Sid Bansal is currently a Principal-BIM Lead at weBIM, a BIM Consulting company focused on BIM technology solutions. Sid has more than 17 years of experience spanning across BIM Methodologies and Implementation from design to construction phase in North America. He is proficient in virtual design and construction and is recognized as a skillful BIM strategist in the discipline.
He is currently working towards the license for the membership for Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) and holds the membership of Member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (MRAIC), Council of Architects, India (COA) and certification for Construction Project Management (CPM).
Q. Please tell us about weBIM
A. WeBIM caters to a growing number of clients with a focus on construction companies, architectural firms, builders, general & specialty contractors. As an early adopter of BIM technology, we act as a strategic partner to the client, helping them with a seamless BIM transition within minimum time and budget. We provide plethora of BIM services ranging from advisory to BIM Implementation and Project Management.
Our vision is to be recognized as a leading BIM Consulting provider delivering comprehensible and suggestive design and model production coordination strategy for architectural and construction discipline.
Q. What can you tell us about your professional background, role and expertise?
A. Sid has more than 17 years of experience spanning across BIM Methodologies and Implementation from design to construction phase in North America. He is continuously engaged with projects with building projects involving consulting, VDC, project management, construction documentation and BIM management. As an early BIM adopter, he has developed skills and methodologies to use BIM tools efficiently for Drawing Production.
He has spent years working, mentoring team transitions and assisting some of the renowned Canadian AEC firms, helping them to complete small to large-scale BIM projects. His career path embraces developing methodologies for effortless implementation from design to construction phase and successfully resolving complexity for large scale developments.
Q. What is the Organization’s overall philosophy towards technology/BIM adoption?
A. Our aim is to undertake building projects and utilize BIM to facilitate construction safety, site logistics, project scheduling, material quantifications and sequencing of construction thereby fostering innovation, embracing emerging technologies, and making a difference for our clients, employees, and community.
WeBIM recognizes the importance of innovation and digital transformation. A key element of our company vision is to develop and embrace emerging technologies and processes and to be recognized as the highest value provider in BIM, Construction Document Production and Virtual Construction domain.
Q. What are some of the technology/BIM initiatives being undertaken within your organization?
A. Technology Perspective
Adoption of a building information modelling as platform to shorten project life cycles, savings on paperwork and material costs with increased ROI and a broad range of custom configurations.Integrate Virtual Coordination concept and mixed reality environment with HoloLens for users to pin holograms with physical objects and interact with data using gesture, gaze, and voice commands to achieve cost and schedule benefits.Sophisticated planning including incentives for risk sharing and innovation, performance management and supply-chain practices.Visualize drawings and 3-D Models on site, using mobile platforms. Create, assign and prioritize tasks in real time and track progress and performance online.Monitor project models and collaborate across external teams and work areas using C4R.Maintain standardized communication checklists and update and track checklists across projects to expedite project closure.
BIM Initiatives
Perform project feasibility, construction, and SWOT analysis for a seamless transition from CAD drafting to BIM implementation.Identifying potential dependencies from preliminary designing to constructional phase.An attempt towards forming a community to improve the performance of the construction industry through high-impact research and open knowledge sharing.Facilitating the exchange of knowledge and experience between academia and industry and adoption of simplified decision-making processes and automate repetitive procedures in drawing production.
Q. What is an interesting project/case study/product where technology/BIM is being implemented or has been implemented?
A. weBIM was engaged in the architectural scope for TTC McNicoll Bus Garage project. As a part of the contractual obligation, Stratsman Architects in collaboration with Eastern-Budcon construction intended to use BIM tools for the project. Use of Revit Models was ensured during the construction to deliver as-built drawings along with integration of IBM Maximo for the TTC project.
