Tocci kicks off BIM training program

Last night, Tocci kicked off a year-long internal BIM training program with Session of BIM 101; Laura Handler, our Director of VDC and an AGC Certified Instructor, is leading us through the entire AGC BIM Education Series. Although BIM 101 is mostly a review for our team, it was nice to have a refresher. But of course, we took a few detours since our team couldn’t stick with the basics!

Here are some notes that Laura scribbled during and after class:

Benefits of BIM

The session includes a few slides on the benefits of BIM, but I thought I’d open it up to a discussion to ‘wake people up’ and hear their thoughts. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the depth of the benefits discussed. My favorite came from Bob Tierney, our General Superintendent, who talked about BIM as a workforce development tool, especially for emerging professionals. I’m completely butchering his quote, but he said something along the lines of, “I had to see a detail get built a hundred times in the field before I really learned it. You [younger] guys will learn it so much more quickly because you get to see it virtually.”

Is BIM Easier When You Self-Perform?

The session ends with a case study from Mortenson Construction, comparing results achieved on two similar buildings – one BIM-enabled, and one not. After class, Drew Dana, a Cost Engineer, and VDC Champion, and I discussed why so many of the “BIM in the Field” success stories come from self-perform contractors. Here are just a few of the thoughts we tossed around:

• Since they are all employees of the same company, modelers at self-perform contractors may have easier access to trade feedback – so they are able to provide more relevant data.
• Self-perform contractors see a greater ROI in BIM. They also have greater access to detailed finances, so perhaps are able to more accurately capture ROI.

Participants will complete BIM 101 in the next four weeks and will start BIM Technology in the fall. Who knows what discussions the Tocci team will have then?