Enhancements For Advance Steel and Steel Connections

Autodesk is enhancing its product for structural engineers and is previewing those enhancements to Advance Steel and Steel Connections for Revit at NASCC 2017.

Following is Autodesk’s statement concerning the enhancements.

Autodesk Revit and Advance Steel better connect structural design and fabrication

Since acquiring Advance Steel in 2013, Autodesk continues to work towards better support for BIM-centric workflows for structural steel design and detailing. For instance, we have been working to strengthen the interoperability between Autodesk Revit design software and Autodesk Advance Steel software. In advance of tomorrow’s opening day of the NASCC conference, we’re happy to announce that the forthcoming Advance Steel 2018 release next month will now offer seamless consumption of LOD350* Revit models.

This exciting news means that engineers can deliver more accurate designs and bills of materials to the detailer and fabricator. And for the detailer, it means they can more quickly respond to design changes while delivering the files needed to drive steel fabrication. This interoperability will help steel detailers and fabricators take full advantage of the steel design model—a notable benefit for the industry.

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Public Entities Requiring BIM and have Standards

The AEC industry is seeing more clients requiring Building Information Modeling (BIM) on projects.  Some clients have very detailed standards and expectations for the BIM process, and some clients say that they want BIM but have not idea what they really desire or how to get BIM.  And then, there are clients that fall somewhere between those two types.  Many clients (especially in the private sector) that have BIM standards in place have not publicized their standards, but will provide it to the design/construction team for specific projects.  However, there are public entitites that have established BIM standards and have posted those standards on the internet and are accessible to anyone with internet access.  Since it is nice to reference those BIM standards, I thought that I would list various public entities which have BIM standards that you can reference.

Project LOD for BIM

It is becoming more common for the Level of Development (LOD) to be specified on projects that require Building Information Modeling (BIM).  Many times, the “LOD” term is thrown around and utilized without the specifier being familiar with what the term really means.  As a result, confusion abounds and clients may say they want “a LOD 500 project”, although it does not really exist.

Design Software Formats and the AIA E202

Get the file format that you really want or need on a BIM project!

The AIA^® Document E202™ is a contract document that dictates how the Building Information Model is developed for a project.  The document itself is design software package neutral, but is typically developed around specific software packages desired by the document author.  Document authors will sometimes complete the document thinking that they are specifying the desired software package, but in reality are providing “wiggle room” for other packages to also be provided.

Blog in Review for 2010

Thank you to all of the people who visited my blog this past year!  I write articles on this blog to help software users in the AEC industry and I hope that I have been successful in that regard.  May everyone have a great 2011!

Following is some interesting information from WordPress.com concerning 2010 stats for the “Applying Technology to Architecture” blog.  I thought someone might find it interesting. 🙂

AU 2010 Class Presentations

I feel very honored to have been accepted as a speaker at Autodesk University again this year.  While AU 2010 will be my 15th consecutive year to attend Autodesk University, this will be my 4th consecutive year to be a speaker.  I am a very big advocate for Autodesk users attending Autodesk University and believe that it is an excellent value for the price.  I encourage you to attend if at all possible. 

I will be teaching 5 classes at AU 2010, in addition to one AU Virtual class.  If you are planning on attending AU, I would love to have you attend one of my classes.  If you are not attending, you can still check out the Virtual class and “attend” from your office desk. 

Alternative to AIA E202 Document

When working with Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology, contract documents concerning the development and usage of the actual model are extremely important.  I have previously written articles on the “Building Information Modeling Protocol Exhibit Document E202″ by the American Institute of Architects.  An alternative to this document is the “ConsensusDOCS 301 Building Information Modeling (BIM) Addendum” by ConsensusDOCS, LLC.

BIM Standards with the AIA® E202

The Building Information Modeling Protocol Exhibit Document E202 was developed by the American Institute of Architects in 2008 and is an extremely important document when working with Building Information Model (BIM) technology.  I have previously blogged about the Level of Development portion and its impact, but there is another aspect of the document which is also very important.  A portion of the document addresses the BIM standards that are to be utilized when creating and sharing the model.  This portion is very important as it creates continuity for the project and provides the owner with the format that they desire, if applicable.  It can also have a big impact on productivity.

Different E202 for Each BIM Project

The AIA E202 Document (by the American Institute of Architects) is the Building Information Modeling Protocol Exhibit and assigns the specific responsibility for the various project team members in developing model elements to specific levels of development for project phases.  This is fast becoming an extremely important contract document for a building project and must be carefully considered before being implemented for a project.  Many documents are re-used from project to project with little or no change, but the E202 should be modified per project.

Financial Ramifications of BIM Projects and the AIA E202 Document

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is very powerful, but it does come with a price.  Higher levels of model development mean more time involved in creating that detail, and someone has to pay for that time.

The AIA Document E202 (by the American Institute of Architects) is the Building Information Modeling Protocol Exhibit and assigns the specific responsibility for the various project team members in developing model elements to specific levels of development for project phases.  This contract document is extremely important in legally determining how the model is developed and who is responsible for different parts of the BIM file.  This document is not to be taken lightly and has dramatic impact on both the profitability of the project and liability of the project team members.