wader71•4d agoProlific Poster

Unpopular opinion: BIM models are overkill for small commercial jobs

I was at a job site in Richmond last month. 40,000 square foot retail build. The GC insisted on a full BIM model. Cost us 14 grand and three weeks of modeling time. Meanwhile the concrete guys were pouring off a PDF that was two revisions old. Nobody on site actually used the model from a tablet. The drywall crew had their own layout from 1998. I get BIM for hospitals or high rises. But for basic tilt-up construction? We wasted money that could've gone to a better laser level or an extra foreman. Am I the only one who thinks we need a cutoff where BIM makes sense?

3 comments

3 Comments

bailey.jennifer4d ago

Hold up on the "nobody used it from a tablet" part - I've seen plenty of drywall crews pull up clash detection on an iPad for those tricky MEP soffits. It's not that nobody uses it, it's that nobody trained the subs on how to actually access the model on site. The real waste is spending 14 grand on a model without teaching anyone how to open the thing, not the model itself.

fionafoster3d ago

That bit about nobody training the subs is the whole problem right there. I've been on jobs where the GC dropped six figures on a BIM model but the super didn't even know how to zoom in on the floor plan on his phone. The subs who actually need the info get a printed set of PDFs that are already a week old. Hand a drywaller an iPad with a user friendly viewer and five minutes of walkthrough, and they'll actually use it for soffits and chases. But most companies treat the model like a trophy, not a tool. They pay for it, show it off at the meeting, then lock it away.

sean_barnes241d ago

Is it bad that I once spent a whole afternoon trying to open a BIM model on my phone before realizing I was basically just trying to watch a 3D movie on a flip phone? But honestly, the whole "trophy not a tool" thing hits home. We had a GC brag about the model at every meeting, then the drywall guys showed up with a crumpled printout from the architect's first draft. I think the cutoff should be simple: if your super can't pull it up on a tablet in the rain without cussing, you're not ready for BIM.

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