TrackBeginner to intermediate
Around the project
Everything a BIM coordinator should know about the people and work around the model: how design firms work, what each discipline needs, survey and GIS, cost, time and contracts, how projects are managed (risk, quality, change), how the site runs, and what happens after handover. Written from the BIM person's seat: what each party does, the words they use, what they need from you and what they hand you. Ends with an exam and a certificate.
6 chapters · 22 lessons · about 132 minutes
Finish all 22 lessons to download a certificate of completion.
Chapter 1. The design side
0/5 done- 1.1 How a design firm worksDesign firms work in stages, sell hours, and protect their designers' time. Knowing how they plan, staff and get paid explains why they model what they model, when they do.
- 1.2 What architects do, and need from youThe architect leads the spatial design and usually the design team. Their model is the reference for spaces, levels and the building envelope, and they need coordination results they can turn into design decisions.
- 1.3 What structural engineers do, and need from youStructural engineers make the building stand up. Their model shows what can't move without calculations, and every hole, chase and heavy load is a question they have to answer.
- 1.4 What MEP engineers do, and need from youMechanical, electrical and plumbing engineers design the systems that make a building usable. Their models are the densest and change the most, so they need space early, stable references and coordination that respects how systems are designed.
- 1.5 Civil and infrastructure teamsCivil engineers design what's around and under the building: earthworks, roads, drainage, utilities and, on infrastructure projects, the whole asset. They work in long, linear, real-world coordinates, which changes how models are made and shared.
- Chapter recap
Chapter 2. Ground and place
0/2 done- 2.1 Survey and reality captureSurveyors measure the real world: the site, existing buildings and what has been built. Their control points, point clouds and set-out data are what tie every model to the ground, so knowing what they deliver, and how accurate it is, saves costly surprises.
- 2.2 GIS for BIM peopleGIS is how cities, utilities and owners manage places and networks on a map. It shares much with BIM but works at a different scale and in real-world coordinates, and more and more projects need the two to meet.
- Chapter recap
Chapter 3. Money and time
0/3 done- 3.1 Project controls in plain wordsProject controls are how a project knows whether it's on time and on budget: a baseline programme and budget, regular progress updates, and reports that compare the two. BIM data feeds them, which is why controls people ask you for things.
- 3.2 Estimating and quantity surveyingEstimators and quantity surveyors turn designs into money: measure quantities, apply rates, build cost plans and value change. They trust model quantities only when classification and measurement rules are clear, which is where you come in.
- 3.3 Procurement and contractsHow a project is bought (the procurement route) decides who designs what, who carries which risks, and when the contractor joins. That shapes who owns which models, when information changes hands, and what your BIM requirements can demand.
- Chapter recap
Chapter 4. Managing the work
0/6 done- 4.1 Projects in one pageEvery project balances scope, time, cost and quality, inside a contract, with someone accountable for each. Knowing that frame explains why your MIDP dates, your requests and your issues land the way they do.
- 4.2 Risk managementRisk management finds what could go wrong, decides what to do about it, and makes someone own each risk. Information has its own risks (late models, wrong data, systems that don't talk), and ISO 19650 expects them on the register.
- 4.3 Quality managementQuality management is how a company makes sure its work meets requirements every time: planned checks, records, and fixing the causes of mistakes. Model checking is quality control for information, and it fits into the company's quality system.
- 4.4 Change controlChange control makes sure every change to scope, design or requirements is requested, assessed for its impact, approved by the right person and recorded before it's done. 'Just add it to the model' is a change too.
- 4.5 Stakeholders and communicationProjects involve many people who need different things at different times. A short stakeholder map and a communication plan decide who hears what, how often and in what form, so coordination results reach the people who can act on them.
- 4.6 Lessons learned and close-outAt the end of a project, or of each stage, the team captures what went well and what didn't, and turns it into changes to templates, standards and requirements. Close-out also means archiving the record properly, so the next project starts better.
- Chapter recap
Chapter 5. On site
0/4 done- 5.1 The general contractorThe general (main) contractor turns the design into a building: plans the work, buys it in packages, manages the site and the subcontractors, and carries the risk of building it on time and on price. Their teams use the model differently from designers.
- 5.2 The superintendent and the site teamThe superintendent (site manager) runs the site every day: safety, sequence, trades, deliveries and quality. They don't need the model; they need fast, reliable answers from it, in the right place, at the right time.
- 5.3 Trades and subcontractorsMost of the building is designed in detail, fabricated and installed by specialist subcontractors: steel, façade, MEP, lifts, joinery. They often take over models for fabrication, and their information is what the building is actually made from.
- 5.4 RFIs, submittals and inspectionsThree processes connect site and design: RFIs (questions from site), submittals (proposals from trades for approval) and inspections (checks of the work). Each is information, and each works better tied to the model elements it concerns.
- Chapter recap
Chapter 6. After handover
0/2 done- 6.1 CommissioningCommissioning proves that the building's systems work as designed: each one is set up, tested, adjusted and demonstrated before handover. Its results are information the operator needs on day one, and they're best tied to the assets in the model.
- 6.2 The owner and the facilities teamThe owner lives with the building for decades after the project team leaves. The facilities management (FM) team runs it: maintenance, repairs, space, energy, safety. They decide whether the information you delivered was any good.
- Chapter recap
Your learning route
Each station is a chapter; completed lessons are ticked.
- 1
- 2Ground and placeChapter 2 · 2 lessons
- 3Money and timeChapter 3 · 3 lessons
- 4Managing the workChapter 4 · 6 lessons
- 5
- 6After handoverChapter 6 · 2 lessons