Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion Project
Sanjay Prasad - CAD Development Manager

The latest buzz word in the Construction Industry is BIM - Building Information Modeling. Basically, the idea is that ALL information about the “building” should be digitally stored in ONE computer model which can be accessed and/or updated by the various disciplines (Arch, Eng, Fabricator, Detailer, Owner etc).

Do a search on the internet and you will find many discussions about this topic from various groups in the construction industry. However, most of these discussions are “theoretical”. There are some examples where this has been applied to real projects, but in the end, these were not true BIM projects since many different 3D models were used and information from one model was not always “truly” passed to the next model.

So, this brings up the question, “Does BIM really apply in the real world TODAY?” Consider the following.

In this article, we explore how the BIM process is working today in one of our major projects, Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion Project (VCCEP).

Initially, the Engineer (Glotman Simpson) built a model using Tekla Structures and other Analysis software. The model had “true” size/locations of members, not just “centerlines”. Once the model was “comfortably” complete, a copy was issued to Dowco to adjust “splice” locations and to create the ABMs.

Soon, we had two “Master” models. We started doing our “prep” work in our model and the Engineer continued finalizing their model. When necessary, the Engineer issued partial updated models to accommodate design changes. These changes for “phase” copied into our live model.

We set up custom dialog boxes (UDA pages) within Tekla Structures to facilitate transfer of information. The Engineer in coordination with the Architect would select members in their model that were “released for detailing”, apply a transmittal number and a date.

A customized report would then be generated and emailed to Dowco. We imported those “UDA attributes” into our live model. We could then quickly filter out which members were ready for connecting/detailing and proceed accordingly. This was a repetitive process until the entire building was “released for connecting and detailing” – we now had the “Master” model.

The connection design is the responsibility of the fabricator (Canron). As more areas were released for detailing, a copy of this model was issued to the fabricator to enter “connection” information into the model for each member.

Once this information was filled into the selected members in the model, another custom report was generated and emailed to Dowco along with related connection sketches. These attributes were imported back into the Master model and connections were applied as per the information.

Every week, a copy of the model is issued for Approval (model only, no “shop drawings”). The Engineer, Architect, Fabricator and General Contractor all receive these models. They do their own review of the model for the areas being released. This is easily filtered out by using UDA’s. Below shows the information that Dowco would fill on the member when sending for approval. The model can quickly be filtered to show “Trans #”.

Each group adds comments as necessary and customized reports are sent back to Dowco for importing into the Master model. Below is a sample of what the engineer could add to the model.

The Architect would also add comments. All this “reviewing” can happening simultaneously as each group sends a customized report that only contains the information they have added.

Once these reports are imported back into the Master model, we can then generate the shop drawings for the items that have been "approved". Other items would be revised and resubmitted as necessary until they were approved.

The Shop Drawings are issued directly to the Fabricator for fabrication. No further “approval” is necessary. However, the Fabricator does review the drawings before fabrication.

Our Master model also contains items for other trades so we can do “proper” interference (“clash”) checks. We have joists, concrete, soffits, pipes, escalators etc. The joists are modeled true so we can really see if pipes will make it “thru” the joists or not.

All parties can “see” the model accurately and quickly resolve any problems before they appear on site.

Connection designers are able to design more accurate connections for “messy” locations. This results in significantly less RFI’s being generated.

Model pieces are “approved” before 2D drawings are produced (why waste time creating/editing complex drawings only to find out later that some connections are not correct).

Ultimately time and money is saved on the project. Keep in mind that all the parties had various versions of the Tekla Structure software (Full, Project Manager, Viewer etc). Without this, the BIM process for this project would not be possible.