Best BIM Classes in Philadelphia

What is BIM?

Building Information Modeling (BIM) software supports construction design and planning by combining 3D building models with information resources that add details like materials, physical properties, and building tasks and stages. Much like computer-aided drafting (CAD) applications, BIM programs can be used for architectural design and drafting. Using their 3D models, BIM systems can generate more traditional 2D building plans.

However, the enriched information and interlinked subsystems within BIM files support collaboration even more strongly than CAD models. BIM systems automatically adjust all connected elements when a feature is changed. For example, shortening an interior wall adjusts not just the measurements, materials, and tasks for that wall’s framing, but also corrects painting details, the wiring within that wall, and the floor space and airflow of adjoining rooms.

The comprehensive information in BIMs also guides construction planning and management tasks like estimating, purchasing, and scheduling. BIM systems can perform some of these tasks directly, can automate others using add-ons and extensions, or can export data to other specialized programs. Using these tools, architects, inspectors, and engineers can study BIMs to derive properties like environmental impact and structural safety. 

What Can You Do with BIM Training?

BIM systems are useful for most building projects, especially in their planning stages. Structures of all kinds can be designed, detailed, and explored in BIM systems, whether drawn directly or expanded from designs drafted in CAD. BIMs can incorporate extensive detail, breaking projects into their component systems and structures, describing the materials and tasks required for each component, and deriving properties like weight and physical stress. BIM files can then be exported to other programs for tasks like cost estimation and work scheduling.

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BIM training is useful for anyone with a role in construction, from tradespersons to general contractors, developers, and even people building for personal use. BIM programs support multi-disciplinary collaboration, meaning that workers with different jobs — architects, engineers, managers, or estimators — can work on the same model. BIM also helps to demonstrate designs to clients, using either fully detailed models or generated views and plans. 

What Will I Learn in a BIM Class?

In an introductory BIM class, students first learn how these models are structured and how that structure is represented in a BIM program like Autodesk Revit. BIM systems represent models as a set of interconnected elements sorted into related groups including 3D objects, data points, notes, and views. Students next learn how these elements can be added and manipulated through a program’s user interface. BIM classes must address both program-specific tool skills and the orderly workflow that uses these skills to produce well-formed building models. Many classes teach these skills in stages as students assemble a complete design project. Instructors explain how to produce not only a global, fully detailed 3D model but also cutaway 2D views, building plans, high-quality architectural graphics, and informational reports derived from a model. 

Intermediate lessons build upon these basic modeling tools to expand the informational depth of BIMs and the tasks that can be performed with them. Students learn to use add-ons and expansions, integrate data from other programs, and export BIM files to other construction software. For example, BIM models specify material types and costs that then inform construction estimates. In addition to using pre-generated data sets, students learn to create custom elements and schedules to specify unique designs better. Finally, intermediate courses address workflow, automation, and time management to improve efficiency with BIM systems. 

Students who have mastered BIM creation and one or more specific BIM implementations can progress to more advanced lessons. These courses most often cover specialized uses of BIMs beyond residential and commercial construction, such as landscaping, civil engineering, interior systems like mechanical and electrical, and industrial structures. Students may also study extended applications of BIMs to address engineering and architectural questions like structural soundness and energy use. Advanced classes further improve students’ flexibility and efficiency in BIM programs by boosting their ability to create custom elements, automations, and workflows that support collaboration between varied users.

What Kinds of Training Options are Available to Learn BIM?

In-person training

Live, in-person classes have several advantages. Students meet with an instructor at a classroom site for scheduled sessions, often in a computer lab with school-provided hardware and software. While students need to complete readings and exercises off-site, they can discuss their work directly with the instructor. Students can also discuss lessons and collaborate.

Live online training

Live online training is most analogous to in-person instruction. While live online classes are still taught by a live instructor, students attend sessions remotely through videoconferencing. This format shares many of the same advantages as in-person attendance without requiring students to travel to a classroom. However, it requires that students have their own computer and Internet access, install required software, and download supplemental study materials rather than receive preprinted copies. 

Self-directed study

While live online study is more convenient than in-person classes, students must still adhere to a fixed class schedule that can conflict with working hours or other responsibilities. Other online options, called self-paced or asynchronous study, allow more flexible scheduling by trading the advantages of live instruction for the freedom provided by pre-recorded materials. Students can study these videos, texts, and interactive websites at their own pace, whenever they are available.

Self-directed study is a type of self-paced study that retains some of the benefits of live instruction. Although students primarily view pre-recorded lessons, they have regular access to expert instructors who can provide additional explanations, answer questions, or review their classwork. These contacts are reached by video or text chat, phone, or email. Self-directed courses can also include private mentoring sessions and career support. Most self-directed courses use a time-blocked schedule to keep study organized and coordinate progress with instructors but still allow students the freedom to choose exact study times.

