketing manager initiates a “take-off” of fittings and ducts
from the coordinated model and downloads the output file directly to
the CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) application which, in turn,
104 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Benefits of BIM Beyond drives the shop’s plasma cutting table and coil lines for manufacturing
Spatial Coordination the objects. There are many other types of fabrication that are gener-
ated from the process of spatial coordination, such as plumbing fixture
batteries, piping main racks, hangers, equipment hook-ups, pipe cuts,
and hanger points for robotic layout.
In each case, an MEP contractor can use the data by-product to
automate a unique prefabrication or fabrication process, eliminating
potential human error, reducing manual input, and gaining greater
manufacturing efficiency. For more information about using this data
for fabrication, many tutorials, articles, and papers are available on the
Internet and through MCAA, SMACNA, and NECA. (See Appendix D on
page 160 for contact and reference information.)
7.1.2 Data from the Design-Intent Model
When you begin any project, you have two originating sources of
digital data: the project’s Design-Intent Model and your firm’s estimate.
The Design-Intent Model arrives either as part of the bid documenta-
tion or, once you’ve won the job, as part of the contract documentation.
Typically, the Model arrives after the bid was awarded in the form of a
Level of Development 300 model. (For details on LOD, see section 2.3 on
page 15).
The Design-Intent Model is created in one of a handful of industry
software packages, including Autodesk’s Revit MEP, Bentley’s AECOsim,
or Graphisoft’s ArchiCAD. These MEP design platforms provide function-
ality that allows you to collect pertinent MEP object and system services
data directly from the document. (See Appendix C, “Scrubbing the
Design Model” on page 156.)
Many MEP contractors lack both the software to open this model
and the skills to extract from it the project data that they need. Instead,
they invest hours in creating and assembling this data, and because this
process is largely manual, opportunities for introducing errors abound,
and corrections or revisions take more time than they have to.
This is a common mistake, though an understandable one. Historically,
these platforms have yielded little value to MEP contractors, who had no
incentive to invest any time or money in them. But Design Teams now
use them to create higher quality models, which gives you more reasons
than ever to develop basic competency with these design platforms.
The skills needed to extract MEP object data to assist estimating (for
quantity and material take-off) or to populate your virtual design and
project management process can be acquired in a few days. The value
of having personnel on your project team who can collect data is
significant, particularly with respect to many of the initial requirements
and tasks of the Project Manager.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 105

Benefits of BIM Beyond 7.1.3 Data from the Estimate

Spatial Coordination
More than likely, your estimating department created this estimate
based on 2D schematic design drawings, specification documentation,
industry-standard metrics, and historical labor data and cost metrics
based on your company’s standard WBS (work breakdown structure).
Once you’ve been awarded the project, the estimate data is often filed
away and rarely, if ever, repurposed or reviewed. Exceptions occur, for
example, if a major design change requires you to re-estimate a portion
of the project.
Failure to recognize the value of reusing the data from the estimate
is another common mistake that MEP firms make. The estimate data is
a valuable baseline for monitoring costs and schedules through the
project lifecycle. Incorporating it into your project workflow should be
a standard practice. At a minimum, reviewing this data should be part
of the team’s analysis of every completed project. This review would
identify aspects of the estimating design and construction phases to
improve future projects.
To incorporate the data from these two sources into your existing
workflow, all members of your internal project team must understand
the inherent value of this process to the company and be prepared to
use the data. If the company is not fully ready when the project starts,
or if you do not have the backing of the department personnel, your
firm will be playing catch-up through the entire project and may be
unable to benefit from the information that you generate and collect
during your initial learning curve. And that is the final common mistake.
The rest of this chapter covers other valuable approaches to take
with the data to improve your operations. The matrix in Table 7.1 on
page 104 summarizes some useful by-products of your spatial
coordination data.
106 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Benefits of BIM Beyond

Spatial Coordination
Type When is it created Who created it How is it used
Construction Schedules (No. 1. No. 1 is often times completed prior General Contractor, Project Coordination To define major milestone construction
Structural and concrete to your involvement and No. 2 is one Manager, and other subcontractors (that dates and order of precedence
No. 2. MEP build-out) of the result sets that are generated is, concrete, structural, and so forth)
through the coordination process
Estimate data After project is awarded Your estimating team As input into the PM estimate described
in section 7.2 on page 107 and for
post mortem reviews of the project
Quantities of equipment and materials During the estimating process but also There are two stages: first, during the Estimating, Project managing,
generated as a critical element of sales estimating process and further defined detailing, procurement, shop and field
and estimating passing the project, during the RFQ process with your productivity measures
once awarded to the PM. This will also supply chain and second, at MTO for
be generated in the MTO process, once procurement and manufacturing
a LOD 400 set of elements in a drawing
has been submitted and received
authorization to begin manufacturing
and installation
Labor estimate requirements Estimating department and PM Estimating department and PM Shop and field productivity measures
Estimate
Initial Equipment and materials RFQ to Estimating department Estimating department To sharpen estimate and win bid
supply chain
MEP construction coordination During coordination with Project The Coordination Team and Project To define major milestone construction
schedules Coordination Manager and other Coordination Manager dates and order of precedence
domain Project Participants
Major systems and equipment location When Design-Intent Model is received Detailer with software skills to scrub To begin the process of detailing
(from Design-Intent Model) (which may or may not contain LOD Design-Intent Model construction model and as input
300 elements) into Project Manager’s equipment
procurement process
Hanger point location After completion and sign off of model Virtual Design Team To site superintendent for installation
Procurement schedule for equipment As early as post bid and as late as LOD Project Manager To provide the purchasing department
and materials 350, but prior to LOD 400 submittals with adequate amount of time to
procure within a “best-buy” framework
all equipment and materials within a JIT
framework.
Prefabrication 2D models When the model elements are extended Virtual Design Team 1. To provide and accurate MTO and
and compliant with LOD 400 data for procurement to ensure that all
of the materials are readied to be used
in the prefabrication process.

2. To provide prefabrication shop team

with precise assembly details in shop
drawings to construct assemblies and
then ship to site for installation
Fabrication downloads to CNC cutting When model receives LOD 400 Virtual Design Team To provide automated downloading of
machines authorization from project stakeholders sheet metal of pipe to CNC machines
in shop
Shipping and on-site delivery Schedules Any time after LOD 350 of the Virtual Design Team, Shop Operations For purchasing department, shop
construction model and as a direct Manager, and Project Team operations, shipping manager, and site
outcome of weekly project team superintendent for improved materials
meetings handling and JIT delivery
Weekly site field labor reports As soon as manufacturing and or Project Manager and site To better manage the manufacturing
installation commences superintendent and installation process by tracking
productivity compared against
estimated and expected results
Turnover package Begins as soon as the project is won Project Manager As an iterative process, when data,
and the Phase 1 meeting between spec sheets of equipment and other
sales, estimating and the PM. It turnover information is created and
continues through the lifecycle of the available it should be aggregated
project in preparation for the final turnover
package

Table 7.1 Data Available from a Coordinated Project Model

Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 107

Benefits of BIM Beyond 7.2 Improving Project Management

Spatial Coordination
It should come as no surprise that by the time your firm has been
awarded a project, it is already behind schedule.
The person most responsible for getting the company and the proj-
ect on schedule is the MEP Project Manager. In that role, you are in the
position to know everything about the project, and when you don’t have
a particular answer, you know where to find it or who to get it from.
You are also continually thinking about the variety of tasks and project
deliverables that need to arrive on time if they are to be useful. In both
areas, no one knows better than you the value of having access to de-
pendable information and data to make the right decision. Much of the
collecting, collating, and report generation falls to you in whatever time
you have left in the day.
You also understand that by collecting data from the spatial coor-
dination process, you can have critical project data when you need it.
Some of this data must be gathered from members of the Project Team.
However, new technologies that support automated access to project
7.2 Improving Project Man- data are becoming available. It won’t be long before you and your entire
agement Project Team will be able to access current project data whenever and
in whatever format you need it in to support timely and better decision
making.
7.2.1 Aligning the Project Schedule with Available Resources
The coordination and construction scheduling process begins imme-
diately after you are awarded the job. The kick-off meeting is already
scheduled and referenced in your contract documentation or in the BIM
Execution Plan. Before you attend, you should hold two other meetings.
Your first meeting (the Phase 1 Meeting in Figure 7.1 on page 106)
is with key individuals in your company; at a minimum, this meeting
should include the sales manager, estimating manager, virtual CAD
manager, and site superintendent. It’s not critical that all four meet at
the same time, but is important for the sales and estimating managers
meet with you in tandem to transfer their combined knowledge about
the project. The meeting with the CAD manager and site superintendent
helps to identify resource and schedule requirements of the project and
to determine, with their input, how well that aligns with the available
project resources and other project schedules within their departments.
You should have a clear understanding of the scope of the project and
a realistic view of available internal resources. You are ready to schedule
the second meeting, a face-to-face meeting with the Construction
Manager. Your goal at this meeting is to review, discover, discuss, and
negotiate any initial issues or inconsistencies found within the BIM
Execution Plan or the contract documents with an authorized participant
108 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Benefits of BIM Beyond on the project and who is in the position to do something about
Spatial Coordination whatever may need to be altered or changed.
Recognizing that the project has been in motion for months, you
want to discuss is construction schedule first. A common mistake that
first-time or inexperienced Project Managers make is to agree to a
construction schedule that is not aligned with what your firm’s resources
could possibly accomplish within that timeframe. Therefore, before
you agree to any milestone in the construction schedule, you must
have confidence that your Project Team has the time and resources
to meet them.
Many experienced MEP contractors suggest that the initial focus in
this meeting should be on the concrete pour schedule. Keep in mind
that the Construction Manager, the General Contractor, and the con-
crete subcontractor are on the same page regarding the schedule, a
schedule that was more than likely created without input from you or
the other MEP trades. Ensuring that your virtual CAD department has
enough time to complete your hanger points and project model before
the scheduled pour date is a great advantage in cost and labor savings.
If you aren’t able to complete and receive sign-off of your coordinated
hanger model in time, you will be forced to drill each hanger point after
the pour at greater expense and labor. If there is even a slight chance
that your detailers will not complete their coordinated hanger points
schedule in time, this meeting is the only opportunity you have to
address it with the Construction Manager before the kick-off meeting.
The general philosophy that guides spatial coordination with 3D
modeling is the expectation that all participants are willing to work
collaboratively. This point is worth emphasizing during your meeting
with the Construction Manager if it doesn’t appear that you can meet
the concrete pour schedule. There may be a way to negotiate a later
date, allowing your CAD detailers to complete the hanger points in time.
If no relief is available and the schedule cannot be extended, there is
value in knowing that this issue exists and that you may have other
options. One option, if you can present information to establish that the
pour date is unreasonable within a normal virtual design process, your
firm might be in a position to issue an RFI, and potentially seek mon-
etary compensation. Another option, if the Coordination Team is falling
behind the pour schedule, is to skip an area, especially if it has numer-
ous design issues delaying coordination sign-off, and come back to it
later using traditional installation methods. This will allow you to get
ahead of the pour rather than staying behind it for the entire project.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 109

Benefits of BIM Beyond

Spatial Coordination

Figure 7.1 Project Manager Process Flow

7.2.2 Measuring Field Productivity

You now understand the assumptions and data that your firm used
to calculate the projected costs and margins for your winning bid: the
labor, materials, and equipment that you will manage through to
completion. If your MEP business is sheet metal, you’ll know how much
lineal footage of duct work, pounds, and number of pieces that the
estimate represents. You’ll receive construction documentation detailing
major equipment and materials, system specifications, projected labor
(based on labor factors and difficulty factors for each unique zone in
the job.)
The next step is to break the original estimate into manageable pieces
of the project to create the PM Estimate. The PM Estimate is typically
set up in a standard spreadsheet application. The primary benefit of the
PM Estimate is to help you and your Project Team, organize the project
into a manageable process flow that is easy to understand and is repeat-
able, reproducible, logical, and linear.
Figure 7.2 on page 110 is an example of a PM Estimate for a sheet
metal contractor.
110 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Benefits of BIM Beyond

