IDM for the Conceptual Evaluation Process of Industrialized Timber Projects

Interest in industrialized timber construction systems, in particular light-frame systems, has increased worldwide due to its various benefits. However, it is very important for projects executed under the off-site construction system to consider the different manufacture and assembly requirements in their design, following the design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA) concept. It is fundamental that these requirements and assumptions for manufacture and assembly be considered in a conceptual evaluation during the early stages of the project, as these have an impact on stakeholder decision making, detailed design, production, and sourcing strategies. To accomplish this, the use of building information modeling (BIM) has simplified the different processes and tasks required in the development of these projects, in addition to the synergy between both methodologies. However, it is vital to be clear about the information requirements of each process to properly use the BIM methodology. This paper presents the proposal of a BIM standard, the information delivery manual (IDM), which identifies the associated process map and the information parameters required for early evaluation, which were validated with local prefabrication companies as well as compared to the property sets present in the IFC standard.