Using Autodesk Construction Cloud and Cadac Control for Water Authority Drents Overijsselse Delta

THOM DIRKS: Welcome back, where we're going to talk about using Autodesk Construction Cloud and color control for Water Authority Drents Overijsselse Delta, where myself, Thom Dirks, and my co-speaker, Ronald Huizinga, are going to talk about how Radio Delta used data validation within the Construction Cloud.

My name is Thom. Like I told, I got some experience with in BIM starting from AutoCAD to Revit. And from there on, at the end, I'm a BIM consultant at Cadac Group, where I do everything from BIM coordination and information management-- and help implement new tools and ways of work within companies.

RONALD HUIZINGA: Yeah. Hi, I'm Ronald. I have a bit of background on BIM on the contractor side. Currently, I'm working at Radio Delta Water Authority as a BIM manager. And there I am at the client side.

The majority of our land is nearly 7 meters below sea. As you can see, we're in the utmost north of Europe, and we got a lot of surrounding lands around it with a lot of different climates, a lot of different water that's going through our country to the sea. And with that, we see a lot of changes. We have a lot of problems with water, and that's something what Water Authority is doing. Right, Ronald?

Yeah, that's right, Thom, Because as the Netherlands are-- the majority of our land is 7 meters below sea level. So currently, a lot of effort is under way to reinforce all kinds of dikes within the Netherlands to cope with the rising sea level.

But also the extreme weather conditions results in even hotter summer periods with less water, and we have to maintain a lot of water during this really hot summer period. And also with the fall and with-- and even in spring this time, we had a lot of rain. So we had a lot of flooding risks also we had to cope with.

If you zoom into the little blue spot, we can see the Netherlands. And the Netherlands is divided into 21 water authorities, and they have two main purposes in life, actually. So one is water safety. So essentially keeping us dry feet. And the other one is clean surface water. So we have to clean the plumbing and the sewer water and put it back into nature.

If we zoom into our water authority, it's in the upper region. That's where I'm currently working on. And in the next slide, I'm going to show you a short summary and introduction of our Water Authority.

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Yeah. To summarize, we are both owner and operator of a lot of assets. And a lot of these assets are getting old or will have problems with meeting requirements in the near future. Therefore, a major effort is underway to renovate all kinds of projects. So we have multiple dike projects right now which are being extensively renovated and heightened.

But also we have one wastewater treatment that we are building almost from the ground up, and one is in the planning phase. Also, sometimes we build complete new weirs, from large to small. But mainly our focus is on renovation. So that pretty much sums it up.

If we look, where did we come from? And I will explain that with this timeline of the asset lifecycle. So you can see, plan, design, realize, and maintain. And on the other axis, you can see the BIM maturity. And in a moment, I will plot our organization on it. But we also have to cope with a lot of external factors.

So sustainability is a big issue. Our asset has to cope with that also, and we get some additional requirements surrounding water quality. And that's all above the climate change and all kinds of other challenges.

We plot our own organization on it. We can see that we internally have engineering as well as operate, where as we generally can see that the engineering division is somewhat more mature than our operate division. So it creates a gap. And that reflects also in the external commercial parties, where you can see more or less the same difference. But from my general experience, they are more mature.

And this creates, in turn, a big downgrade of data quality at handover because we get a lot of loss of-- if we have to start up a new project again, we have to do a lot of redo work, and because typically we do not have sufficient amounts of information about that asset. So this, in turn, creates an efficiency gap. And yeah, that's-- it's something we want to change.

So if we zoom into that situation, I will take you to our legacy more related to our application landscape. So we came from, more or less, AutoCAD workflow, where we worked on local drives. And that was not that long ago, and only had a document management system at our disposal.

On the other hand, we have here the contractors which generally have made a transition to BIM, especially the large ones. And they work already with full 3D, with Revit, with Inventor, with all kinds of BIM software, as well as they're working with Autodesk Construction Cloud or BIM 360. And also what we see is that they work in their own way. They have their own standards. And that creates, in turn, their differences between models from contractors.

So different models. So if we look at handover, we have the problems again because-- and then we experience the lack of uniformity. So that causes a lot of difficulty with the use of these BIM models. Also, we experienced a downgrade of information because we only received the exports.

Thirdly, we, most of the time, got an incomplete data set because we did not get or receive the native files. And if we did receive the native files, we had to store them on the local drive where they were not accessible and not viewable. So we could not-- the models were locked.

