In recent years, the construction and building materials industries have greatly evolved. Construction trends are consistently adapting to new technologies to develop smarter structures. Drones can help access remote locations to collect data, 3D mapping can help surveyors depict areas, and as discussed in previous blog posts, Building Information Modeling (BIM) can increase productivity throughout the design and building stages of a project.
Using a BIM process, construction operations can often run much smoother than they ever could in the past. BIM processes increase effectiveness and productivity in that BIM tools are often collaborative in nature. BIM Level of Design (LOD) models are often used by RFPs and government agencies before starting construction in order to gauge the cost of a project, thus usually reducing the overall cost of construction. This is done through Trade Service (TraSer) databases which contain large lists of products and their prices that help contractors estimate the total cost of plumbing, piping, HVAC systems, and other related items.
In addition to lowering construction costs, BIM processes can also shorten construction time as well as promote a safer building design. LOD modeling gives us a far more detailed look into a construction project than any blueprints in the past could have ever done in the past.