Spatial Coordination

Figure 7.2 PM Estimate for a Sheet Metal Contractor

As you can see in Figure 7.2 on page 110, the Emerson Hospital Annex
project drawings are named 1st Floor & Underground, 2nd Floor, and so
on. In addition, each drawing has its own worksheet. On the 1st Floor
& Underground worksheet (not shown), you populate the cells with
data from your estimate: field hours, lineal footage of duct work, pieces
of duct work, shop hours (in man hours), pounds of duct work, and
material cost. The data categories are organized in the columns within
each worksheet, representing when the data was collected; that is, one
column contains the estimate and another column references the data
that will be added when work begins on system design, manufacturing,
or installation.
Each category of data is tracked from the original estimate, to the
coordinated model, to manufacturing, to shipping, and finally to field
installation. When the process of updating this PM Estimate with proj-
ect data begins, every member of your Project Team must understand
this process and believe that it is of value to their departments, to the
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 111

Benefits of BIM Beyond company, and to the entire project. The Project Team member closest
Spatial Coordination to the data is responsible for adding it to the worksheet accurately as it
becomes available. (For more information about tools and technologies
that can help facilitate this process, see Chapter 9 on page 129.)
When you have received sign-off authorization to begin manufac-
turing, you now have a real lineal footage of ductwork, total pounds,
number of fittings, and number of hours projected for the job. You can
use that data to calculate a metric of “average lineal feet per hour” for
the project per space, per zone, per drawing. If you collect and review
data every two weeks, you will understand where you are with respect
to costs and schedule. Specifically, you’ll be able to measure your
performance in important areas:
• Track productivity of your firm’s field installation teams against what
was planned
• Determine whether any mitigating outside circumstances (perhaps
created by another party or by an internal company conflict)
contributed to less-than-expected results
• Gauge the health of your portion of the project at any time
• Determine whether additional steps need to be taken to minimize
impact an issue in the field may have on the overall project results
When creating the template for these worksheets, be sure that all
updated cells automatically populate any cells associated with and
hyperlinked to them. This property supports expanded reporting and
analysis. For example, it is useful to view a plotted graph that aggregates
data taken from individual cells and worksheets and compares it with
historical data from previous collections. In addition, use the data to
populate a standard nongraphed contextual report with quantitative
data generated from an algorithm that represents measured data,
such as the total completed lineal feet during week 4 on the project
for Installation Team One.
A one-stop software solution that automates all of the tasks required
to manage a PM Estimate through the lifecycle of a project is currently
not available. Technology and software publishers are targeting this
need, and the first sets of tools are expected to enter the market soon.
In the meantime, expect that inputting this data is a manual process
and may take up to one man-day to collect, collate, and place into the
worksheet for review. If you review progress every two weeks, this
updating is needed less often than if you review it weekly.
112 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Benefits of BIM Beyond 7.3 Aligning Company Databases

Spatial Coordination
To sharpen this focus on data—where to find it and how to use it—the
value of aligning your firm’s database systems deserves attention. These
are the systems that store, manage, and report on real manufacturer
MEP content data, the individual databases of your estimating, virtual
CAD, purchasing, and back-office procurement departments. The goal
is to have key company-wide databases using, referencing, and sharing
the same building content and data. Most MEP firms today do not have
7.3 Aligning Company Da- this capability.
tabases If your departments aren’t using software from the same publisher,
this alignment might seem too daunting to attempt, but it can be done.
Some of the leading MEP contractors who use different software pub-
lishers, and therefore have different database structures, are actively
engaged in implementing this change. When you consider the benefits
of integrating data and sharing it among departments, the future is
compelling:
• The virtual CAD model is using the same information as that used
in the original estimate.
• You can easily track your actual cost of labor, materials, and
equipment against the costs used for the estimate.
• You can re-estimate the project quickly to accommodate a design
change and make sure consideration is made regarding whether or
not to issue an RFI.
• You eliminate errors that occur during when mapping activities
manually between your virtual MEP project model, RFQs, and your
purchasing department’s content database.
• You can incorporate your CAD department’s material take-off into the
purchasing department, again eliminating the need to map activities
manually, which gives your purchasing department more time to
identify the best buy for the project.
• You can generate a single RFQ to your entire supply chain and receive,
in turn, a standardized quote from each supplier, eliminating the need
to resolve disparities in materials and equipment quoted.
• You can use Just-In-Time ordering and delivery of equipment and
project materials.
• Cash flow improves because you can take advantage of favorable
wholesale distributor terms for early payment.
• Cash flow improves from the Just-In-Time billing of the completed
installation.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 113

Benefits of BIM Beyond Moving your firm away from fiddling with disparate departmental
Spatial Coordination databases toward sharing and exchanging data with confidence requires
technical skills and knowledge of the applications and their database
structures. The best recommendation is to take small steps and to
engage the assistance of your software publishers. Instead of tackling
all of your databases at once, work to align your estimating software
data with your virtual CAD content data. The many combinations of
estimating software and CAD authoring software makes it impossible
to explain how you might do that for the combination used in your
firm. However, there are some basic rules to the process.
First, establish a unique identifier within each database that you
will use to map and link the two database structures. There are two
mechanical content aggregators who could provide identifiers that
can be adopted to provide this map and link between application data-
bases. The aggregators are Trade Service (Trimble) and its PIK code, and
Harrison Publishing House with its HPH code. Appending any of these
identifiers to the data in your existing databases provides a mechanism
that your firm can use to align the content libraries of your applications
with each another.
Second, consider how to update the content for both databases as
an ongoing process. Setting this up is where the experience and skill of
your application software publisher becomes invaluable because each
application has its own methods for accommodating updates.
Managing this deluge of data requires significant changes in your
operations. Yet, in so many ways, the benefits far outweigh the costs.
If you step up to these challenges, you will have better managed, more
efficient, and more successful projects. And that success should bring
more opportunities and more projects.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 115

The cost and effort of entering into the BIM process is substantial. If
8 you are considering taking your company in that direction, you need to
CHAPTER 8 believe that it’s worth it. When the MEP “pioneers” finished their BIM
Evaluating projects, they discovered how the all that they had invested pays off.
EValuating Spatial
Coordination Contract They had replaced nonstandard practices and communication patterns
Language with linear, repeatable operating procedures. They knew where to get
the data they need from previous bids and projects and how to repur-
pose it. They knew how to recognize the unreasonable risks in vague

W ith increasing frequency, Project

Participants such as Owners,
Architects, General Contractors, and
language and which expectations to challenge. They had the skills they
need to pursue and win new opportunities. They had strong companies
that were running better than ever.
Construction Managers are shifting ad- The goal of this guide is to establish an authoritative reference for
ditional spatial coordination scope and acceptable practices and standards for MEP contractors who are
responsibilities to the subcontracting working on their first BIM project that requires spatial coordination.
community, especially MEP contractors. The guide explains; how to review, use, and contribute to the many
This shift may create additional risk documents that establish the scope of that work; how to manage the
BIM coordination process; and points out the red flags to look for and
for project costs and for new or
the best practices to adopt.
unanticipated legal exposures.
This chapter provides information and guidelines for any senior
manager responsible for the firm’s contract business. The contents
will help you review project documents to identify potential risks and
exposures. It also points you to some sources of contract language
that can help you mitigate identified risks.

• 8.1 Reviewing Spatial Coordination Contractual Requirements

on page 112
• 8.2 Specific Legal Considerations Concerning Spatial Coordination
on page 118
• 8.3 Spatial Coordination Related Provisions for Consideration
on page 122
• 8.4 Red Flags in Contract Language on page 123
8.1 Reviewing Spatial Coor-
• 8.5 Other Important Industry Contract Reference Material:
dination Contractual Re-
ConsensusDocs.org on page 127
quirements

8.1 Reviewing Spatial Coordination Contractual Requirements

All MEP contractors should be well aware that expectations and
obligations with respect to any of their spatial coordination activities
are first and foremost dictated by the contracts that they sign. These
Guidelines are not intended to presume nor establish any precedence
over any limitations, restrictions, expectations, or obligations between
any contracting parties.
116 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Evaluating Spatial The information presented herein is for management guidance to

Coordination Contract Language inform MEP contractors about various issues that might apply to their
contractual and professional obligations. It is not intended as legal or
insurance advice applicable to specific circumstances and should not
be construed as providing such. Before you apply or act on anything
contained in or suggested by this material, consult your local legal and
insurance counsel or other appropriate professional advisor.
To reduce the risk of unexpected costs and legal liability, first
recognize and identify language in any proposed contract or RFP that
is associated with spatial coordination. Such language needs to be
assessed for its potential to impact the time and resources that you
may have to allocate to meet relevant requirements. In addition, any
language that might imply or impose legal obligations on your firm that
arise from its spatial coordination efforts should be carefully evaluated.
It is imperative that the responsible and knowledgeable individuals
within your firm carefully read and understand any spatial coordination
requirements that are introduced in an RFP, BIM Execution Plan,
Specification, or contract.
8.1.1 Pre-bid Review
Before submitting a proposal for a potential new project, at a minimum,
look for certain critical spatial coordination language or requirements
that are commonly delineated in such documents. These are the basic
items of interest:
1. The scope of the coordination work involved. Note the resource
demands it entails, the comprehensiveness of the program, and the
responsibilities it pushes down to the participants.
2. The leadership of the program. Look for which party will be leading
the spatial coordination effort and the extent of the MEP contractor’s
participation and responsibilities, both internal and to the project
team.
3. The schedule for performing the spatial coordination efforts.
Consider the availability of qualified resources and potential impact
to ongoing business operations.
4. The contracting methodology of the project. Of importance here is
how the project may be divided by preconstruction and construction
proposals, and therefore, contracts. Also, what is the potential for
winning a preconstruction contract without winning the follow-up
construction contract?
5. The location of the spatial coordination efforts. Note where the
work will be done. Look for expectations of your personnel how they
participate—collocation, in-person, or video-conferencing—and the
duration of associated commitments.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 117

Evaluating Spatial While the best BIM and spatial coordination requirements are
Coordination Contract Language prescriptive, detailed, and clear, you must always be on the lookout
for vague or inconsistent requirements. Most, if not all, of the spatial
coordination requirements can be communicated clearly. If any bidding
information is unclear, you should not assume that the terms are
unimportant or inconsequential. Instead, you should submit detailed
questions to remove uncertainty during the pre-bid clarification period
so that you can develop a sound approach to the bid. If the BIM or
spatial coordination requirements cannot be clarified prior to bid
submission, you may want to mitigate risks by qualifying your
proposal accordingly. Similarly, if any of the requirements are clear,
but inconsistent, you should seek to resolve the potential conflict
or any misinterpretation through the pre-bid question period by
submitting an RFI or other documentation vehicle.
Any subcontracts that potentially tie your duties and responsibilities
to those contained within the prime contract between the Owner
and the General Contractor should be assessed to ensure there are
no inconsistencies. You should attempt to resolve any questions you
have by submitting an RFI in the manner as noted above or by other
appropriate means.
The failure to ensure a precise understanding of the coordination
requirements may saddle your firm with additional or different
obligations than those you thought you were agreeing to; in turn,
the obligations that you actually undertake can give rise to added,
unanticipated costs to meet the coordination requirements and increase
your exposure to certain legal liabilities. MEP contractors who have not
taken these steps have found themselves obligated to scope, process,
or other requirements that they did not anticipate simply because they
did not give the spatial coordination/BIM sections of an RFP adequate
attention.
The ability to successfully and profitably bid and complete a
project may depend on having clear and well-defined expectations for
the spatial coordination requirements. To this end, your firm should
provide pricing that is adequate and appropriate to meet the
requirements, clarify expectations, or qualify the bid in the event
of ambiguous or missing requirements.
8.1.2 Risks Associated with Vague or Inconsistent
Contract Requirements
The quality and clarity of BIM and spatial coordination requirements
can vary widely for many reasons. At times, the BIM/spatial coordination
knowledge or proficiency of the author of such requirements becomes
evident. Although the technology is no longer new, it is still unfamiliar
118 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Evaluating Spatial to many Owners, contract managers, and specification writers. Truly
Coordination Contract Language “standard” specifications or requirements for spatial coordination have
yet to be developed and adopted industry-wide.
Beyond the Owner’s design or specification authoring team, require-
ments also can vary considerably between Construction Managers or
General Contractors who each may have their own levels of BIM sophis-
tication, style, preferences, and demands when it comes to spatial coor-
dination. MEP contractors that work with various Owners and Construc-
tion Managers simultaneously often find themselves working under a
multiplicity of rules, requirements, or expectations across different jobs
on a daily basis. Understanding and managing all this can be quite a
juggling act.
Sometimes the requirements for BIM or spatial coordination process-
es are scattered throughout the RFP documents or specifications and
cannot be located easily. Under such circumstances, it is not uncommon
to find contradictory or confusing language. A typical RFP may be the
work of many people, each with their own particular area of expertise.
The modeling and spatial coordination requirements may be written
by a “BIM specialist” while the “boilerplate” coordination and submit-
tal requirements may be written by a skilled, but traditional, building
systems coordinator. These different perspectives can result in an RFP
that contains inconsistent requirements that call for both traditional,
paper-based, coordination submittals and BIM-based spatial coordina-
tion processes and submittals, leaving the contractor unsure of which
obligation it must follow.
Other samples of confusing language may include using the terms
“BIM” and “CAD” interchangeably, which can create a great deal of
confusion, or require the MEP contractor to “use BIM” on the project
without otherwise specifying why or how it is intended to be used.
These differences can result in spatial coordination requirements
8.2 Specific Legal Consider- in bid or contract documents that are vague, contradictory, not
ations Concerning Spatial coordinated, or inconsistent with other requirements. Such vague
Coordination or inconsistent requirements create risk for bidders and require close
attention to minimize exposure relative to costs, risks, and liability.

