Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to be inundated with information highlighting the importance of collaboration and communication in design and construction projects. Naturally, most teams, if not all, have the goal of being proficient in these areas given that it’s key to successful outcomes and maintaining profit margin. However, it is also common for architecture and engineering, as well as general contracting firms, to struggle with precise and timely communication of changes.

An uncommunicated change in the design phase can cause several weeks’ delay resulting in thousands of dollars wasted. The further along the change goes unrecognized the greater the impact with potential outcome leading to stop construction for redesign, and on average of 35% of all construction projects will have a major change, according to Project Analysis Group. To help eliminate these challenges, it is recommended to implement change management. Effective change management enables better coordination leading to less risk in design, and improved quality in construction.

Change management with the Change Analysis tool

The Design Collaboration module in Autodesk BIM Collaborate offers the Change Analysis tool, which enables users to understand the design changes incurred on their projects. Teams can establish watch groups to closely monitor changes, configurable based on user criteria.

For example, a user can select watch groups for teams, models, or objects. Once a watch group is configured, the Change Analysis tool will share notifications automatically to the group about any changes impacting assets relevant to the group. Effectively making it easier to keep up with designs in continually evolving projects.

Change Analysis tool and watch groups in action

So, how does this show up in the real world? Here are a couple of cases studies where the Change Analysis tool and watch groups could have helped prevent negative outcomes.

Scenario #1: Design Phase

Consider an architect working on the design of the façade in a new building. The structural engineer on the same project decided to change the floor slabs, reducing them from 20 to 10cm from the façade edge because less space was needed for rebar.

This change looked pretty similar in the plan, but now the designed facade is 15cm distance from the slab causing a 5cm gap. The design team is using Design Collaboration to share information, but because there was no change management or watch group established, the change was missed when sharing the models with the greater team.

Eventually, when plans went to the main contractor, they realize the problem between the slab and the façade, but it’s too late. As a result, the design had to be updated leading to a 2-week delay.

If change management was implemented in this scenario, when the structural engineer’s new BIM Model was uploaded in Design Collaboration with the new slabs (and new dimensions), the architect would have automatically received a notification that something has changed, since the architect created a slab watch group. This change notification would have prompted the architect to go back to the design, and adapt the façade line to meet the new slabs design. Now, when the information is sent to the main contractor, the design is of much greater value because it’s inclusive of changes—which, in turn, reduces or eliminates delays.

Scenario #2: Preconstruction

Similar to the design phase, change management is equally important to the preconstruction phase. Consider a client went for a site walk, and requested a change to add a door to the facilities room. The architect made the change, and communicated it to the blockwork subcontractor to add the door on site. The architect also updated the drawings, but did not communicate the change to the broader team.

As a result, during model coordination the blockwork in the facilities room was set up as “frozen design”, and the services team were given the green light to start the manufacturing drawings. Because the architect did not communicate the change to the broader team there was no clash, and coordination ultimately missed this change.

This miss required a change order to be made for the design to be redone. New materials had to be ordered to site, and the removal and reinstallation had to be done delaying the project; costing time and money.

How could this negative outcome have been avoided?

In this scenario, it would have been recommended for the services team to create a watch group with the blockwork; let’s say they named the group “Blockwork Frozen”.

While the services team were working in the design, a notification would have appeared in Design Collaboration of a new model from blockwork with a change in the specific area that was “frozen”. The services team could have then requested more information from the blockwork subcontractor and client before going into manufacturing and installation. This approach would have resulted in no delay or unforeseen costs.

New features for change management

As depicted in the earlier case studies, it is imperative to establish a strategy for change management. The Change Dashboard in the Change Analysis tool provides users with a single view pane where they can see the changes as well as dive into details about those changes—giving immediately useful insight and flexibility in design. To further improve the Change Analysis tool, Autodesk just released a few new features:

Comparison of non-consecutive versions allows users to compare any two design versions of a project against one another. This benefit being the ability to track scope change, understand decisions made, and reference outdated designs. This gives the team more power to easily track how a project changes over time.

New viewer experience permits users more control on the comparison workflows and transparency in the selections of models for the viewer. It also offers flexibility to see changes by discipline with the object tree and flexibility to see changes with multiple attributes selected.

Filter improvements have been made to enable users to more easily see different changes by project attributes as well as provide a better experience overall when filtering. Users can now filter by discipline, modification type, and category. Users can also take advantage of the search function that permits filtering based on names of specific objects.

With the Change Analysis tool and these new features, users can now take even more control of the outcome of their projects, de-risk deadlines, and reduce waste. Considering from 2012 to 2015, just 25% of projects came within 10% of their original deadlines, having a tool that helps to mitigate unforeseen delays is critical.

