In the ever-evolving world of construction, effective communication is paramount. Owner-Architect-Contractor (OAC) meetings stand at the heart of this communication, serving as crucial touchpoints for project success. However, these meetings often fall short due to outdated information, miscommunication, and difficulties in visualizing complex design changes and as-built conditions. Enter CupixWorks – a groundbreaking solution that's redefining how construction teams collaborate and make decisions.

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The OAC Meeting Challenge

OAC meetings are essential for:

• Facilitating communication and collaboration among key stakeholders
• Aligning project objectives and goals
• Discussing design, construction, and progress issues
• Proactively managing timelines, budgets, and quality standards
• Minimizing misunderstandings and disputes
• Promoting timely and efficient project completion

While crucial for project success, these meetings often struggle with outdated information and unclear site conditions, hampering their effectiveness. CupixWorks addresses these challenges head-on, revolutionizing OAC meetings by visualizing BIM updates from multiple disciplines and up-to-date as-built conditions without visiting the site together, thereby dramatically improving efficiency and productivity.

Case Study: Madison Elementary School Project

Let's explore how Cupix revolutionized OAC meetings for the construction of Madison Elementary School, a 33,500 SF building project in California.

The Scenario

Two weeks before a regularly scheduled OAC meeting, the project encounters multiple issues that demand the owner's approval to move forward:

• Structural Reinforcement: The structural engineer identifies a need to reinforce several steel beams due to updated seismic requirements.
• Mechanical Duct Conflicts: Several main HVAC ducts in the ceiling plenum now conflict with the new beam locations and sizes. 
• Ceiling Height Adjustment: In order to accommodate the change, the ceiling height must be lowered by 24”.

Cupix in Action

BIM Revision and ACC Integration

After the project team meeting, each trade takes the necessary action and pushes the changes to the ACC (Autodesk Construction Cloud).

• The structural engineer updates the Revit model with the reinforced beams. 
• The mechanical engineer reroutes ducts. 
• The architect changes the ceiling height down by 24”, creates and publishes a 3D view, a reflected ceiling plan, and a building section to best represent the change.

After all trades update their BIMs on ACC, CupixWorks seamlessly retrieves the latest changes, offering an intuitive guided walkthrough for easy exploration of the updates.

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Simultaneous Rendering of Multiple BIMs or Revit Views

Using CupixWorks' Multi-BIM feature, the project manager displays multiple current BIM files at once, showing how the design team plans to solve conflicts. To illustrate the design modifications, the project manager incorporates specific Revit Views created by the architect:

• 3D View: This view showcases the newly reinforced beam structures, offering a comprehensive spatial understanding of the structural changes.
• RCP (Reflected Ceiling Plan): The RCP highlights the reconfigured duct routing, demonstrating how the mechanical systems have been adapted to accommodate the structural modifications.
• Building Section: This detailed sectional view clearly illustrates the spatial relationships between the reinforced beam structures, the revised duct layouts and the adjusted ceiling height.

Cupix, seamlessly integrated with ACC, automatically reflects these updates from all disciplines in the platform.

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As-Built Comparison

CupixWorks' SiteView empowers the project manager to overlay BIM elements onto geo-aligned 360° site images, facilitating thorough multi-discipline reality checks. This overlay allows verification that proposed changes—such as reinforced beams, rerouted ducts, and adjusted ceiling heights—align with actual as-built site conditions.

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Show Time! Bookmark Key Touch Points Before the Meeting

CupixWorks' new Bookmark feature empowers project managers to streamline OAC meetings. Before the meeting, managers can:

• Save specific viewpoints of 360° as-built images with overlaid BIM elements and other visualization settings.
• Organize these Bookmarks for key locations across the job site.

During the meeting, this preparation allows for:

• Quick navigation through critical spatial issues.
• Focused and engaging discussions.
• Reduced likelihood of attendee disengagement.

By leveraging this feature, project teams can conduct more effective and efficient meetings, addressing complex issues without losing participants' attention. Examples of Bookmark locations include:

• Beam Reinforcement, Main Hallway.

• Building Section - Ceiling Height Adjustment.

CupixWorks' Bookmark feature pre-selects key site views with BIM overlays, enabling swift navigation in OAC meetings. This enhances efficiency and engagement, leading to better project outcomes.

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The OAC Meeting

CupixWorks transforms OAC meetings into unprecedented models of efficiency.

• Streamlined Navigation: Bookmarks enable the team to access critical issues directly, eliminating time wasted on searching through documents.
• Comprehensive Visualization: ACC integration and the multi-BIM feature enable the display of the latest BIM from all disciplines simultaneously, offering a holistic view of structural, mechanical, and architectural elements without a federated model.
• Real-time Collaboration: SiteView's collaborative features enable participants to immediately see and contribute to updated annotations and comments in real time.
• Seamless Remote Participation: All participants have equal access to current as-built conditions and the latest model data, regardless of whether they're attending on-site or remotely, enabling informed decisions from any location.

Outcomes and Benefits

By leveraging CupixWorks' features, the OAC meeting achieves several significant improvement:

• Faster Decision-Making: With all information readily available, the team quickly agrees on solutions for all critical issues.
• Improved Understanding: All stakeholders gain a clear, visual understanding of the proposed changes and their impacts.
• Enhanced Accountability: Action items are assigned and documented within the CupixWorks platform, visible to all relevant parties.
• Time Efficiency: The meeting, originally scheduled for 2 hours, concludes in just 60 minutes, saving everyone 50% of their time.

Conclusion

The Madison Elementary School project showcases CupixWorks' ability to transform OAC meetings from potentially confusing and time-consuming affairs into streamlined, productive sessions. By empowering construction teams to communicate more effectively and make informed decisions quickly, CupixWorks:

• Provides on-demand access to latest BIM and Revit Views.
• Facilitates easy comparisons between BIM and as-built conditions.
• Offers guided spatial navigation through the list of complex issues with the Bookmark feature.

In the construction industry, where time and clarity are crucial, CupixWorks proves essential for project management by helping teams stay on schedule, on budget, and aligned with stakeholder needs.

To learn more about how CupixWorks can change how you manage your OAC meetings, reach out to the team at Cupix today.

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