8.2 Specific Legal Considerations Concerning Spatial Coordination

While many of these issues noted in this chapter can increase your
costs purely as a matter of the time and resources necessary to actually
perform the obligations, it is critical to bear in mind that they also
increase your legal exposure when framed in a contract for the work,
and the related risk of added costs for such liability.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 119

Evaluating Spatial 8.2.1 Contract “Flow-Down” Provisions

Coordination Contract Language
Inconsistencies may arise from the typical “flow-down” provision
contained in subcontracts, which imposes on the MEP subcontractor all
the terms of the prime contract that relate to the MEP subcontractor’s
work. If the flow-down clause requires the MEP subcontractor to meet
the BIM and spatial coordination requirements to which the General
Contractor agreed in the prime contract, as they relate to the subcon-
tractor’s scope of work, then those obligations may be different from
the obligations specified in the MEP subcontract for coordination.
Alternatively, the prime contractor may seek to impose greater
coordination obligations on the MEP subcontractor through its subcon-
tract, if that subcontractor is uniquely situated to provide such services.
This situation may arise when an MEP subcontractor has an inordinate
portion of the work or is otherwise more sophisticated in this area than
others involved in the project.
MEP contractors should also remain mindful that the contracts
between Owners and their Design Teams likely address Model reliance
or Spatial Coordination issues, as well as allocation of risk and liability
concerning such issues, and the Design Team’s obligations under such
agreement may influence the quality of information received from the
designer. For example, if a designer is liable for modeling or coordination
issues pursuant to its contract, it has an incentive to provide as
much reliable, quality information as possible, whereas another
designer that is able to limit its exposure to these issues may not
perceive the need to provide the same caliber of information. MEP
contractors also should note that the Design Team’s contract may be
made a part of the Contract Documents and, if so, and if the MEP’s
subcontract flows down to it coordination obligations in the Contract
Documents, the MEP contractor may have obligations similar to or
the same as the designer with regard to the MEP’s scope of work, or
limited recourse against the designer. Such obligations or limitations
may influence many aspects of the construction spatial coordination
efforts and should be addressed accordingly.
8.2.2 Time and Delay Risks
If a contract imposes liability on a MEP contractor (or subcontractor)
for causing delay, the contractor must bear this in mind when assessing
its coordination obligations. For example, if you also agree in the con-
tract, unwittingly or otherwise, to provide 100% complete and clash-free
modeling, but really expect to provide modeling only for core compo-
nents, then you may be exposed to delay damages to the extent you
have to delay the project while reworking and completing the model
as agreed, and also for the time it takes all the other trades to then
120 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Evaluating Spatial remodel as well. Or, alternatively, you will have to absorb the cost of
Coordination Contract Language adding resources to accelerate the additional work to avoid delaying
the project. These coordination requirements, when couched within
the MEP contractor’s larger contractual obligations, can significantly
increase legal risk.
MEP contractors sometimes find that the terms of a contract between
an Owner and the Design Team significantly influences the flow and the
quality of information received from the Design Team, specifically, the
amount of information, its LOD-defined elements, or how complete and
reliable it is. Flow-down provisions from a MEP contractor’s contract
from a Construction Manager may also have flow-down references
from the design contracts.
8.2.3 Coordination Morphing into Design
The lack of industry standards and precise definitions for spatial
coordination tasks also increases legal risk because the ambiguity
creates room for Owners, Construction Managers, and Designers to
argue that the contractor’s bid or the contractual language requires
the MEP contractor to do more than the MEP contractor ultimately may
be willing to do. One very important permutation of this issue arises
when a party argues that the MEP contractor actually took on, or is
responsible for, design work. Actual design work is well beyond spatial
coordination, but the lines can get blurred with ease through the use of
certain contract language or as “adjustments” are made in the course
of a project.
You should always be aware of this issue because assuming responsi-
bility for design imposes an array of additional and different obligations
on your firm and increases risk. For example, engineers and design
professionals generally must have a license, and also carry different
insurance; your employees, in attempting to help coordinate a project,
may accidently venture into territories where insurance coverage does
not extend. Your firm’s failure to meet federal, state, or local design-
related requirements may also violate certain laws, as well as your
agreement in the contract to comply with these laws. These breaches
and violations all can result in significant consequences for an unwary
contractor.
To help distinguish coordination from design, the National Institute
of Building Sciences has issued National BIM Standard V2, which notes
that coordination is the implementation of design, but MEP contractors
still must remain mindful that any conduct that trends toward design
work greatly increases legal exposure. For example, some contracts may
require the MEP contractor to provide “design assist” services, which
is a nebulous concept that lurks somewhere between coordination
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 121

Evaluating Spatial and actual design. Similarly, a request for “value engineering” pushes
Coordination Contract Language the contractor into another area of considerable concern and unclear
boundaries. In an effort to win work, you also may be tempted to send
proposals or scope documents that state your firm can help “to design”
or “engineer” a project or a solution. The use of such words, however,
can have unintended consequences later when a court is forced to
assess what the parties intended when forming the agreement. In this
regard, it is critical to choose your words carefully when addressing such
issues, and make certain to describe tasks as coordination only and to
stop short of hallmarks of true design work. Moreover, once integrated
into the Design Team, you lose the “firewall” that usually exists between
the Owner’s designers and the installing trade contractors, and it is
much harder for you to argue that you installed all items properly and
a defective condition or other issue is tied just to design.
At the very least, you should insist that your Engineers of Record be
involved with, review, and approve any changes or modifications of the
systems as designed that were made to accommodate the constraints
imposed by the multi-trade construction spatial coordination process.
8.2.4 Accepting Contract Administration Responsibilities
Your firm also should seek to understand, before you sign the
contract, whether the other trade contractors and the Construction
Manager’s Project Coordination Manager on the project are knowledge-
able in spatial coordination tasks and BIM. If they are not, this can slow
down the process or cause repeated modeling efforts, which can cost
you time and money.
But perhaps the greater risk of working with unsophisticated parties
is that the more experienced contractor (often the MEP) is often asked
or required to administer the spatial coordination effort for the entire
project or a significant portion thereof. If the individual coordination
leaders or others on the project are computer literate, but lack the
actual trade or social skills necessary to manage an efficient coordina-
tion process, your firm may choose to accept this role and lead the MEP
spatial coordination process for the entire team when you feel that,
despite the added time required for this role, it will be more effective
and efficient to have a streamlined and well-coordinated process.
Although this makes logical sense, you must bear in mind that taking
on this role increases your exposure and legal risk because your firm has
now essentially assumed an administrative role and responsibility for a
portion or the entire spatial coordination product, and may therefore
be liable for delays to or errors in the final product. Such an administra-
tive role also may consume far more time and effort than anticipated if
the other trades truly are unsophisticated or the project experiences a
122 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Evaluating Spatial large number of changes. The MEP contractor therefore needs to weigh
Coordination Contract Language these items carefully before taking a lead role in the spatial coordination
process.
Often MEP contractors, by contract or by choice, undertake certain
tasks that by definition encompass the work products of multiple trades,
inclusive of parties not under contract to their firm. The assembly of
composite drawings can be such a responsibility. MEP contractors
should insist that, although they may take on these types of tasks
the responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the individual
elements of these assemblies remains with the originators and that
any risks associated with such actions remain with the individual
contributing contractors and the General Contractor.

8.3 Spatial Coordination Related Provisions for Consideration

8.3 Spatial Coordination
Related The absence of established, industry-wide norms for BIM spatial
Provisions for Consider- coordination criteria has caused (or enabled) Owners, Construction
ation Managers, and design professionals to create individualized require-
ments and craft custom provisions, which they inject into their RFPs,
often buried in pages of technical descriptions. Further refining the
critical reviews noted above, your firm’s representatives should take care
to look for and assess the numerous, more specific, spatial coordination
requirements that often appear in the contract documents.
Typical bidding or contract documents may include some of the
following types of requirements. You should evaluate each of these for
the potential impacts and obligations they impose upon your firm:
• Expectations of the Owner, Construction Manager, or General
Contractor for the spatial coordination process
• Schedule requirements for spatial coordination
• A Project BIM Execution Plan (if one does or does not exist)
• Definition and assignment of spatial coordination roles
and responsibilities
• A listing of trade contractors and others required to participate
• Spatial coordination meeting requirements
• Mandates for unrestricted quantities of meetings for the spatial
coordination process
• Spatial coordination meeting locations
• Expected receivables from the design team, such as architectural/
structural models
• The Levels of Development of the Design Team’s deliverable model
elements (for example, LOD 0, 100, 200, or 300)
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 123

Evaluating Spatial • Spatial coordination workflow and approval processes

Coordination Contract Language
• The Level of Development for spatial coordination model elements
(for example, typically LOD 350)
• Submittal processes and sign-offs
• Location and management of a central project information repository
• File-sharing protocols or web-based repositories
• Software requirements
• Computer hardware, network, and Internet connectivity requirements
• Post-coordination deliverables
• Non-responsibility language from the design team associated with
their deliverables
Each of these issues may have a significant impact on how, or
even if, your firm may choose to pursue a contract for such a project.
Moreover, careful reviews by qualified individuals are required.
Estimators or individuals who are not intimately involved in the BIM
or spatial coordination process may have difficulty understanding or
comprehending the costs, time, and risks associated with these
criteria and may overlook these important concerns.

8.4 Red Flags in Contract Language

In addition to the more general review requirements listed in the
previous section, certain other contract requirements deserve a higher
level of scrutiny before your firm accepts BIM spatial coordination
language that may be presented. Each of these issues has the potential
to significantly increase your costs, time, resources, or risks that may
be associated with a project.
1. A deficient spatial coordination schedule. Often, certain stakeholders
create coordination schedules that are unrealistic, unachievable, or
seriously diminish the positive benefits or opportunities that a well-
coordinated project should receive. Such deficient schedules are often
created to make firms look better than competitors or may be devel-
oped by individuals who really don’t understand the importance, effort,
time consumption, or true intent of virtual coordination and construc-
tion. It is also not uncommon for these parties to use the “procurement
process for MEP contractors” to get subcontractors to agree to such
impractical schedules. To some extent, it is often a buyer beware
situation. If the coordination schedule provided is not connected in
any logical manner to the project construction schedule, then even
a small project, if coordinated in too short a period of time, can cause
very large and costly impacts to business operations.
124 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Evaluating Spatial 2. Any requirement for utilization of a modeling software platform that
Coordination Contract Language differs from standards or industry norms. Some Owners or Clients are
looking for an Integrated Model instead of a Federated Model for both
the construction coordination efforts as well as for their project model
deliverables. Most MEP contractors create models within their own
specialized software, which permits their work product to be
“federated” into a viewable model by other model review software.
Having an “integrated model” requirement can impose significant
challenges to how your models must be created, the internal value
of such models and/or how these must be translated into a Client’s
integrated platform.
3. Any language that stipulates that the cost of all materials and instal-
lation needed to accommodate spatial coordination adjustments be
absorbed by the bidding contractors. In the usual Design-Bid-Build
project, the general purpose of construction spatial coordination is to
reduce trade interferences, eliminate rework, optimize construction
sequencing, and enhance prefabrication and installation of components
or systems. The obligation of any Project Participant should be limited
to a requirement that it coordinate its system with those of all other
Participant members in advance of installation.
Spatial coordination is not an acceptable vehicle to impose unreason-
able or unfair duties upon the participants. A requirement such as that
noted above does not differ in any significant way from a requirement
that the MEP contractor accept the risk of unforeseen circumstances or
actions beyond its control that occur during the construction process. If
this type of language appears in any RFP or document, you should take
appropriate actions to remove it, or at least draw a tight box around any
financial exposures that might arise relative to its coordination efforts.
If the scope of work of any individual team member increases
because of the spatial coordination process, then that person should
be entitled to fair compensation under generally accepted practices
and protocols. The MCAA, SMACNA, and NECA Industry Associations
all publish manuals covering such matters.
4. Any requirement that imposes a duty that all project
participants attend an unlimited or unspecified number of spatial
coordination meetings at no additional cost, regardless of quantity
or causation. As with any requirement to attend progress meetings of
any kind, spatial coordination meetings should be limited in number
unless the project team member has failed to meet the obligations for
participating in the spatial coordination process. Having unlimited ac-
cess to a MEP contractor’s spatial coordination and management time
and resources, without regard to the cause or necessity to repeat the
coordination process, is one of the major causes of cost and time budget
overruns in a business.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 125

