Editorial

Preparing a Profession for BIM the challenges to leverage the benefits. ®

E
Liability issues are commonly cited
A Sense of Urgency when structural drawings are digitally
By Will Ikerd, P.E., C.W.I passed to subcontractors to produce

R
shop drawings (taking the models
A “sense of urgency” is what compels most people to change, and “downstream”). Opponents of down-
so it is with the majority of structural engineering firms confronting stream model usage point out that it

U
Building Information Modeling (BIM). In a recent national survey saves costs for the subcontractors at the expense of the engineer. The
of structural engineers and BIM, over two-thirds responded that hthey t large learning curve with BIM that is common with most technology
igmeet changes could make the first group of BIM projects unprofitable. The

T
would have to use BIM within the next 24 months or sooner p y r
to
their clients’ needs. The urgency is emphasized further Coconsidering survey indicates that an average of 160 to 240 hours of billable time per
almost half responded that they currently need to be using BIM. person in the first year is lost in training staff to the proficiency level

C
The survey was conducted earlier this year by the SEI-CASE joint required to work on active projects. Also, BIM can give a false sense of
committee on BIM, in cooperation with the Structural Engineers accuracy when items are easily modeled incorrectly with great preci-

e
U
Association of Texas (SEAoT) that originally authored the survey. sion and high levels of detail. Additionally, opponents of BIM ques-
This survey is among the first to focus on structural engineering by tion how fast the technology will actually advance, disputing the 2000

i n
non-biased organizations dedicated to the profession, and is repre- to 2015 timeframe due to the learning curve, the investment in time,

R
sentative of the steps which these organizations are cost, computer hardware, training, and possibly addi-

z
taking to help prepare the profession for the rapid “...a framework for combining tional personnel. I am not sure that this last view fully

T
much of the structural appreciates the forces on our profession to move to

a
adoption of BIM.
The process of transitioning to BIM is typical of engineering information for BIM, from software companies currently pushing and

g
most new technology adoption life cycles in the cur- all aspects of a project in one the developing pull of owners, architects, contractors,

S
rent age, as described in Geoffrey A. Moore’s book digital relational database.” subcontractors, building officials, and governments.
Inside the Tornado. Moore’s 1995 business market-
a Another unintended consequence of BIM is that for
ing book is a current view of a business model that originally grew the first time we see a framework for combining much of the structural

m
out of research from the late 1950s. The author provides insight into engineering information for all aspects of a project in one digital rela-
the way business markets respond to change with rapidly developing tional database. Thomas Friedman pointed out in his 1999 bestselling
technology. The survey, coupled with the history of similar technology book The Lexus and the Olive Tree that professions that organized their
changes in other industries, convinces me that the structural engi- data in digital relational databases will very soon after begin outsourc-
neering transition to BIM will be viewed as a historic period that pri- ing notable portions of their work. This is especially the case in pro-
marily took place between 2000 and 2015. While earlier work was fessions with a shortage of local staff. Friedman documents examples
being done in BIM by others, BIM did not have a noted presence from other professions which could be easily paralleled in certain seg-
in the design of buildings and bridges before this period. Pertinent ments of the structural engineering profession. A noteworthy example
questions arise: What is the significance and relevance of this change of globalization that Friedman provides are of digital MRI’s of the
to practicing structural engineers? What might the structural engineer- human brain sent to medical doctors overseas for interpretations and
ing office look like in 2015? What would be the challenges as well as the mapping, and then returned to the US in less than 24 hours.
opportunities firms will face? The SEI-CASE joint committee on BIM strives to answer these
Answers to these questions are questions, along with many others that have surfaced in the structural
part of the mission of the SEI- engineering survey on BIM and that we have received from other
CASE joint committee on BIM. structural engineers. The committee has targeted subcommittees that
Many are already aware of are actively working to prepare the profession for the challenges and
the advantages of BIM. These opportunities which BIM brings us. Our subcommittees include the
advantages are adequately doc- following: BIM Implementation, Interoperability of BIM Software,
umented by software com- BIM Development Software and Training, Legal and Contractual,
panies and include better Production Process, National BIM Standard liaison, AGC BIM Forum
coordination, improved visu- liaison, AISC IT Committee liaison, and Academic subcommittee.
alization, and clash detection One of the first publications of the committee will be a report on BIM
along with many others. The and a review of the survey of BIM in Structural Engineering.▪
SEI-CASE committee is cer-
tainly aware of these, as well Will F. Ikerd II, P.E., is founder and Director of the Department of
as the challenges of BIM. The Advanced Building Design (ABD) at CDC-INTERTECH in Dallas,
change to BIM provides both Texas. He co-chairs the SEI-CASE Joint Committee on BIM and
opportunities and obstacles, the AGC BIM Forum’s Designers Subforum. He may be reached at
and engineers must manage Will@Ikerd.com.

STRUCTURE magazine 7 September 2008