During design and construction of buildings, making changes is an inevitable part of the process. The Change Analysis tool in Autodesk BIM Collaborate has been defined and designed to help users make sense and stay on top of all changes. It makes it easy to find and identify changes with automatic notifications, and the user interface improvements make it more intuitive for users to compare versions. Reach out today for a demo.

The post Manage Changes, Don’t Let Them Manage You appeared first on Digital Builder.

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Diane Hopper

www.arizonasolarsociety.com

Cost management is key to ensuring construction projects stay on budget and on schedule. Yet many projects, as many as 33% come in over budget, as reported in the Construction Cost Management Report by Dodge Data & Analytics (Dodge). Surveyed contractors note that even among their best-performing projects, one out of five does not meet the budget requirements. 

Efficiently tracking construction costs and monitoring risks make a big difference in maintaining budgets. Tracking costs and monitoring risks, however, requires a strong cost management discipline. Insights into current cost management practices can help fine-tune practices to build discipline. In this article, we’ll review highlights from the report and key takeaways to drive your cost management discipline. 

Key takeaways

• Owners and general contractors alike prefer a single primary tool for cost management, complimented by a limited number of third-party tools.
• Forecasting costs with real-time field data is the top future need for cost management.
• Alignment between owners and general contractors is critical to building an integrated cost management discipline, and revealed as an opportunity for both project teams and solution providers.
• Project-focused staff shows higher capability of being involved in cost management on a more holistic level. One reason is due to the ease in which technology allows this to happen.

Owners and contractors prefer a single cost management tool, yet most use more than one

Overall, owners, general contractors, and specialty contractors use more than one tool for cost management. Forty-four percent leverage more than one tool but lean on one as their primary. Thirty-three percent use two to five tools with none as their primary. Only 21% use one tool alone, while 5% use more than five tools with none as their primary. 

For respondents in project-related roles, there is a strong preference for using a primary technology tool for cost-management-related challenges such as establishing a system of cost accounts, status reporting during a project, and identifying areas of the project that require more attention in real-time. 

For best results from a primary cost management tool, prioritize ease of access and use.

We can see a consistent preference for having a primary cost management tool, yet just over a fourth of owners and contractors actually use one tool alone. The leading approach to construction cost management relies on a primary tool with supporting tools. For that reason, it’s important to choose a primary tool that allows you to connect your project data to cost activities and schedules. Integrations factor in here too to connect the field and office teams while avoiding data silos. 

For best results from a primary cost management tool, prioritize ease of access and use. These solutions should connect to schedule and cost activities over the lifecycle of the project. 

The Dodge report also indicates a preference for third-party tools among respondents. About 47% use third-party tools, with around 60% leaning on desktop applications and 40% using cloud-accessible ones. Thirty-two percent of owners and contractors use internally developed tools, and 16% use spreadsheets. 

We’ll likely see the number of people using internally developed tools and spreadsheets decrease in the future due to the customization capabilities of third-party tools and the maintenance costs of homegrown solutions. Organizations can generate better cost-related outcomes for all involved partners by focusing on using fewer, more comprehensive tools that engage all stakeholders in a shared approach to cost management. 

Success criteria for cost management solutions: what owners and general contractors expect

When measuring cost management success, respondents indicated that they use the following three metrics most frequently:

1. Turnaround time on processing change orders/variations
2. Achieving expected profit margin
3. Final cost compared to budgeted cost

Owners and contractors are split evenly on the subject of spending levels on cost management. Thirty-nine percent believe they are spending more than they should have to, 32% think they are spending the right amount, and 29% say they’re spending less than they should. In the subgroups, variation exists with owners more likely to believe they’re spending too much, especially those in public entities (55%). Contractors, on the other hand, especially those in trades, are the least likely to believe they are overspending (31%). 

There is also a significant amount of variation between how owners and general contractors measure the success of cost management solutions. Owners cite the following metrics most frequently:

• Final cost compared to budgeted cost (30%)
• Generating useful data to benchmark for future projects (26%)

In comparison, contractors pinpoint minimal unplanned changes as their top success criteria. These preferences align with the responsibilities of each role but also indicate a lack of synergy on what successful cost management means. 

Forecasting costs with real-time field data in top future need for cost management

Respondents selected the most critical future need from 14 cost management practices. Thirty percent selected forecasting critical costs with real-time field data as the most important to improve over the next three to five years. This practice ranked number one across all four regions studied, with the United Kingdom selecting it most frequently (32%) and Canada choosing it least frequently (26%). 

Other top future needs were dynamically tracking each dollar in budgets (29% overall) and managing collaborative workflows (26% overall). As with other areas surveyed, we can see variance between the subgroups. Owners are most interested in dynamically tracking budgets and using field data for forecasting. These are two cost management practices that are also beneficial to contractors. 