Evaluating Spatial 5. A requirement that every MEP contractor submit models that are
Coordination Contract Language “completely” or “100%” clash free. This is both an LOD and a
“degree of coordination” issue. Even the best model-review software
has built-in clashes where disconnected systems meet. In addition,
certain inconsequential elements of building systems can be placed,
and easily modified as needed, in the field without prior coordination.
It is not practical to expend coordination time and resources modeling
such loose, random, or minor items. The goal of spatial coordination
using BIM is to identify, and eliminate or mitigate, physical interferences
between building systems that would cause undue delay or rework
during construction. A mandate for a “clash free” model can cause
many project coordination programs to degenerate, focusing solely
on getting to zero. Such mandates usually indicate the author’s
inexperience or misunderstanding of how and why these efforts
are being expended.
6. Any requirement for construction models to be delivered in a format
for integration to the building’s facilities management systems.
Single-sentence requirements for this type of deliverable are
written by people who may not understand what they are asking of
the MEP contractor; unfortunately, they are becoming more common.
Any requirement that as-built information be delivered for purposes
other than recording the structure as actually constructed needs to
be spelled out in very precise detail. There are numerous facilities
management software applications but very few, if any, that are fully
integrated with authoring or model-review software platforms. Placing
intelligent components into MEP models so that facilities maintenance
programs can be populated from the same data source can be an
extremely complicated and time-consuming process. More often than
not, achieving such integration is beyond the means and skills of most
MEP detailers.
7. Any requirement for a MEP contractor to waive its rights to
remedies for erroneous information delivered by the Design Team or
third parties. Not long ago, design models were simple 3D renderings
of 2D design drawings. Technology has reversed this process, and
designers now create their drawings from their models. Design models
are, in most cases, just advanced or more developed versions of the
2D design drawings provided to a contractor as a Document of Record
for construction. There are certain industry-wide expectations for the
LOD of the model elements, which can be found in both the AIA and
BIM Forum references. On Design-Bid-Build projects, it should not have
to be the obligation of the MEP contractor to validate that the drawings
126 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

Evaluating Spatial received from the Design Team exactly match the design models that
Coordination Contract Language also are provided to coordinate the project. However, many specifica-
tions and contracts place the burden of such validation squarely upon
the parties using these models. If there are differences between these
documents, hopefully they are clearly identified in the RFP. Both the
models and the drawings provided by the Design Team should, without
question, be constructible.
A common-sense argument can be made here: if an Owner expects
its project construction team members to engage in a collaborative
process that will result in well-coordinated building systems prior to
construction, then the installation contractors should be able to rely
on the information provided by the Owner or the Design Team for that
purpose. Additionally, spatial coordination is supposed to be a
collaborative process; collaboration does not mean that the risks
of one party’s oversights, errors, or deficient control measures should
be borne by another party.
8. Any requirement for bearing the cost of distribution of drawings to
noncontracted parties. The cost of distribution of 2D drawings
created post-coordination can be substantial on certain projects.
Beyond being a financial burden, however, many times such language
also implies an administrative duty to provide such a distribution in
a timely manner and to all affected parties. This can become a very
complex responsibility. If your firm has been assigned such duties in
the project contract, you should obtain very clear instructions from
your Client as to when, how often, and to whom these distributions
should be delivered.
9. Any language that imposes a requirement to deliver proprietary
information to the Owner, Construction Manager, or other third party.
Many “source files” that MEP contractors use contain proprietary
information that the MEP contractor derives from these files, as well
as specialized component creations that it has spent considerable
funds developing. If an Owner requires delivery of such source files,
you should clarify early on the amount of information you are willing to
provide. In addition, your firm should have a clear “scrubbing protocol”
in place before handing over any source files that might contain such
proprietary information. (For details on scrubbing source files, see
Appendix C on page 156.)
When reviewing project documents, take care to look for clauses that
impose these requirements, and remove them from the contract, edit
them to minimize such risks, or otherwise price the project accordingly.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 127

Evaluating Spatial 8.5 Other Important Industry Contract Reference Material:

Coordination Contract Language ConsensusDocs.org
Another industry organization, ConsensusDocs, has focused on
collecting consensus of agreement in standard construction contracts
and has made recommendations for contract language to refer to these
industry acceptable practices. ConsensusDocs has been developed by
a diverse coalition of 38 building associations with members from all
stakeholders in the design and the construction industry. The associa-
8.4. Other Important tions represent Owners, contractors, subcontractors, designers, and
Industry Contract Refer- sureties. ConsensusDocs contracts incorporate best practices and fairly
ence Material: allocate risk to help reduce costly contingencies and adversarial
ConsensusDocs.org negotiations. The basis of ConsensusDocs is a philosophy that all
parties in a construction project deserve to work under a fair contract.
ConsensusDocs contracts protect the best interests of the project rather
than a singular party, yielding better project results and fewer disputes.
Of particular interest and relative to spatial coordination and BIM
Execution Plans are Consensus Contracts 202.2, 301, and 750.*
(See Appendix D, “Industry References” for more information about
these documents on page 160.)
While ConsensusDocs is one model of Agreement, no Agreement
addresses all of the issues or concerns raised in this Guide. All MEP
contractors should carefully review any Contract or Agreement for
obligations or expectations relating to your spatial coordination efforts.

* Materials are displayed or reproduced with the express written permission of

ConsensusDocs® under License No. 0478.

Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 129

This chapter discusses where to begin and what to consider when

you evaluate your options to make the best decisions. This discussion
includes some tools to assist you in the process of identifying your
CHAPTER 9
teams’ needs and the options you have for addressing their
BIM Technologies for AN
requirements.
IT
anInfrastructure
IT Infrastructure
The product of your research is an IT Implementation Plan, and its

Y
scope can range from solving immediate problems to long-range
ou are a senior executive or perhaps
planning. This IT Implementation Plan is one of the components to
a virtual detailing manager and are
your BIM Implementation Plan. (See Chapter 3, “Building the Team”
responsible for building an IT infrastruc- on page 19.)
ture. You task is to support the require-
The management and maintenance of the databases, drawing files,
ments and work of your virtual detailing software, and hardware has a substantial, ongoing cost, but will yield
and construction project teams. increased profits if done correctly.

This chapter covers these topics:

• 9.1. What Is an IT Implementation Plan? on page 129
• 9.2 Hardware Specifications on page 133
• 9.3 Software Requirements on page 134
• 9.4 Types of Software Used in Spatial Coordination on page 135
9.1. What is an IT Implemen-
• 9.5 Stand-alone vs. Network-Based Licensing on page 140
tation Plan?
• 9.6 Software Versioning and Upgrades on page 141
• 9.7 Making the Right Decision for Your Firm on page 145

9.1. What Is an IT Implementation Plan?

An IT (information technology) implementation plan describes what
you need to have and to do to support spatial coordination projects.
This infrastructure includes 3D virtual modeling computers and a variety
of MEP software platforms and applications. It also includes many other
components that are not used for spatial coordination, yet contribute to
the IT computing environment, for example, wireless network hardware
and services, interface devices, accounting and back office software
applications. (For the purposes of this chapter, these other components
are not addressed.)
The first step in building your plan is to identify exactly what your
firm needs to upgrade or add to your existing computing infrastructure.
The IT Inventory checklist in section 9.1.1 on page 130 covers far
more technologies than those needed for spatial coordination. If your
company hasn’t prepared such a checklist before, this is an excellent
opportunity to identify what it may need.
130 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Technologies for 9.1.1 Preparing the IT Inventory

an IT Infrastructure
To prepare your firm to support spatial coordination with 3D model-
ing, you first need to know the capacity of the hardware and software
that you currently have. The simple inventory presented in this section
will give you the information you need to measure the gaps between
what you have and what you need.
If you have the time and the resources, you can also expand the scope
this inventory to include the items in section 9.1.2 on page 130.
To begin, collect the information in Table 9.1 on page 130 for each of
your laptops, PCs, and servers.

Network ID Make and OS RAM CPU Type CPU Hard Drive Installed
(Main user) Model Speed Total/Free Applications

Table 9.1 Computer Hardware Inventory

Next, collect the information in Table 9.2 on page 130 for all the
software that is currently installed on your laptops, PCs, and servers.

Type of software Application and Type of license # Licenses/users

version
Detailing CAD
Design Platform
Collision Checking
Communications
File Exchange
Office Productivity
Project Management
Email
Other:

Table 9.2 Software Inventory

9.1.2 Extending the IT Inventory

If you want to complete a more extensive inventory of your IT
infrastructure, you can include information about the items listed here.

Physical Inventory
Gather this information for each piece of hardware; include the PCs,
laptops, servers, monitors, printers:
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 131

BIM Technologies for • Manufacturer

an IT Infrastructure
• Purchase date
• Serial number
• Warranty expiration date
• Service level (same day, next day, on-site, or off-site)
• Support phone number

Software Inventory
Gather this information for each software application or package in-
stalled on the hardware:
• Application (for example, AutoCAD 2014, Navisworks Manage 2014,
Microsoft Office 2010)
• License number (that is, registration and license details for managing
subscriptions and service)
• Number of users that the license supports
• Support contract Information:
o Start and end dates
o Support phone number

Server Information
Gather this information for each server:
• Operating system
• Administrator login identity and password
• IP address
• Server-installed applications, (for example, Microsoft SQL, Microsoft
Exchange, accounting software)
• Active Directory domain
• DHCP scope
• Drive/partition volume information

Network Information
Create an IP Map that includes this information:
• Static IP device assignments (usually printers)
• Router/firewall information along with user name and password
• For firewalls:
o Support contract information for updates
o Contact information for assistance
132 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Technologies for • Wiring diagram for the office

an IT Infrastructure
• Numbers assigned to each jack and patch panel

Internet Access Provider Information

Gather this information about your IAP:
• Type of technology (for example, cable modem, DSL, FiOS, T-1,
Ethernet over copper, Ethernet provided by building owner)
• Name of provider (for example, Cablevision, Time Warner, Verizon)
• Whether IP address assignment is dynamic or static. If a Static IP
block, number of IP addresses in block. Include IP addresses for
sub-net, gateway, and domain name server

User Information
Gather this information about your users:
• User name
• Login information for each account that accesses the network
resources (for example, a file server)
• For a small environment, password information, as applicable
• Name of computer used to access the network
• Network resources permitted to access (for example, directories on
the server, printers, and software applications)

Email Information
• Primary and secondary domains
• Anti-spam and anti-virus software, if applicable
• Complete list of all email account addresses, including any generic
addresses such as info@ or sales@ and whether they are configured
as mail forwards or mail aliases.
• Type of mail server (for example, POP3, IMAP, Microsoft Exchange,
Office365, Google Apps for Business)
• Name of Internet service provider
• Name of computer consultant
• Name of web hosting company
• Name and location of internal email system
• Name and location of local file server
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 133

BIM Technologies for Website hosting information

an IT Infrastructure
Gather this information for each website:
• Domain registrar information, including account name and password
• Name of web hosting company (for example, 1and1, GoDaddy, local
Internet service provider)
• Where site is hosted
• Appropriate account and contact information for host provider

