Chapter 1 recap

The design side

The key takeaways from this chapter’s 5 lessons.

How a design firm works

Design moves through agreed stages (concept, developed, technical design, then construction support); each has deliverables and a fee.
A design firm is staffed by a project lead, discipline leads, designers and technicians; the BIM coordinator works alongside them, not above them.
Their time is the product: requests for extra modelling, data or exports are scope questions, not favours.
Information requests go through the agreed channel (usually the project lead or design manager), not straight to the modeller.

The architect owns spaces, the envelope, finishes, doors and windows, and usually the levels and grids everyone uses.
They often lead the design team and chair design coordination.
They need issues framed as design choices (move, resize, reroute), with drawings and model views, not raw clash lists.
Room data (names, numbers, areas, finishes) starts in their model and flows to FM and handover.

The structural engineer owns the frame: foundations, columns, beams, slabs, walls that carry load, and their connections.
Structure is the hardest thing to move late: changes need calculations, and sometimes ripple down to the foundations.
Openings, penetrations and heavy equipment loads must be agreed with them, with sizes and positions.
Their analysis model and their physical (BIM) model are different things; coordinate with the physical one.

MEP engineers design heating, cooling, ventilation, water, drainage, power, lighting, fire and communications systems.
Their systems grow as loads are calculated: early models show zones and main routes; detail comes later.
They need protected space (risers, plant rooms, ceiling voids) agreed early with the architect and structure.
Specialist subcontractors often take MEP design to fabrication level; know who owns the model at each stage.

Civil teams design earthworks, roads, drainage, utilities and external works; on infrastructure projects, the asset itself.
Their work is linear (alignments, chainage) and tied to real-world coordinates, often over kilometres.
Interfaces with the building (levels at the door, drainage connections, utilities entering the building) are where coordination matters most.
Tools and formats differ from building BIM; IFC 4.3 now covers roads, rail and bridges.