DebunkTheBIM

MAY 8, 2017

Sorry Graphisoft, I can’t get enthusiastic about your new stair tool.

ArchiCAD 91

ArchiCAD DOT Zoning US 91

Revit OpEd

MAY 12, 2013

It''s my first trip to NZ so I''m looking forward to it naturally! If NZ can''t be part of your plans. Today I am heading to Auckland, New Zealand to attend the Revit Technology Conference. On Tuesday night I''ll be hanging out with fellow American Aaron Maller in Christchurch at a local Revit User Group meeting.

Conference 49

Conference Revit Travel Budgeting 49

DebunkTheBIM

JULY 20, 2011

NZ could offer to do them over the phone. NZ will have them ‘walking and talking’ too. Digitise the country’s current building stock and make digital models mandatory for all new ones. Someone else has pioneered online building consents? Centralised school asset databases? Not this time? Next election in 3 years!

BIM 48

BIM Modeling Employment Documentation 48

DebunkTheBIM

MARCH 28, 2020

The day-counting in the title is per NZ lockdown. And it is weekend here, so not a lot of work from home probably going on. I know, that my focus on the elimination ‘the paper’ from construction can seem a bit over the top and pointless. Also a bit low-key for a ‘BIM expert’.

BIM 99

BIM Drawings IDEA Documentation 99

DebunkTheBIM

SEPTEMBER 2, 2013

There was an article in the NZ Herald a couple of days ago headed: “The Land Of Bad Milk and Fake Honey Britain''s Food Standards Agency has issued a nationwide warning about misleading and illegal claims made on the labels of manuka honey jars, in a worrying blow to the fast-growing Kiwi industry.

Claims 48

Claims Accounting Products Industrial 48

DebunkTheBIM

APRIL 10, 2020

The author of the closest number posted before the end of April (Midnight NZ time on the 30 th April) will win an A3 sized, hand made mosaic of their chosen portrait picture. Put the number down here in the comments. For examples, see here: [link] Do I believe, people will take on this game?

BIM 118

BIM Modeling Design Zoning 118

DebunkTheBIM

MARCH 10, 2011

True story: In NZ one could have a house built for an average of 2K NZ$/m2; Alternatively purchase a new car for 20K NZ$. The other that it will make their job easier. Neither is likely to happen, because the way QS estimates are REALLY done at present.

BIM 48

BIM Employment Estimating Housing 48

ENR Construction

MARCH 3, 2015

Hemmed in on the one side by the ocean shore and on the other by a major live rail line, the NZ$50m (US$37.5m) Ngauranga to Aotea Quay Upgrade is finally getting to grips with one of the nation’s most congested stretches of highway. Infrastructure'

Roads 28

Roads Engineering Infrastructure US 28

DebunkTheBIM

AUGUST 13, 2011

Only recently I learned where this little marketing ploy originated from, nowadays conveniently, these badges would colour-match beautifully with the Emirates Team NZ’s main sponsor’s trademark red. For a while I honestly thought that I could influence the NZ public and help. I now cringe at the naivety of the plan.

BIM 48

BIM IDEA Maine Plans 48

DebunkTheBIM

MARCH 23, 2011

I used to belong to the NZIA (NZ Institute of Architects) chatlist. Sorry guys in NZ – can’t put this message on the NZIA Chatlist; If you’d like to do this on my behalf, it would be appreciated. Eat your homemade sandwich. Protest against something. Not sure for how long, likely a decade. The relevance of this post to my BIM musings?

BIM 48

BIM 48

DebunkTheBIM

JULY 10, 2017

Later, from half a globe away, and a fully qualified MSc Construction and Architectural Engineer, I also found myself squirming a bit at the statistics, that showed, that the majority of female graduate Architects in NZ got registered with the Architectural Board decades after their male peers or even more likely, never.

Construction 62

Construction Industrial Discrimination Architecture 62

DebunkTheBIM

DECEMBER 19, 2013

In 2004 as an employee of the NZ distributer of the software, I personally organised a string of extremely well attended seminars held by David Sutherland, the director of FKA, (ref 05) designers of the Eureka Tower in Melbourne (ref 05) and celebrated power-users of ArchiCAD.

