In a world where clients expect contractors to construct buildings in the shortest time possible, prefabrication techniques, such as modelling, predesigning, and prefabricating risers and racks have become a standard practice. In this regard, Philip Janssens, Manager of Construction Piping Services (CPS), the project department within Victaulic, illustrates the advantages of using Building Information Modelling (BIM) systems.

By using BIM, Janssens said, architects, engineers, contractors and owners could “collaborate throughout the lifecycle of a building”; additionally, it would reduce the risks of encountering problems onsite.

Elucidating their benefits, he said that BIM software systems enabled company experts to work with designers, who would feed the systems to the drawings, which would allow them to understand how the products could be best used and routed to suit the layout requirements. From a building point of view, users could draw piping, ducting and electrical work in one model and analyse if there were any collisions or other obstacles that would hamper construction.

Citing an example, he said that the software would confirm if prefabricated sections could be inserted in a desired section, or if there was an elbow that needed to be moved to avoid collision with another component. All these changes could be made within a matter of minutes. Besides, he added, if the designer changed the diameter, the component and the layout drawing would correspondingly change, and the bill would be automatically updated.

Without such systems, Janssens declared, resolving such problems onsite would be difficult, time-consuming and lead to additional costs. “The 3D model”, he said, “is a powerful visual representation of how a building and its services fit together – a useful tool for contractors and engineers to walk clients through, so they can see how things are positioned.”