How BAM International Makes Complex Projects Simple with Cloud-based Construction Management

Royal BAM International - a subsidiary of Royal BAM Group nv - is responsible for contracting activities outside Europe and has had a presence in the Middle East since the 1970s. Recognising the need for simpler workflows and effective cloud-based construction data management, BAM deployed BIM 360 within Autodesk Construction Cloud™ on the iconic Yas Bay Arena project in Abu Dhabi. By digitalising construction processes with BIM 360, BAM International improved efficiencies, increased quality, and shortened project timelines.

A Complex Multidisciplinary Construction Project Calls for Streamlined Data Management

Royal BAM International (BAM) began construction on the Yas Bay Arena Project in Abu Dhabi in December 2017. The project site sits on a marine waterfront, close to pre-existing developments and infrastructure, and was complicated by the site’s exposure to fierce gusts of wind off the sea, a lack of shielding from surrounding buildings, an extremely tight schedule, and the demands of an extraordinarily complex design concept.

The construction team looked to its vision, “We make it before we make it,” to build the project virtually before construction so they could integrate all design, construction, and facility management information into one centralised platform.

Knowing this iconic design required ambitious construction planning, the group turned to Autodesk Consulting to implement solution-driven workflows that could highlight and manage field quality issues while also identifying their root causes.

Improving Collaboration with Construction Document Management

BIM 360’s cloud-based management platform makes it easy for all stakeholders to access information across the project lifecycle and supply chain. But to take advantage of its construction productivity benefits, BAM had to implement it quickly in advance of project inception. The BAM project team led the process to improve BIM 360 in the field through a planned, detailed project data breakdown structure with locations, zones, inspection checklists, specifications, drawings, and equipment.

One essential improvement was digitalising the paper-based work inspection request (WIR) and proactive site observation report (SOR) processes and optimizing the workflow with BIM 360. Following the success of using checklists for construction quality inspections, BAM added checklists for environmental inspections and on-site plant and machinery tracking.

“Our main target is to implement digital and dynamic processes to leverage the power of collaboration between project stakeholders and extend the use of BIM to support high-quality construction.”

– Ahmed Kassib, BIM Manager

How Construction Data Management Provided Proof of Business Case

Using BIM 360 on the Yas Bay Arena project yielded major benefits for BAM, and they are carrying that success forward into future projects.

BIM 360 transitioned quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) inspectors to a digital platform for filling checklists and documentation, saving employees valuable time. Traditionally, it took the BAM construction team on average 45 minutes per work inspection. With BIM 360, work inspections now take on average 23.5 minutes per inspection, resulting in a 48 percent time savings. As WIRs are conducted throughout the construction process, BAM is looking to save an incredible amount of time on the overall project.

Another benefit realised is how quickly dashboards from BIM 360 can highlight the root causes of issues across the whole project.

“Technology is transforming the way buildings and infrastructure are designed, constructed and operated. At BAM International, we have made a good start on our digital journey, and we need to keep moving to stay ahead of the industry.”