Insights from dRofus and Key Clients PDC Group and BVN Architecture
dRofus in conjunction with key clients Destination Brisbane / PDC and BVN recently made keynote presentations at the BuildingSmart Australasia seminar series “OpenBIM: Getting it Right Managerial Series”. Events were held in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne in September 2019.
In Brisbane and Melbourne dRofus presented alongside Gabor Gulyas from PDC Group and in Sydney we were joined by Adam Hetherington from BVN Architecture.
Chris Razzell - Managing Director at dRofus Asia Pacific - spoke at each event and opened with a guide to BIM engagement: namely where people involved are ranked on the enthusiasm verses knowledge scale.
The BIM Razzle / Dazzle scale
This was followed by a focus on Common Data Environments (CDEs) which highlighted common misconceptions in the understanding of the term as defined in ISO 19650. Chris noted that effective CDEs were in reality a collection of structured information containers.
A key take-away from Chris’s address was that “Data responsibility is still an emerging concept, and it comes with three pillars. Duty to share, duty to protect, and duty to act.”
Gabor Gulyas of PDC Group focused his presentation at the Brisbane and Melbourne events on utilizing dRofus software on the Queens Wharf Project and framed it around the importance of testing, OpenBIM and accountability on the project.
This was highlighted in his statement that “Out of the 25,000 hours in this project, I’d say about 5,000 hours went to testing everything. Designers had to wait for us to determine what would work before moving forward with their portion.”
As an example of the rigour of this testing stage Gabor confirmed that six BIM collaboration software systems were reviewed and actively assessed before dRofus was selected for the task on Queens Wharf.
He continued by underlining the importance of OpenBIM and the role of dRofus within that by saying “The people who don’t understand the importance of IFC are the ones who don’t have their data requirements and processes defined.”
And in summing up he stressed the importance of clear lines of accountability on such a large project by closing with “You always have to hold people accountable against what they’re delivering.”
In Sydney dRofus was joined by Adam Hetherington from BVN. Adam spoke about key dRofus based workflows at BVN on four key Healthcare projects. He explored the concept of a Common Data environment (CDE) with practical examples.
Adam went on to challenge the convention that a CDE was a specific entity rather than a set of organised data information containing workflows which ultimately must include refurbishment and repair stages and end of life if CDE is to encompass the whole of life of the asset.
Adam explained that successful large projects rely on collaboration and data sharing needs to pass through defined steps of approval, endorsement and verification. He highlighted a current dilemma of “…siloed WIP Data in project stages only becomes visible once approved”.
In Adam’s experience, it is the data management tool – not the modelling tools – that should be at the centre of the project and forming the key component of the CDE.
Adam concluded by reiterating the importance of data at all stages of the project and stated, “if you control the data then you control the project!”
With these seminar events BuildingSmart Australasia provided an important forum for all stakeholders in the ANZ Digital Construction Community to meet, learn and share real time, real world experiences and are a key supporter of the Digital Transformation of the region.