Vico Office Constructability Manager™ is a critical part of the Vico Office integrated virtual construction workflow. Having a well-coordinated model drives more precise quantities, estimates, and schedules.  Much more than simple clash detection, Constructability Manager includes a proven workflow for organizing, prioritizing, and communicating constructability issues and RFIs.

 

Many might already be familiar with clash detection software on the market, so first, some definitions to help you distinguish the Vico Office Constructability Manager solution:

 

Clash Detection Settings	Dialog that allows the user to specify two selection sets that are compared against each other. Selection is specified based on element type and layer.
Clash	A detected collision between one element from selection set A and one element from selection set B. Constructability Manager detects "hard clashes:" intersecting elements.
Constructability Issue	A detected clash that has been recognized as a valid problem and classified as a Constructability Issue.  Multiple clashes can be grouped into one single Constructability Issue.
RFI	Request for Information. A recognized issue may require input from a project stakeholder; in this case, the Constructability Issue is escalated or "promoted" into an RFI, which can then be assigned to a team member.
Markup	"Redlining" and clouding a saved view for a clash, constructability issue or RFI along with an annotation, instructions, etc.
Element Type	One of the built-in types of BIM elements in Vico Office.  When models are activated, BIM elements are mapped to Vico Office element types.  This allows us to define Clash Detection Settings by one element type versus another element type; one BIM object against another BIM object.

 

 

 

Organizing BIM Models

 

BIM-Neutral Platform  

Users can combine models from various sources (architects, engineers, subcontractors, their own in-house modeling department, or their Vico Services Team) and run Constructability Analyses on them.  This allows all project stakeholders to contribute models using the platform that is most appropriate for their modeling needs (ArchiCAD, Revit, and Tekla are Publishers; and IFC files, CAD-Duct files, and sbxml can be Imported).

Model Management

Project teams can monitor the published model versions and activate newer model versions when this is desired.  Older model versions are organized by version number and can be re-activated if needed.  This ensures that everyone is working from the correct version and avoids time wasted searching for the latest model from which to work.

 

 

Intelligent (and Intuitive) Integrated Workflow

 

Clash Detection Settings

Defining Clash Detection Settings is a simple two-step process.  Users can define two geometry selection sets which will be compared to each other during the clash detection process. The combination of two sets of Layer and Element Type selections can be saved for future use.

Automatic Clash Detection

During the clash detection process, found clashes are added to the list of clashes in the Constructability Manager view. Each face of an element that collides with a face of another element is considered.  This point dramatically decreases the amount of found clashes and the amount of time to work through the clash list.

 

Promote Clashes to Constructability Issues
The BIM Manager or the team member in charge of Coordination Meetings can pre-process the found clashes so that a truly usable set of issues can be analyzed during the meeting. This step saves the team and especially the subcontractors from having to sift through the long list of found collisions. Clashes can be viewed and inspected using the isolate, auto-reveal, auto-zoom and dim view modes and subsequently be classified as Constructability Issues when follow-up is required.

 

Managing Constructability Issues

Together in the Coordination Meeting, teammates can review and handle Constructability Issues and (if needed) promote issues into RFIs. An "assignment" property allows for assigning Constructability Issues and RFIs to team members and for managing responsibility and follow-up for found problems.

 

Viewpoints and Markups

Users can save a viewpoint that presents the detected problem in the model from the vantage point that provides the most visual information. The saved view can then be used to add markup to allow for further explaining of the problem that was found. Viewpoints with markup can be associated with both Constructability Issues and RFIs, and can be included in Constructability and RFI reports.

 

 

Communicate Results

  

Reporting

• Constructability Issues and RFIs can be reported with the reporting engine. Attached images and viewpoints with markup can be included in the report view.

 

To learn more about Vico Office Constructability Manager and a better way to coordinate BIM models for more precise quantities, schedules, and estimates, please review these resources:

 

 

Webinar: Watch the debut of Constructability Manager on Fridays with Vico

Webinar: Learn how Constructability Manager creates a New Preconstruction Process

Web Page: Explore the differences between Clash Detection and Coordination

Blog: Rethinking 3D BIM Coordination

Blog: Coordination Resolution - 40% Faster than Traditional Clash Detection

 

Be sure to also read the Constructability Manager page and Frequently Asked Questions!