I recently had a conversation with an Autodesk BIM PRoduct Manager about BIM and they expressed a desire to have the industry define the Level of Detail (LOD) that goes into a model by the specific trades. He expressed that who does what, when and to what level is still not fully defined as an industry standard.
This conversation has been going on for some time.
He said he thought it might come down to a level of trust. That disciplines will not or cannot trust the data in a model provided by others. I share that concern.
Is it time to start trusting out design partners? or is it that each discipline defines the model data at a level the serves their purpose. Is this just the same grand argument that has haunted CAD forever… that each discipline put into the design files/model what they need to have included to get their job done. They are not going to do other disciplines/firms work.
This has been evident in CAD for a long time. No one wants to add a line or layer to make another persons job easier. They will do when pushed, but not without it defined somewhere in a standard or project guideline.
Can we get past this? Can each discipline understand at the uber collaboration level that they are all in it together. Some firms do this, but not all. Let’s keep the design flow in tact and continue to seek the grand vision of BIM – one model from design inception to construction completion and on to owner/operator use.