INDUSTRIAL BIM
Coordination of technological equipment, structures and engineering systems for factories, production complexes, logistics facilities and industrial infrastructure.
In industrial projects, it is important not just to place all the systems in the model, but to coordinate them with the technological process, installation, operation of the equipment and further maintenance of the object.
Discuss the industrial project
Technology defines the solution
In industrial construction technology and equipment largely determine the geometry of engineering solutions. Production lines, process pipelines, ventilation, electrical networks, cable routes, structures and fire protection systems must work as a single system.
At the same time, data on equipment and solutions of different disciplines can be received and changed at different stages of the project. Changing the dimensions of the equipment, the position of the connection point or the route of the pipeline can affect the structures, supports, penetrations and adjacent networks.
Therefore, for industrial BIM, not only the absence of collisions is critical, but also control of interdependent engineering solutions, service areas and relevance of models.
Critical zones
The equipment must not only fit in the building
Around production equipment, it is necessary to take into account not only its geometric dimensions, but also:
The model may not contain a physical collision, but the solution may still be unsuitable for installation or further operation. The need to consider maintenance clearance (service areas) together with system tracing is also confirmed by modern research on MEP coordination.
A geometrically free route is not always engineering correct
When coordinating pipelines, it is necessary to take into account:
For industrial facilities, the coordination of a large number of pipelines can be a separate spatial task, and studies show that BIM is used not only for clash detection, but also for optimizing their routing and installation sequence.
Many systems must pass through one controlled corridor
On industrial overpasses and highways, technological pipelines, cable systems and other communications can be located at the same time.
During coordination, it is necessary to check:
The technological solution must be coordinated with the design
Equipment location affects foundations, metal structures, openings, embedded elements, and engineering system routes.
Critical are situations when, after developing the design, the dimensions of the equipment or the position of its connections change.
Therefore, the relevant data about the equipment must be timely entered into the coordination model.
Maximum concentration of equipment and communications
Compressor, pumping, boiler, refrigeration, electrical and other technical rooms have a high density of systems.
Here it is necessary to simultaneously check equipment, pipelines, ducts, cable routes, structures, connections and service areas.
The route of the system must be agreed upon before construction
Large pipelines, ventilation ducts and cable routes may require passages through walls, ceilings or metal structures.
It is advisable to coordinate their provisions before the implementation of the corresponding part of the structures in order to avoid unplanned changes on the site.
Production
In a production building, the architecture and engineering infrastructure must support the technological process.
In one model it is necessary to agree:
Points of interaction of technological equipment with construction and engineering systems require special attention.
Logistics
For large warehouse and logistics buildings, it is important to coordinate engineering systems with the internal logic of space use.
Coordinations may require:
Engineering systems should not conflict with technological equipment, permissible dimensions of working areas and operational routes.
Engineering support
We coordinate equipment, engineering networks and service areas as a single system — taking into account installation, maintenance and future replacement.
We check the actual placement of the equipment and the necessary space around it.
We coordinate the connection of equipment to engineering systems and structures.
We check the space required during the entire life cycle of the equipment.
The availability of equipment after construction is completed is as important as the absence of geometric collisions.
Reconstruction
An additional task appears for the existing production: new systems must be integrated into the already existing infrastructure.
NeuStar — Haifa
Haifa · Israel
When expanding, it is necessary to agree:
Particularly critical are connection points—places where a new system joins an existing system.
Practical studies of the reconstruction of technically complex objects show that it is the discrepancies between the existing documentation, the actual condition, equipment, structures and new pipelines that become a significant coordination problem.
A single coordinated model
In an industrial facility, technological equipment, structures and engineering networks form an interconnected system. During BIM coordination, it is necessary to take into account not only their geometric placement, but also connection, installation, access to equipment and the possibility of its further maintenance.
For an industrial project, it is important not just to eliminate collisions, but to coordinate equipment, structures and engineering systems so that the solution remains technologically correct, suitable for installation and accessible for further maintenance
A practical example
Motorola
Airport City · Israel
Illustrative scenario of coordination
Let's imagine that at the stage of detailing, the supplier changed the model of the production equipment: its dimensions or the position of the connection points changed.
This may simultaneously require:
One change of equipment turns into an interdisciplinary task.
During the expansion of the current production, the actual location of the equipment and engineering systems may differ from the initial project documentation. If during operation all changes were regularly made to the coordinated BIM model, it reflects the current state of the object. This allows you to plan the connection of new equipment faster, find available routes for engineering systems and coordinate expansion with existing infrastructure.
This is where BIM coordination and BIM management must work together: coordination defines the impact of a change on systems, and model management ensures that everyone involved gets an up-to-date version of the solution.
Ziggurat services
Management of models, revisions of equipment and actuality of industrial project data.
Why model management is especially important for industrial construction
For an industrial project, a version error can be no less critical than a geometric collision.
Controlled
BIM environment
Model → Revision → Validation → Reconciliation → Current version
Coordination of equipment, structures and engineering systems before manufacturing and installation.
For an industrial facility, it is especially important to complete the relevant part of the coordination to:
The more solutions move into fabrication and installation, the more expensive and difficult it is to change their geometry.
FAQ
In an industrial project, a significant part of construction and engineering decisions depends on technological equipment and the production process. Therefore, it is necessary to coordinate not only architecture, structures and MEP systems, but also equipment, process pipelines, foundations, supports, connection points and service areas.
The absence of a physical intersection does not guarantee that the solution will work. Piping may block access to equipment, cable routing may impede component disassembly, and equipment may have insufficient mounting or service area.
Change in dimensions, position or connection points of equipment may require re-checking of pipelines, cable routes, foundations, structures, penetrations and adjacent systems. Therefore, it is important to control the coordination and relevance of models at the same time.
The location of the equipment determines the position of the foundations, embedded elements, supports, openings and part of the engineering connections. If this data changes after construction, field adjustments become much more difficult.
The equipment must remain accessible after installation. Space must be provided for inspection, panel opening, fitting, repair, disassembly and replacement of components.
Yes. In such projects, it is especially important to coordinate new equipment and systems with existing structures and communications, as well as to check the connection points of new networks to the existing infrastructure.
Coordination should begin when the main technological, structural and engineering solutions are already sufficiently formed for interdisciplinary verification, but can still be adjusted before procurement, manufacture and installation.
Different disciplines, equipment suppliers and contractors work simultaneously on the project, and models are updated at different rates. BIM management provides control over versions, revisions, statuses and information exchange so that the team coordinates relevant solutions.
