Why do different teams of designers and subcontractors link and share their models during the design process?
What are the advantages of linking models?
They link models because then when someone edits something on one model, the other is updated as well. It’s better to link the models rather than having them in one, so each discipline can keep their own copy with their specificities so they are liable for their own work and won’t accidentally get messed with.
Are there any disadvantages to linking models?
A disadvantage of linking models is that not everything comes over when it’s first linked, and you have to go and copy from the old into the new, and it can get confusing with two different level systems, etc.
How do you think design coordination was done before we started using digital models?
What advantages does doing this coordination digitally have over previous methods?
I think that it was done on large sheets of paper, specifically tracing paper. For instance, there could be base outlines of the buildings, then layers on it with the structural, architectural, plumbing, electrical, etc. all able to play off of each other however they want them to.
At what point in the project development process should design coordination start?
Is it ever too early?
I think that it should start after a discussion of where they need to go, what they need to include in their own model, and once they do the first try, then they should share it to build off of some common foundation that won’t change too much, or else it defeats the purpose to keep designing for something that keeps changing.