Abdulkadir Ganah

Integrating Building Information Modeling and Health and Safety for Onsite Construction

Background Health and safety (H&S) on a construction site can either make or break a contractor, if not properly managed. The usage of Building Information Modeling (BIM) for H&S on construction execution has the potential to augment practitioner understanding of their sites, and by so doing reduce the probability of accidents. This research explores BIM usage within the construction industry in relation to H&S communication. Methods In addition to an extensive literature review, a questionnaire survey was conducted to gather information on the embedment of H&S planning with the BIM environment for site practitioners. Results The analysis of responses indicated that BIM will enhance the current approach of H&S planning for construction site personnel. Conclusion From the survey, toolbox talk will have to be integrated with the BIM environment, because it is the predominantly used procedure for enhancing H&S issues within construction sites. The advantage is that personnel can visually understand H&S issues as work progresses during the toolbox talk onsite.

Achieving Level 2 BIM by 2016 in the UK

Building Information Modeling and Building Information Model (BIM) are terms that are often used interchangeably, reflecting BIM’s growth and advantage to the expanding needs of the construction industry. Expectation about BIM’s implementation and usage varies across disciplines in the built environment. Most designers and consultants view BIM as an extension to CAD and expect BIM to support integrated visualization and navigation which is comparable to the CAD software they are familiar with and some other parametric software currently in use. Contractors, project managers and facilities managers on the other hand expect BIM to be more intelligent Document Management System (DMS) which is a repository that they can extract data from in time sequence and such extracted data will mirror issues of cash flow modeling, simulation analysis and risk scenario planning as well as health and safety issues. As practitioners’ differences are evident about BIM expectation, so also are the stakeholders’ expectation which varies among stakeholders. In this regard the UK government being the largest public stakeholder client realized the benefits and advantages of BIM when used in procuring projects across their life cycle in the built environment. The usage and adoption of BIM in all UK government projects with a Level 2 BIM status is mandatory for UK government projects by 2016. Will this target be achievable by 2016? This study investigates the possibility of achieving Level 2 BIM status of government procured project by 2016. A critical review of the BIM literature was carried out and the evident based in relation to government target of 2016. At the current status it may appear that Level 2 adoption is achievable by 2016 for large construction firms. However, the technology needs to be properly tailored to meet SMEs variables if the Level 2 status is to be achieved for the entire industry.

Identification And Analysis Of UK And US BIM Standards To Aid Collaboration

The United Kingdom (UK) government’s ambitious plans to meet Building Information Modelling (BIM) Maturity Level 2 by 2016 places significant pressure on construction companies to not only meet the mandated requirements, but also ensure their existing BIM capability delivers these requirements. This poses a significant challenge to some organisations, as BIM requires a radical repositioning in the way buildings are designed and managed, with collaboration playing a pivotal role in this process. For example, many construction companies still use traditional 2D CAD files, bespoke data, and drawing standards that are company-specific (and often non-compliant). These types of organisations have therefore struggled to appreciate the importance of BIM, especially where professionals continue to use ‘bad habits’, or engage parochial standards that are difficult to share or replicate. Conversely however, there is a real opportunity for companies to proactively embrace this transition to BIM through a number of conduits, not least: the installation of industry standard best practices; embedding improved collaborative approaches; improving data veracity, flow and coordination throughout the design, construction and operations and maintenance phases. In addition, there is an abundance of BIM standards such as PAS 1192-2:2013, PAS 1192-3:2014, BS 1192:2007, BS 1192-4:2014, AEC (UK) BIM Protocol, COBie Data Drops-Structures, etc, which add confusion rather than facilitate the process. Acknowledging these challenges, BIM standards from both the UK and United States (U.S.) will be analysed to address the industries need. It is postulated that one ‘uniform’ methodology is adopted throughout the industry, to promote best practice and avoid conflicts during collaboration.

BIM and project planning integration for on-site safety induction

Purpose The section of the research presented in this paper aims to review and explore health and safety (H&S) issues on construction sites. It has the sole intention of using better computer visualisation to meet the needs of site practitioners in understanding such H&S problems. Design/methodology/approach The methodology follows a traditional literature review approach to understand the development of building information modelling (BIM) technology up to its current status. A questionnaire survey was conducted to gather information on the embedding of H&S planning by site practitioners within the BIM environment. Findings BIM has the potential to be used in H&S planning procedures, particularly in those related to tasks on construction sites. A framework for an integrated visual tool is developed for better H&S practice on site. It may be used actively by all practitioners, starting with site induction and addresses, inter alia, personal hazard perception. Research limitations/implications This paper provides a foundation for developing a tool that helps construction personnel explore potential H&S risks on site before construction begins. By introducing a framework for integrating BIM and project planning, a prototype can be developed to demonstrate the application of the proposed framework. Originality/value The research presented in this paper introduces BIM usage during the construction stage as a tool that supports a H&S toolbox. The paper proposes the useful framework for better H&S practice on site that can be used actively by all practitioners. The intention is to find a way forward in addressing “real” H&S site issues that may not be easily understood by practitioners without the full aid of visualisation scenarios.

Determination of the influence of specific building regulations in smart buildings

The automation of domestic services began to be implemented in buildings since the late nineteenth century, and today we are used to terms like ‘intelligent buildings’, ‘digital home’ or ‘domotic buildings’. These concepts tell us about constructions which integrate new technologies in order to improve comfort, optimize energy consumption or enhance the security of users. In conjunction, building regulations have been updated to suit the needs of society and to regulate these new facilities in such structures. However, we are not always sure about how far, from the quantitative or qualitative point of view, legislation should regulate certain aspects of the building activity. Consequently, content analysis is adopted in this research to determine the influence of building regulations in the implementation of new technologies in the construction process. This study includes the analysis of different European regulations, the collection and documentation of such guidelines that have been established and a study of the impact that all of these have had in the way we start thinking an architectural project. The achievements of the research could be explained in terms of the regulatory requirements that must be taken into account in order to achieve a successful implementation of a home automation system, and the key finding has been the confirmation of how the design of smart buildings may be promoted through specific regulatory requirements while other factors, such as the global economic situation, do not seem to affect directly the rate of penetration of home automation in construction.

Achieving sustainable homes by 2016 in the UK: the current status

The code for sustainable homes (CSH), which came into existence in 2006, has not yet been investigated to determine whether its rate of adoption is on course to meet the UK government’s 2016 target for full implementation. Therefore, the aim of this investigation is to ascertain the level to which CSH has been implemented and the barriers preventing this. A questionnaire survey was sent to 71 of the Home Builders Federation (HBF) member organisations in the UK, to gauge and ascertain the following: the barriers to the implementation of CSH; the implications of implementation; and the general awareness of CSH amongst practitioners. The results from the analysis of the survey reveal that full implementation by 2016 appears a rather difficult target, as factors like economic downturn are hitting HBF and similar organisations quite hard. However, a government-driven injection of sustainable schemes is helping to bring back confidence to house builders, while also enhancing the way that barriers are handled within the industry. The key findings of the literature review identify barriers preventing the housing sector from achieving zero carbon homes by 2016. These include cost, and legislative, cultural and technical barriers, and are concordant with the results from the data obtained during the primary research. The analysis suggests that with the current trend, achieving full implementation will be difficult. However, comments made by some practitioners appear to suggest that the appointment of a CSH champion for implementation would accelerate the process of full implementation and that the target could be reached by 2016.