9.2 Hardware Specifi- 9.2 Hardware Specifications

cations As technology continues to change, faster and more productive
hardware becomes available. Any hardware specifications established
to meet project requirements are going to change, too. Fortunately, the
specifications in Table 9.3 on page 134 should meet or exceed software
application requirements for the foreseeable future and will easily sat-
isfy the demands of your 3D model detailer.
The specifications recommended here reflect the experience from
MEP detailing shops and, in effect, establish a current benchmark for
a high-performance virtual design platform. Before you purchase new
equipment, consider using these specifications as a basis for a conver-
sation with the firm that your company purchases your hardware and
computer from. Ask to speak with an application engineer/specialist
instead of a salesperson. The specialists should be able to match the
data in the table with their own offerings. If new technology is available
in one component or another, specialists should be able to identify how
to obtain even higher performance at a similar price.
One valuable recommendation comes from the shop floor and
addresses the high demand placed on computers to draw 3D objects
while maintaining multiple open windows of other applications:
consider using computers designed for video gaming. Even though
these are considered high-end computers, they are less expensive
than industry detailing workstations and, in most cases, provide better
performance. As a reference point, the components listed in Table 9.3
on page 134 have been thoroughly tested with the spatial coordina-
tion software applications used in the industry and easily support their
requirements.
Most spatial coordination projects do not directly specify minimum
hardware requirements, such as the amount of RAM (computer core
memory), which controls how fast the computer displays MEP objects.
The rule of thumb is that the more core memory you have and the
higher the speed of the processor, the faster the 3D model can be fully
rendered on the computer screen. However, contract documents
and BIM Execution Plans usually include a requirement that Project
134 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Technologies for Participant must use computer hardware and equipment that both
an IT Infrastructure supports effective participation in the project and allows the contrac-
tor to adhere to the project schedule and coordination meetings. Some
Execution Plans also require Project Participants to provide, set up, and
maintain computer workstations on site for the duration of the project.
An Execution Plan may also require Project Participants to attend
coordination meetings with laptops capable of making changes or
adjustments to their models during the meeting.
Meeting these requirements always costs more than it first appears,
especially when you have similar requirements for multiple projects.
But purchasing hardware components that meet only the minimum re-
quirements may be a false economy; such equipment soon hampers the
speed and effectiveness of the people who use it, and eventually, of the
coordination process itself. If your IT budget has additional funds, spend
them on the hardware; a PC or laptop that supports high-performance
3D modeling maximizes the productivity of your representative and
the team.
Component Desktop Laptop
Processors 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ 3rd Generation Intel® Core™
i7-3930K (12M) i7-3840QM (8MB
Cache, Overclocked up to 4.1 GHz) Cache, Overclocked up to 3.8 GHz
Operating system Windows® 7 Professional, Windows® 7 Professional,
64Bit, English 64Bit, English
Memory 16GB Quad Channel DDR3 16GB Quad Channel DDR3
at 1600MHz at 1600MHz
Video card 1.25GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce®
GTX 560 Ti (OR SIMILAR) GTX 660M (OR SIMILAR)
Hard drive 256GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive 256GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive
Networking (server to client) NIC (network interface card) 1Gbps NIC (network interface card) 1Gbps
(Gigabits per second) (Gigabits per second)

Table 9.3 Hardware Performance Specifications

9.3 Software Require- 9.3 Software Requirements
ments
Selecting the right set of software applications may be a bit more
daunting than selecting the right hardware. This difficulty is due pri-
marily to the different types of software used on a spatial coordination
projects and the number of choices available for each type.
But you often don’t have to make a decision. Many projects make
the decision for you by requiring Project Participants to use one or
more standard software applications. These requirements turn up in
the BIM Execution Plan (see Chapter 4 on page 39) or as part of the
construction documentation. So the challenge may be to make sure that
what you have purchased is current and meets the requirements of the
project. New software applications and updates to previously released
software applications are published every 6 to 12 months, rendering
applications, publishers, product names, and versions out of date
very quickly.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 135

BIM Technologies for 9.4 Types of Software Used in Spatial Coordination

an IT Infrastructure
To establish an effective IT infrastructure for spatial coordination
projects, you will need one application from each of the five types of
software applications, which are described in this section:
• Design Platform Software on page 135
• Project Review Software on page 136
• Domain or Trade-Specific Software Applications on page 136
• IT servers and Communications Software on page 138
9.4 Types of Software • Cloud Computing on page 138
Used in Spatial Coor-
9.4.1 Design Platform Software
dination
Design platform software supports the MEP engineering work specific
to creating an LOD 300 design drawing and handover model to the MEP
contractor. The type of software provides its users specialized analysis
and design tools tailored to the needs of an MEP engineer or design
consultant. As an MEP contractor, you may also have plug-in software
installed on this platform that offers trade-specific detailing tools and
database content, right out of the box.
Regardless of whether the particular design platform software is the
exact software your MEP detailing team will use, at a minimum, you
should develop internal resources with enough skill to open the design
project model and collect the useful MEP object data (quantity and
material take-off), again regardless of which virtual CAD authoring tool
your firm uses. These are the more commonly used software design
platforms:
• Autodesk’s Revit MEP
• Bentley’s AECOsim Building Designer
• Graphisoft’s ArchiCAD
• AutoCAD
• AutoCAD MEP
• Architectural Desktop
Odds are that the commercial building project you were awarded was
designed using one of these platforms; as a result, the Design-Intent
Model contains the LOD 300 data and manufacturer specifications (for
example, 2D schematics) that your estimating team used to win the bid.
Now your task is to retrieve the valuable MEP data in the Design-
Intent Model that you can reuse for your phase of the project. To
perform this task, you need at least one copy of the design software
and someone in-house with skills to extract the data from the Model
and organize it to assist in the firm’s detailing and fabrication process.
136 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Technologies for Each MEP design is unique and created by individuals and design
an IT Infrastructure firms that deliver the work at different points along the spectrum of
completeness. Some Design-Intent Models will contain a great deal
of object data and other models will include very little. In recent years,
design quality in North America has continued to improve, providing
partners with more and more useful object data.
9.4.2 Project Review Software
One important feature of project review (or model review) software
is the capability to aggregate the individual models designed with the
preferred authoring software application of each Project Participant into
a Federated Model. Once all of the models are aggregated, the Project
Team can begin running clash detection across all domains and partici-
pant models. Each software platform of this type offers a unique set of
additional functions. These are your primary options for project review
software:
• Autodesk Navisworks
• Bentley Navigator
• Solibri
• Tekla BIMsightBIMsite
Even though the project and its clash-detection activities are driven
by the Coordination Team and you provide your construction model to
the team via your domain-specific CAD authoring tool, you will need, at
a minimum, one copy of the project review software identified in the
BIM Execution Plan. The purpose is to allow you to perform clash detec-
tion and model review outside the scheduled coordination meetings
while using the same project review platform. The Project Coordination
Manager assumes that you have completed preliminary clash detection
before you submit your model. This practice allows you to identify and
correct the easy and trivial clashes beforehand, leaving only the more
difficult issues to be resolved at meetings. In addition to the software,
you also need to make sure that your firm has an individual in-house
who understands the aggregation process and the project review soft-
ware. This individual should also have some experience with or the skills
to manage documents and multiple models.
9.4.3 Domain- or Trade-Specific Software Applications
Unlike the other types of software, you can choose the applications
specific to your trade, based on your needs and requirements and the
functionality and capabilities the software provides. All that the Project
Team requires is that your domain-specific software can be used in all
of the Coordination Team software. These are the common domain
authoring and estimating tools:
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 137

BIM Technologies for CAD Detailing and trade-specific authoring tools

an IT Infrastructure
• Autodesk Fabrication
• CADPipe – Gen2
• Drawtech
• EastCoast CAD/CAM
• Intergraph
• Intellicad
• MetaLab
• SYSque
• Trimble QuickPen Designer3D

Fire Protection
• AutoSprink
• Fireacad
• HydraCAD
• Sprinkcad

Estimating software (only)

• Autodesk CADest
• Highlands Construction Software
• Maxwell
• Quote Software
• Trimble QuickPen & Accubid estimating
• Wendes

Each domain or trade uses a set of software applications that offer

a database and the detailing tools to support domain-specific virtual
content. The quality of the application’s database of virtual objects is
measured by how well this data maps to the geometry and attribute set
of the manufactured object. Each trade-specific publisher and its au-
thoring tool plug-in offers an assortment of detailing tools, beyond just
a library of virtual content, designed to support the detailer with greater
efficiency and increased productivity. This type of software is typically
installed inside of one of the design platforms described in section 9.4.1
on page 135 and is often referred to as “plug-in software.” It is worth
noting that before the project starts, you may be required to satisfy the
Project Coordination Manager that your software is with compatible
with the design software or other trade contractor’s software.
138 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Technologies for 9.4.4 IT Servers and Communications Software

an IT Infrastructure
Server and communications software is used to share, exchange,
and annotate documents and models within the Coordination Team.
These files are typically large (more than 15MB) and require a higher
transmission speed than email supports. In addition, your organization’s
needs with respect to storage, security, document management, and
configuration management (managing the volumes of similar docu-
ments while protecting multiple and different versions of each) need
to be considered in your planning process.
There is an excellent chance that one or more of these applications
is specified in the BIM Execution Plan, with the Model Manager
responsible for its management. Some of these software tools offer
unique capabilities that your firm alone may benefit from. You’ll
determine which tools are important to you as you acquire more
experience and skills. Initially, however, you need someone on your
team who is familiar with the primary set of the applications listed
below, because you will be required to use at least one of them.
• Autodesk 360
• Autodesk Buzzsaw
• Bentley ProjectWise
• “Box” (Box.com)
• Dropbox
• Filezilla
• Fusionlive
• Google drive
• Newforma
• SkyDrive (Microsoft) Drive HQ
• Thru
9.4.5 Cloud Computing
The first use of cloud computing (also called SaaS—software as a
service) by MEP contractors was online ordering between the field
and the shop. This approach eliminated the process of faxes and
phone calls. Within the past few years, these ordering applications
have added pricing capabilities that assist MEP contractors to better
manage field labor, orders, invoices, and reports. Additional tools such
as time cards, phone directories, safety information, and policy and
procedure handbooks are also available. More and more cloud-based
software applications are entering the market because they make it
easy to access current building and model data on-site without having
to use jump drives that may or may not have the current model. This is
particularly valuable to the Project Manager and site superintendent.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 139

BIM Technologies for There are two types of cloud-based software applications. The first
an IT Infrastructure type provides additional data storage and file backup services over the
web and outside your company’s network. The second type represents
user-based applications that your company does not own or install.
These applications provide one or more software services and run over
a set of redundant servers owned by a service company that manages
the application’s delivery to you and to other users. One of the major
benefits of this type of software is that you no longer keep your files
on a jump drive or on any of the computers you use. The files are now
stored and accessed from an Internet server and accessed through a
browser window. The only part of the application that runs on your
computer is through a browser, for example, Internet Explorer, Google
Chrome, or Safari. The application runs exceptionally fast and is not
constrained by the hardware configuration or limitations of your PC,
laptop, or tablet. Typically, these applications are affordably priced and
require minimal system administration, which is ideal for most small
MEP companies.
This type of software offers many benefits:
• All of the system management functions such as software updates,
backups, downtime, hardware issues are handled by the provider; the
software runs in a redundant network of servers so if one server goes
down another takes over with no loss of data.
• Less expensive because you pay only for what you use
• No downtime
• Access data from any location where you have an Internet connection
• Offers more collaboration functions and capabilities
• Supports multi-team and multi-site requirement
• Facilitates better communications between the field and the shop
• Centralized information distribution and sharing (specific to orders,
archives, construction documentation, document management, time
cards, delivery and construction schedules)
• Standardized ordering
• Many SaaS applications support full collaboration, in other words,
multiple people can work on the same file at the same time
(for example, Google Docs)
• Lower downtime and support costs
• Reduction of human errors via digital orders and invoices
• Better cash flow via faster and more accurate invoicing and costing
• Faster roll-out of new services and tools
140 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Technologies for The list that follows includes a few of the options you might consider
an IT Infrastructure for cloud applications. Some are exclusively used for storage and system
management (backing up your critical models and files); others pro-
vide an array of collaboration and communications services. The most
important benefit of these software applications is that users can get to
whatever data they need anytime and anywhere (providing they have
access to the Internet, which in some projects is not always the case.)
a. BIM 360 glue
b. BIM 360 field
c. GlobalScape
d. Gmail
e. Google Docs
f. Gotomeeting
g. Hightail
h. Microsoft Lync
i. Microsoft OneNote
j. Office 2010
k. ShareFile
l. SharePoint
m. Webex

9.5 Stand-alone vs. Network-Based Licensing

9.5 Stand-alone vs. Net-
Software applications are typically sold as a license (a one-time price)
work-Based Licensing
along with an annual subscription that entitles you to all updates
released within a 12-month period from the date of purchase. The
annual subscription should also include, at a minimum, telephone
software support. While some publishers include training in their
subscription, most publishers charge for training. Another form of
licensing is a monthly or annual lease that includes the subscription.
This is typically how SaaS (software as a service) is licensed.
Many software publishers offer suites and special packages that con-
tain a variety of applications, some of which are critical and the others,
you’ll never use. The rationale behind most packaging schemes has to
do less with the features that users favor or require and more to do with
marketing and increased profits for the publisher. You should therefore,
give special consideration to “suite” packaging. In some cases it is cost
effective, in others not. You often pay for more software than you’ll ever
need, and you may find that it’s cheaper to purchase only the software
you need.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 141

BIM Technologies for Do some careful analysis of the initial cost, associated annual sub-
an IT Infrastructure scription, and stand-alone versus network licensing. In terms of network
licensing (more expensive) versus stand-alone licensing (less expensive),
the general rule of thumb is that network licensing presents a better
return on investment when you have a large number of users (more
than 8) who use the application on a daily basis. This is the case because
the number of total users who require access to the application on any
specific day or time will never equal the total number of your firm’s
users and, therefore, you can purchase fewer network licenses. Another
advantage of network licensing is that it makes system management
and the software upgrading process much easier to manage.