Three times as many contractors (compared to owners) want to improve their future estimates. Twice as many want to benchmark cost performance. Again, these two practices are beneficial to owners yet appear to be more pressing needs for contractors. 

Project teams could be more involved in cost management

One area of opportunity for construction firms is the greater involvement of project teams in cost management. The report emphasizes the ability of these teams to participate in an integrated approach to cost management. Dodge’s findings “indicate that project-focused staff are ready and able to participate in a more holistic and integrated approach instead of the traditional office-based function with just discrete, periodic inputs from the field.” This was made evident by project-based staff reporting:

• Higher levels of cost management capabilities
• Lower levels of difficulty with their most challenging cost management activities
• Greater satisfaction using technology to address them

These responses indicate a significant opportunity to improve cost management practices by involving capable, skilled staff in the process. Doing so will help to integrate the practice into a firm-wide discipline. 

Owners and contractors have opportunity to align more

In the Dodge report, there are notable differences in priorities for owners and general contractors. For example, contractors note improving cash flow as a top need. Yet owners are more focused on improving their ability to forecast critical costs with real-time data from the field. Both of these areas require involvement from owners and general contractors. For example, cost flow contributes to the owner’s overall project health, and forecasting critical costs requires contractor participation. 

Variations like the one mentioned above represent a need for greater owner and general contractor alignment. Getting on the same page about cost management success, tools, and priorities will power leaner construction and smoother workflows throughout all phases of a project. 

From cost management insight to action 

To move cost management forward, owners, contractors, and project staff need a comprehensive tool they can rely on to centralize and improve the visibility of related cost activities and risks. This tool should be equipped with capabilities to support the future top need of forecasting costs in the field with real-time data.

We understand how important an integrated, collaborative cost management discipline is to the health and success of your projects. If you’d like to see Autodesk Construction Cloud’s cost management offering, please contact us for a demo. We’d love to show you around.

The post Key Takeaways from Construction Cost Management Report by Dodge appeared first on Digital Builder.

Diane Hopper

www.arizonasolarsociety.com

The construction industry isn’t short on data. In fact, every project creates massive amounts of construction data from design and planning to turnover and beyond. Yet one of the most significant challenges faced by stakeholders is accessibility to the most important data right when it’s needed. This step is critical to uncovering insights and powering better decision-making. 

So how do we make critical project data accessible through the entire AEC lifecycle to the teams and individuals who need it most? Lauren Collier, Business Leader Project Technology/VDC at SSOE Group, and Sunny Manku, Technical Solutions Executive at Autodesk explore this very question in the Autodesk University 2021 session, Data in the AEC Lifecycle: Using Data to Better Connect AECO Stakeholders.

We’ve gathered highlights from their session, including why a data initiative—and subsequently a unified platform—is paramount, the benefits of gathering data throughout the project lifecycle, how to best prepare your firm to succeed at data analysis, and more. Let’s explore their recommendations for making the most of data through the entire AEC lifecycle. 

1. Understand the need for a unified platform

To make data accessible and meaningful to decision-makers, you first must understand the value of capturing project data in a unified platform. 

For starters, what is a “unified platform”? A unified platform connects people, data, and workflows together throughout each stage of the project lifecycle for comprehensive construction project management. 

The next question: What makes a unified platform so powerful? It’s the technology that connects with and moves your strategy forward. As Lauren explains, “ Technology shouldn’t just be the driving force to your strategy. Technology should be that accelerator. It’s that integrator. It’s the glue that allows you to really get your strategic initiatives done.”

“Technology shouldn’t just be the driving force to your strategy. Technology should be that accelerator.”

Lauren Collier, Business Leader Project Technology/VDC, SSOE Group

A unified platform also provides a single source of truth to rely on. Often referred to as a common data environment (CDE), this isn’t merely a list of APIs connected to a SaaS solution. Instead, it’s a type of construction management software that provides access to data and tools that designers, engineers, and builders need. Furthermore, a unified platform enables third parties and customers to create and share their own purpose-built solutions whenever, wherever, and however they need. 

When data lives in one place, you have the ability to break it down across design, planning, building, and operating. As Sunny puts it, this opens up “an opportunity for all stakeholders, regardless of what they’re doing in the project, to be able to collaborate effectively in one place.” Stakeholders not only have the confidence that data is living in one place, but they can also pay attention to version controls and review past decisions made on the project in earlier stages. 

A unified platform should play an active role in coordinating how products work together, rather than just allowing you to exchange data with other applications. The data exchanged must flow seamlessly and bidirectionally across all capabilities within the platform. By doing so, users receive a productive, intuitive experience that drives much more effective workflows. 

