Newforma Director of Customer Satisfaction Dan Conery tells how to serve Chilean sea bass, describes how firms are moving toward integrated project delivery, and explains why a contractor was happy to bid on a high school designed without lockers.
First off, where did you eat?
I had the best pan seared Chilean sea bass at Rabia’s in the North End. It’s all about how you present the fish: It was on a bed of spinach linguini instead of putting the stuff on top, as other places do.
That sounds healthy, for some reason.
Yeah, well, then we went to Mike’s Pastry for a cannoli with milk chocolate M&Ms on the end. I like to follow a balanced diet.
What are people talking about in Boston?
People right now are trying to figure out how to get ROI on BIM. Today, if they’re using BIM, it’s just to design the building, not to build the building. They’re not using BIM to involve builders earlier in the process, or to resolve conflicts.
What difference does it make whether they involve builders early in the process, or later, using requests for information?
Maybe one factor is that an RFI may lead to a redesign, which may mean more money for the builder. I heard of a high school accidentally designed without lockers. The contractor bid the job without lockers, which helped him to be the low bid. Then he made money after the fact by adding lockers into the plan.
It seems that whether the contractor formally asks for input via an RFI or informally gives input to the model, they’re doing the same thing, only at a different phase of the project.
The key is to record the decision-making process whenever it happens. Document decisions. Trust but verify. Architects and engineers tell me their project nirvana is an environment of trust, and good documentation helps verify that trust is not misplaced.
Is the documentation used to point fingers, or what?
Ideally, the reason for documenting is to understand the reasons leading to a decision, as opposed to avoiding or assigning blame. But the current motivation is CYA.
What’s the difference between integrated practice and integrated project delivery?
First, people want to get the pieces of their own companies working together. That’s the integrated practice side of the equation. If you’re a multi-disciplinary firm, how to you get your A side talking to your E side better? After you get that down, you start working with external partners. How do you get your submittal and RFI processes more efficient? That’s the integrated project delivery side.
Is progress toward IPD a software issue, a cultural issue, or both?
BIM and IPD demand fundamental philosophical shifts in how people think about projects. Different legal constructs. Software won’t drive that change. If you can establish the culture, we can help support it. If you are at the point where you want to develop integrated projects, we can help.
Post your own comment