9.6 Software Versioning 9.6 Software Versioning and Upgrades

and Upgrades Managing versions of individual software tools and applications
during the project lifecycle has to be done. You should know which
versions of which applications are being used in conjunction with all of
your project’s construction documentation. When the upgrade process
is not being managed or is not properly understood, you open yourself
up to risk and all level of financial impact. When upgrades are done
without careful consideration, you can expect all kinds of trouble.
For example, if you are not prepared, someone could innocently update
a noncritical software application that runs on the server that also
provides the detailers their networked design platform application.
Below is a summary of what happened—in the middle of an existing
project—at a, mid-sized MEP firm that didn’t pay attention to software
versioning and the upgrade process.
A contributor, Fred, occasionally used an application that no one else
used. Fred asked Joe, the local IT guru, to upgrade that application.
As the person that everyone went to for advice and help on IT issues,
Joe was glad to help. He had never received any training and was self-
taught and fairly good at it. But he had never been taught the value
of managing versions and upgrades and all of the havoc it could raise
if certain practices are not followed. Joe assumed that the upgrade
would have no impact on anyone else or on any other application. He
downloaded the upgrade from the web to the server and proceeded
to install it.
A user interface pops up and asks him for the SQL Server
Administrative password. Because Joe was the most experienced with
computers, most of the project team members and the company relied
on him to keep them online and moving forward. He finished the install
and left for the evening.
142 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Technologies for Because he went home late (doing the install the evening before) he
an IT Infrastructure arrived at the office 30 minutes late in the morning. A circle of detailers
were standing around the office of the Lead Detailer. Joe walked up and
asked what the meeting was about. They all turned to him and said
that when each of them opened their drawings that morning, the
CAD authoring tool displayed a message: “Your SQL database has been
updated, do you want the new database?” Each answered yes. The
application repopulated the objects on their drawings and every single
object had moved. When the Lead Detailer opened the current team
Federated Model, the same thing happened. And no one could open up
any of their old drawings. Two calendar days and seven days of actual
work were lost. Weekly backups were scheduled to run the day the
problem was discovered.

This has happened many times, with different applications and for
different reasons, but it doesn’t have to happen. There are measures
and precautions that should be brought to the attention to the person
responsible for IT. And this is first question: Do we need to upgrade the
application?
The rule of thumb is never upgrade from a version of any software
application in the middle of a project, unless you absolutely have to.
And yet, in some situations, an upgrade might be your best option.
• The new version includes functionality that will greatly reduce the
burden, workload, or expense of at least one of your construction
departments.
• The upgrade fixes a known bug that is contributing to errors and ex-
pense in your workflow, construction documentation, prefabrication
and fabrication MTOs (material take-offs/BOMs ) and downloads to
CNC machines.
• The communication between you and others on the Project Team is
broken and the upgrade will greatly improve collaboration, the shar-
ing of models, and the exchange of data
There are a few other benefits to upgrading:
• The project will run more smoothly, with fewer system performance
issues.
• There will be minimal to no disruption of service through the
lifecycle of the project.
• The project team will have more confidence in project plans,
schedules, and deliverables.
• You will have more confidence in your workflow and the quality
of the finished product.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 143

BIM Technologies for At the beginning of a new project, if you are responsible for your
an IT Infrastructure firm’s virtual detailing, make sure that when different departments
(that is, plumbing, sheet metal, and so on) share the same domain-
specific application that each department runs it separately. This allows
you to update, or not, the software based on the benefits and need of
each individual detailing department and this allows you to update the
software application for one of your detailing departments while not
creating a problem or issues for another. If this is the framework of your
IT infrastructure, you are diversifying your risk. Each MEP domain in your
business uses, to some degree, different aspects of the same software
application. A great reason to upgrade for one department may create
problems and risk for another. If each domain’s software applications
are separated, you are less exposed and better able to support the
individual requirements of each of your MEP departments.
9.6.1 Preparing for an Upgrade
Begin with research. First, search the web for issues pertaining to the
software you want to upgrade. These issues might be posted by the
software publisher or by its users; many publishers provide blogs and
free technical Q&A. Depending on the kind of license you have, you
may be able to contact the software publisher directly for unlimited
telephone support. Do both, but make sure you have current market
knowledge of what to expect from the installation process and later,
the interoperability with other software applications.
Next, test the upgrade independently, but not on the production
server. Never install untested software on your firm’s data, communica-
tion, or application server, all of which may be installed on the same
machine. Instead, find a PC or workstation whose installed software
environment represents the environment used by the team and take
it off the network.
Make a “ghost” image of that environment on a drive. “Ghost” soft-
ware is a disk-cloning application that’s an excellent tool when you need
to replicate complete running software environments. Building a clone
testing system will save time if you have to re-create a copy of every-
thing running on a computer. Now, install the upgrade and start testing.
What do you test for? You test the basic functions of every critical
software tool that the Project Team uses to complete its work. You open
files, add elements to them, or perform the operations of the tool you
are upgrading. Save these files and close them; then open them. If you
see what you expect to see and become confident that the upgrade will
have no impact, install the upgrade on your production server.
144 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Technologies for 9.6.3 Scheduling an Upgrade During an Ongoing Project

an IT Infrastructure
Long-term projects evolve, and new people join the team and make
new demands on the software. Some projects last for three or more
years. Versions of software that worked quite well in early stages may
no longer work with new tools or software platforms. So there may be
no way to avoid an upgrade.
When and how do you upgrade?
You anticipate it, months in advance. Time it with a major submittal
release that represents perhaps a level or a large zone in the project.
The submittals have been signed off by the proper authorities, and it’s
time to send the MTOs and BOMs off to purchasing, the downloads to
manufacturing, the spool sheets to pre-fab, and the 2D shop drawings
to the field.
This is when you schedule the upgrade, based on team needs and
requirements, and only after you’ve tested it. With respect to testing
the software, note that these tests are often done on the fastest, most
capable computer in the firm, yet the average worker uses a machine
with half the horsepower. The results from testing on less capable,
but representative machines may be so slow as to render the upgrade
useless.
A submittal release is the right time to upgrade because everyone is
ready to begin a new drawing with a new template that incorporates
the upgrade.
There’s always a need to restore an earlier version of the construction
documentation and software environment. This, too, should be antici-
pated. The upgrade offers an excellent opportunity to use the “ghost”
cloning software; one of the standard practices when upgrading your
environment is to make a clone copy of the running system. A ghost
clone of a previous environment can be brought up in less than 15
minutes. Re-creating the environment —finding and reinstalling all
of the old versions of the software—might take all day.
Cloud-based SaaS tools and applications excel in this aspect of manag-
ing an IT infrastructure. Why? Because almost every mid-sized to large
MEP contractor uses some form of this type of software, somewhere
in their business. The upgrade process is managed entirely by the SaaS
service bureau, behind the scenes, and there is nothing ever for you to
worry about, except losing access to the Internet. The best part of all is
that the service promises that you’ll always be able to access and work
with your application and documents, regardless of the upgrade.
SaaS for authoring tools is the next major goal that software
publishers are focused on. Within a few years, more firms will be
releasing their core application software as a service.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 145

BIM Technologies for 9.7 Making the Right Decision for Your Firm
an IT Infrastructure
Making the right decision about the software to purchase requires a
team effort of due diligence, market research, and product evaluation
specific to the needs of your firm. As you evaluate your options,
consider also that the management and maintenance of the databases,
drawing files, software and hardware has a substantial, ongoing cost,
but will yield increased profits if done correctly.
9.7 Making the Right Deci- To make it easier consider the following process:
sion for Your Firm
Step 1: Build your firm’s IT Implementation Plan.
Prepare your IT Implementation plan, including your IT inventory of
hardware and software.

Step 2: Create a hardware RFQ based on what you and your 3D

model detailers need for high-performing hardware.
Based on the plan, identify the additional hardware you will need;
then contact your local or national computer provider to discuss your
requirements and how they can assist you.

Step 3: Create a list of software applications currently not in-house

and that require further research and evaluation.
Based on your software inventory and what you’ve learned about
the software your firm needs along with the software requirements for
spatial coordination, select the software applications within each type
of software that you plan to research and evaluate.
Step 4: Conduct online software product demonstrations with the
software publisher’s application engineer or product expert.
Evaluate each based on your firm’s requirements and needs. Contact
a set of each publisher’s references.
Contact the leading publishers of the applications selected in Step 3,
to schedule an online, product demo. (See Section 9.4 on page 135 for
a list of the primary software publishers of each type of software.)
Make sure that the person facilitating the demo is a technical application
engineer, someone who is considered a product application expert.
Ask for details on pricing, packaging, and licensing. Of particular
importance, make sure you request, from each software publisher that
you are working with, five references of companies that are using their
application. Contact every reference, or even better, contact someone
you know and trust who uses the software and ask for their experiences
with it and with the publisher, including the quality and timeliness of
their technical support and training.
146 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

BIM Technologies for Step 5: Review all of the data and make a decision, acquire
an IT Infrastructure software and begin training.
Review what you learned from the product demonstration, from
conversations with users, and comments in technology blogs about the
product and the publisher. Determine how well the application matches
your requirements and how accommodating the licensing and pricing is
compared to other solutions. Then, choose the application that best fits
your needs.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 147

The most prodigious and active contributor from the start (long
before me) to where we are today with the official release of the GUIDE
and the person I owe the most appreciation to for the depth of his input

