Procore Adds Dynamic Wall Elevations, Collaboration Feature to Its Field BIM Offerings

New updates shown at company's first virtual Groundbreak Conference

Procore introduced Dynamic Wall Elevations, seen here, and Follow Me, a location-based user collaboration feature, at its first all-virtual Groundbreak user conference. Image courtesy of Procore.

After adding BIM model viewing to its construction management platform two years ago, Procore has added to its BIM-to-field offerings with new 3D model viewing features launched at its first ever all-virtual Groundbreak conference, held Oct. 27 to 28.

An oft-requested feature from contractors, wall detailing in a model keeps contractors from having to recreate wall details outside of a 3D model for the crew actually building the wall, usually in 2D drawings. Building a wall requires workers to understand the location of blockouts, backing, embeds, penetrations, and surface mounted objects.

The specific dimensions of these objects exist within most parametric 3D model files, but project teams are often forced to spend hours recreating lift drawings in separate, non-3D authoring programs to convey those dimensions to the field. Procore's new Dynamic Wall Elevations feature automatically generates elevations and lift drawings in the field. The feature lets users zoom in and out, and analyze dimensional relationships down to 1/8 in. Building teams can use Dynamic Wall Elevations to produce consolidated drawings that detail sleeves, blockouts, embeds, penetrations, and backing.

"Our communication with the people in the field who are actually constructing our projects has transformed. No question is left unanswered using Procore BIM,” said Scott Anderson, integrated construction manager at Okland Construction.

Working together on the same BIM data on site often means huddling around a single tablet. Follow Me is a collaboration feature that gives users the ability to see all other users within a model in real-time, allowing meetings or one-on-one conversations to take place in the model. A user can select any other user who is simultaneously viewing the model and navigate directly to that other user’s location— seeing exactly what the user is seeing in real-time 3D. This feature is available on both the iOS and Web versions of Procore's model viewer.

“We invested in BIM to protect our customers’ investment in BIM,” said Dave McCool, senior product manager, Procore. “Procore users spend so much time coordinating models that we want to make sure those models reach the field teams who are installing the work. The new features in Procore BIM give field teams better access to models and greater visibility to see exactly where each user is within the model. Procore users can leverage BIM in a new way, simplifying communication and collaboration from the field to the office.”

ENR Midwest Editor and Associate Technology Editor Jeff Yoders has been writing about design and construction innovations for 16 years. He is a two-time Jesse H. Neal award winner and multiple ASBPE winner for his tech coverage. Jeff previously launched Building Design + Construction's building information modeling blog and wrote a geographic information systems column at CE News. He also wrote about materials prices, construction procurement and estimation for MetalMiner.com. He lives in Chicago, the birthplace of the skyscraper, where the pace of innovation never leaves him without a story to chase.

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