8 tips to accelerate your open BIM project

8 tips to accelerate your openBIM project

Working on an openBIM project involves a lot of communication. As a result, you might be spending too much time either searching for information or correcting mistakes due to incorrect, out-of-date files. Since you are not working on BIM projects alone, you should be aware that the more efficient and faster team members and stakeholders can work, the more beneficial it is for the total project. For that, effective communication is key. We have gathered 8 tips to help you achieve exactly that.

How to accelerate communication in your BIM project

Tip 1: ensure accurate and complete BIM project information 

The foundation to accelerating communication starts with you. Yes, you! No one wants to be bothered with useless, time-consuming information. You and your team members should make sure that the information in the project is of good quality. When you use the BIM model for communication, you want the information in the model to be accurate, complete, and unambiguous. You want the model to explain itself as much as possible! This way, you can use the model to communicate efficiently with others. 

Tip 2: communicate using BCF 

To improve communication around your BIM project, the use of BCF files is key. BCF is designed to facilitate open communication and to improve IFC-based BIM projects. It is an open file format in which you store the components of your model and can include textual comments, screenshots, and viewpoints. It helps you to simplify coordination with all stakeholders working on the model.  

Tip 3: use a centralized data location 

It is recommended to have a single location of information where all stakeholders can find the information they need. A BIM issue management platform offers exactly that. It ensures all issues, communication and reporting are centralized. As a result, there is no more need to go through cluttered spreadsheets and documents to gather information. By having it all centralized in one location, your project data can be found easily!  

Tip 4: connect with your favored BIM applications 

Switching between different applications can make you lose valuable time. Hence, you should make sure the applications you work with are directly linked to your issue management tool! By using plugins and BCF Managers you can work and communicate directly from your own BIM software. BCF Managers will help you find issue locations easily, and any comments and labels attached will assist you with the actions needed. You can solve a problem directly in your preferred tool, let your team in on your progress through the issue management platform and focus on the challenges ahead. Free BCF plugins are often available via the website of your BIM software or can be downloaded here

Tip 5: accelerate your BIM coordination workflow

Besides having all information in one place, you want all communication to be centralized as well. As already mentioned, coordinating e-mails, video calls, links, phone calls, PDF’s, scans and even sticky notes can be overwhelming. Instead, you should have all BIM issues including the communication around them in one place. With an issue management tool such as BIMcollab Nexus, there is no need to search for or manually redirect essential information. You can easily keep track of the issues at hand, view their details, determine responsibilities, assign deadlines, and see what has been communicated about the issues. It will help you gain insight into the project’s progress and determine where the critical workload is. It enables you and your team to work effectively and in a transparent way.  

Tip 6: speed up design reviews

We all know that design review meetings can take a lot of time. Going through endless spreadsheets or trying to find that one email that explains an issue is very time consuming. It is a difficult way of working. However, using an issue management platform allows you to easily filter issues according to the attendees of a design review meeting. Besides, you can easily generate reports and dashboards to show the project’s progress. It enables you to involve stakeholders by sharing relevant and accurate information, which facilitates efficient communication and faster decision making. 

Tip 7: keep track of all changes

In traditional BIM project communication, it is very hard to keep track of all changes that have been made to the model. By using an issue management platform, where all issues, communication and reporting are centralized, you always have access to the project’s history. By tracking everything that is happening in the project, you create the foundation for a complete and transparent audit trail. That means no lost files, no searching into email archives, and no more discussions on what was adjusted and what not.  

Tip 8: benefit from your lessons learned

To further improve communication for all your openBIM projects, take time to recapitulate at the end of your BIM project. Learn from your mistakes, write them down, update your process documentation and create an even better start-up document. Your next BIM project team will benefit from that! 

Communication is the key to successful BIM projects

Effective communication and coordination are the cornerstone of success in openBIM projects. Hence, the time and effort you will invest in streamlining communication will pay off in terms of project efficiency and project quality. By implementing the 8 tips described, you will set a solid foundation to accelerate your future projects.  

Interested in understanding the difference between openBIM and closedBIM?

Dive into our detailed comparison article, “openBIM vs. closedBIM: Unveiling the key differences and why openBIM is the better choice,” and discover which approach suits your project best.