F unny thing about asking industry and his draft editorial reviews of each chapter and for every one of the
Acknowledgements three major reviews is Steve Shirley, CEO of University Mechanical and
professionals to band together to
Engineering Contractors in El Cajon, California. The Guide was originally
create something that will literally envisioned by Steve as the Chair of the MCAA BIM committee more
help their industry become more than two years ago. He has been one of the earliest MEP pioneers in
skilled. While showcasing their personal the use of BIM and other technology-based solutions to enhance his
professionalism, folks from competing company’s operations and profitability.
companies gave this project time The Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA) fielded
and devotion that I could never have great professional team I received much help from Richard Anderson,
obtained elsewhere. To say I thank John Attebury, Michael P. Cannistraro, Rod Foley, Mike Feutz, Dan Lovell,
these volunteers and honor them is an Pete Mackenzie, Frank D. Musica, Brian J. Muggy, Ian O’Doherty,
Al Prowse, Steve Shirley, and Stacy Zerr.
understatement. To say that the industry
owes them a debt it can’t repay is To the powerhouse of professionals from the National Electrical
a humbling truth. Contractors Association (NECA), I am grateful to Josh Brill, Craig Clark,
Denis St. Pierre, Adam Davis, Bryan Inglish, Dan Maimonis, and Joseph
Vernice for casting helpful light in some of the dark corners of this
subject.
Last, but not least (and they still take up the most LOD space) are the
professionals from the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors
National Association (SMACNA). Paul J. Alexander, Matt Cramer, Richard
Freeman and Steve Hunt shared their many lessons and best practices
from their engagements with BIM.
The consistent dedication of three MEP contributors filled this Guide
with many practical ideas. They spent countless hours in meetings with
me and reviewing many drafts. Pete Mackenzie, a well-recognized
trainer in BIM on behalf of MCAA, made significant contributions and
was the only task force member who actively participated in almost
every chapter committee meeting. On the electrical side (NECA),
Josh Brill brought great insight and showed me how the concerns of
his discipline are the same and also different. My debt to the sheet
metal industry (SMACNA) for Steve Hunt and his willingness to help
the industry take this giant leap forward, raising the awareness and
capabilities of tradesmen, is probably larger than I can repay.
Special thanks to David Francis, MEP Chairman to the BIM Forum
LOD Specification, for helping me understand how the LOD specification
is being understood and used in the field and for his continued
representation and support of the MEP contractor in all of his open
standards efforts.
148 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Joe Perraton at Pointone Media, who shared his many ideas for
how cloud-based software applications can decrease MEP contractor
expenses while improving collaborative processes, filled some large
gaps in my knowledge.
My predecessor, Michael Tardiff, who started the project one year ago
had other demands to meet, and he graciously passed the project me.
His willingness to share all that he had learned (quite a lot) in the short
time he spent with the project got me off on the right foot.
I also want to recognize the excellent work that the Guide’s
editor, Susan Hunziker, and the graphic designer, Cyndi Carr of
Visual Persuasion, LLC, brought to the effort. Their unique skills
and special touch helped to make this document a product the three
MEP associations will be proud of.
I am deeply indebted to the association directors— Dennis Langley
of MCAA, Tom Soles of SMACNA , and Dan Walter of NECA. Their
unequivocal support and their unfettered access made this book
possible and far better than it could have been. They made sure that
I had direction, content, and examples from the top professionals in
each of their associations.
Three organizations were willing to put their money where their
mouths are. MCERF, The New Horizons Foundation, and the NECA
believed in the need for this Guide and provided the funds to bring
their shared vision to reality. I believe that in time, their desire to serve
a greater good by raising the knowledge and skills of the entire MEP
and specialty contractor segment of the construction industry will
create new opportunities for all.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 149

Task Force Members by Industry Association

Mechanical Contractors Association of America, Inc.

Richard Anderson Pete Mackenzie
Smith & Oby Company Retired Al Prowse
Walton Hills, OH German Valley, IL H. Griffiths Company Limited
Woodbridge, ON
John Attebury David Morris CANADA
Kinetics EMCOR Construction Services
Phoenix, AZ El Cajon, CA Steve Shirley
University Mechanical & Engineering
Michael P. Cannistraro Brian J. Muggy Contractors
J.C. Cannistraro, LLC MMC Contractors National, Inc. El Cajon, CA
Watertown, MA Kansas City, MO
Blaine Wilcoxson
Rod Foley Ian O’Doherty Waldinger Corporation - Omaha
North Mechanical Contracting, Inc. University Mechanical & Engineering Omaha, NE
Indianapolis, IN Contractors
El Cajon, CA Stacy Zerr
Dennis Langley Waldinger Corporation
MCERF Des Moines, IA
Rockville, MD

National Electrical Contractors Association

Josh Brill Bryan Inglish Denis St. Pierre
Cannon & Wendt Electric Company, Inc. Truland Systems Corporation Alterman
Phoenix, AZ Reston, VA San Antonio, TX

Craig Clark Dan Maimonis Joseph Vernice

Dynalectric Colorado KELSO-Burnett Co Zwicker Electric
Lakewood, CO Rolling Meadows, IL New York, NY

Adam Davis Dan Walter

VEC Inc. NECA
Girard, OH Bethesda, MD

Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association

Paul J. Alexander Richard Freeman Steve Hunt
Straus Systems, Inc. Stromberg Sheet Metal Works Dee Cramer, Inc.
Stafford, TX Beltsville, MD Holly, MI

Matthew Cramer Thomas Soles

Dee Cramer, Inc. SMACNA
Holly, MI Chantilly, VA

Consultant and Others

Mike Feutz Michael G. Farrington David Quigley (author)
Ferris State University CNA Emerson Research and Construction
Big Rapids, MI Timonium, MD Services
Milford, NH
Frank Musica
Victor O. Schinnerer & Company
Chevy Chase, MD
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 151

Appendix A: Examples of Internal Deliverables

• Some building systems lend themselves to prefabrication, and some
Appendix A: Examples of
The Appendixes subcontractors or suppliers may have model-to-fabrication capability,
Internal Deliverables which means that they have the ability to fabricate and build
components directly from a model.
• Some team members may have the ability to locate and place
hangers in the field directly from a model using a Total Station, that
is, surveying equipment with robotic laser point tracking systems.
• Because the precise location of incidental elements such as hangers,
penetrations/sleeves, and control/expansion joints may have to be
determined prior to fabrication, all building systems—and not
merely those being prefabricated—may have to be modeled and
coordinated to a higher level of detail and at an earlier stage in
the construction schedule than would be required for conventional
construction or installation methods.
• A clear understanding of what needs to be modeled should be one of
the important references an MEP contractor should determine based
on the BIM Execution Plan.
For example, here are some important things to identify within the
BIM Execution Plan:
• Is the MEP contractor required to model hangers?
A note of caution regarding hangers and a sloping pan deck: Some
BIM Execution Plans require precise modeling of hanger placement (that
is, 100% accurate). Hangers can be greatly affected by the sloping of the
pan deck; in addition, many times deck inserts are required to be in the
top or bottom of the flute. The deflection of the deck and orientation of
the deck flutes can turn well-intended hanger coordination into a total
waste of time. There are some things that BIM cannot account for and
this is one of the most significant
• Should pipe or conduit under 2" be modeled? If you do find a re-
quirement for pipe 2" or higher to be modeled or for bundles of
communication cables exceeding 1” in diameter, this is a red flag and
perhaps something that might be worth issuing an RFI in order to
address. In the example of communications cables (modeling 1"–2"
conduit), this is easily and typically fabricated and coordinated in
the field.
• Even when an assembly or portion of system is not required to be
modeled, a best practice is that if you want to install something in
a specific place, you should model it to save the space. If you had
modeled it and brought it through the coordination process, should
someone else install their equipment in your modeled space, they
will have to move it. Also, if you don’t model, you must first yield to
152 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

THE APPENDIXES all those systems and components that have been modeled, you
may not interfere or obstruct with the installation of modeled
components, and after that it’s first come, first served. In short,
you have to get in around every system that was modeled.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 153

THE APPENDIXES Appendix B: An Outline for Developing a BIM Implementation Plan

Appendix B: An Outline for A) Groundwork – set a foundation for your plan
Developing a BIM Imple- 1) Determine your goals – Create two lists
mentation Plan a. What benefits to you expect to get from the BIM process?
b. What do you expect the BIM Implementation Plan to establish
for your company
2) Do your homework, determine best resources for understanding the
BIM process
3) Make a solid , fully budgeted commitment
4) Determine who’s going to develop and implement the plan
5) Assess your options
a. Establish CAD/BIM capabilities in-house?
b. Outsource?
B) Create an Organizational Structure
1) Typical Personnel
a. CAD/BIM Manager
b. Lead Detailers/coordinators
c. Detailers/drafters
d. Define the required skills and responsibilities of each position
C) Evaluate and select software
1) Determine software needed
2) Establish a selection criteria checklist
3) Establish a list of do’s and don’ts for selecting software
4) Obtain references from trusted sources
D) Select and schedule training
1) Determine needs based on current inventory of skills and
identified weaknesses
2) Determine methods of training , select providers, create a schedule
3) Establish a comprehensive ongoing training program
E) Establish IT and Infrastructure
1) Determine specific hardware needs, create specifications and
select hardware
2) Establish network folder structure for all CAD/BIM related
documents and files
3) Establish secure backup procedure(s)
154 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

THE APPENDIXES 4) Establish security procedures and establish read/write

permissions
5) Create a productive collaborative office layout
F) Create a budget for
1) Software
2) Hardware
3) Training
4) Office furnishings and equipment
G) Create company procedures for
1) BIM process workflow, the roadmap for BIM in your company
a. A reliable repeatable linear process from start to finish to
be used on every project
b. Integrates all company aspects and departments into the
BIM workflow
c. Establish communication protocols
2) CAD/modeling standards that:
a. Establish uniformity
b. Provides for increased drawing productivity
3) Quality control
a. Establish levels of quality control and applicable roles and
responsibilities for
(1) First Line - Detailer
(2) Second Line – CAD/BIM Manager
(3) Third Line – Project Manager and Field Foreperson
4) Metrics and cost histories
a. Evaluate historical detailing/coordination cost information
b. Determine what data should be captured for future historical
evaluations
c. Establish a standard default cost coding structure for
timesheets
d. Establish monitoring of metrics protocols (weekly, monthly,
milestones, etc.) and participants
H) Leading BIM Projects
1) Define possible roles and responsibilities you are willing to assume
2) Define scope you are willing to assume
3) Write a generic BIM Project Execution Plan
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 155

THE APPENDIXES a. Apply and/or modify as needed for specific projects

b. Establish well-defined rules of engagement and methods
of recourse
4) Establish web hosting capabilities and protocols for storing,
updating and maintaining the project BIM model
156 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

THE APPENDIXES Appendix C: Scrubbing a Design-Intent Model

Appendix C: Scrubbing a It is always a good practice to “scrub” the Design-Intent Models

Design-Intent Model received from the Design Team to remove information that your trade
does not need or care about. Scrubbing also makes the file much
smaller, which makes it easier to update and share.

A Basic Approach to Scrubbing

This procedure is dependent on what design authoring platform
the files were delivered. The “scrubbing” process may require more
attention than these eight steps. At the end of the day, scrubbed files
are most always used as background files.
1. Burst all blocks
2. Burst again
3. Highlight all
4. Override color by layer
5. Change layer color to 8
6. Purge
7. WBlock

A Detailed Approach to Scrubbing

1. Remove all xrefs.
a. Type the command XREF; press Enter.
b. Highlight all of the xrefs under the main drawing file
c. Right click any of the highlighted xrefs.
d. Detach the selected xrefs by clicking Detach on the right-click menu.
2. Make layer 0 (zero) the current layer.
a. Type the command LAYER; press Enter.
b. Double left-click on the layer 0 (zero)
c. A green checkmark will appear to the left of the layer 0 (zero).
3. Remove all layer filters.
a. Type the command LAYER; press Enter.
b. Highlight all the layer filters listed on the left except the filter All
and All Used Layers. These cannot be deleted.
c. Right-click any highlighted layer filter.
d. Delete the selected layer filters by clicking Delete on the right-click
menu.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 157

THE APPENDIXES 4. Change layer lineweights.

a. Type the command LAYER; press Enter.
b. Highlight all the layers.
c. Click any one of the highlighted layers’ lineweights.
d. Click the 0.25 mm lineweight in the Lineweight window.
e. Click OK to confirm.
5. Make all layers visible.
a. Type the command LAYER; press Enter.
b. Highlight all the layers.
c. Find layers that are turned off; turn them on by clicking the dark-
ened light bulb.
d. Find layers that are frozen; thaw them by clicking the darkened
snow flake.
e. Find layers that are locked; unlock them by clicking the darkened
padlock.
f. Click the X in the upper left corner to exit the layer properties
manager window.
6. Remove all layer states.
a. Type the command LAYERSTATE; press Enter.
b. Highlight all of the layer states listed.
c. Delete the selected layer states by clicking Delete on the
right-click menu.
d. Click Yes to All to confirm.
e. Click Close.
7. Erase all layout tabs.
a. Click the first layout tab.
b. While holding down the Shift key on the keyboard, click the last
layout tab.
c. Right-click any of the highlighted layout tabs.
d. Delete the selected layout tabs by clicking Delete on the
right-click menu.
e. Click OK to confirm you want the tabs deleted.
158 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

THE APPENDIXES 8. Remove unnecessary information from model space drawing.

a. Erase all text that is not important for your needs (door types, wall
types, room square footages, dimensions, notes, detail symbols,
section symbols, etc.).
b. Erase all miscellaneous lines and objects that are not important
for your needs (construction lines, dimension lines, detail lines,
section lines, symbols, etc.).
c. Skip the rest of this step if the drawing is a 3D model.
d. Type the command OVERKILL; press Enter.
e. Type ALL to select all of the items in the drawing; press Enter.
f. Press Enter again and make sure all of the options under Object
comparison settings are unchecked.
g. Make sure all the options under the Lines, Arcs and Plines are
checked.
h. Click OK to execute the command.
9. Remove all named views.
a. Type the command VIEW; press Enter.
b. Highlight all of the named views under Model Views (on the left).
c. Delete the selected named views by clicking Delete on the right.
d. Click OK to exit the window.
10. Remove all scale lists.
a. Type the command SCALELISTEDIT; press Enter.
b. Click Reset.
c. Click the Restore the Default List of Scales option.
d. Click OK to exit the window.
11. Remove all regapps.
a. Type the command –PU; press Enter.
b. Type R for regapps; press Enter.
c. It will ask for the names to be purged; just press Enter.
d. It will then ask if you want to verify each name to be purged. Type
N for no; press Enter.
12. Purge the drawing.
a. Type the command PU for purge; press Enter.
b. Click Purge All on the bottom. Click this button until you can no
longer select it.
c. Click Close to exit the window.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 159

THE APPENDIXES 13. Set all color layers to bylayer.

a. Type the command SETBYLAYER; press Enter.
b. Click BYLAYER.
c. Click OK to exit the window.
14. Define the insertion point.
a. Type the command INSBASE; press Enter.
b. Type 0,0,0 and then press Enter.
15. Define linetype scales.
a. Type the command LTS; press Enter.
b. Type 1 to set the linetype scale to 1; press Enter.
c. Type the command MSLTSCALE; press Enter.
d. Type 1 to set the model space linetype scale to 1; press Enter.
e. Type the command PSLTSCALE; press Enter.
f. Type 1 to set the paper space linetype scale to 1; press Enter.
16. Change the annotation scale to 1/4”=1’-0”.
a. In the lower right side of the CAD Screen, click Annotation Scale.
b. Click the 1/4"=1'-0" option.
17. Name and save drawing file.
a. Type the command SAVEAS; press Enter.
b. Browse to the appropriate location to save the file.
c. Type a new name next to the File Name heading. (Do not name
the file the same as the original file.)
d. Click Save to save the file and exit the window.

