What is BIM
‘Building Information Modelling’ (BIM) is often interpreted in many different ways. Often it is thought of as being simply a Revit model and referred to as ‘the BIM’. BIM is not a thing, it is a process undertaken by everyone working on a project. It is the combination of the graphical model (the 3D computer model of the building), combined with the managed, retrievable data associated with the project. This data already exists on any project, past or present, but to make BIM work it must be managed.
Blue Thorn has worked for over a decade, managing data associated with the graphical model for building services, and has linked the two to allow data drops and schedule. Your Blue Thorn team will check models against existing schedules to prove their accuracy.
The increasing use of Revit has made the management of data more prescriptive, pushing the management of data along lines set out by AutoDesk (owner of Revit). Whilst their method may not be the particularly data friendly, we have embraced it to achieve optimal performance of data management within the graphical model.
An outcome-driven process
Blue Thorn has pushed the use of managed, formatted data for the last two decades. We look to avoid the collection of vast amounts of data within the graphical model that will never be used, or data that is downloaded periodically to documents that will never be used in a system. This occurs where the process has outweighed practical and technical need of the project.
We understand that the BIM process should be outcome-driven, starting with the buildings facilities management (FM) teams, who will use the data and decide what they need. We will then go back to the source where we can implement the systems that will result in giving the FM team what they need.
Blue Thorn has a history of data control and can speak the same language as the FM teams who will run the buildings on your project.