The need for an integrated cost modelling framework for building information modelling

Abstract

Building Information Modelling (BIM), a revolutionary concept in the construction industry, produces an object-oriented, intelligent and parametric digital representation of the construction facility, which requires a collaborative participation of members of the design team members. These emphasize that BIM has characteristics of sustainable procurement strategies. Open BIM standards developed by buildingSMART International, are the most popular data standards for BIM to share digital construction information within the design team and beyond throughout the life cycle of the project. Other proprietary BIM standards are also extensively used, but they often have limitations on sharing information across all stakeholders. Even though BIM conceptually is an integrated approach for all project team members, not all functions are performed within the common platform. Project participants use their domain specific tools often with proprietary standards, and share the results translated to common standards. BIM enables a live information model with which all project participants can actively interact. This enables minimizing of errors and early clash detection, paving the way to sustainable project delivery methods. However, Quantity Surveying functions within a BIM based project delivery was found to be least interactive. This has hindered the real benefits receivable from a BIM implementation. Since, a cost model will provide critical information required for decision making at various stages, an up-to-date cost model is critical for a BIM based project delivery. While a variety of software tools is used for this purpose, a standardized method is not found to share cost information effectively with BIM. This study aims to develop a suitable framework for cost modelling for a BIM implementation in order to help develop BIM standards for cost modelling. This paper contains the preliminary findings of an ongoing research.