Another Approach to Reducing the File Size of the Design Model

Another way to reduce the file size is to explode any bound external
references down to the object level, unlock all of the layers and then
copy and paste the visible objects into a new blank template file using
0,0,0 as a basepoint. After this step, then remove all irrelevant objects,
scalelists, purge, etc. It is also recommend the use of the AUDIT com-
mand to fix any possible errors in the database.
160 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

THE APPENDIXES Appendix D: Industry References and Software

Appendix D: Industry Refer- This appendix provides the web addresses for software publishers
ences and Software whose products are widely used in the MEP contracting industry and
for various organizations that serve the MEP contracting segment of the
construction industry.

Software publishers
Design Platform Software
Autodesk— http://www.autodesk.com
AutoCAD
AutoCAD MEP
Architectural Desktop
Revit MEP

Bentley—http://www.bentley.com
AECOsim Building Designer

Graphisoft —http://www.graphisoft.com
Archicad

Project Review Software

Autodesk—http://www.autodesk.com
NavisWorks Simulate
NavisWorks Manage

Bentley—http://www.bentley.com
Project Navigator (formally ProjectWise Navigator)

Solibri—http://www.solibri.com
Solibri Model Checker

Tekla—http://www.tekla.com
Tekla Structures
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 161

THE APPENDIXES Domain-Specific Software

A
 utodesk—http://www.autodesk.com/products/fabrication-
products/overview
Autodesk Fabrication CADmep
Autodesk Fabrication ESTmep
Autodesk Fabrication CAMduct

Trimble—http://mep.trimble.com/products
Trimble Pipe Designer 3D
Trimble Duct Designer 3D
Trimble Accubid Enterprise Estimating
Trimble AutoBid Mechanical
Trimble AutoBid Sheetmetal
Vulcan – Sheet Metal CAM cutting software

CADPipe (Published by Orange Technologies)—


http://www.cadpipe.com/
Gen2 Commercial Pipe
Gen2 HVAC
Gen2 Industrial Pipe
Gen2 ISO
Gen2 P&ID

Intergraph—http://www.intergraph.com/
Intergraph Process Piping, Power and Marine

MetaLab—http://www.practicad.com/
PractiCAM: a sheet metal manufacturing and estimating solution
PractiCAD: a design, drafting, and detailing tool for the HVAC and
sheet metal industries. AutoCAD-driven
Drawtech—http://drawtech.com/
Drawtech 7
Drawtech CAM
162 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

THE APPENDIXES EastCoast CAD/CAM—http://www.eccadcam.com

MEP Design to Fabrication
Fabrication for AutoCAD MEP, sheet metal, piping and plumbing
DuctMaker - Sheet Metal CAM cutting software

Shopdata—http://www.shopdata.com/
Quickduct CAD
Quickduct CAM

Intellicad—http://www.intellicad.org/
IntelliCAD 7

SYSque—http://sysque.net/
Pipe and Duct design and fabrication inside Revit MEP

Fire protection
Fireacad—http://www.fireacad.com/index.htm
HydraCAD—http://www.hydratecinc.com/
AutoSprink—http://www.autosprink.com/
Sprinkcad—https://www.sprinkcad.com/

Industry Resources
Trade Associations
MCAA—http://www.mcaa.org
SMACNA—http://www.smacna.org
NECA—http://www.necanet.org
National Institute of Building Sciences
National Institute of Building Sciences—http://www.nibs.org/

N
 ational BIM Standard – United States V2—
http://www.nationalbimstandard.org/

JBIM - Journal of Building Information Modeling—

http://www.wbdg.org/references/jbim.php
163 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

THE APPENDIXES Building Smart Alliance—http://www.nibs.org/?page=bsa

J BIM - Journal of Building Information Modeling—
http://www.wbdg.org/references/jbim.php

BIM Forum
AGC BIM Resources—

http://bimforum.org/resources/agc-bim-resources/ JBIM - Journal of

BIM Tools Matrix—http://bimforum.org/wp-content/up-

loads/2011/02/BIM_Tools_Matrix.pdf

B
 uilding Information Modeling—
http://www.wbdg.org/references/jbim.php

Contract language
ConsensusDocs—https://www.consensusdocs.org/

Other resources
A
 IA Document E202 – BIM Level of Development
http://www.aia.org/contractdocs/training/bim/aias078742

 cGraw Hill SmartMarket

M
https://analyticsstore.construction.com/index.php/market-trends/
smartmarket-reports.html

Penn State BIM Execution Planning —http://www.bim.psu.edu

This information is available for free.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 164

2D Two dimensional (X, Y plane). Drawings on paper that

present buildings in a variety of views showing height
and width, height and depth, or width and depth such
Glossary
as floor plans, elevations, sections, ceilings and detail
drawings.

3D Three dimensional (X, Y, Z plane): Drawings that

present buildings in a variety of views showing height,
width, and depth.

AOR Architect of Record. The architect or architecture firm

whose name appears on a building permit issued for a
specific project on which that architect or firm has or
is performing its services

BIM Building Information Modeling. A process involving

the generation and management of digital represen-
tations of physical and functional characteristics of a
structure. The resulting building information models
become shared resources that can support decision-
making about a facility from earliest conceptual
stages to eventual demolition.
BIM Execution
Plan A document created by the Design Team and
construction team that defines the size, complex-
ity, and schedule of a construction project and the
contractual responsibilities, and deliverables of the
participating individuals and firms.
BIM
Implementation
Plan A business strategy document that outlines the
resources a company needs to buy and to hire and
identifies the changes to current internal processes
that are required to fully support BIM projects.

CAD Authoring
Software A computer application used to depict the physical
appearance and properties of objects included in a
building or building system. Also known as detailing
software.
165 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

GLOSSARY Communications
Protocols A particular way of storing and organizing data in a
computer and in software applications so that people
and other applications can be easily access and share
the data.
CNC
machining A process used in manufacturing sheet metal or pipe
in which computers are used to control machine
tools. CNC stands for Computer Numerical Control.
Under CNC Machining, shop and fabrication machine
tools function through numerical control.
Domain-specific CAD authoring tools contain a library
of virtual objects. Every object maintains its unique
geometry and attributes, which represent how it is
to be manufactured, using an industry standard
information exchange called G-Code. G-Code
controls exact positioning and velocity of the tool.

Data structure A particular way of storing and organizing data in

a computer or software application so that it can
be used efficiently by people and by software
applications.

Design-Bid-
Build A method of project delivery in which the Owner
procures a design and bid package from a designer
and solicits independent bids for the construction
of the building.

Design-Build A method of project delivery in which one firm

assumes responsibility for the design and
construction of the project.

Design
consultant A
 n engineer on a construction project who is
responsible for performing and overseeing the
design of structural, mechanical, electrical, HVAC,
and fire protection systems.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 166

GLOSSARY Digital data  Any form of information, communications, drawings,

model elements, or assemblies contained and
managed with a virtual model or software application.

Digital
sign-off A mathematical key in a document file that, when
selected by an authorized individual, constitutes a
legally binding signature of an individual or company.

Disruptive
innovation A product or service that creates a new market
and value chain, eventually displacing an earlier
technology and the processes that depended on or
supported it. The term is used to describe changes
to a product or service in ways that the market does
not expect.
Federated
Model  The Design-Intent Model that is extended by
aggregating multiple models. Each model represents
the work of different domains and the Coordination
Team. A Federated Model is typically aggregated and
viewed with project review software.
Federated
Construction-Only
Model A variant of the Federated Model that stops at
construction LOD 400 when there is no contractual
obligation to supply any further deliverables to the
Owner.
File-naming
conventions A set of rules for constructing unique and descriptive
names for digital files. The rules specify the order and
the length of words, phrases, or abbreviations used in
the name.

HVAC Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning

167 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

GLOSSARY Information
exchange Digital data that is passed from one party to another
in the BIM process. The parties involved have agreed
upon and understand what information will be
exchanged.
Integrated
Model The Design-Intent Model that is extended by all
Project Participants, who are using the same software
platform to design and detail it in all phases of the
project lifecycle.
Inter-
Operability The exchange of information between software
applications, between people, and between people
and a software application by direct communication
without interference.

LOD Level of Development. A specification of the

completeness of a Design-Intent Model. The LOD
specification enables practitioners in the construction
Industry to describe with a high level of clarity the
content and reliability of Building Information
Models at various stages in the design and
construction process.

MEP Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, and Fire Protection

model A 3D representation of a building project or any part

of a project in digital form.

the Model The digital representation of a building as designed,

with all its details and systems. This representation is
created by the Design Team and extended with the
contributions of contractors on the project. In the
various stages of its development, the Model is called
the coordinated model, the construction model, and
the as-built model.
Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM 168

GLOSSARY Modified
Federated
Model A variant of the Federated Model in which the models
of building systems produced by MEP contractors are
integrated into the Design-Intent Model by the
Design Team.

MTO Material take-off. A list of the materials required

to build a designed and domain specific system,
assembly, or item. This list includes the quantities
and types of these materials and is generated by
analysis of a LOD 400 Model or other design
document. Also known as BOM (Bill of Materials).

Object A digital representation in a model of a physical

component that is manufactured or purchased to
be installed in a domain-specific system in a building.
Objects that contain properties and attributes that
further define the physical object they represent are
called “intelligent objects.”

Open
Standards Non-proprietary protocols and data structures that
support the exchange of digital data and information
across domains, people, and software applications.

Outsourcing The process of obtaining resources or skills that are

not available within a company. These skills and
resources can be obtained on a part-time, per
project, or other limited basis.

Participants The individuals who represent companies and per-

form roles on a Coordination Team for a construction
project.

Phase A period of time or activity that represents a unique

phase of the building lifecycle.
169 Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM

GLOSSARY Pre-design The additional phase of work required of some MEP

contractors to develop the design and information
to achieve an LOD-300-compliant model. The
information that some trades traditionally receive
in the Design-Intent Model is at LOD 200, 100,
or even 0. Yet these contractors are required to
submit compliant LOD 350 and LOD 400 drawings.
This situation is most common to electrical
contractors.

Project review
software A software application platform that provides the
tools that Coordination Teams use to coordinate their
system designs, resolve conflicts between domains,
and plan projects prior to construction or renovation.

Quantity
take-off To count, measure, and extract any or all of the
identified elements contained in a 3D model.

Render To create from digital data an image of a design or

a model with accurate material texture, lighting,
reflectivity, and shadows.

RFI Request for Information.

Schedule A
 sequence of activities that are based on a
construction plan and represent decisions by the
Construction Manager, General Contractor, or
Coordination Team.

Virtual design A realistic representation of physical objects,

elements, assemblies, and integrated multi-domain
computer models of a building in a computer
software application.