On-demand study

Another kind of self-paced study, on-demand, permits students even greater freedom. On-demand students can access course materials at any time or in whatever order they prefer. Students can even skip familiar topics or add extra modules. On-demand schools may charge separately for each lesson, sell sets of lessons as packages, or allow unlimited access to all lessons for a subscription fee. These courses are the least expensive paid option but offer only limited contact with an instructor or mentor. Some schools offer chats or message boards for discussion between students.

Choosing the Right Training Method for You

A student’s ideal training method depends both on their preferences and personal limitations. In-person training is usually the most effective format due to its extended, direct contact with an instructor. This face-to-face contact provides fast, clear, and thorough feedback. Students can request alternate explanations, ask questions, and get critiques. Students can also work together without barriers, practicing communication and collaboration. For students with attentional, motivational, or sensory difficulties, physical presence can help them absorb more information and maintain focus. By contrast, online classes sometimes suffer from technical problems like poor audio and slow connections. Some students lack computers and rely on physical classrooms for access to technology.

However, other students find in-person attendance difficult to manage or less beneficial. Anyone who cannot travel to a classroom site due to limited transportation or disability will need an online option. Even for those who can travel, its time and expense can be prohibitive, especially if they have other responsibilities. Additionally, in-person training is limited to nearby schools and classes; online training provides more options. Finally, some students find classroom attendance uncomfortable or distracting and learn better online.

Live online classes share many of the advantages of in-person training, particularly the frequency and speed of instructor feedback. Self-paced classes lack this advantage, and some students’ progress is slower and less certain. For complex systems like BIM, it can be difficult to check one’s understanding without an expert’s guidance. Self-paced study also challenges students to maintain their progress without the guidance of a fixed class schedule. Self-directed study reduces these disadvantages through regular check-ins with an instructor but still provides less feedback than live instruction. Both self-directed and on-demand courses also lack direct contact with other students. 

Still, for diligent, motivated students, self-paced courses can match live options and sometimes even finish faster. The chief advantage of self-paced classes is that students can study whenever they are available, avoiding conflicts with work, family needs, or other education. Self-paced study is also considerably less expensive than live instruction.

How Hard is it to Learn BIM?

Introductory courses can quickly explain the nature and uses of BIM systems. However, the underlying structures are complex, requiring familiarity with several domains. An introductory course can make students familiar with BIM’s fundamental structure, tools, and capabilities, but knowing what to do with those assets requires various kinds of construction knowledge. 

Depending on their experience, then, different people will have different challenges when learning BIM. Workers who are already familiar with building plans and construction methods will have less trouble understanding plan generation, views, and BIM’s various information resources, but might be challenged by the shift from 2D images to a parametric 3D model. Computer-aided Drafters and others already familiar with 3D modeling applications can manage the BIM paradigm and interface more easily but can be intimidated by BIM’s in-depth informational and integration features. Construction Managers and Estimators better understand how BIM aids their duties but will need more time to study its workflow structure and collaborative features. Novices new to construction work, CAD, and BIM systems will face all these challenges and will likely need additional related coursework to learn and use BIM fully. 

Regardless of background, full fluency with BIM requires either a longer, comprehensive course or several advanced classes, to give students guided practice using more complex BIM features in realistic tasks. The simpler examples instructors can show in a short class are usually not sufficient to demonstrate BIM’s full functionality.

What are the most challenging parts of learning BIM?

Workers familiar with traditional 2D drafting may be challenged when shifting to a parametric 3D environment. Rather than drawing each element separately or copying and pasting, creating and altering elements in a BIM requires users to set and adjust parameters and use family relationships. Additionally, 3D models are more complex and require different kinds of visualization compared to separate 2D plans. 

Another set of challenges stems from the necessary complexity of BIMs. First, students must learn many tools and functions to build fully-featured BIM models. Second, BIM systems involve several novel, possibly unintuitive concepts, including elements, families, views, and schedules. Third, users need to learn BIM methodology: an organized workflow divided into phases. This workflow is made even more complex when users from differing disciplines collaborate in the same model. A fourth challenge is creating and using views to intentionally investigate models and produce building plans. Finally, advanced students may need guidance when integrating BIM systems with other programs to produce outputs like cost estimates and environmental analyses.

How Long Does it Take to Learn BIM?

An introduction to BIM, explaining its fundamental concepts, structures, tools, and features, can be completed relatively quickly, in about two to four days of full-time study with a live instructor. A self-paced introduction might take a month or more, including 20 hours of lectures plus time for practice work and questions. Regardless of format, an introduction can only start students exploring and practicing with a single BIM system. They will still be unfamiliar with many of that program’s features and inefficient when working with complex models. 

