Visualisation of buildings and civil works is basic and it´s nothing new to construction industry. Traditional construction works are based on visualisation most commonly as 2D-plans and details. 3D visualisation has also been popular for many years, but mostly used during the design phase only.
Out on the field, at the construction site; we are still forced to base the most of the works and the site planning process on the 2D drawings that comes out of the design phase BIM models. A wider use of BIM model in construction phase is about to develope.
The ful potential and use of BIM visualisation for construction is yet to come
The large constructions companies and contractors are all already all in, but there are still some aspects to the use of BIM to evaluate and develope further in order to get the full potential of BIM for construction site. For example; the architects and structural engineers need to know more about the level of details and documentation needed at construction site. The input details must match the details and structure of the output needed at the construction site. The contractor should to be able to get detailed information for every part and interface of the buidling as well as for different building materials and time aspects during the building process.
Digital visualisation on construction site enables the contractor at any time during the process display any part of a building or site. This mighjt improve quality of the works, planning and preparing and also to communicate the planned works to workers at the site. Problems in communication is something construction industry has been dealing with for a long time.
Visualisation might improve the communication at the site but keep in mind that using new models in a construction site also demands a higher level of communication to involve all participants especially during the early phase!
Visualisation and simulation can be useful in:
- Surveying
- Preparing the works at detailed levels
- Avoiding clashes betwenn differnt works
- Safety Management:
The film referres to a study by VTT, Finland – read report: BIM-based Safety Management and Communication for Building Construction
