Institute Addresses Use of BIM on Design-Build Projects

New Chapter of the Design-Build Manual of Practice Includes BIM Checklist and Guide for Design-Build

The Design-Build Institute of America has released the latest addition to the Design-Build Manual of Practice, “BIM and Design-Build Project Delivery.” Developed by DBIA's BIM Committee, a group of practitioners representing the full spectrum of design and construction disciplines, the chapter details how design-build teams can make the greatest use of a technology that is transforming the A/E/C industry.

At its core, BIM is a visualization tool, a detailed database and a communication aid to enhance collaboration of the project team. These attributes have particular significance for design-build projects because they augment and support a project delivery method that is already fundamentally collaborative. Because design-build is an integrated approach that delivers design and construction services under one contract with a single point of responsibility, design-build team members, as well as owners, are able to leverage BIM capabilities more completely and throughout the entire design and construction process.

The chapter illustrates how BIM can be used to add value to a project from very beginning. As early as the pre-proposal phase, owners can take advantage of BIM as a cost-effective means of visualizing what they want to build. There are many dimensions and uses of BIM that can further the design-build process, including integral cost comparison, energy analysis, and even 4D scheduling.

A first step in applying BIM to the virtual design and construction (VDC) of a design-build project is for the team to define the project's BIM objectives and deliverables. In addition to project examples, “Design-Build & BIM” also includes a BIM Checklist and Guide for Design-Build that can be used by both owners and design-build team members as they make virtual design and construction a reality on their next project.

About the Design-Build Manual of Practice
The DBIA MOP contains basic definitions, narrative instructions, procedural guidance, sample formats and best practices recommendations as well as risk management guidelines, licensure data and regulatory and legal information. As the only organization that defines, teaches and promotes best practices in design-build, DBIA is committed to keeping the Manual of Practice (MOP) a relevant and up-to-date handbook of design-build project delivery. In keeping with the Institute's goal of furthering widespread implementation of best practices, DBIA provides the MOP free of charge to members.

About DBIA www.dbia.org
Since 1993, the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) has provided a forum for all participants in the integrated design-build process — owners and practitioners alike. Based in Washington, D.C., DBIA is the industry's preeminent resource for leadership, education, objective expertise and best practices for the successful design-build delivery of capital projects.