2. Connect costs and schedules to project data

Cost certainty is an important part of setting expectations and delivering a great project outcome. By picking the right unified platform, you’ll find budgets are easier to manage because you’re more effectively connecting cost activities to schedule with real-time project data. When you stay on schedule and within budget, it’s no surprise that customers are happier and open to working together on more projects.

In addition, maintaining budgets and schedules is critical to maximizing profit margins. However, the construction industry is no stranger to delays, rework, and blown budgets. A recent Dodge Data & Analytics research report revealed that 66% of general contractors are carrying added costs from overtime shifts on at least three-quarters of their projects due to schedule slippage, with 50% of them needing to extend the project end date. Bad construction data is at least partly to blame for these statistics and adds up to $1.85 trillion in cost impacts to the industry globally. 

Construction data and technology both play major roles in maintaining budgets, schedules, and customer satisfaction.

Construction firms need a solid data strategy to overcome the impacts of bad data. In the Harnessing the Data Advantage in Construction report from Autodesk and FMI, proper data management is identified as being a significant competitive advantage in today’s fast-paced market. You can download the report for free to discover actionable steps for implementing a data strategy and access the useful checklist with the most most important steps.

Construction data and technology both play major roles in maintaining budgets, schedules, and customer satisfaction. Lauren elaborates on how data management fits into SSOE’s efforts, “We are more successful in our design effort and our value proposition to the client if we can coordinate that design, construction, and execution with no surprises. That’s really why [our] data initiative became very important to us.” This level of accessibility and coordination must be available at all phases of the construction lifecycle: designing, planning, building, and operating. 

To help avoid unwelcome surprises, the Schedule tool in Autodesk Build is worth checking out. This tool allows teams to collaborate, connect, and integrate with the most up-to-date schedule. Everyone has access to real-time information around the master schedule data in the field to work together seamlessly and efficiently. All of which helps prevent cost overruns due to schedule disruptions.

3. Unlock the potential for data analysis

Of course, one of the main benefits of a good data management strategy is a more confident analysis of the numbers, which leads to smarter decisions. SSOE uses Autodesk Construction Cloud products to provide greater context for all stakeholders and increase collaboration between design and construction. Hence, why Lauren is presenting on this popular topic.

Her team worked to better understand the potential for analysis through data architecture mapping. This exercise made the team realize they wanted to measure key performance indicators by connecting and consuming data. To do so, they decided to bring their data into a single source of truth through investment in Autodesk’s unified platform. This initiative also reflects SSOE’s commitment to respect in the workplace by fostering a culture of personal accountability. 

For SSOE, increasing respect and accountability is about reducing waste and increasing collaboration. “It allows for the whole team to kind of come together. It’s not these wasteful silos [sic] anymore,” explains Lauren, “It really is, ‘this is the place I go. This is the place I can consume information. This is the place I communicate. And this is the place that I report out.’”

4. Identify infrastructure and talent needs for full-lifecycle data management

Ultimately, making construction data accessible to AECO stakeholders really comes down to simplification. Firms often have multiple, complex systems producing and storing data. These systems may run effectively in the background but impede collaboration and analysis through their lack of connectivity, and thus a lack of practical usability. To better prepare your infrastructure for lifecycle data analysis success, Lauren recommends being selective about the tools and integrations you select to keep your tech stack simple and efficient.

From there, bring your internal and client resources into the picture. SSOE has leveraged its internal technology staff as well as clients in the digitization process. “Our clients have been very informative in this digitization process because there’s data they want to consume downstream. The easier that we can make that data easily accessible to them, we become a more valued partner.”

As you work with internal and external resources, consider which data skills you’ll need to prioritize. Having a strategy for upskilling your workforce will help to get more out of data and foster a more data-driven culture. For insights into what roles construction leaders expect to grow in importance,  this article sheds some light. 

Want to learn more? 

The most effective construction software platforms quickly and easily connect decision-makers to the data they need the most, when and where they need it. A unified platform is the first and most crucial step to data accessibility across the entire AECO lifecycle. From there, you can increase your results by implementing a data management strategy and encouraging your firm to analyze data by preparing your infrastructure and talent. 

If you need help finding the right unified platform, our team would be happy to help you unpack that. You can contact us here.  

The post Construction Data: How to Make it Valuable & Accessible to AECO Stakeholders appeared first on Digital Builder.

Diane Hopper

www.arizonasolarsociety.com

Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems are essential to commercial and residential buildings. In turn, MEP contractors are critical to modern infrastructure projects. These construction professionals work with arguably the most complex and technical aspects of the building process, which require expertise, careful planning, and strict execution. 

