Methodology of work planning in small and medium-sized enterprises in the construction industry using process-relevant project data from a digital building data model

Funded by: Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) as part of the Zukunft Bau research initiative

Project duration: 10/2016 to 05/2018

The research project "BIM-supported work planning in SMEs" is seen as part of a major project on the use of the BIM method over the life cycle of buildings. The aim is to advance the standardization efforts of building data models with regard to processes and the associated information flow between the project participants in all life cycle phases. This will help to create transparency with regard to the BIM method for those involved in construction, while at the same time complying with the law and standards.

The "BIM-supported work planning in SMEs" project focuses on the work planning processes in small and medium-sized enterprises during the construction phase.

The execution of construction projects requires an intensive exchange of information between planners and construction companies. This task can be effectively supported by the BIM method. However, BIM software has so far mainly been used as a planning tool for building design. The benefits for construction organization (especially work planning) have so far been almost unused and have not been investigated in the scientific foundations, or only marginally. As part of the research project, a procedure is to be developed that will also enable SMEs to work with the BIM method and use the data provided by other construction stakeholders for work planning processes. There is currently a lack of information on the work planning methods used in practice by SMEs, the tools used, the type of data and their update intervals. This is where the research project comes in. Based on expert interviews, literature research and an extensive survey, the work planning processes and the data required for optimization are to be analysed and integrated into the large-scale project. Compared to the BIM Institute's other research projects "BIM-based construction in process" and "Digital construction with BIM in Germany: focus on construction", both funded by the BBSR as part of the Zukunft Bau research initiative, the processes from work planning in the implementation phase are broken down in even greater detail. In the processing of all research projects, attention is paid to networked and coordinated processing, particularly with regard to the process data structure. This is intended to demonstrate how the construction companies carry out their work planning, which data they process and in which format this data must be available for the software available in the companies.

In addition, software tools for reading data from digital building models will be analyzed and specifications for programming a data interface will be drawn up. On this basis, a software interface ("data viewer") will be developed with which SMEs and craft businesses can connect to the data of a BIM system without having to use a modeling tool (e.g. Autodesk Revit) themselves.

The results of the research project will provide scientifically sound findings on the quality of work planning for the largest group of construction service providers. The development of the software interface should enable SMEs to use BIM planning data for their processes. This tool can not only increase the productivity of companies, but also improve the quality of projects from the client's perspective.