Today, I sat through a long and boring plan review required by out state. Being such a long and boring meeting (literally eight hours with a break for lunch) I had to find a way to pass time while I was not participating. Luckily there was one part of the meeting that got my mind moving.
The state in which our project is located happens to "require BIM". Of course, the people who enforce this requirement have no experience with building information modeling. Well, there are some forms or letters that have to be submitted to, I guess, prove you are using BIM on the project. The reviewer read the letter and then asked "are all of the documents produced using a 'BIM software?".
Without getting on my soapbox (you never want to get on a soapbox at a meeting like this... lots of power hungry reviewers out there). I answered stating that the architecture, MEP, and structural drawings were all created and coordinated using Revit while the consultants (landscape, civil, food service, and technology) used AutoCAD. The reviewer responded:
"So, you're not doing BIM then?"
My mind immediately began to wander. If we see BIM as the process is it software dependent? If we see BIM as the software then is the process dependent on such software? I know there are many other questions embedded in this little story and I would love to hear all of your thoughts on my aforementioned experience?