Understandably, this complex role comes with unique challenges. MEP contractors work with a range of stakeholders and must skillfully communicate to builders how they’ll tackle project complexities while sticking to the timeline and budget. In recent years, MEP contractors have relied more heavily on emerging and established technologies to streamline workflows, increase collaboration, and improve outcomes. The most popular technologies are easy to deploy and deliver the greatest ROI. We’ve captured our favorite innovations to help address a range of potential obstacles including accessibility, productivity, and resource planning below. 

Fabrication Software

Fabrication software is incredibly helpful in providing real-time insights for better decision making—from the shop to the field. It aids in spooling a model into its component parts for fabrication, tracking shop processes for assembly, and field processes for installation. The best software is flexible enough to handle a variety of different jobs without sacrificing the precision required to get the job done right.

With the construction industry continuing to set the bar higher on fabricators, the solutions are getting better too. It’s worth mentioning — just because a solution is more “advanced” doesn’t mean it’s more “difficult to use.” Below are three areas of fabrication software, with examples, to help paint a better picture of where this technology is going.

Automated Cutting Tools 

MEP firms leverage fabrication software to win more profitable work by automating routine and time-intensive tasks. One company doing this well is Allied BIM. The innovation of their fabrication technology lies in its delivery of autonomous cutting stations. Automated cutting tools are designed to help fabricators synchronize cut lists to remote shop locations from their BIM 360 model packages. These tools help automate the positioning of cuts directly on the fabrication machines — helping to generate designs, eliminate messy cut lines, automate assembly and spooling processes, and reduce overall fabrication time. 

Beyond automated cutting tools, Allied BIM’s Fabrication Suite offers powerful solutions to enhance the fabrication process by uniting teams across design, fabrication, and field deployment with a huge focus on enabling better prefabrication, tracking, and real-time communication with field employees.

Productivity Tracking Tools

One of the key challenges in construction productivity is that critical information often lives in silos. In other words, the information is often there but inaccessible to stakeholders who may not be aware of its existence. Productivity tracking software aims to resolve that. MSUITE, for example, allows an organization to provide transparency in progress while flagging any roadblocks that may be holding up a project. Through connecting BIM, fabrication and field teams, users are able to reduce costs, increase productivity, efficiency and safety.

With tools like MSUITE, MEP contractors can track, manage, and collaborate on improving efficiencies throughout each stage of a project life cycle. They allow management of spooling, fabrication, and even installation of premade items. This software makes it easier to monitor and track productivity with deep insights or at-a-glance reports. 

Supply Chain Tools

MEP contractors benefit from having a more accurate picture of their resource needs. Once the design phase of a building is complete, supply chain and resource planning tools come into play. This is especially important for MEP contractors who often operate on tight budgets with resource-heavy commitments. 

Software like Stratus, for example, allows contractors to more effectively meet and manage their supply chain needs. While offering a full suite of solutions for the entire BIM 360 process, we want to call out their Packages feature since we’re talking about supply chain tools.

In most cases, it’s unrealistic to put a barcode on every pipe and part, then scan every barcode at every phase in the shop. This is where Stratus’ innovative technology excels. Their software allows you to organize parts by Package in the model. By scanning a single part in the shop, all packaged parts are updated. This gives you insight into where they’re at, so you can more accurately determine when they’ll get to where they need to be.

Tools like this make it easier to measure and communicate project progress. Whether needing a high-level look or granular procurement numbers, supply chain tools provide detailed insights that can save a ton of time and money. 

Project Management Software

Project management software is similar to productivity tracking software in that it allows detailed tracking, documentation, and reporting. However, project management tools diverge in that they focus on project progress, rather than progress along a sub process, like fabrication or installation. With these tools, you can monitor and track every stage of a project’s life cycle from simple task management to completions, dependencies, and roadblocks in a unified and holistic context. 

Project management software like Autodesk Construction Cloud can help MEP contractors coordinate between the office and the field while centralizing data and documentation. Additionally, leadership can get a clear picture into progress with visuals of timeline goals and completions. 

The connected platform acts as the single source of truth for design and build decisions by housing all data in a common data environment (CDE). Autodesk Construction Cloud also has a robust ecosystem of integration partners, enabling the platform to serve as the foundation for a connected technology stack. This enables MEP contractors to seamlessly leverage comprehensive construction management software in tandem with a more trade-specific tool. For instance, Autodesk Construction Cloud can also be integrated with trade-specific project management software such as eSUB. The software is designed to help subcontractors standardize their project management process. By leveraging preconfigured forms on the jobsite for MEP work, subcontractors can work more efficiently and reduce costs, errors, and time spent redundantly tracking down progress of tasks.

