Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Australian design and fabrication has rapidly taken up new and exciting technologies. 3D modelling can produce walk-throughs of the finished building with intelligence on each component; CNC equipment can produce automatically off the detailers design model, label each part and arrange it to be packed and transported in correct order, so it can be crane lifted off the truck directly onto the building; and this at far quicker speeds, reduced cost and better quality than ever before. Why are we not utilising the new technologies fully? Some examples: The same design and fabrication/erection construction team doesnt stay together on subsequent projects to progress skills - as happens in the UK. The fabricator is expected make assumptions to quote on an unfinished design. The detailer is discouraged from asking questions directly of the architect or designer, where the architects detail is different from the engineers detail. The cut-off date for tender documents is the same for the structural engineer and architect. The number of RFIs is increasing even though much more information is available. There is seldom early engagement with detailers as happens in the Australian mining industry.
Illustration of one of the problems: a mismatch of a detailers drawing and an engineers uncovered by overlaying the two 3D models.
The problem is that the supply chain is not always set up for cooperation and information sharing. We dont seem to be able to relate speed and cost to efficient transfer of data both ways during the construction process because we DONT HAVE A MECHANISM TO BUILD ON THE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS EFFICIENCY. In the UK it is common practice for the engineer, builder, detailer and fabricator to team up on many projects. The focus is on producing the building the most efficient way, rather than constraining the subcontractor on costs who then needs to recover them through RFIs. A process of continuous improvement is set in motion for the team and data flow is plotted out and improved on each succeeding project. A new approach is also being trialled by a fabricator builder developer in South Australia: design, detail, cost by the quantity surveyor, approach the banks for finance. Greater certainty has lessened the risk for the banks, providing better funding for projects. The fabricator has the complete design for tendering which equals better costing and fewer RFIs, helping to speed preliminaries. We all win.
Example of a request by the detailer for an engineering change of splice position without RFI and without cost implication.
2. Hone efficiency - the engineer, detailer or fabricator with detailing facility, practise file transfer and coordination of the models. 3. Market the new approach - the engineer, detailer and possibly the fabricator market their abilities as a team to the client, builder and architectural fraternity.
Documents 1. New Zealand Construction Industry Council, Design documentation guidelines Structural. In: NZCIC Design documentation guidelines , New Zealand Construction Industry Council, August 2008 2. Churcher, David, A design framework for building services, 2nd edition, Building Services Research and Information Association,2009 3. Royal Institute of British Architects, Outline Plan of Work, Royal Institute of British Architects, 2007, amended 2008 4. Australian Institute of Steel Construction, Welding guidelines for design engineers, Australian Institute of Steel Construction, 2000 5. National Institute of Steel Detailing Inc., n.d. Guidelines for successful presentation of steel design documents. Retrieved August, 2010 from http://www.aisd.org 6. Australian Institute of Steel Detailers Inc., 2004. Contract documents completion checklist. Retrieved August, 2010 from http://www.aisd.com.au/forms/AISD_checklist_2004.pdf 7. Construction Industry Council (Great Britain), CIC services: Handbook, RIBA Publishing, 2007
8. British Constructional Steelwork Association/Steel Construction Institute, The national structural steelwork specification for building construction,5th Edition, British Constructional Steelwork Association, 2007 9. Tilley, P.A., Design and documentation deficiency and its impact on steel construction. In: Steel Construction, Vol. 32 Number 1, March 1998, pp. 2-12. 10. Engineering documentation standards: Invest in design to reduce project costs. Steel Construction, Vol. 34, Number 4, December 2000 11. British Constructional Steelwork Association, Allocation of design responsibilities in constructional steelwork, British Constructional Steelwork Association, 2007 12. Engineers Australia Queensland Division Task Force, Getting it right the first time, Engineers Australia, October 2005