Building Information Modelling for Dummies

BIM for Dummies

I received a complimentary copy of Building Information Modelling for Dummies last week. This is the latest BIM title to hit the internet bookshops in time for Christmas.

Written by NBS experts Stefan Mordue and Paul Swaddle alongside UK Government's Head of BIM Dave Philp it is fantastic to see this title published as part of the world-famous Riley 'For Dummies' series.

The book weighs in almost 400 pages and is split into six main parts. The first part looks at how to get started with BIM, in particular defining what BIM is. The authors stress the importance of the information - without which a model is simply 3D geometry. This publication has an international audience, but it is nice to see that so many of the examples used within the book come from a UK background. In the second part of the book that looks at the foundations for BIM, the levels of maturity that were originally mapped out by Bew and Richards are explained.

The authors

In part three of the book practical advice is given in terms of defining a process around BIM that works for the type of organisation that the reader may represent. One thing that is nice in terms of how the book is presented is the iconography against the paragraphs that highlight where the content is presenting a 'Tip', a 'Warning', 'Something to Remember' etc... For example in the section on standardising your BIM approach, there are a number of nicely written tips on what parameters to include in your objects.

Part four looks at some real-world benefits of the working within a BIM environment. Again, it is nice to see the UK's recent experience being used as examples with the early adopter Cookham Wood case study being presented. Part five then takes an opportunity to look at where the digitalising of the construction industry will next take us. The point is made that organisations need to invest in R&D to keep on moving forward. Organisations need to keep an eye on emerging capabilities such as big data, telemetry and the cloud. These will enable us to start measuring real-world performance enhancements and better outcomes that are tangible. In the coming years the aim will not be simply digitalising a single built-asset but how that built-asset is performing as part of a smart-city.

The final part of the book looks at some nice little 'lists of 10' - perhaps designed for those who like to flick through a book from the back pages first. There are lists of the top 10 BIM questions and answers, the top 10 BIM software considerations and the top 10 BIM resources. One of these resources is social media and it's is very nice indeed to see a mention of this blog at the bottom of page 343 :)

A mention!

Reflecting back on this publication and the recent NBS publication The BIM Management Handbook, neither will give you 100% of the answers to all of the BIM questions. But what they will do is provide an excellent well-structured framework to provide a base for your detailed research and allow you to do some quality thinking time whilst reading through the topics.

To put an order for the book please check out the link below:
- http://www.ribabookshops.com/item/building-information-modeling-for-dummies/85686/

To see my blog review of The BIM Management Handbook see:
- http://constructioncode.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/the-bim-management-handbook.html