Amtech Expands BIM Data Services To Include Intelligent Data Content for Revit MEP 2013

Amtech, the market-leading software developer for the UK Building Services Industry, is expanding its product offerings to include intelligent data content for Autodesk® Revit® MEP via Building Data™ SysQue™ (“SysQue”), pursuant to a recently announced strategic product and technology partnership between Amtech and Building Data, LLC.

SysQue managed data content, powered by the Building Data database, is a cloud-based software as a service that enables designers, engineers and contractors to design in Revit MEP using real-world, manufacturing-specific content that’s ready for fabrication and meets the detailing, fabrication, manufacturing, and installation requirements of MEP contractors.

Amtech’s new partnership with Building Data will extend Amtech’s lead in MEP Design, Estimating and Project Management software and its Information Services (Luckins) to include Building Information Modeling (BIM) with Revit MEP content — available directly through LuckinsLive, the online portal for price and labour data used by the majority of UK contractors’ estimating and purchasing systems. Using SysQue, Revit MEP 2013 is enhanced to model systems with materials and sizes based on actual manufacturer products by name and part number.

SysQue web services offered by Amtech will extend the Revit MEP BIM data to include Luckins material cost, labor values, submittal documents and procurement part numbers, and also includes Excel reporting – making the model data-rich and ready for a multitude of additional functions – including cost analysis, prefabrication, manufacturing and installation.

“Providing this additional level of real-world, manufacturer BIM data for creating detailed, constructible models directly in Revit furthers Amtech’s unique advantage of fostering product integration for improved customer productivity and efficiency,” commented Amtech’s CEO, Mark Tindall. “Going forward, our customers will be able to compile detailed Estimates or generate Bills of Material directly from their Revit MEP models – while still using the Luckins data services they’ve depended on for years.”

For more information visit the Amtech website or call 0800 028 28 28.

Be prepared for BIM

Building Information Modelling is about much more than 3D design; it has the potential to impact on the work of electrical designers, specifiers and installers throughout the building’s life cycle. Ian Elmer, Director of Customer Services at Amtech explains

When the Government’s Construction Strategy was published last year it gave a real impetus, plus a credibility boost, to the wider use of Building Information Modelling (BIM). This was further reinforced when, in February of this year, the Ministry of Justice announced its intention to trial four BIM projects. The first of these is the 180 cell extension at Cookham Prison, which went out to tender at the end of February, and will be followed by work at two other prisons and a law court.

What is clear from these developments is that BIM is no longer an aspiration of the industry’s thought leaders. It is a viable method of design, procurement, project and building management that will be a key element in cutting the cost of construction.

To that end there are a couple of misconceptions that need to be laid to rest. Firstly, BIM will not be the preserve of architects and main contractors; it will affect the entire construction supply chain. Secondly, and crucially, building owners/operators and their specialist consultants and contractors will continue to add information to the BIM through the life of the building.

Consequently, BIM will impact the work of electrical designers, specifiers and installers not just during the design and construction phase but also through everyday inspection & testing and maintenance – and in any additional refurbishment/replacement works to the building. It also has the potential to influence the ways that consultants and contractors work together in a spirit of collaboration.

To that end it is important to have a clear picture of where BIM is at the moment, where it will end up and why it makes sense to start preparing a BIM strategy now.

Understanding BIM

The main principle to understand is that BIM is not a product. It is a process that produces a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility creating a shared knowledge resource for information.

Furthermore, BIM goes beyond being simply a 3D alternative to traditional 2D CAD drawings. Such 3D models have been around for many years but remain static after the design phase. What makes BIM different is that the model continues to evolve through the construction of the building, so that any design changes are updated in the model. Post-handover, the model passes to the building owner and is updated every time a change is made, or maintenance is carried out, through the life of the building.

