DWG-based software combines core BIM functionality with hydraulic calculations
FineSANI software from 4M is being used in the design of the water supply and sewerage systems for a cluster of public buildings in the new Jazan Economic City (JEC) in Saudi Arabia.
The software is part of 4M’s DWG-based FINE-MEP suite, which also includes modules for HVAC, electrical, firefighting and gas network design.
MEP project designer Stefanos Paradisanos is leading the plumbing design for the public buildings cluster, which includes the Government Facility of Security Forces, Fire Station, Emergency Medical Centre, Police Station and the City Hall.
In choosing the BIM software for the project, Paradisanos set out key criteria that it needed to meet, “It should consider the physical and functional parameters of the plumbing networks to support the smart network modelling, the identification of clashes between the other MEP installations, the quick exploration of alternative viable options and the extraction of the bill of materials and proper documentation,” he said. “It should also offer easy collaboration and sharing of information between the designer and the constructor.”
“Perhaps the most critical advantage of the BIM philosophy, is the key point that it allows the designer to concentrate on the higher-level aspects of the design in order to reach one of the best design alternatives,” he added.
According to Paradisanos, one of the things that made FineSANI stand out was its accuracy of hydraulic calculations. Most other BIM solutions for plumbing design simply focus on the creation of drawings and the extraction of bill of materials and tend to rely on third-party applications for the piping sizing and proper selection of the equipment.
Jazan Economic City (JEC) is located 60km northwest of Jizan City, one of the country’s most important ports on the Red Sea. It has approximately 100 km2 of land area, two thirds of which are designated industrial and logistics zones. Once completed it will become home to approximately 300,000 people.
