Model-based collaboration
The problem it solves
Section titled “The problem it solves”In the traditional way of working everyone works on their own machine and sends files. Three problems follow:
- Version clash: which state each person is working from.
- Delay: by the time the file arrives it is out of date.
- Untraceability: nobody knows what changed and when.
The common data environment
Section titled “The common data environment”The answer is for the current state of the project to sit in one place, accessible to everyone, with changes logged.
That does not necessarily mean a single shared model: each discipline may keep its own model, but they are accessible in a common space, always in the current state.
On larger projects this live, shared model replaces file versions sent around by email.
What to fix at the start
Section titled “What to fix at the start”Who edits what
Section titled “Who edits what”One group of elements should have one owner.
When the shared state is updated
Section titled “When the shared state is updated”Daily or weekly — but predictable.
How change is marked
Section titled “How change is marked”What changed, why, whom it affects.
What format is exchanged
Section titled “What format is exchanged”Native models within a discipline, IFC between disciplines. IFC and data exchange.
What counts as the official state
Section titled “What counts as the official state”Which version can be referred to.
What it does not solve
Section titled “What it does not solve”The absence of decisions
Section titled “The absence of decisions”If there is no decision, the model stays empty at that point too.
Communication
Section titled “Communication”The model shows the state but does not explain it. Coordination is still a conversation.
Liability
Section titled “Liability”A drawing in a shared space still belongs to somebody.
What is particular to an LGS project
Section titled “What is particular to an LGS project”Here the model is not only a coordination tool but a manufacturing input. So closing the shared state matters particularly: manufacture starts from a specific, fixed state, and after that change costs money. Coordination between disciplines.
The point
Section titled “The point”A common data environment is not a technological luxury but the prevention of version errors. Most “but I had a different version” problems end here.