Construction projects can be daunting, especially when you consider the millions of parts and pieces are to be integrated into the final solution. Throughout history the planning process started with a simple line drawing to represent the design intent. This design had to be sufficiently accurate that the builder might measure, quantify and locate the proper final location for the elements required to build the building. This simple pencil and paper exercise was dramatically accelerated with the advent of Computer Aided Design (CAD), however functionally it was the same process that had been relied upon for centuries. The only material difference was the designer’s intent could be more quickly modified and delivered, while the quality of the decisions changed very little. The embedded content of the lines put down on paper was functionally little more than what was done with the pen or pencil. This has changed.

No more is the design and construction team resigned to a line which is reflected only by it origin, end, color and location. No more must the collection of lines have to delineate an object with no ability to embed valuable information. With object based design, our team is now able to digitally design and build a project from the same building blocks from the real world. It is now just done in a virtual world prior to the actual construction. The ability to measure, quantify and simulate is at our finger tips. R.R. Simmons embraced the world of Building Information Modeling more than six years ago. As an early adopted we saw the powerful advantages it provided to both our design and construction process and to our clients. Rather than simple lines on a sheet of paper, R.R. Simmons glides through virtual models of your actual project. We extract quantities of the key materials as easily as we draw the elements which they represent. This approach provides the design and construction team with the dynamic feedback necessary to insure your project objectives track the financial expectations. The often weeks of design, then weeks of estimating are short cycled so that designs criteria matches your budget not exceed it. Our team is able to make the adjustments in sync with the creation of the construction documents. This saves time, money and frustration for the entire team.

Re-work is one of the most costly elements of the construction process. It is not uncommon to see a 15% loss in real work due to poorly coordinated design documents and misdirected efforts in the field. Inherent conflicts between building elements and systems are often a significant challenge under the normal course of action. However under the R.R. Simmons approach and use of BIM, much of the clash and conflict is eliminated in the virtual world well before it reaches the field. Clearly this is the direction any sound business would take if given the choice. Rather than pages upon pages of plans, our model is a single virtual representation of the actual work. If a window or a door in the model is moved, it is corrected globally in the plans. Under a more traditional approach, it is not uncommon for this modification to be lost through the variety of pages that should be updated or modified to reflect the change.

As humans we live, work and play in a 3D world, it stands to reason that our projects should reflect the environment for which they are intended. R.R. Simmons models your project in the surrounds for which it will reside. This allows us to create photo-realistic images for our clients so they will better understand the interplay between their project and its neighbors. As this approach continues to mature, even greater level of detail will be available to the project team. More importantly, this heightened level of detail will be available at the most schematic level of the planning process. From this our Design/Build team is able to provide our clients with even greater accuracy in budgeting, scheduling and how the building will function. Where appropriate our content rich model can be passed along to both client and vendor so that they may share the virtual models informational value.

As you consider your next building project think about the clear advantage offered by R.R. Simmons and our ability to harness the Building Information Model protocol. Smarter decisions, delivered earlier stabilize budgets, improve overall project satisfaction and minimize uncertainty. This is the value proposition offered by R.R. Simmons and their Building Information Modeling.