How Pivotal is 5D BIM to General Contractors?

May 1, 2017 -- According to leading AEC industry professionals, large-scale construction projects with multiple complexities mean, extended deadlines for completion and lagging behind when it comes to existing knowledge of the market condition. Mandating BIM by various governments across the globe is taking a hold, which is far stronger than what EPC firms and individual stakeholders can realize.

To keep the business on top and aligned to market trends and needs; EPC firms need the state-of-art tools that support BIM and 2D quantity takeoffs for accurate bidding and tender proposals. A customizable report writer and a cost estimation tool such as Autodesk’s Revit, Building Design Suite or AllPlan would do the needful and keep them ablaze with market volatility.

The problem with paper-based blueprints, ones made & used extensively long time ago; is that the information may be distorted and while calculating BOQs quantity surveyors have to make guess work. It often leads to wrong ordering and over the spending of resources. On other hand 5D BIM solutions with cost estimation software gives exact output and opens gateways towards betterment.

Should ever a dilemma arise regarding how pivotal is cost estimation task, enlisted are top five reasons to why general contractors and EPC firms need cost estimation with BIM tools:

Need to streamline for being productive

The fundamental idea of transformation to automated cost estimation is to have minimum human intervention and a full-fledged productive system. Automated cost estimation will essentially link all project parameters with costs against the quantity and update multiple users working on the project. It updates any changes in 2D drafts or 3D model and links the cost associated with it; ultimately giving a final result to each professional in the project to save time. It will essentially reflect on the speed and productivity of output which ultimately are the driving factors for volatile construction markets.

Productivity doesn’t necessarily mean killing of accuracy

While 5D BIM makes contractors profitable, it also ensures the understanding of intelligent data throughput in BIM models and implements it in calculating exact costs for accurate costs of construction projects. When there are project audits, accuracy is of the utmost importance that comes from a comprehensive revision logs, database of the model, purchasing and budget information etc. obtained from BIM. Automated data extraction from BIM models and linking them with cost estimation database is not only accurate but also saves time.

Driving the entire construction project with consistent standard systems

BIM enabled cost estimation for construction projects promote more centralized business practices and communication amongst the professionals of different disciplines. It greatly diminishes disputes among project teams and enables them to leverage standard pricing structures, database and formats to put them all on the same page. Such practice of 5D BIM for construction projects gives a rise to standard formats across the project lifecycle through a single source of truth by enhancing cohesiveness.

Enabling effective presentation to make the most

While setting the bid for winning the projects, the most important task for quantity surveyors and general contractors is to deliver and put across their point in an effective manner. Deploying cost estimation software will enable them to put their point and data in a crisp auto generated graphical manner, attached with animation attributes. These presentations are directly linked with associated 2D drawings and 3D BIM models which reflect updates corresponding to every single change made in designs.

5D BIM to General Contractors is a Futuristic approach

BIM is getting embedded in the construction industry like it has been here since the inception. It thus is compelling for leading AEC professionals to extend their capability and ensure a correct image of utilizing BIM in their projects. Choosing a solution that allows BIM and cost estimation puts contractors and quantity surveyors above others in the market and empowers them with optimal pace of delivering construction projects. It really is up to these AEC professionals to take the lead and adopt cost-effective, accurate, productive and consistent cost estimation 5D BIM solutions for their construction projects.