The synergy of BIM technologies and 3D laser scanning

Design technologies have been steadily developing throughout the entire period of their existence. Currently, the crown of design technology is BIM (Building Information Model) or TIM (Information Modeling Technology), if you localize the name of the technology. Inseparably with the design, the methods of pre-design work, in particular measurement work, were improved.
The growing popularity of visual representation of an object in the digital space has spurred the progress and optimization of scanning technologies.
As a special case of the above-described technology, 3D laser scanning of buildings and structures using high-precision equipment acts. This scanning method has proven itself at the Prokopiev Mining and Design Institute due to the flexibility of the process and the maximum accuracy of the data obtained: the maximum error values are predetermined by the presence of distorting environmental factors, but do not exceed four millimeters.

Fig. 1. The result of the measurement inside the processed point cloud.

The flexibility of the technology allows the use of 3D laser scanning not only for measurement work, but also for supervision of the construction of the designed object, as well as to identify geometric deviations of load-bearing structures.

In practice, most BIM modeling products have in their standard tools the ability to integrate a point cloud into a project - the result of a 3D laser scanning procedure.

The use of 3D laser scanning complements BIM design technology, providing the BIM manager with reliable measurements of an existing facility to build a reliable BIM model.

Of course, creating a reliable BIM model of an existing facility is a laborious process, but it pays off completely at the construction stage, since it allows you to level out collisions of adjacent sections of documentation, reducing the risk of the human factor to minimum values.

Fig. 2. Identification of a collision when connecting BIM models of adjacent departments.

The BIM model created using 3D laser scanning technology has the same properties as the one created during the initial design, this allows the customer to further develop the BIM concept, expanding design capabilities.
BIM technologies form an automated work environment, through which clear interaction is carried out not only between departments and engineers, but also a Customer-Design Institute, Customer-Design Institute-Construction organization relationship is formed.
The main advantage of BIM technology is the ability to reduce construction and operation costs, reduce the number of errors in project documentation, shorten the project implementation time, and improve the work of related departments.
The BIM concept implies a description of the entire life cycle of an object, from the moment of design to the moment of decommissioning, but so far this depth of the BIM model is used only in theory. This theory implies the presence of so-called "dimensions", derived from the English dimension. In addition to the world-famous 2D and 3D space measurements, BIM complements itself with its own measurements up to 7D.
These measurements include: 

• 4D (fourth dimension) – time, which complements the model with information about the timing of construction and installation works;
• 5D (fifth dimension) – financial component, contains estimated information for each element of the object. You can see how much materials will be required, how much it costs, who is responsible for it and at what stage is the execution;
• 6D (sixth dimension) monitoring, up-to-date information about the construction result. In this case, a digital double of the erected object is obtained;
• 7D (seventh dimension) operation, contains information about operation and information about which equipment, when and how to be serviced with detailed instructions and operational documentation.

Summing up, we can say that the use of 3D laser scanning and BIM design technologies, both joint and separate, allows us to bring design and construction to a new level.