And also AutoCAD is-- yeah, to be frank, it's limited to-- limited use only. So we locked ourselves in for BIM workflow. And taking all these risks together, we created a big organizational risk. So to cope with this, and also to change this, we've introduced the Construction Cloud.

So with this introduction, we have managed to store the BIM models to our own environment. And a big part of that is also taking more measures in front. So when we are doing a new project, we're working on an information requirement. So this one is specifically for our water authority, but we are currently very busy of working towards a water authority standard.

So then we have a nationwide information requirement standard, which is applicable for every water authority. And this will be very important because, in that case, the contractors will have more guidelines to deliver a uniform BIM model. So this is a pretty important part that we are working on.

And we see already that, at the handover, we get the native files. We get the IFC files. So a more complete and higher quality of data. And with the Construction Cloud, we already have pretty broad functionality around it. So we can view the models. We can do a lot of things and create stuff with it.

So if we zoom into the Construction Cloud, it's divided into four divisions. So we have 16 water treatment environments. We have but one asset environment, one water system environment. So where a lot of assets, like where's our pumping stations are stored. For every large water safety project, we create a different environment because there are-- yeah, pretty large and complex projects on their own. And lastly, we have a separate environment for facility management.

But then comes the question, what about the data quality? Because a lot of these models are also legacy models. So we do not know the quality of it. And for new projects, we have to do data quality checks. And it's also part of-- this is one I strongly believe. "Reliable data is a cornerstone of informed decisions."

So if you do not have reliable data, you're limited in use. So, Thom, could you-- oh, actually, this one is for me. So this one explains the information requirements into more depth. So for those who are familiar with the ISO 19650, we'll recognize some terms. But if you're not familiar with it, it's no problem. I will take you right through it.

The main part is we have information requirements, and that's divided into a standardized requirements and also project-specific requirements. And if you take a look at our standardized requirements, where we want-- yeah, we want as much as possible standardized. So we want always fixed basic goals. So we want to do-- when we receive models, we always set up the things we want to do with them. Also, we describe a standardized process and make use of already-existing standards.

But then, if we look into project-specific stuff, we also have to provide-- or we have to fill in-- they have to fill in a kickoff form or a PEP. And we're setting-- sometimes we need additional calls for projects. If we have more complex projects where there's an additional information need, we will, for sure, get additional calls. But also, if we want to innovate, we will set up additional calls. Because the fixed basic calls are just the minimal-- the minimal bar of requirements in calls.

The exchange requirements, that's my least favorite, but still a big part of the quality. And also very important aspect is the legal ownership. So when we receive the BIM models, we want to be owner of the data because we are also owner of the asset. And no matter what the contractor is using, we want to store it on our own ACC environment, and preferable using Bridge because that saves a lot of time. So when possible, we are using that.

And then the IDS, the Information Delivery Specification, that are more requirements that are more detailed. So they focus more surrounding the BIM model. So we have some specific requirements for when you use Revit. Then we want some published settings checked. When you look at export instructions, we want certain checkboxes to get some data. The LOE I will explain momentarily. And yeah, lastly, some project-specific stuff. It's surrounding basepoints, but also dates of delivery.

So yeah. If you zoom into our basic goals, the yeah it's pretty basic. But we also always want to have insights and uniformity of a BIM model. So insight evolves, just during the project, to have some insight in the model. So we want to have access. Also, the model always should have material properties and enough information, like [INAUDIBLE] and that kind of information to do that.

But then arises the question, how to check all these requirements? So in order to check it, we have a standardized process. We ask for-- from the contractor. So they always have to do a multi-layered check on data, on duplicates, and on clashes. So correctness of the data, but also if it's filled in.

But then, if you cannot check it, you will not use it. And I'm a big believer also in that. And maybe, Thom, you can elaborate on how to do that

THOM DIRKS: Yes, And that's where Cadac control comes in. You see from Ronald that Radio Delta has a big issue with data, and not only their new projects, but as well the current assets and the new upcoming assets. So what does it do? What kind of control is a [INAUDIBLE] online solution where we can upload models-- doesn't really matter if it's Revit, DWG, or IFC. It works through Cadac control. And according your own validation rules, you will get your model back with a report with a summary.

And then you can say, it's good, it's according to specifications, agreed rules, and correct type of objects, or it is wrong according the specs, agreed rules, and correct type of objects. But what do we need for this one? Like I told you, we need a model and we need validation rule set. We need the solution, of course. And then the output, we get a summary of outputs in Excel, a PDF, or HTML.

