Quote:
“The Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA), in a tripartite project with the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning National Association (SMACNA) and the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), has published Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM – A Guide for Specialty Contractors.  Dubbed “the Guide”, the publication was conceived, developed, and published to help MEP contractors negotiate one of the most challenging issues in the modern construction industry: how to best reconcile and incorporate leading edge technologies and processes into their projects’ spatial coordination efforts.  Click here to get more information and download the Guide.

Lessons learned by early BIM adopters like MCAA BIM Committee Chairman Steve Shirley (University Mechanical & Engineering Contractors) and fellow members of MCAA’s BIM Committee members were combined to develop a set of best practices and proven, how-to information. The result is a guide that will help contractors better navigate this complex issue and make more informed business decisions about spatial coordination and BIM.  It will also serve as an educational resource for their employees who must act on those decisions.”
http://www.mcerf.org/news/2013/mcerf-funds-landmark-bim-publication

The purpose of this Guide is to:

  • Provide MEP contractors with a roadmap for implementing spatial coordination in their businesses;
  • Identify factors MEP contractors should consider when adopting BIM technologies;
  • Help MEP contractors align their spatial coordination processes with industry best practices;
  • Enable MEP contractors to critically evaluate emerging BIM and spatial coordination software solutions and select the solutions most suitable for their own work;
  • Promote collaborative and fair contract language; and
  • Increase MEP contractors’ profitability and reduce customers’ costs by implementing best practices that increase prefabrication, optimize systems installation, minimize or eliminate rework, shorten construction schedules, reduce waste, and produce a better result.

http://www.mcerf.org/initiatives/research/projects/mep-contractor-s-guide-spatial-coordination-process

Download at:
http://www.mcaa.org/mepguide/M29PDF.pdf

Authored by Dave Quigley:
www.linkedin.com/pub/dave-quigley/0/66a/856

Thanks to Cindy James for referring me to this document.

“on a building project that is made more efficient by VDC it is the subcontractors that have most to gain particularly when you also recognise that subcontract margins are up to seven times that of a head contractor. It makes sense really because it is the subcontractor that is actually doing the construction work.” 

Read more at https://twitter.com/Navisworks/status/428542311572987905