ArchiCAD 60

ArchiCAD BIM Software Software 60

DebunkTheBIM

DECEMBER 3, 2011

Thus, NZ as number one non-corrupt country in the World will have for public owners the MOST BIM friendly clients on the planet. So, if you want success in BIM, go to NZ! 2 comments: dJOLE December 3, 2011 6:51 AM Maybe true for NZ But. Picture: Thinkstock. at 5:58 AM. Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook.

BIM 50

BIM Modeling Insurance Management 50

DebunkTheBIM

OCTOBER 12, 2011

Someone I don’t always agree with, but this time an urge to distribute part of his opinion-peace published in the NZ SundayStarTimes hits me too hard – so I stop fighting and re-blog it. - writes Michael Laws, ex politician, ex mayor, current radio host and commentator.

Zoning 48

Zoning BIM Employment Innovation 48

DebunkTheBIM

AUGUST 30, 2011

Have you ever attempted to reconstruct anything from the disc you ‘carefully’ prepared or the roll of printouts that if laid out in a continuous strip could take me easily back to NZ? I know, I have written about this subject before. My life is a bore.

Documentation 48

Documentation Management Construction 48

DebunkTheBIM

JULY 21, 2011

Groceries have been distributed in NZ for the last decade through 2 main monopolies; we still feel that we have a choice of much more providers on offer. Look at the retail industry! They spend a lot of effort on maintaining the perception of choice even when there is no real alternative available.

Software 48

Software Software Retail Maine 48

DebunkTheBIM

MAY 25, 2011

Cadimage, the NZ Archicad-tool-developer is wisely catering for all tastes in their Doorbuilder. and indicate the opening of the door. The ‘opposition’ claims this to be misleading and wrong. The lines should connect the hinges with the door handle. Logical, of course! see picture).

ArchiCAD 48

ArchiCAD DOT Drawings Maine 48

DebunkTheBIM

OCTOBER 10, 2011

No one seems to be bothered by my debunking of the NZ BIM attempts anymore, so let me indulge in dedicating this little post to a large, muddy hole in Auckland, located not that far from some of the RWC’s happenings. Cherish these imperfections as gifts of those that made your building. They all left a piece of their sole in it.

Claims 48

Claims BIM Foundation Industrial 48

DebunkTheBIM

JANUARY 11, 2011

Take for example yesterday’s ramps: The NZ Building code is pretty specific what parameters an accessible ramp should have. The trick is in knowing what and where. How to separate the Mundane from what Matters? There are BIM tools that will allow objects to have built-in controls for these code specific parameters.

BIM 50

BIM Risk Industrial Products 50

DebunkTheBIM

APRIL 4, 2011

In my quests to accumulate enough CPD points annually to keep my registration going in NZ, I often attended NZIA gatherings. Something that would easily differentiate a Revit follower from a Vectorworks user, an Archicad fan from a GT enthusiast or Bentley buff. A colour, a piece of clothing, a haircut?

BIM 48

BIM ArchiCAD CAD Software 48

DebunkTheBIM

MARCH 7, 2011

A couple of years ago I was on the Board of Trustees of a NZ school. Am I alone in my thinking that there is something fundamentally wrong in having to perform ‘value engineering’ in the late design stages of creating-buildings? Reminds me of “reading recovery”.

BIM 48

BIM Claims Engineering Design 48

DebunkTheBIM

FEBRUARY 16, 2011

Designed in NZ). A decade later, my company documented a series of outlets for a retail chain providing (mid-range) clothing for children. These shops were located in the USA, ME, India, South Africa. Parallel to these, we worked on a top end designer shop also part of a chain, this time a highly luxurious (French) one.

BIM 48

BIM Banking Documentation Viewpoint 48

DebunkTheBIM

MAY 23, 2011

Then fate took me to NZ, where DG was unheard of, but it allowed me to purchase my first Flatcad. However, the first top mark on an exam I earned (within the first year) was for a subject I became attached to for life: Descriptive Geometry.

BIM 48

BIM Roads IDEA News 48

DebunkTheBIM

OCTOBER 9, 2011

McIntosh Timber Laminates, the company he joined, I came across about a decade ago (they have been around for much longer) – suppliers of glulam beams to NZ and the world. One of the 2 best model coordinators we ever had, he now calls himself a FIM, for Fabrication Information Manager.

