John Tocci is serious about his self-anointed title. He calls himself the chief enabling officer of Tocci Building Cos., Woburn, Mass. Others say he enables a lot more than his company, especially in his role as chairman of the Associated General Contractors BIM Forum. Tocci started the building information modeling forum, which meets three times a year, about three years ago. He had been inspired to do something related to BIM beyond his own firm by a presentation on a BIM-enabled project for Lucasfilm in San Francisco. It was given by Tom Brady, Lucasfilm’s in-house construction manager. “The presentation was so compelling it sucked the air out of the room,” says Tocci.
The intent of the BIM forum is to increase collaboration among all parties to a building project and to break down traditional silos between designers and constructors. “John has shown an extraordinary ability to unite an extremely diverse group of professionals representing the full spectrum of parties involved in design, construction and building ownership in seeking practical solutions to improving the industry,” says E. Davis Chauviere, a principal of HKS Inc., Dallas, and chair of the forum’s designers subforum.