Feature
By sizing a plant room correctly with the help of BIM, a plant can be made smaller
and thus plant rooms can be better designed.
planning or understanding what BIM can deliver; and not
understanding what the client wants to gain from the BIM
process. “Unfortunately, building owners in this country are
slow to realise the benefits and most of the BIM benefits,”
says Henning. “Therefore, it sits with the professionals and
perhaps with some contractors (for now) to drive this.”
Currently, a good few engineering companies in South
Africa have realised the benefits and have adopted a BIM
culture, both for domestic and international offices, and
have engaged in the BIM process on their projects. “The
best way forward is to receive the correct education in BIM.
There are many software vendor companies that provide
less accurate information on BIM and by doing so have done
the industry no favour,” says Henning. Make sure you get
training from the right sources, like the BIM Institute itself.
TRENDS
So, where are we going? “We are seeing a much greater
use of the technology to allow the off-site prefabrication
of components of the building so that these are installed
almost immediately before the super structure of the
building is complete (before the building is enclosed),” says
Allen. By doing this, buildings can be erected much quicker
and also more accurately, while also addressing challenges
such as welding on site, which carries with it hot works risks,
including fire and burns to other workers (who are therefore
required to remain outside a safe zone around those works).
www.hvacronline.co.za
The welds are then more accurate and less issues arise
at commissioning with the systems not meeting the
required pressure or flow rate as per the design. Also,
these components can be delivered by section and erected
immediately, providing better security of the product,
which can otherwise be quite worthwhile to be stolen from
site. This assists installation teams, as components can be
grouped and radio-frequency identification (RFID) tagged to
track installation against a model, according to Allen.
FUTURE OF BIM
“As more professionals understand the benefits both for
design and fabrication (including installation), we will see
a much greater uptake on the software side, while those
responsible for the management of these packages of work
will find young supervisors coming through who want to do
things differently and who can push the implementation at
that level,” explains Allen.
A WORD OF ADVICE
Never try do an entire project when you first start in BIM,
Allen advises. Gradually increase the scope and level at
which the technology is implemented, as it takes time to
train the people and get them to gain the most out of it.
“Going too fast only creates more resistance from those
tasked with implementation, which will negatively affect
the further implementation.” RACA
RACA Journal I January 2019
31