Nor is BIM confined to 3D. Although the current Government policy dictates that public sector projects must use BIM Level 2 (equivalent to collaborative 3D) by 2016, the future will see modelling of time (4D) and costs (5D). There are even predictions of so-called ‘xD’, bringing in energy modelling and sustainable data as well as thermal and acoustic information.

Each BIM will be made up of ‘intelligent’ elements that contain information about themselves and how they may interact with other elements. These elements will use open vendor-neutral objects that enable data models from different sources to share information (interoperability). Such elements could include circuit protection devices, cable and trays, switches and sensors as well as all of the other services and construction elements that make up a building.

Crucially, the Government also sees BIM as a key element in promoting project integration, which is seen as the key to reducing the costs of construction by as much as 20%. Pilot projects for project integration were announced by the Cabinet Office in February and the models being tested place great emphasis on members of the team working collaboratively, with BIM flagged up as a key tool for facilitating this collaboration.

Indeed, the Specialist Engineering Alliance believes that such collaborative working will give building services designers and contractors, as well as other specialists, a higher status within the project team.

Putting a spark into BIM

Up to now, in projects that have already been completed using BIM, the electrical design element has tended to be quite limited. Experience in countries where BIM has been more widely used, such as the USA, shows that electrical input has tended to be confined to power summary calculations and terminal level spatial drawings from the sub-distribution switchboard to the socket or the lights. So in effect, the electrical design has been done separately from the BIM.

However, as BIM becomes more commonplace more of its benefits can be applied to all aspects of the electrical services. For example, the information embedded in the BIM model will save designers a lot of ‘leg work’ in checking product specifications such as the footprint and door swing of a switch cabinet. The cabinet will ‘know’ its own footprint and door swing and once it’s within the BIM any potential conflict with other items in space will be flagged up. Clearly this is far more efficient than finding out the same space in a plant room has been allocated for a cabinet and a chilled water pump.

Similarly, the co-ordination between HVAC and electrical services will be greatly improved so that potential clashes are eliminated during the design stage rather than onsite.

Beyond the initial design, contractors will need to be able to access the information they need from the BIM to produce estimates. Once the estimates have been accepted, the pricing information from the various trades will be fed back into the BIM to reflect costings (5D). Contractors will also want to use this cost information for job costing and contract management.

Access to product information will be important in the day-to-day management of the building too. For example, if there is an electrical fault that requires a product to be replaced, information on that product will be available within the BIM so the correct replacement is easily sourced. In some cases it may be necessary to find additional information to feed into the model so it will be useful to have easy access to this.

And, of course, the same principles will apply to refurbishments or extensions to the building. New electrical services may need to be integrated with existing services within the BIM and any components may need to be compatible with those already in use. There may even be a desire to use the same products, where appropriate, to simplify stock control of critical spares.

Regular maintenance will also be facilitated by BIM. For instance, the BIM could house inspection and testing data for both electrical and gas services that can easily be updated in the BIM. The same is true for preventative and reactive maintenance visits – every asset in the BIM can to be updated each time something changes.

Planning for the future

This overview of how BIM will operate through the life cycle of the building makes it clear that the electrical industry cannot afford to be complacent and assume that BIM technology will not reach this far down the supply chain. It is already on its way and, while it may be a few years before working with BIM becomes an everyday occurrence, any decisions made now will influence how companies can make best use of it.

In particular, decisions made regarding investment in software need to reflect the fact that, in the future, electrical specifiers and installers will need to get involved in BIM for new projects, refurbishments and maintenance/certification.

Far-sighted software developers are aware of this and are already developing integrated solutions encompassing design, certification, estimating, job costing and accounting and service & maintenance. These systems will be able to share information with each other as well as other systems. Crucially, such integrated software systems will be able to access a central database of product and pricing information that will facilitate interaction with BIMs through their life.

If Lord Baden Powell had been aware of BIM he would most certainly have advised the electrical sector to ‘be prepared’.

For more information on BIM, please visit the Amtech website.

Article originally appeared in Electrical Review Magazine, March 2012 issue.