But if we look further, we need something to validate on. And that's where, for basics, there's the Dutch Information Delivery Specifications, what is within the Netherlands is standard for all IFC and Revit models. It gives us some basic information guidelines. And next to that, we get two variations, the BIM-basis IDS infrastructure and the ILS design and engineering. And this all sponsored by DigiGo, where their basics are being put on.

And you see within commercial lines within Netherlands that this is being used on every project. And next to that, supporting documents are being developed and published. But if you look at circle that Ronald showed us, it's only a start because, Ronald, you told me that you use a lot more next to it.

RONALD HUIZINGA: Yeah, for sure. So the previous one was about existing standards and is more the context of what you should do, but we have made an addition. And that gives a more impression about how you should do it. So if we look into our level of information matrix, we ask, no matter what kind of object, every object should contain a certain amount of information. So that is the basic data. And every object should contain a naming, supplier, material, and quantification. So that is the basic.

From that, we scale up. Depending on the discipline, we ask some more parameters. So for instance, if we have some civil objects, we ask more parameters. To make sure that this is arranged for small projects, but for large projects also, we set, especially for small projects, a kickoff form, a kickoff meeting, and we fill in a kickoff form together. So we make sure that the projects understands what is the meaning and that they know how to implement our standard.

And for large projects, well, there are more complex workflows because there are generally more parties working together. So in that case, we are still asking a BIM execution plan so they can arrange how to make a quality BIM model. So how does this go in terms of validation rules, Thom?

THOM DIRKS: Yes, this is an example of the validation rules that we wrote for Radio Delta. And you see we can check on different stuff. We have one validation rule set for both IFC and Revit, and there we can check on naming convention, but as a bigger example, as well, on Revit category and IFC classes. In this case, we have fire rating. Everyone knows that one. And you see we check on walls, doors, and floor. And for IFC, we check on all IFC objects except for the annotation ones. And then we will check on if the parameter is being filled in.

We can choose ourselves what the severity is of that validation. So naming convention could be a high standard, and fire rating a lower one. But where do we check on? We check on the source on how it's written. So in this case, we want all our fire rating to be checked if it contains 20 minute fire resistance, or 30, or 60. You know where I'm going at. If it's not according to these rule sets, then it will be given as invalid, and you have to do it again. You have to change it.

So if I look at the information requirement circle, then we can already check procedural standards. We can check it next to a [INAUDIBLE] kickoff form, and we can check on the LOI/LOD quality requirements. But how does it work, then?

This is the solution. You see, I checked my alias. I upload a Revit or IFC model-- doesn't really matter. I check the validation rule sets. I fill in the project name, project number, and company name. And you can even fill in the address, zipcode, city where you're in or where the project is in, contact name. And we can output a PSF for support for your engineers. At the background, it will now start validating according to the validation rules that you have just seen. At the end, you get an email, and you can download the reports for JSON, HTML, Excel, and even somewhere where we at the moment.

And how does it look? This is an example of the summary. You see a validation score. You see how many objects you checked and on what level, we have checked. And if you want a bigger one, you can even see, on element IDs, what's wrong, what's good, and what needs to be changed. So with that, I think, for Ronald, we had the application requirements checked. We did the export instruction we could use, because it doesn't really matter. They can send in IFC or Revit.

But next to that, we see another problem that we can help Ronald with, as well. And that's the standardized project. In a traditional process of data control, we develop a model. We export it. Then you do your first internal quality control. Then we upload it, in our case, to Autodesk Construction Cloud. We need to consume it. We need to check it. We need to make some issues, and, as well. distribute the issues and update it.

So in the case of Ronald, it means he is the last line of defense on data quality. And we all know that there's always a back door to get through it without using the proper data quality. So what process did we develop? Still, we need to develop the model, but we can do upfront the quality control with the validation rule set that Radio Delta delivers or uses. Then we upload it to the Construction Cloud. We still can make our issues and distribute issues and updates, but now we can use the issue part for what's necessary-- not on data validation, but on optimizing the design.

So with that, we, as well, could check off the box on standardized process. But then there's a big one, I think, for Ronald. How do you help the guys with the underlying with base points? Because we base points is a terrible issue within every project.

RONALD HUIZINGA: Yeah, for sure. So we have covered the standardized process. So we can check, did the contractor take his part in data quality? Obviously, when we get a report back with a lot of issues left, then we will have to contact the contractor because-- yeah, there-- the BIM model should be better. So we have, definitely, also a responsibility in that.

