A BIM Template for Construction Site Planning

Building Information Modelling is gradually becoming the standard method for building design all over the world. Its rapid development is visible not only in the many researches carried on it but also in the several standards released in different countries. The spread of the method implied continuous software improvements with the aim to comply as much as possible different design needs. Nevertheless, an insufficiency of tools specifically developed for construction site planning is still detectable among BIM panorama. The principal aim of the presented research is then to develop BIM use for making more efficient construction site design. Having defined, in an early report, the structure and the contents of the postulated Construction Site Information Model, the research goes on by customizing the available tools in order to fit the needs of a construction site designer. One of these tools is a predetermined template, useful as a starting point for the design, as it is for other design disciplines. The aim is to have at disposal, since the beginning of the project, a model completed of a series of elements, parameters, visualization tools and many other issues able to satisfy the needs of construction site design in term of information contents, level of detail and model efficiency. A step-by-step procedure is also provided to assure the correct use and guarantee the completeness of the model. In particular the research steps has been the following: (i) analysis of some software to evaluate the chances of customizing templates; (ii) creation of the template according to the defined contents and aims of the Construction Site Model; (iii) test and improvement of the tool in a project simulator specifically created for the purpose; (iv) practice in real case study and evaluation about its operation. The case study permits to evaluate how this tool make more efficient site designer task in term of time spent and mistakes avoided.