BIM finally starting to pay off for AEC firms

BIM has been paying off for AE firm NELSON. “Once a team becomes proficient in the BIM process, we see better margins for projects completed in Revit,” says John “Ozzie” Nelson, Jr., President/CEO. “We see more RFPs that require Revit.” Creating Revit models opens up doors in analysis, data integration, facilities management, and advanced visualization, he says.

Perkins Eastman is starting to see results from its investment in BIM. “Our most recent in-house analysis of project labor costs on comparable CAD/BIM projects is showing an increase in BIM projects over CAD projects,” says Chair/CEO Bradford Perkins, FAIA, MRAIC, AICP. “Many of the other benefits of a BIM workflow are not so easily quantified, but they are real enough to give us confidence that BIM is paying off.”

SCROLL DOWN FOR GIANTS 300 BIM FIRM RANKINGS

Alex Ivanikiw, AIA, LEED AP, Senior Vice President at Barton Malow: “The real benefit is how the use of BIM enables collaboration, which in turn builds a real sense of trust and teamwork.” When subcontractors had trouble using the BIM model for submittal approval and materials fabrication, Barton Malow created a BIM 101 seminar to educate them in these processes, says Ivanikiw.

BIM projects have been profitable for Syska Hennessy Group, but there’s always room for improvement, says Co-president Gary Brennen, PE, LEED AP. SHG was “committed and fully invested in the early adoption of BIM,” but the MEP software still lags behind the architectural and structural components. “We were aware of that going into the process,” he says.

Structural engineering firm Magnusson Klemencic Associates is producing 100% of its projects as BIM models. “After many years of investment, we are finally turning the corner on implementing BIM in an efficient and thoughtful manner,” says MKA President Ron Klemencic, PE, SE.

The key to successful BIM implementation: “A project team with the experience and knowledge of what to model and how to model it,” says Klemencic.

“Allowing owners to better visualize the project has become an influencing factor during the presentation process,” says Doug Davidson, President, New South Construction. In 2011, over 45% of New South’s projects used BIM.

“There’s no question that BIM has paid off in our role as engineer of record producing construction drawings and as detailing engineer,” says Robert Otani, PE, LEED AP, Vice President of Thornton Tomasetti. The firm’s Construction Support Services practice uses BIM to produce digital fabrication drawings, connection engineering, and erection engineering for steel contractors. “The technology is constantly changing, and the engineers need to stay ahead of the curve,” says Otani.

KJWW Engineering recently standardized on Revit BIM in all 11 offices. President Paul VanDuyne, PE, says it was much more difficult to develop the MEP and technology components of the firm’s BIM platform than it was for structural engineering and medical equipment planning. “Now we are completing projects in close to the same time frame as previously with 3D, and in some cases faster,” he says.

EwingCole now uses an internal “cloud” for team members, who are now able to work on BIM through higher-end processors and central servers, says President Mark Hebden, AIA, LEED AP.

EYP Architecture & Engineering adopted BIM in 2006, and it has become a core competency. One unexpected benefit: “BIM integration has created more opportunities for younger tech-savvy staff to collaborate with senior technical team members,” says John Pocorobba, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, Chief Operations Officer.

“It becomes apparent which market sectors are embracing BIM,” said Greg Lyon, Vice President and Director of Business Development at Nadel Architects, whose BIM work focuses on hospitality and retail clients.

“BIM implementation has been a long-term effort and a considerable one,” says Phil Harrison, FAIA, LEED AP, CEO of Perkins+Will. The firm has overcome the technical and training issues and is now “focusing on innovations and efficiencies,” he says.

Shepley Bulfinch has been using BIM since 2009 and now uses it for all projects. President Carole Wedge, FAIA, LEED AP, says BIM implementation has led to a “deeper exploration about how we approach our work, including how we draw and how we schedule our projects.”

According to Graef CEO John Kissinger, “We were early adopters. It was more difficult than we thought, but it is ingrained in all areas of our practice now.”

SmithGroupJJR began transitioning to Revit in 2005, and is now demonstrating a return on its BIM investment. On a daily basis, the firm peaks at around 310 concurrent users on Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, and Revit Structure.