A longer training course, around a week or two of full-time live training or about 60 hours of self-paced lectures plus exercises, gives students a stronger grounding, greater efficiency, and more access to a program’s unique features. Mastering these lessons through regular practice might take around three months. This degree of training is sufficient for workers who only collaborate in BIM or use it as one of several tools. 

However, those who will use BIM systems as their primary workspace, like Architects and BIM Coordinators, need more extended training. To achieve the skill level required to pass BIM certification tests and be considered a professional user, students first need several weeks of live training or around 120 hours of lessons in self-paced formats. Experts also estimate about six months of active use or a minimum of 400 hours of active experience before users are fully fluent with a BIM system, efficient and capable with all its features.

Can I Learn BIM for Free Online?

Students interested in learning BIM can find many free online lessons. The most accessible sources are on social media platforms like YouTube, including channels for CAD and BIM enthusiasts, VDCI (as ‘VDCI cadteacher’), software publishers, and program-specific trainers like Revit Tutorials. Topical websites like BIM Corner and Revit Courses also host free tutorials and courses, as do the websites for BIM software publishers like Autodesk, Graphisoft, and ACCA Software. Further free courses on BIM are available on general education, software training, and construction industry websites. 

While they spare the expense of training and can be studied at any time, free resources have several limitations for professional training. Particularly on social media, instructional quality can vary widely, and lessons are not always structured into a full training program. Some sites limit their free tutorials, especially if these lessons are meant as demonstrations of longer courses. Free resources are also refreshed more slowly than live curricula. Even on reputable sites with well-curated content, free lessons lack an instructor’s guidance, and students will progress slower and with less certainty than in formal training. Finally, few free sources offer any certification of accomplishment or career support.

What Should I Learn Alongside BIM?

The most complementary topics to study alongside BIM are those that intersect this technology: 3D modeling, computer-aided drafting, and reading and drawing building plans. More traditional 3D modeling programs like SketchUp can also offer a useful comparison to BIM systems. Computer-aided drafting (CAD) programs like AutoCAD also produce detailed, complex 3D models and 2D views for the same designs. Learning to read more traditional building plans like blueprints, in addition to providing an additional job skill, helps students understand the information layered within building models.

For similar reasons, students learning BIM may already be studying general construction or a building trade like plumbing or masonry. If not, students may want to take introductory construction courses. Construction training covers the underlying knowledge embedded within BIM, making those details more accessible and empowering users to create more valid, fully-featured models. 

Other careers use BIM as a tool skill, and BIM students may find it useful to study these careers to understand the program better. Construction management and construction estimating, in particular, both use BIM. Construction Managers use building models to instruct subcontractors and plan work schedules, while Construction Estimators extract information from these models about a design’s materials, tasks, and equipment, which then informs their cost estimates.

Industries that Use BIM

Multiple parts of the construction industry use BIM, but its most common use is for building design and construction planning. Designers like architects, interior designers, and landscapers can draw and detail projects in BIM systems. Engineers, too, as designers or consultants for construction planning, find BIM useful to analyze structural properties and considerations like environmental impact and resistance to natural disasters. Building clients like property owners, facilities managers, commercial developers, and government agencies can then collaborate with contractors using BIMs. Clients can also generate and compare initial concepts in BIM, then use these models to communicate their needs.

The most prolific users of BIM are builders themselves: construction firms, general contractors, and subcontractors. These companies receive clients’ initial designs, then work with or build BIMs to support building proposals and guide construction once approved. BIMs embed information that builders can reference to generate materials lists, labor schedules, cost estimates, and construction plans for every part of a construction project. This process also applies to skilled trades like plumbing, masonry, and HVAC; subcontracting companies and individual tradespeople can use BIM to plan and guide their work.

BIM Job Titles and Salaries

BIM’s most frequent users are Architects and Architectural Designers, who devise most aspects of building design. These professionals may also oversee and advise during construction. The average annual salary for Architects in the United States, across all experience levels and specializations, is $108,000. Architectural Designers average around $71,000 per year. Other design jobs that use BIM include Interior Designers ($68,000/year), who shape the appearance and usability of interior spaces.

Alongside these designers and also working for contractors and subcontractors, Drafters draw detailed construction models, views, and building plans. Drafters are often experts in CAD programs, but some include or prefer BIM systems. A Drafter in the United States can earn an average of $70,000 annually. Even more specifically, BIM Managers and BIM Coordinators (both earning about $83,000/year) master BIM systems and oversee the creation, modification, and collaborative use of these models. Similarly, building-related engineering professionals like Civil Engineers ($101,000/year) may use BIM for construction design, analysis of planned structures, and production of building plans. 

