Building Information Modeling

The current pandemic may have led the construction companies into challenging timesdue to a disruption in the supply chain and shortage in manpower. But not all hope is lost. Construction companies are  turning to technology  to help them get back on track, control costs, and work more efficiently. In that vein, they are increasingly adopting a promising way of construction called modular construction. Once heralded as the next big thing in the construction industry  along with 3-D printing , companies use modular construction to build certain pre-fabricated units offsite and then fit it with onsite structures. One can think of it as Lego blocks that are stacked one above the other to create a structure. Hopes from the technique are high. In fact, McKinsey predicts modular construction to be a  $130 billion  market by 2030. Modular construction offers various  benefits : It can accelerate the speed of construction by 50% It can lead to 20% cost savings It c...

Besides real estate, tourism, hospitality, and retail, another industry that has been suffering from the brunt of COVID-19 lockdowns is construction and development. Ongoing projects were stalled due to the nationwide lockdown. As the situation developed, many workers returned to their hometowns as they feared for their safety and livelihood. As lockdowns lift slowly, the ramifications are still becoming clear. By some estimates,  12.2 crores  people may have lost their jobs, a huge section of which hail from the construction sector, one of the biggest job creators in the market.  The good news is, the lockdown is being lifted in many parts of the country in a phased manner. With stimulus packages announced and government spending ramping up, economic activity will also look to kick on. The hope is that the industry will regain its workforce and informal labour. According to a report by the  Economic Times , 70% of highway projects have already been resumed in Delhi,...

  The year 2020 has ushered in the times of unpredictability and is anticipated to cause a long-lasting impact on the world economy. COVID-19 has created a situation wherethe demand is for India to be self-reliant in every way with the extensive support of science and technology. For sectors in India such as construction, there couldn’t be a better time to revamp the processes and fine-tune technology adoption as the projects reopen gradually. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recommended self-reliance as the way forward and suggested five pillars of self-reliance. These were economy, infrastructure, technology-driven systems, vibrant demography, and demand. Of those, at least two, infrastructure and technology-driven systems, go hand in hand. Let’s see how this match is necessary now. INDIA’S CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY: A RECAP Earlier this year, at the Construction Technology Conference in India, the Prime Minister had stated that the year 2020 was going to be all about construction an...

Never before have we experienced a pandemic of this magnitude. It sometimes seems that the entire world has come to a standstill. However, despite the reigning uncertainties, the lockdowns across India are slowly getting lifted and economic activity is gradually beginning. While the crisis still looms, it also gives us the chance to turn it into opportunity. The Government of India, under the direction of the honourable Prime Minister, has laid an impetus on ‘infrastructure’ and ‘technology-driven systems’, as a part of India’s future strategy to come out of this crisis. It is abundantly clear that building infrastructure will be crucial to develop and accelerate the economy. The highway construction sector is already seeing tremendous focus and there seem to be major plans to commence work on a war footing on highway projects. However, we also need to bear in mind that the world of work that we will enter post-lockdown will be very different from the world of work that was. For starte...

  Conceptual estimating has always been a crucial aspect while planning a new construction project. Developers assign costs for every stage of the planning to determine the costs, feasibility, and the direction of the project. That enables the construction company to build a perspective of how the project will come together over time. Construction companies call it part-science and part-art. There are two main approaches to it. The cost approach: Cost estimation can safely be called the cornerstone of conceptual estimating. Over  70% to 80%  of the costs are determined during the pre-construction stage itself.  It gives the developers an overview of the total budget and the potential for cost overruns in the project. It also enables developers to start planning for ways to work within a limited budget. In the current economic scenario, it is definitely advisable to have a cost estimate prepared for the projects on the floor to have a template to aim for at all times....

I have been a part of the construction industry for many years, and in all that time, I have observed something unexpected about the industry. As much as the feeling is that the industry resists change, it has evolved steadily and constantly. Who could have thought that we could not only identify clashes but also rectify them before the construction began or that construction doesn’t need to happen at the construction site? It would have been hard to imagine a few years ago. But, here we are, and this is just the beginning of how technology is going to revolutionize the way we think and do things in our industry. The ever-increasing infrastructure demands, and tight spaces on-site have opened the gates to offsite construction. As per  one definition , “Offsite construction is the completion of elements or components of a construction project at a different location from where they will be permanently installed.” The offsite construction involves planning, design, and fabrication of...

Construction engineers are driven to look for ways to improve everything from construction methods, the materials used, to the systems used to develop new building designs with lower cost margins and thin financing costs. Under those circumstances, there is a lot of pressure on contractors and designers to find more effective ways to reduce construction costs. BIM is being used by a growing number of engineers, architects, and contractors to make the design and development of structures faster, better, and more cost-efficient. BIM has been proven to help reduce costs and increase efficiency throughout the project lifecycle ranging from design and construction to facility management. BIM helps the construction company to save money in the design and construction and development phases of the project. Here are some of the ways how BIM can help lower the lifetime cost of a building: BIM helps to improve collaboration:  Failing to collaborate on projects leads to time delays ...