Completion and Turn-in

Having finished all the models, takeoff, and documents required; I feel comfortable enough to turn it in. It has been a long semester, but well worth the effort, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

While the basis of the thesis was enjoyable, the true potential of it really came about in the additional work. Looking into all of the additional software and programs that can be used to manipulate the model show the extent that BIM could have.

Final Presentations are next week in which I will try to throw something extra in for more of a visual aid. Even so, I am content with the amount I have put in and the work I have achieved thus far.

Website and Finishes

Using Wix.com I found a very fast and professional Flash hosting website to make an official "Site" for my Thesis. I'll link all documents and additional work to that page and try to update it until December. You can check it out here.

Most of the misc documents progressed rather quickly. This week will mostly pertain to creating video walkthroughs, modeling the complete MEP of my building, and closing out most of the work to be graded. Then comes additional software/tech to play with

CPM & Misc. Docs

After QTO and Pricing was finished out we had to tackle a Project Schedule. With so many items to place, I tried to keep it at a vague consistency. In addition to creating a schedule, we were required to cost-load each item. This led to the creation of the CPM.

It took at least a good few days to gather everything together and establish exactly what we were suppose to do. After much deliberation and looking back at previous class notes, we were able to finally understand how it worked.

Once we had an understanding, we proceeded with the schedule of values and pay request application. Luckily, the SOV number matched up perfectly with my CPM numbers, showing I evenly spread everything to the cent. With those knocked out, our next big project to tackle will be the project phasing of the model in Navisworks. I anticipate quite the struggle with that item.

We have 11 and a half days or so before Thesis is due. This should be plenty of time to knock out a rough MEP scope, Time Log of Work on the Thesis, Safety Plan, and Structural Assessment. Our plan is to knock out all of this by Friday, giving plenty of time to organize, provide additional work, and close everything out.

Closing out QTO/Pricing

QTO proved useful in organzing quantites, making some sections relatively simple to takeoff. Pricing took the longest, as we still had to use the traditional Means book method of looking up labor/mat/equip and applying burden. All that is left is throwing in the recap sheet.

As the due date approaches I took a glance at the Table of Contents and realized there is still a few more items of note to get through. Site Safety plan, phasing plan, and the structural assessment seem like they may take longer than I expect.

I have been able to devise an organizational method for the material though, using a single spreadsheet to navigate to each item on the list with the click of a button. I've already applied this method to my QTO/Pricing, and figure it would work just as well for a general project table of contents.

We still have about 2 and half weeks to finish up any work we have left, which should allow us to finish on schedule.

T/O & Pricing

Autdoesk QTO, while useful for organization and extracting quantities easily, is not very efficient for pricing. There are so many variables with equipment and labor crews, that the traditional method of pricing is being used.

Divison 2 is basically finished, with a few minor edits still required in pricing. I am now moving on to Division 3 for QTO and a by-hand comparison. Hopefully I will be finished with QTO&Pricing by the week's end.

I went back and modeled a bit of my rebar for the structural model, to both experience the feature and use for my comparison.

Div 2 - Earthworks

Stepping out of Autocad, I'm having to go into Earthworks to generate site takeoff for Divison 2. Cutting out a certain section of my site, I've concentrated on the South-East HQ building for my project. Part of the reason in choosing this is the Chiller Pad inclusion for additional work, possibly in modeling the full HVAC system chiller pump.

Autodesk QTO

After completion of a clash detection report and model merge in Navisworks, I am currently figuring out Autodesk QTO. It will take some time to manipulate and figure out, but it essentially allows me to drop item quantities taken from the model and put them into assigned Divisions. While not everything is included I can bring in PDFs of floor plans if I need additional linear footage items not modeled.

This will be taking a large amount of time to figure and place correctly, so I imagine I will be doing multiple extra tasks in addition to this work as the due date closes in.