Construction Layout Software

Next up in MEP innovations, we have construction layout software. Specifically, the software helps contractors plot out an easy-to-follow plan by knowing what goes where on any site. No guesswork. This also mitigates a very real concern of collision tracking. It provides building-critical insights for every step of the project and allows complete transparency into the complex workings of MEP.

One noteworthy construction layout tool is Leica iCON, of the famous Leica cameras. It  allows contractors to verify MEP parts that have been installed in the building. Through integration with Autodesk, MEP contractors can ensure crews are working with the most up-to-date design and that their teams have accurate field data. Being able to cross every ‘t’ in a highly complex build is essential. As Leica iCON notes, “fast, accurate verification in building construction is a significant concern for our customers.” Being able to share accurate design and field data seamlessly helps to streamline critical MEP workflows.

Augmented Reality Technology

Augmented reality (AR) “superimposes digital information in a user’s view of the real world, allowing you to see real and digital worlds together.” It’s an exciting time for construction. For MEP contractors, this might look like holding up a tablet and seeing piping plans overlay your view from the camera. It’s hard to think of a better way to step into the future and visualize the different stages of a project. Ease of use is a priority and these innovations have a pretty good head start. They’ve been made possible using the same technology being used in video game development, filmmaking, automotive design, and architecture.

VisualLive is one of the AR technologies bringing the future to MEP contractors. Its HoloLive product works with Microsoft’s HoloLens and headsets to overlay 3D CAD files on jobsites. Through the mixed reality technology, contractors can see their plans right on-site, in real time. All a contractor has to do is adapt their hard hat and put on some glasses to see their MEP plans in “real life”.

The benefits of AR technology like VisualLive, for MEP contractors, includes everything from increased safety and cost reduction to acceleration of strategic decision-making. The hands-free sets provide a safe way to communicate on-site with stakeholders to discuss progress, resource needs, and site risks. 

Bid Management Software

Today, managing and submitting bids is about more than volume and speed. You don’t want another contractor swooping in because you’re lost in your own numbers. MEP contractors need to be able to assess cost and risk as well as ensure accuracy. Bid management software can help contractors increase the success rate of bids by allowing for quick adjustments.

Powerful preconstruction tools, like BuildingConnected, help owners and builders more quickly assess cost and risk before embarking on a project. MEP contractors can track and maintain current projects while gathering insights into their overall bidding performance to achieve better overall outcomes.

The Value of These Innovations Extend to the Construction Industry at Large

For MEP contractors, these technologies not only bring value, but help firms tap into innovations that save time and money on projects. These innovations also drive the potential for profits in the long term by increasing accessibility to complex processes, enhancing the visibility of data, and allowing for efficient scaling of their businesses. 

Learn how Autodesk Construction Cloud integrates with these products and others in our ecosystem on our website. 

The post 7 Advancements in MEP Tech that Make Life Easier on Contractors appeared first on Digital Builder.

Diane Hopper

www.arizonasolarsociety.com

Machine learning has been making waves in the construction industry. But what does that really mean and how are teams using this seemingly futuristic technology today?  

 Let’s start by unpacking the concept of machine learning, a subset of artificial intelligence. Machine learning uses algorithms that allow computers to learn from data without being explicitly programmed to solve a specific problem. Without knowing it, you probably already leverage the benefits of machine learning in your daily life. For example, consider the filters on your email that tag incoming messages as ‘spam.’ This is a perfect example where machine learning identifies certain keywords or senders and automatically knows if an email is likely to be spam. And as more people flag certain emails as spam, the algorithm becomes smarter. Over time more spam is being accurately tagged, benefiting inboxes everywhere.  

So how does that work in construction?  

There are a lot of great use cases for how machine learning can improve our industry. For example, companies like Smartvid use image recognition to scan jobsite photos and flag safety concerns. Pype uses SmartPlans to scan through drawings to identify submittals or potential submittals and organizes them. Even TradeTapp ingests data to compare subcontractor risk levels and proactively mitigate against project risk.

All of these products are leveraging machine learning to help simplify and automate construction workflows. And one of the industry’s most powerful machine learning based capabilities is through Autodesk’s Construction IQ.  

At Autodesk, our focus is applying machine learning to deliver better products and user experiences for our customers to make their work lives better. Construction IQ for the Autodesk Construction Cloud platform and BIM 360 does just that. With built-in machine learning technology, it helps teams to predict, prevent, and manage risk by giving them instant visibility into daily priorities, a snapshot of individual project health, and insight into company-wide performance across projects.  

