How Accessibility, Clearance, and Data Validation Checks unlock project wins with BIM

When people talk about use cases for building information modeling (BIM), one application almost always comes up: clash detection. And this constructibility check certainly delivers value. It spatially coordinates the project in the virtual realm to make sure nothing physically collides with anything else. This gives teams a way to meaningfully reduce rework and change orders. 

The problem, though, is that industry professionals can have near-tunnel vision here. BIM has usefulness well beyond clash detection. By focusing primarily on this check, teams miss out on valuable opportunities to drive further project wins. 

That, then, raises the question: how else can teams leverage the model to design and build better projects? Here are three additional BIM-enabled checks that can unlock success. 

Accessibility checks

Buildings need to function for all occupants and visitors. That includes people who use wheelchairs, walkers, or other accommodative devices. 

Ideally, designers operate with the locally applicable accessibility standards in mind. Still, as stakeholders bring their contributions to the table, issues can arise. To accommodate a larger mechanical system, for example, someone might shorten the length of a ramp on a shop drawing. 

Fortunately, when the project is planned with BIM, accessibility checks can catch potential issues here. These checks guide the design team, flagging anything that doesn’t comply with inclusive building design. Then, as mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) contractors contribute to the model, this kind of check continues to call attention to potential clashes. 

When the appropriate guideline is built into the BIM checking software, it can automatically look for any potential infringement on:

• Wheelchair turning radiuses
• Ramp requirements (slope, width, landings)
• Stair requirements (riser height, tread depth, handrails)
• Door dimensions and clearances
• Accessibility routes
• Restroom requirements

Better yet, strong accessibility check software allows users to adjust rules in alignment with occupant/visitor needs. 

Accessibility checks make it easier for teams to design and construct projects that serve anyone who enters it. 

Clearance checks

Clash detection specifically looks for the intersection of two solids. But just because two objects don’t overlap doesn’t mean the space is functional. 

Consider a serviceable system that’s tucked up against a wall too closely for a human to access it. Not catching this kind of clearance issue until the project is complete means rework. That can take a hefty toll on the project’s budget, schedule, client schedule, and even the firm’s reputation. 

To solve for this, teams can deploy clearance checks, also called freespace checks. Wielding this tool in BIM means looking for the absence or presence of objects relative to each other. It gives stakeholders a way to ensure things are sufficiently far apart to be functional, or close enough to one another to meet users’ needs. 

Clearance detection, then, gives teams a way to create safer, easier-to-maintain spaces. It can make it simpler to build high-functioning mechanical rooms in which maintenance personnel have the access and space they need. It can ensure that corridors have enough clearance for emergency evacuations.  

Clearance checks can be tailored to the project’s unique requirements, too. If a hospital needs set clear space to ensure machinery and hospital beds can maneuver, those parameters can be set. 

Users have the opportunity to build the project’s needs into their clearance check processes. They can define target elements and set spatial boxes around them. Then, the model checking software automatically scans the entire project for any potential conflicts. 

Data validation checks 

Also called a property check, this process verifies that model elements align with the project’s data standards. Specifically, it allows users to check elements against any standards for:

• Accuracy
• Consistency
• Compliance

As the data saying goes, “Garbage in, garbage out.” That’s as true of BIM as any other data application. When the data in the model isn’t reliable, it results in a faulty tool. Trying to run clash detection, accessibility checks, or freespace checks becomes an exercise in futility. 

As firms expand their BIM maturity, bad data in the model can have ripple-out effects. If the firm employs 4D BIM for scheduling, 5D BIM for project costing, or 6D BIM for sustainability efforts, problems in the model can prevent teams from reaching their sequencing, budget, or environmental impact goals. The issues expand if the owner uses the model for a digital twin or operations and maintenance. 

This is all particularly troublesome because interoperability has long been a challenge for BIM users. If the modeling software used by, say, the electrical contractor doesn’t play nicely with the GC’s authoring platform, it could potentially introduce inaccuracies. 

Data validation checks give stakeholders an automated way to look for potential problems. Better yet, leading-edge BIM technologies provide a platform-agnostic solution. Today, users can operate in a browser-based environment to perform property checks. This prevents the need to toggle back and forth between platforms, which can create data integrity issues. 

An easier and more effective property check means a more reliable model. As a result, this validation process builds user trust in both the model and any BIM processes for which it’s used. 

That makes the model useful for not just the checks we’ve outlined here, but for other applications, too. With an accurate, consistent model, teams can perform automated material takeoffs, for example. 

Unlocking project wins with BIM

Building information modeling allows teams to catch and address issues when they’re still in the virtual realm — and, consequently, much faster, cheaper, and easier to fix. 

That doesn’t only encompass the collision of two solids, although clash detection is absolutely a useful tool. By allowing stakeholders to check for compliance with accessibility standards, the model helps teams build more inclusive spaces for everyone. With freespace checks, BIM-verified buildings become safer and easier to maintain. And with data validation checks, everyone using the model can have a high level of confidence it will deliver these wins. 

If performing all of these checks seamlessly sounds appealing, deploy Solibri. Solibri offers various solutions for BIM quality assurance. That includes Solibri CheckPoint to get you started quickly and easily on all the essential checks, and Solibri Office, an advanced rule-based solution for more specific use cases like accessibility, fire safety, and more. Plus, Solibri integrates with Autodesk Construction Cloud, BIM 360, and other platforms to make it easy to track and resolve any clashes that do come up. 

To learn more about Solibri, get in touch with our team today. We’re here to help you explore how using accessibility, clearance, and data validation checks can help you drive project success.