And in regard to base points, especially when we look at the more complex water treatment facilities, we have set up an underlay with all kinds of-- with the 16 water treatments, and we provide a base point upfront before starting a project. So if a contractor is starting, we will give him this underlay, and he will get going with the right base point. And that gives us the ability to collect all the BIM models during time and create one BIM model of a water treatment facility. So that is the underlay with base points. And if we look to the summary, could you elaborate that, Thom?

THOM DIRKS: Yeah. And yeah, we did a validation that I showed you. And this is one of the validation summaries we received for a Revit model. You see, score isn't there yet, but it gives a good indication where we're going at and what do we check. You see how many checks we did and, more importantly, what anomalies we have been detected, and on what chapter.

So a big one, reference point 7.4. There's one anomaly, so we know there's something wrong with the reference point. And even-- you see, even with the underlays that Radio Delta send us there's something wrong with it, and we can check it.

But then you ask, how long did it take us? This took us 50 minutes to full check on a Revit model. And you should ask yourself, how long does it normally take you to do a full data validation on a Revit or IFC model within your software choice?

So with that, we did check a good amount of boxes, I think. But then the biggest one in my case, what I find really important to help with Radio Delta is storage. They already store it within the Construction Cloud. But let's be honest. What I want, and most of people want, is a fully-integrated workflow with automatic checking, and issue management, and collaboration with ACC on model checking.

So what does that mean for us and for Radio Delta in the future? So what's next? I think there's good plates or goods architecture at what you want to go to. Right, Ronald?

RONALD HUIZINGA: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Because in the future, we want to have a gatekeeper application before handover. So before the contractor will hand over a BIM model, we go through a check procedure, and we can check on the data quality. So this will, for sure, improve a lot of the quality issues we have. And we also will be able to check our legacy BIM models pretty efficiently.

And if we have the basic good-- so if we have a good foundation of data, we can combine it with the Esri environment, because a lot of our assets also make use of that kind of environments. So our water safety, but also water system, they heavily rely on Esri data. And if we combine this environment with also BIM models from the Autodesk Construction Cloud, we will have a lot more insight and will give, also, those departments good information to make informed decisions.

And lastly, I think if we have a good data quality, we can also use the BIM models for our maintenance. And that is one of our core business. So that will be very important for us also.

THOM DIRKS: That's something that we can already do, right, Ronald? This is an example of an S3 environment that Radio Delta already has and already uses, where we see a dike with a road on it on both 2D and 3D. And as you can see, it's on the Construction Cloud environment. And it is a lot of information within this objects, as well.

And some objects, we already see is missing data and other objects has amount of data. But as we said, it's a baseline. We don't know if the data is correct, if it's according the information requirements that Radio Delta has set up for us. And we still have some full control, as you can see, within the ACC.

But if we look further, this is where the asset management of Radio Delta ends up. That this is the S3 environment where we can see, hey, what issues are open, how is the model looking, what objects do we have, and what we are seeing. And as well, this will be the first object or first environment where the asset management team will look at-- and, as well, in the future, the project teams because we can add an amount of data sets. So with this, we still got a full control of our models, as well with all the PDFs and DWGs that are linked within this S3 environment.

So what's left? Where do we see opportunities? For us-- and I think for Ronald, as well-- it's automatic clash control when a model is uploaded, automatic pinpointed issues within ACC, and automatic review flow when it has a proper quality mark, and full integration with hard clashes within the model coordination and data clashes from Cadac control.

And that's where we almost at. As you see, Construction Cloud, we upload the validation rule set. We can select project phase-- in our case, final design. And from there, we can upload multiple models at the same time, and let it run and do the data validation for us.

And every time there's a new version of the model, it will rerun the data validation. So you still got your version control. But now we have achieved an automatic data validation. From here on, we can do new workflows to make sure that proper models are being used within model coordination, as well-- are being shared with subcontractors or within our own organization.

At the background, you see it's running. Jump status says started. And you see momentarily that the quality mark will be filled in, and that a summary in the form of PDF will be uploaded. So you can look what's good at the model or what needs to be updated. And all this, you see it's still running. I can tell you from my heart that it will take 10 minutes to read this full control again, depending, of course, on the size of the model. But everything is being done automatically. So at the end, it still saves a lot of time.

So conclusion. I think we checked a load of boxes.

RONALD HUIZINGA: Yeah, we definitely came a long way. So we're able to check a lot of boxes and also to check a lot of data. But still, I must admit, I think I'm one of the most annoying customers because I'm always pushing boundaries. So last week, they had some really good updates. They were proud of it, but I said, OK, that's good. But you really also should change this and that. And so I'm always asking for more functionality.