We spoke with Michael Murphy, Digital Construction Operations Manager at BAM Ireland, to understand how Construction IQ is helping to drive safer, higher-quality projects for its teams with less risk. Here are some great examples of how Construction IQ can specifically help teams across various workflows: 

Driving Better Safety Oversight 

One of the most important goals on a jobsite is to ensure everyone goes home safely at the end of each day. Safety management is by no means a new concept. But with Construction IQ, teams can spend more time looking into leading indicators that can predict and reduce safety issues rather than responding to lagging incidents. 

For example, 60% of all construction related deaths are attributed to accidents occurring within one of the “fatal four” categories; fall, caught in between, electric, and struck by. Construction IQ uses its machine learning technology to categorize jobsite issues that fall into these categories so that teams can quickly see, prioritize, and address the most pressing issues. 

“Construction IQ gives us laser sharp focus in terms of the health and safety issues onsite, enabling our teams to focus and track leading safety indicators, whilst working with our supply chain partners more effectively,” says Murphy. “By visualising safety issues such as high-risk subcontractors or high-risk safety items, we can address issues right away, resulting in a heightened level of safety on-site.”

Improving Project Quality 

Keeping track and maintaining project quality is another critical part of a successful project. But it’s challenging for teams to understanding where to focus attention to address these issues. 

Through the Quality Risk Factor card in both the Autodesk Construction Cloud platform and BIM 360, you can easily see a list of high risk subcontractors and issues predicted by Construction IQ. These could have been tagged if there was some indication of rework, inspection risk, or water related risk as water infiltration can be a primary cause of high-risk quality issues as construction progresses.

“Construction IQ surfaces all of the leading quality-related trends that support our teams in focusing on helping our partners succeed in their execution,” says Murphy. “By flagging an issue that poses high risk earlier in the process, we can eliminate any issues before it significantly impacts the quality of the project.”

Reducing Design Risk 

Through internal research, we found out that over 70% of RFIs stem from design or documentation issues. Diving a bit deeper, unsuccessful projects (classified by profit margins) tend to have 50% more RFIs, with a root cause in Design & Engineering or documentation issues, than successful projects. It is critical to resolve these design issues as early as possible, so they don’t become higher cost impact RFIs later during construction.  

With the Design Risk Factor card, you can see design specific risk such as code compliance issues, issues to critical building components, and errors and omissions in design and documentation.  

“The Design Risk Factor card provides insight into design issue trending, which enables our design teams to concentrate on areas of the design that are on our critical path,” says Murphy. “By identifying design issues earlier in the process, we can avoid any necessary cost overruns or schedule delays.”

Enhancing Project Controls with RFI Management 

Teams often struggle in prioritizing which RFIs to focus on. This can frequently lead to additional rework, schedule delays, and cost overruns. Furthermore, design and construction information are often disconnected, increasing the total number of RFIs in general.  

Our data experts found that projects that prioritized closing more critical RFIs faster were more successful. So how can teams better prioritize and manage RFIs?  

The Construction IQ driven RFI Risk Factor card breaks down RFIs based on those tagged as higher risk, any MEP or Structural RFIs, RFIs that have a root cause in design coordination, documentation errors, or code compliance since these tend to drive the most cost or schedule related impact.  

“Construction IQ provides critical insight into the status and progress of RFI’s on which to prioritise by level of risk,” says Murphy. “This reduces the level of effort normally required by us to manage this process on a daily basis, allowing us to focus on other critical areas of the project.”

Leverage the Power of Machine Learning for Your Projects Today 

Harness the power of Construction IQ’s built-in machine learning and AI functionality to predict, prevent and manage risks to cost, schedule, quality, and safety. Learn more here.  

We recently spoke to two industry experts on the future of AI and machine learning in construction on our Digital Builder podcast. Listen to the full episode here.  

The post Leverage Machine Learning to Reduce Risk with Construction IQ appeared first on Digital Builder.

Diane Hopper

www.arizonasolarsociety.com

In 2020, the value of commercial construction amounted to approximately $5.8 trillion globally. Given the continually changing nature of construction projects, accurately managing and executing cost activities is critical to the project’s financial outcome. A key piece is having the ability to see and compare how much specific items or tasks cost so you can correctly forecast and manage cash flow.  

This is where construction cost codes come into play. Construction firms can use cost codes to document, categorize, and analyze costs efficiently. How do cost codes work, and what do you need to know about creating a code list in your organization? Keep reading to find out.  

The Basics of Construction Cost Codes 

Construction firms use cost codes to divide costs into specific categories. These codes are typically represented by numeric or alphanumeric values and often form part of an overall budget code and a key piece of a work breakdown structure (WBS).  

A good WBS may utilise multiple classifications and information to inform what task is being done (e.g., cost code structure such as CSI), to what (e.g., elemental breakdown such as Uniformat), where (location breakdown structure (LBS)), and by whom.     