Business Challenges
Existing Garages were operating at over-capacityNew bus garage required within five years to accommodate increased ridershipSome buses serving east-end routes are stored and maintained in west-end garageExtra deadhead time (travel when buses are not in service) adds unwanted wear and tear on buses, shortening bus life span and increasing operating costsNot feasible to expand existing facilities and insufficient capacity
Solution Provided
The BIM implementation was completed in 2 phases:
Phase1: Building Information Model setup – This phase involved developing and auditing documents and methodology for TTC projects.
a. Revit Modeling Strategy
b. SAI BIM Standards – family content, annotation tags & other required elements
c. Review and interpreted BIM Execution Plan (BXP)
d. Project model setup procedure for efficient output
e. Develop Construction Documentation process using Revit
Phase 2 – Architectural Drawings- weBIM assisted the organisation in Floor Plans, elevation,
sections, wall section and schedules and details.
a. Attend periodic project coordination meetings at SAI/Morrison Hershfield office
b. Develop Architectural Revit models in 2017 format
c. Make changes in model and drawings as instructed by SAI project Manager
d. Sheet setup for CD drawing set as per drawing list provided
e. Model coordination with other disciplines
BIM Use Analysis
The following BIM uses were pursued during the design and construction stages of this
project:
Existing Conditions ModelingDesign Authoring and ReviewDesign AuthoringDesign ReviewsModel CoordinationVisualization/RenderingsConstructability ReviewRecord Modeling
The following BIM uses were investigated during the Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBIE) planning process:
Engineering AnalysisBuilding Systems AnalysisAsset ManagementSpace Management and TrackingMaintenance SchedulingDisaster Planning
Benefits
Less Rework and Duplication – BIM Model allowed each discipline to annotate and connect its intelligence to the project. The database aided such steps as the number and size of windows for quantity takeoffs that were updated automatically as the model evolved. As a result, there was a significant saving in labour and cost.Maintain Control- The connection to the version history of the model’s evolution helped to avoid disastrous disappearances or corruption of filesImproved Collaboration- Sharing and collaborating with BIM models was easier than with paper-based drawing sets using Navisworks. Review and markup steps ensured that everyone had had the input on the evolution of the design and that they were all ready to execute when the concept is finalized.Reduced Fragmentation- By pulling all project’s documents into a single view, BIM enabled teams to collaborate and communicate more effectively.
Q. What are some of the major challenges in the industry you feel technology/BIM will help to overcome?
A. A general concern of projects complexity and positioning the right infrastructure at the right time can be overcome by adoption of BIM.
Other challenges include:
Unable to identify and record the impact of changes on project details such as geometry, specifications, aesthetics, thermal, and acoustic properties.Increased risks due to less informed decisions impacting the estimate of a proposed change in design on project costs and schedule.Mapping the physical environment and diminished interaction with the physical objects and data.Need for the adoption of standardized design and poor productivity record of relying on paper to manage its processes and deliverables such as blueprints, design drawings, procurement and supply-chain orders, equipment logs, daily progress reports, and punch lists.Delayed information sharing and incomprehensible captured and analyzed data due to the use of paper.Mismanaged paper trails spurring disagreements between owners and contractors on such matters as construction progress, change orders, and claims management.Exercising multiple platforms for bidding, tendering, and contract management, thereby increasing the time to generate reports, reduced productivity and document transmittals.Challenging communications for central-planning teams and on-site construction teams to connect and share information about progress in real time.Disunion of work- and change-order management, time and material tracking, dispatching, scheduling, productivity measurement, and incident reporting.
Q. Finally, please share information about your technology/BIM adoption strategy.
A. Our BIM adoption strategy primarily depended on gathering insights and identifying our vision statement, goals, and key processes. Performing feasibility and capability analysis for the BIM Implementation. Documentation of the processes and ensuring that it is adhered to throughout.
Timely communication between the teams performs a foremost role for:
Adoption of the technology requirements to meet the industry needs.Development of robust processes for information management.Training and development required to support teams.
Thank you for taking the time to share with us!