So I'm really looking forward to have the grouping of issues. So for now, if you check a model, you will get a lot of issues if the BIM model is not good enough. And we still have a lot of examples of that. So it will be very convenient to group all that issues into one combined topic. So also, a modeler will get good feedback on it and will be rapidly-- yeah, he can rapidly change the model, also, in order to comply with the standards.

THOM DIRKS: But still, you can still use a data validation, right?

RONALD HUIZINGA: Yeah. So nevertheless, besides the minor nitty-gritty pickings, I think Cadac control still has a lot of potential because it will save a lot of time. But also it allows us to check on the models more efficiency and more completely also. So do a check for every project.

THOM DIRKS: So then the big question, data validation, a tool that Radio Delta, in this case, will use for their data validation? I think we both say yes. Are we there yet? No, but we're going to get there. But as you can see, we can still do the checking. And now it's getting an upgrade on how to get it better, better looks, and better grouping, as well as get better information to the next party. But Ronald, what did that mean for you in your new timeline?

RONALD HUIZINGA: Yeah, well, if you could imagine, if we get a good gatekeeper, and we can check on the reliability of data, and we always get a certain amount of quality of the model, it will mean that we can make next step. So in # case, operate and maintain will have enough faith in the model and also in the quality. And they will use it in time.

Because if you have good data, you will use it. But if it's not reliable, yeah, then it just becomes another liability, actually. So a good way to check it will be crucial for this timeline. And that generates more efficiency, gives us a tool to make better decision making, and it stops the downgrade of information dead in its track. So back to you, Thom. Sorry.

THOM DIRKS: So data validation as a tool? Yes. When properly managed in both project and asset environment, it will prevent mistakes-- always proper data. We will optimize and speed up the process. We have always high-quality data anywhere, everywhere, and data at the center. From purchase to decommissioning, we have proper data. And we know it's validated.

So where do we see it in the process? At the moment with Radio Delta, we see two ways to use it-- let them do their own check first in Cadac control. So that means that the contractor or subcontractor, at every model, they will do the phone check and will send the summary to Ronald-- or to his colleagues, of course-- as well as the other one, that they receive a model and they do the first check. So they will be the gatekeeper. But it saves time one way or another. And then we have one left because if we got proper data within the ACC, data becomes an asset, right?

RONALD HUIZINGA: Yeah, for sure. So if we can harness the power of that data, it will-- and if the data is reliable and reusable, data will become an asset. I'm convinced of that. So with that statement, I think we're going to the Q&A. And actually, I think I want to start off with a question for you, Thom. What kind of-- Yeah, what did you think of our information requirements? And secondly, also, which part of our journey are you most proud of?

THOM DIRKS: I think you guys have a [INAUDIBLE] data set that you ask. And that's really good because more data means that you can make better decisions. Are you guys there yet? No, but I think that will be a good journey that we both have to follow because I see data validation for you guys as a real tool that you can use. And I think we are on the right track, but it will get better at the end. So thanks for the question there, Ronald.

If you guys want to know more about data control, about the story for Ronald, how he says everything, you can scan the QR code and we send you through it. And there's a good article, Ronald, right, that they've wrote with you, and about you, as well, and about the journey you took?

RONALD HUIZINGA: Yeah, for sure. But actually, you owe me the second part of the question. Also, which are the most proud of?

THOM DIRKS: That we manage it. It was a big validation rule set I had to rewrite with a lot of models I have to check. But at the end, I'm really happy that we accomplished that and that we had a lot of email contact or phone contact about, hey, this is good. This is wrong. Why is it wrong? How is it working? And as well as, oh, yeah, I now see my data being validated. So that's something that I'm really happy with that we accomplished that together.

RONALD HUIZINGA: And for me, I think we're working towards a common water authority information requirement. So that will be very powerful because we can put that much more clarity to the contractors because-- yeah, that is it, in essence. And also, I'm pretty proud of the validation score because that gives an overview of, OK, what is the state of the BIM model? So you get-- in one peak, you can see, OK, this model I have to prioritize because I have to contact the contractor, right? So yeah.

THOM DIRKS: Exactly. So thank you, Ronald, for the journey we took. And I think it will not end shortly. But thank you for your time, as well, and doing this with me. And this was our presentation about how Radio Delta uses Construction Cloud and Cadac control for the data validation. Thank you.

RONALD HUIZINGA: Yeah, thank you.