Using cost codes to organize and categorize costs provides better visibility into the costs associated with specific projects, jobs, and tasks.  

Firms can analyze these costs to improve future estimating, budgeting, and forecasting on similar projects.  

The format of cost codes often varies across firms and geographies. For example, in the US, they are often based on the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) codes, and in the UK, the New Rules of Measurement (NRM) and then often customised to some extent to suit the particular company.

Using industry standard codes helps ensure that outside organizations can easily interpret them. However, firms may prefer to generate a completely custom list that suits their individual project and departmental needs in some instances. 

The RICS has created the ICMS, which is a great initiative aiming to bring a worldwide standard to construction. 

Below is an example of a full budget code used by accounting and the cost management system which are generally made up of smaller segments of information. Some companies have many segments, and some only one or two, but typically, cost code and cost type are common. 

The Benefits of Using Construction Cost Codes to Plan, Budget, and Analyze 

With cost codes, firms can efficiently account for all costs associated with projects. These cost structures offer insights into where and how expenses are generated and the ability to compare. While there are many benefits to using cost codes, the majority of them lie in standardization, cost control, analysis, and profitability.  

Standardization 

Of course, cost codes aren’t the only way to divide costs into categories. However, standardization is important. For example, using descriptive phrases rather than codes leaves room for error. Someone inputting the costs may use a slightly different phrase than the next person searching for the data. As you can imagine, this makes for a confusing experience for anyone on the hunt for necessary data.  

With cost codes, there’s no room for misinterpretation. The codes are based on a series of standard classifications, which makes it simple for the construction management software to identify the desired firms and data. This simplicity keeps things efficient, repeatable, and replicable. The codes help to develop processes that can be measured and refined based on results.  

Overall, the standardization of cost codes is essential to saving time, raising productivity, reducing mistakes, increasing scalability, and building efficiencies.  

Cost Control 

Construction firms must have a handle on costs to maintain budgets, deadlines, and scope across projects. This is especially true in today’s times of economic uncertainty, fluctuating markets, and labor challenges. With cost codes, firms can quickly associate expenses with projects and activities as well as with outcomes.  

These codes also fit into a central cost management strategy. Firms can pinpoint where costs are being generated, which activities generate the most costs, and which costs can be linked to profits.  

Profitability 

Firms often have multiple large-scale projects running concurrently. The nature of the industry presents challenges in determining which tasks are actually generating profits. Cost codes are essential for organizing data around tasks, activities, employees, equipment, and projects. This information can be used early in the project to identify where money is being wasted and where it is being generated. Early identification can help to set projects on the right track and increase profitability.  

In the long term, firms can also leverage data around cost codes to determine which activities to invest in for greater profitability. Likewise, firms may choose to alter or streamline activities that are heavy on costs but light on profits.  

How to Implement Cost Codes in a Construction Project 

Once you create your cost codes, how do you implement them on a construction project for best results?

Adopt the Right Cost Management Solution 

First, you need a solid project cost management solution that allows for flexibility and customization in how your codes are built. The nature of each project will vary across stakeholders, their processes, and costs. 

With Autodesk Construction Cloud’s robust cost management capabilities, you can flexibly customize your budget structures, including segments such as cost codes, sequence, and cost type, and create hierarchical build-ups. For each segment, you can choose whether the information will be shown as part of the code, in its own column, or hidden for information only. You can select the number of digits and delimiter between each segment value. But, one of the benefits of using software like Autodesk Construction Cloud’s cost management toolset is the import master lists. For example, you can do a one-time import of a cost code master list, so you have every possible cost code you may ever need. This allows you to slice and dice your data flexibly and saves you time by not requiring you to build in groupings before importing your budget.  

Define Objectives and Scope Early 

Next, consider that changes are one of the main constants of construction. They can completely derail your budget and schedule if you cannot forecast and respond to them. For instance, early design changes are one of the biggest drivers of overruns. It’s important to define objectives and scope as early as possible in the project so you can prevent change orders. Doing so requires early alignment and consistent communication across stakeholders and teams.

Still, a financial management solution that locks you into rigid processes and components won’t work for the ever-changing nature of construction. Look for customizable solutions so you can easily integrate new stakeholders and processes as needed.  

That data can be used to generate advanced insights into cost control workflows. These insights are ideal for strategic decision-making and continuous improvement. 

Improve Cost Control with Cost Codes Today 

Are you ready to bring more standardization and efficiency to your cost control workflows? Learn more about how you can bring more flexibility and control into your cost management workflows, including cost codes, with Autodesk Construction Cloud.  

LEARN MORE

The post Construction Cost Codes: Everything You Need to Know appeared first on Digital Builder.

Diane Hopper

www.arizonasolarsociety.com