4D BIM A Boon for General Contractors

In the AEC industry, the completion in due time and cost of the projects is the sole purpose of general contractors, also called prime contractors in the UK. In most cases, general contractors (principal contractors) act as project managers. Some of its most important responsibilities include the study of specific project documents prepared by the architectural practice permit application sites and regional licenses, the study of the estimated site daily project costs , time and tracking schedules, and as part of various disciplines, composed of experts in mechanical services, electrical and plumbing.


Since general contractors (principal contractors) take the ultimate risk for the timely completion of the projects, they benefit from greater predictability and implementation on time. Although the modeling of 3D building information (BIM) concept has been widely accepted by the general contractors (principal contractors) worldwide, few of them realized the benefits of adding 4D schedule for BIM models . 4D BIM also sometimes called the modeling based on the simulation, plays a key role in planning the construction, helping entrepreneurs and project teams related to evaluate the impact of design features on the construction and workflow schedule .

4D modeling, a software application BIM Revit is bidirectional linked to a project management application like Microsoft Project to track the progress of the project. Alternatively, BIM 3D models created using Autodesk Revit are combined with Autodesk Navisworks TimeLiner tool to create 4D simulations of processes and building blocks provided.

For general contractors (prime contractors), 4D models can help to create a virtual model of the entire design of the building system, identify clashes based workflow and manage the hardware chain supply staff work required on site.

Virtual models, also known as sequence simulations, can help entrepreneurs to communicate highly complex process for the whole team, improving productivity on site. Consequently, projects are implemented on time. In short, the simulation of several sequences vis-à-vis building their schedule allows general contractors (principal contractors) to make quick decisions, efficient and informed. This advantage and greater predictability offered by 4D modeling results on time and completing the project profitable decision.