“Errors can be found and rectified at an early stage”

Rapperswil, November 10, 2022 / Interview: Simon Zaugg Christoph, the integration of bimspot into smino is in full swing.
What are the features that will be integrated into smino first?

Christoph Degendorfer (CD): The model check of the BIM models.
The model check is central to ensuring the quality of the models and will initially consist of a general quality check and a collision check. What does this mean in concrete terms?CD: Visual inspection of BIM models is already possible today using the smino Viewer.
The customer can superimpose several files, for example the building services engineer can superimpose his BIM model over that of the electrician.
They can visually check for discrepancies or compare older and newer versions of the building model.
This is an essential part of quality control, but has the disadvantage that it is time-consuming and can rarely be carried out in full.
This is why automatic model checks in the form of collision and quality checks have been added as a supplement.
The models are searched for errors based on rules.
For example, a geometric overlap between an electrical fuse box and a sanitary pipe is detected when two models are superimposed.
smino recognizes this error and automatically creates a task with all the details.
A list is created with all the problems that were found and the customer receives a clear list.
This list can then be validated and prioritized.
The list of errors is then made available to the model creator.
The latter can edit the errors directly in the modeling program.
This allows errors to be found and rectified at an early stage in the planning process. This means that until now, the project manager or another responsible person had to recognize possible collisions by eye on the plans.
The new functions take this work off his hands.
And the list is automated.

CD: That is correct.
She or he can carry out this collision and quality check at the touch of a button.
Of course, technical expertise is still required to verify the error messages.
For example, if the software reports a collision that is not actually a problem.
These messages can be classified as relevant or irrelevant so that, if necessary, a collision message is automatically ignored in the further course of the same project.
This contributes enormously to quality assurance and saves a lot of time.CD: In our case, we use a rule-based quality check – based on use cases that define the rule set and check algorithms used.
We combine various tests to ensure that the results are as complete as possible.
We use technology developed in-house, such as for testing component properties.
However, we have also integrated third-party software.
We have a partnership with the Solibri testing software, which enables very in-depth testing.
We combine these approaches in smino and thus enable largely automatic execution.
This means that the model quality is not only checked manually from time to time, but is also up-to-date and transparent for everyone involved in the process.
Even for team members who do not yet have in-depth BIM expertise.
The aim is to make it increasingly easy for the client to order a BIM project on the basis of BIM use cases and for the planners and contractors to create and collate the necessary information correctly and on time.
The international non-profit organization Building Smart plays a very important role here in defining these BIM use cases and making them publicly available.
These use cases then provide the framework for creating and developing a BIM project on smino.