BIM has brought numerous benefits to many areas of project delivery in construction, but the greatest of these could be seen as the process of linking up 3D geometry to time, site costs and resources.  Also known as  4D BIM or construction sequencing, this  allows all project members to clearly see a virtual construction of the project based on the main construction plan of works, which was traditionally delivered as a complex Gantt chart. This article is focused on the deployment of construction sequencing technology such as Synchro Professional onto a project and the benets it will deliver.  For me there are two clear reasons why Synchro should be considered when construction sequencing is to be deployed on a live construction  project.

1. The ability to have a true bi-directional synchronisation of data between the Gantt chart in Synchro and the master planning application such as Primavera, Asta Powerproject or Microsoft Project is key. It means that changes can be deployed in either Synchro or the planning application and both will be updated to ensure a consistent record of information is retainedt
2. The second and even more important benet is that the task links between actions is retained from the master planning tool and brought through into Synchro. Synchro can also generate these task links and they will be delivered back to the master planning tool when synchronised. This capability to retain links ensures the integrity of the critical path in the planning and scheduling process. In essence, the critical path drives the process so that related tasks cannot be moved out of sync to cause potential problems on site and the critical path is always kept dened.

In my experience, the first thing that Synchro’s construction sequencing capabilities brings to a project is clear communication. This means that not only is communication between the contractor’s team enhanced but also the contractor’s delivery intent to the client and other parties that are directly or indirectly involved.  The contractor’s team will be more able to communicate how they wish to deliver the project to all of the parties involved internally as well as the trades and contractors that will be on site for the duration of the project. It will help the contractorsto look for potential problems with clashes between the di€erent trades and so enable these issues to be mitigated in real time by adding new links or modifying links to the construction delivery programme. The construction sequence can also be used for day to day project meetings to inform project members what tasks will be happening, the areas where they will be working and any other issues that they need to be aware of that they may not necessarily be responsible for but may be impacted by. Another benefit is the ability to plan the site logistics – where the deliveries will be, when they will take place, how long each delivery and unloading of materials will take; all being coordinated with the rest of the programme in a visual manner preserving the integrity of the programme. We can look at where the site cabins, material laydown and storage areas are positioned and how these locations may need to change dependant on the activities that occur on site. This article was written by Steve Rudge, BIM consultant for Excitech Ltd. The full article can be read below:http://www.excitech.co.uk/resources/wp/4D_Construction_Sequencing_with_Synchro.pdf