As mass timber projects grow larger and more complex, BIM coordination and pre-construction planning are becoming increasingly important. Mass timber projects do not yet follow a single standardized approach, and products and manufacturing capabilities vary from plant to plant. Involving the manufacturer early helps teams agree on an approach, communicate key information and lock in decisions in stages rather than trying to resolve everything at once at the end. In this interview, Victor Correia, Fabrication Designer at Mercer Mass Timber, speaks with Cam Baker, Technical Advisor at WoodWorks BC, about staged model approvals, shared coordination platforms and greater standardization across the industry.

Cam Baker  
Thanks for being our industry insider this issue, Victor. To start us off, please tell us a little about how you got into the wood industry.

Victor Correia  
Well, I didn't select the wood industry, you know. I was a steel detailer, and we kind of just did everything at Dowco where I worked originally. We did steel details, but we would also take on anything, and one day my boss came to me and said, "Hey, we have somebody here who's looking to do a mass timber project and they need help. Can you do it?” And I said, “sure!” And that got me started on mass timber projects. We did three or four years of mass timber projects with Structurlam, and when I was ready for change, Structurlam picked me up and I've been in mass timber ever since. I think it’s been seven years now. So, I kind of fell into it, to be honest, but I just took it and I ran with it.

Cam Baker  
That’s a good story. The wood industry is lucky to have you.

Victor Correia  
Yeah, it's been good to me. I'm happy I fell into the into the wood industry.

Cam Baker  
Why do you think that BIM and pre-construction planning are important for the industry right now?

Victor Correia  
It's important because mass number is still new; there are always new players getting into it so, unlike the steel world, there aren’t fixed rules. There's no set guideline for how a beam's going to go to another beam, or how a column's going to get integrated into concrete. There are so many approaches and what you are going to do varies from project to project. 

The lack of standardization is hard though because every plant has different manufacturing capabilities, some plants can produce things that other plants can't. So, getting in there early and having everyone agreeing on the approach is key. It is important to agree on an approach early, understand what the selected plant can produce and communicate that information to the general contractor and engineer of record. The more information that can be incorporated into the fabrication model early, the more successful the project is likely to be. Early planning and design-assist input into the fabrication model are key to project success.

Cam Baker  
Exactly. That's what we're trying to address with this solutions paper. What changes have you seen in the approach to BIM and pre-construction planning in recent years since you've been in the wood industry?

Victor Correia  
I've seen a big push to break up the deliverables into stages. Earlier projects often relied on a single LOD 350 submission with everything included. More recently, teams have split up the process, first approving and locking in the geometry, then using the LOD 350 as submission as the last chance for significant design changes, followed by the final LOD 400 fabrication model.

That’s been the big thing for me. It lets you lock in everything you need at each stage and keep everyone on the same page. If you wait until the end, there are a lot of moving parts to lock in all at once. It may be a new concept for some people, but once you explain it, everyone understands it and gets on board.

Cam Baker  
And that segues into my next question well. Where do you think that BIM and pre-construction planning will go in the future? Are there any emerging trends that you're interested in?

Victor Correia  
Getting everyone onto one platform is going to be key. As we move forward, I think it will be a matter of figuring out which platform works best for BIM coordination and planning. More standardization across the industry is going to make everyone’s lives a lot easier.

Cam Baker  
And then what are you excited about in the timber industry right now?

Victor Correia  
I’m excited by the types of projects that we’re seeing. When I got in seven years ago, everyone was excited about a seven-story building here in Canada. We've blown past that now. It seems like every six months there's a new code change or fire rating development that enables bigger and better buildings.

From what I saw seven years ago to what’s happening now, it has changed a lot. It used to be more niche projects, like canopies and applications that weren’t full structural buildings. Now we’re seeing full structural buildings, and they’re getting bigger. We’re seeing entire educational buildings built with mass timber. The benchmark is always changing. Every six or 12 months, the projects are getting bigger, better and more complicated. It seems like every month there’s a new district, state or province adopting mass timber or changing its codes to allow it. It’s becoming much more commonplace, and many more jurisdictions are welcoming it.

Cam Baker  
Thank you, Victor, that wraps it up. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts on this topic with us.

Victor Correia  
Of course, my pleasure.