UTP Student Accommodation & Student Centre — BIM

Scope of works

Full M&E delivery in Building Information Modelling, from concept model through to clash-free construction issue.

The UTP student accommodation and student centre was delivered with full M&E Building Information Modelling: every duct, pipe and cable containment run modelled to construction level of detail, federated against architecture and structure, and clash-checked in Navisworks until the model was clean — before anyone cut a hole on site.

The below-ground work shows why this matters: sanitary drainage coordinated against ground beams in the model, where moving a pipe costs a click, instead of on site, where it costs a hacked beam or a re-laid drain. The same models produced the builder's work schedules and fed quantities to the bill.

Technical particulars

Software

Autodesk Navisworks clash detection

Deliverable

Coordinated M&E model to construction detail

What this kind of commission involves

Building Information Modelling is only worth its cost if the model is taken to construction level of detail and clash-resolved before anyone is on site. A model produced for a presentation is a picture. A model produced for construction is a set of decisions already made — every crossing resolved, every service given a height, every penetration agreed with the structural engineer while it is still cheap to move.

Disciplines engaged

• Federated modelling of ACMV, fire protection, cold water and sanitary plumbing
• Electrical containment, cable tray and lighting layout modelling
• Clash detection and resolution against architecture and structure
• Below-ground services coordinated against pile caps and ground beams
• Ceiling void and riser space allocation with agreed service zones
• Penetration and builder's work schedules issued from the model
• Model-based quantity extraction feeding the bill of quantities
• Construction issue drawings generated from the coordinated model
• Design review walkthroughs with the client and contractor
• As-built model updating and handover to facilities management

What we watch for

The failures that recur on this building type, and where we look for them.

• Modelling at presentation detail and calling the result coordinated
• Clash reports produced but never worked down to zero and re-issued
• No agreed level of development, so each discipline models to a different standard
• The model abandoned at construction stage, so as-built reverts to marked-up prints

The following describes the standard engineering scope for this sector. The specific scope of any individual commission is set by its brief and contract.

Project location