President Steven Straus says Glumac made “an enormous investment” in BIM training and software development. “BIM is a new technology that is improving coordination,” he says, “but the software is not ready for prime time.”

“Not all contractors we work with are leveraging BIM. This means we have to spend more time preparing drawings in BIM than we normally would,” says BRPH President/CEO Brad Harmsen, AIA.

The chief conclusion from this survey: BIM is here to stay, but be prepared to invest staff time and money to perfect it. +

TOP 25 BIM ARCHITECTURE FIRMS

Rank	Company	2011 BIM Revenue ($)
1	HOK	398,217,301
2	HDR Architecture	327,690,000
3	Perkins+Will	274,336,000
4	Skidmore, Owings & Merrill	204,000,000
5	HKS	200,000,000
6	Cannon Design	173,000,000
7	SmithGroupJJR	150,540,000
8	RTKL Associates	140,000,000
9	Hammel, Green and Abrahamson	76,740,000
10	EYP Architecture & Engineering	72,681,105
11	Corgan Associates	67,575,000
12	Flad Architects	65,100,000
13	HNTB Architecture	63,244,852
14	Fentress Architects	58,824,000
15	DLR Group	49,500,000
16	BSA LifeStructures	45,316,495
17	PageSoutherlandPage	44,918,630
18	ZGF Architects	40,352,152
19	Ennead Architects	39,341,000
20	KMD Architects	35,143,453
21	Cooper Carry	34,000,000
22	Perkins Eastman	32,500,000
23	LS3P Associates	32,211,134
24	FKP Architects	30,000,000
25	Harley Ellis Devereaux	28,740,000

TOP 25 BIM ENGINEERING FIRMS

Rank	Company	2011 BIM Revenue ($)
1	Jacobs	355,021,036
2	URS Corp.	275,000,000
3	Stantec	181,300,000
4	SSOE Group	103,506,950
5	Science Applications International Corp.	92,695,000
6	Thornton Tomasetti	83,314,632
7	KPFF Consulting Engineers	60,000,000
8	Burns & McDonnell	50,000,000
9	KJWW Engineering Consultants	43,784,892
10	Bard, Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers	32,000,000
11	H&A Architects & Engineers	29,883,975
12	TLC Engineering for Architecture	27,290,274
13	STV	26,646,000
14	Glumac	26,408,740
15	Magnusson Klemencic Associates	25,845,578
16	Middough	25,000,000
17	R.G. Vanderweil Engineers	24,912,000
18	Michael Baker Jr., Inc	24,000,000
19	Syska Hennessy Group	23,500,000
20	Smith Seckman Reid	21,360,000
21	Bergmann Associates	18,420,000
22	ccrd partners	16,700,000
23	Rutherford & Chekene	16,568,000
24	Paulus, Sokolowski and Sartor	15,500,000
25	L.R. Kimball	14,200,000

TOP 25 BIM CONSTRUCTION FIRMS

Rank	Company	2011 BIM Revenue ($)
1	Turner Corporation, The	5,458,100,812
2	URS Corp.	4,150,000,000
3	Hensel Phelps Construction	2,230,890,000
4	Mortenson	2,220,000,000
5	Balfour Beatty US	2,070,776,637
6	McCarthy Holdings	1,897,000,000
7	Holder Construction	1,651,000,000
8	Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., The	1,282,424,019
9	Lend Lease	1,264,115,151
10	Hoffman Corp.	1,165,887,387
11	Walsh Group, The	1,128,436,530
12	PCL Construction Enterprises	1,100,346,901
13	JE Dunn Construction	1,097,865,953
14	Clayco	820,000,000
15	DPR Construction	691,319,178
16	Swinerton	653,859,000
17	Gilbane Building Co.	622,414,000
18	Suffolk Construction	621,498,214
19	Structure Tone	606,850,000
20	Pepper Construction Group	566,300,000
21	Weitz Co., The	560,000,000
22	Manhattan Construction Group	549,029,000
23	Austin Industries	547,065,203
24	Power Construction	530,000,000
25	Brasfield & Gorrie	504,676,926