Technology has revolutionised the world of construction design and engineering. It’s now so much easier to create a mechanical and electrical building design and to determine and assemble all the parts, connectors, and other manufacturer-specific content required to construct it using advanced BIM software. However, there is one significant obstacle when it comes to errors and that’s the quality of the M&E calculations. But why?
Using BIM software gives engineers confidence that all the assembled content will work together, eliminating any potential issues with incompatibility or clashes. By utilising a specialist MEP BIM solution that keeps up with changing manufacturer specifications, engineers can produce constructible M&E designs.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the MEP calculations.
Why We Need MEP Software Calculation Standards
The accuracy of M&E calculations is just as important as the compatibility of the design components and the origin of the data. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to know if the calculations used are correct or not, or even how they were achieved.
With so many downstream processes relying on these calculations, M&E designers and engineers are compelled to take extra steps to ensure they are precise and true to form. Pipe work sizing, for example, is derived from a complex computational result based on a series of nested variables, including flow, velocity, losses in straight and contiguous pipe runs, and individual fittings — each requiring its own calculation. If any one of these calculations is off, the result is flawed.
To confirm calculation accuracy, designers often re-do the calculations or use a trusted third-party software package —and this validation step must be repeated every time the model is revised or updated.
Not only are these steps time-consuming, but why should you have to prove that BIM software does what it says it does?
Calculation standards refined thanks to CIBSE’s pioneering Software Verification Assessment program
A few years ago the engineers at CIBSE’s Society of Digital Engineers (SDE) took on the task of putting a full stop to this inefficient approach. Along with the MEP team from Trimble, they developed a software verification assessment methodology that can reliably test whether MEP BIM software calculations are correct and in accordance with CIBSE guidance.
If a software package successfully meets the requirements of this independent verification assessment, it becomes certified by CIBSE and receives a software verification assessment (SVA) logo.
So when engineers use BIM software that displays the SVA logo, they can trust that the MEP calculations are correct and up to current standards. There’s no more checking and rechecking, meaning that redesign and rework, as well as project risk, are all reduced. Engineers can produce accurate M&E designs within shorter timeframes, increasing their overall productivity and efficiency.
Trimble: First in the industry to achieve CIBSE verification for accurate MEP BIM calculations
Trimble has long been synonymous with compliant BIM calculation services and we are proud to be leading the industry by being the only software vendor to have both M&E calculations verified by CIBSE. These include:
- Stabicad for Revit – Air systems
- Stabicad for Revit – Heating & cooling water systems
- Stabicad for Revit – Domestic water systems
- Stabicad for Revit – Domestic water systems BS EN 806
- Stabicad for Revit – Domestic water systems BS 8558
- Stabicad for Revit – Drainage systems
- Stabicad for Revit and ProDesign – Electrical demand
- Stabicad for Revit and ProDesign – Electrical Systems: Cable Sizing
- Stabicad for Revit and ProDesign – Electrical Systems: Protective Devices
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See how Stabicad’s CIBSE verified calculations has helped G&H Group see an impressive transformation in their MEP design workflows.
Or find out more about Stabicad and ProDesign.
G&H Group streamlines MEP design with Trimble’s Stabicad for Revit – CIBSE Journal