Professional & Technical Services Director Roger Grant, CSI said, “Implementation of many of the information management concepts presented in recent meetings is cutting across disciplines of design, specification and IT.”

Weygant sees the need for a new set of skills to deal with all the information consumed and created through the use of BIM. He defines the process as knowledge management (KM), “The supply, maintenance and delivery of graphical and topical information related to a project.” Prospective KM responsibilities might include:

1.       Provision of BIM Content

2.       Addition and maintenance of attributes

3.       Product and system selection support

4.       Creation of specifications and project manual

5.       Bid review analysis and support

There is a critical need to be able to create and manage information relevant to individual components in the model (e.g. – performance and consumption, effective lifespan, etc.). Components can carry information relevant to the appearance and behavior of every material and product in the model. It is important for sorting and organizing all model data to be able to switch classification structures, e.g. – sort by MasterFormat, UniFormat, or ultimately all OmniClass tables. This can support different uses and users and the management of outputs and schedules, specifications and related output documents as well as the creation of informational links necessary throughout building lifecycle.

The goal is a single point of responsibility for project information management. Ideally this should be a person (or group) with extensive knowledge about the subject matter including Design, Procurement, Asset Management and Construction. A big benefit of this is uniformity of information. If all of the information comes from or passes through the same place, accuracy is more likely.

Weygant thinks that this should be:

1.       Someone who understands the basics of drafting/content development.

2.       Someone who understand different building elements and assemblies

3.       Someone who understands building codes.

4.       Someone who can work directly with the model.

5.       Someone who can develop specifications

At different phases, the KM might have different responsibilities. In Schematic Design for example, the KM interviews and then works with the Architect/Designer to determine components and assemblies necessary to begin the basic layout of the project. Other phases would require a different focus and involvement with different members or the building team. The advantage that the KM can bring is an experienced source for providing support in the operation of complicated systems and accessing distributed information and integrating it with the model in a consistent way.

Weygant suggests that a KM might be a CAD/BIM manager, or a specifier with the training necessary in systems and technology to support the design, construction or facility operations team. The result, he asserted, is that collaboration and communication improve with a Knowledge Manager.

Group members discussed potential overlap with the role of the design project manager. They also felt there is a need to establish clear guidelines for how the KM should organize and manage information.

Discussion will continue at the next meeting on April 16^th at 1 PM EDT. An update on our efforts to document the practices that a KM might follow will also be provided.

Grant also updated the group on the SPie project that has been the subject of recent meetings of the practice group. Representatives of several trade organizations representing glass, wall & ceiling, brick, electrical and architectural woodwork manufacturers attended a March workshop to discuss SPie. They agreed to submit product data to continue expanding the specifiers’ property sets. For more information, visit the Building Smart Alliance website www.buildingsmartalliance.org or read notes from past meetings of the BIM Practice Group http://blog.csinet.org/bim.

Join the group! It’s free!