The impact of modifications to BIM environment tools on reducing the time required for developing drawing documentation in architectural design

This article explores the impact of changes to the tools used in Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology on the efficiency of creating technical drawings in residential building projects. The study analyses how modifications to these utilities affect the time requisite to produce architectural documentation. The authors focused on the most commonly used BIM tools for this purpose. BIM technology significantly accelerates the construction industry’s creation of project documentation. Owing to its integrated structure, BIM software has the potential to improve further the tools used for specific design tasks. Three residential building projects with similar components were developed to identify the benefits of the proposed improvements. Virtual building models and their documentation were created using computer scripts that simulated work in two versions of the BIM environment: the default and customized. This method excluded delays and ensured the achievement of objective results. The time demanded to complete the drawing documentation for a single-family house in the customized BIM environment was 49.87% shorter; for a multi-family building, it was 36.54% shorter; and for a building complex, it was 79.74% shorter. To compare the benefits derived from the changes against the time invested in modifications, experienced BIM users were tasked to model one of the projects, and their work time was measured. The outcomes were then averaged and juxtaposed with the time obtained by the computer, establishing a ratio between human and computer performance. The results also accounted for the time entailed to implement changes in the BIM environment, allowing an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of these modifications. In the cases studied, customizing the BIM environment proved advantageous for buildings accommodating a surface area of 600 m2. Such a substantial modification process is typically required only once, with subsequent projects benefiting from the already-developed environment, leading to further time and cost savings. The results confirm that it is worthwhile to customize BIM tools and cultivate more profound software knowledge. The method described is one of the few that precisely demonstrates the tangible benefits of using BIM technology.