Fabrication 48

Fabrication Structural Engineering Modeling Documentation 48

DebunkTheBIM

APRIL 30, 2011

I mostly skimmed over the collection of ‘BIM requirements’ that came across my desk recently despite of multiple attempts to thoroughly read through it.

BIM 48

BIM Consulting Maine Concrete 48

DebunkTheBIM

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

Maybe someone like Murdoch who has just delivered his native Australia a new Prime Minister, owns all the NZ papers and likes to shield the odd builder from scrutiny. But no, not even on the ‘odd stuff’ page of the ‘stuff news site’ could I get my press release published.

Spirit 68

Spirit Deals Site Budgeting 68

Natural Building

FEBRUARY 8, 2022

Lecture: Introduction to the design of load-bearing earth buildings in accordance with the NZ Earth Building Standards. Hands-on session: Demonstration of Adobe tile making, laying Adobe tiles, making different mixes for poured earth floors, work steps, finishing earthen floors with hardening oil and bee’s wax polish.

Materials 52

Materials Site Regulation Design 52

DebunkTheBIM

MARCH 9, 2011

To those that did read this through – I have a present – I uploaded a document describing a set of services my company used to provide when we operated in the VC/BIM field of NZ construction.

BIM 48

BIM Documentation Construction 48

DebunkTheBIM

OCTOBER 9, 2013

And as for your New Zealand counterparts, I’ve also checked: no news re Leighton’s ‘scandals’ in neither Stuff nor NZ Herald. Trace their backgrounds, if needed talk to their primary teachers, find patterns, identify trends… Do something real for once! Now, how weird is that? Or is it?'

Industrial 50

Industrial Travel Deals Budgeting 50

DebunkTheBIM

NOVEMBER 13, 2011

It’s been over 30 years since the deadly Erebus disaster killed 257 people of the Air NZ Flight TE901, yet the controversy is still ripe around what exactly happened on the 28 th November 1979, when the DC10 crashed into Mt Erebus on Ross Island, Antarctica. A pilot error.

BIM 48

BIM Modeling Accidents Autodesk 48

DebunkTheBIM

OCTOBER 7, 2012

To bookend the first story coming from New Zealand, here is the one about the truck: A couple of days ago a disqualified truck driver caused the closure of the Paekakariki Hill Road (a bit north from Wellington, NZ) after his truck got wedged under a pine tree.

Roads 54

Roads Consulting Drawings Design 54

DebunkTheBIM

SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

When we lost everything on that little adventure and accepted the failure I still hoped that the problem of under-appreciation of well-rounded BIMmers was just a NZ problem and went on a global job search. years ago as their BIM Manager.

BIM 50

BIM Management Roads IDEA 50

DebunkTheBIM

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

While living and driving in NZ, I was often amused when multi-worded instructions (like: slow down school) were written out in such sequence that the driver was supposed to read them from the bottom-up while for me a much more obvious way would have been the ‘normal’ way. “Way give stop” stuck with me forever.

Roads 48

Roads BIM Modeling Documentation 48

DebunkTheBIM

AUGUST 31, 2017

Even those that are not interested in my looks ex NZ – there may be some ideas that are interesting to see, in a video (let me repeat it) made over 8 years ago, so check it out.

BIM 48

BIM Modeling IDEA Industrial 48

DebunkTheBIM

DECEMBER 29, 2011

there has been a hugely successful campaign running for years in NZ by the Tui Brewery based on/around this saying – it became a ‘common phrase’ (may have been that before too, the ads definitely promoted its use in the common language); [link]. Still get invited to conferences, can’t be that bad a traitor.

BIM 48

BIM Conference Insurance Construction 48

Construction Test

MAY 13, 2020

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appears sympathetic but indicated the welcome mat might only roll out initially for Australian residents with families in NZ, and who would be prepared to endure a two-week quarantine. In Europe, optimism is in short supply in the tourism sector.

Travel 26

Travel Union Statistics Deals 26

DebunkTheBIM

SEPTEMBER 22, 2013

If anyone drew my attention to that paragraph before I signed the contract my thinking would have been in the line of: This is a serious company, with an HR department that on its own is bigger than most average companies operating in NZ, if the HR director personally recommends someone to the board, following due processes of reference checking and (..)

Contract 58

Contract Claims Employment Leases 58