Multiple types of builders and workers use BIM regularly. The construction workers who use these programs most frequently are Construction Project Managers (or more simply, Construction Managers), who plan and oversee the work of on-site builders, and Construction Estimators, who analyze projects to itemize their required components and calculate their costs. Construction Project Managers earn an average of $94,000 per year in the United States, while Construction Estimators earn around $81,000 per year.

BIM Classes Near Me

Visual Design and Construction Institute (VDCI) offers multiple self-directed online classes on Autodesk Revit, a popular BIM program. These courses are available individually or in discounted course bundles that add services like individual mentoring and certification exam prep. For each class, students complete one or more portfolio-quality projects, receive a certificate of completion, and can retake the course within 1 year. 

VDCI’s Revit Fundamentals Course Bundle combines an Introduction to Revit specifically and BIM systems in general with an Intermediate course that expands students’ ability to create and read detailed building models. Students learn how to create a full-featured 3D building model, create 2D representations from that model, and generate architectural graphics, building plans, and schedules to list material and labor requirements. These courses also address workflow design to improve efficiency in Revit. 

Students who need complete training in both CAD and BIM can combine VDCI’s certificate programs in AutoCAD and Revit into a single CAD/BIM Certificate Program. In addition to Introductory and Intermediate classes and two units of extended practice with construction documents for both programs, the combined program includes a professional-level capstone project, 120 hours of added elective classes (including advanced AutoCAD or specialized versions of Revit), and eight 1-on-1 mentoring sessions to address difficult topics or help with career preparation.

For full professional training in Revit, including preparation for the Autodesk Revit Certified User Exam, VDCI offers a Revit Certification Training Bundle. In addition to the Introductory and Intermediate courses from their Fundamentals bundle, this training program adds three units covering the creation of construction documents from BIM systems. These courses sequentially address plans for topography and landscaping, cutaway and section views, floor plans, and 3D perspective views. Throughout these units, students improve their BIM workflow practices and ability to handle complex construction designs. The course includes a one-hour 1-on-1 mentoring session, expert grading of students’ final projects, supplemental materials to reinforce lessons and prepare for certification, and a voucher for the Autodesk Certified User exam.

ONLC Training Centers teaches software and professional skills through live and on-demand online courses. The school maintains training sites in over 300 cities, including Philadelphia, where students can attend their live online classes from an equipped computer lab. Their live online BIM classes include a four-session introductory course, Autodesk Revit Architecture for Novice Users, separate Fundamentals courses on Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, and Revit Structure (each also four sessions long), and a more advanced two-day class, Autodesk Revit 2023 BIM Management: Template and Family Creation, which deepens users’ understanding of and ability to use Revit’s underlying structural features. An on-demand course, Autodesk On-Demand: Revit Architecture Comprehensive, offers unlimited access to a series of video lectures, practice exercises, and graded examinations covering Revit’s full functionality. ONLC’s on-demand courses include regular reporting to track student progress and proficiency.

Community College of Philadelphia, in partnership with ed2go, hosts several self-paced courses on Revit, starting with a shorter introductory course, Revit Basics. This starting class allows up to three months for completion, starting with fundamental Revit concepts and introducing tools and features while students complete a 3D modeling project and produce 2D plans and documentation. Three longer courses, up to six months each, prepare students for professional certification with Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, or Revit MEP. These courses teach their respective version of Revit in full professional depth, including collaborative work and the production of construction documents. Course enrollment includes a voucher for the corresponding Autodesk Revit certification exam.

Certstaffix Training presents both live and self-paced online software training classes. Their primary Revit class is a live online class, Autodesk Revit Fundamentals for Architecture, taught over four full-day sessions. This class covers Revit’s fundamental concepts, interface, and modeling tools, with a focus on an organized, efficient workflow. Students practice building 3D models and generating construction documents through several hands-on projects. Students can access all necessary software and files for the class on a virtual computer reachable from any web browser. The class also offers a free retake for up to six months after completion.

BIM Corporate Training

For organizations that need BIM training, VDCI can provide live onsite or online instruction. Live classes can be fully customized, with lessons tailored to your needs and projects matched to your typical work tasks. You can even use real construction designs and personalized information resources like local materials and building codes. Class length and scheduling can also be modified as necessary. Alternatively, groups can purchase vouchers for VDCI’s existing public enrollment classes, with a discount for bulk purchases. You can then distribute these vouchers to members to register for selected classes per their availability. 

Contact partnerships@vdci.com for a free consultation to address your training needs, create a custom training plan, and discuss pricing, or to purchase bulk course vouchers.