BIM-ENABLED PROJECT COST MANAGEMENT THROUGH THE PROJECT DELIVERY PROCESS ANG YU QIAN A0042346M A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF M.SC. (BUILDING) DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2015 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis is my original work and it has been written by me in its entirety. I have duly acknowledged all the sources of information which have been used in the thesis. This thesis has also not been submitted for any degree in any university previously. ____________________ Ang Yu Qian 22 October 2015 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to first express my sincere gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr Evelyn Teo, who has once again provided invaluable guidance, support and encouragement for the course of this Thesis. I would also like to thank Mr Silas Loh, Partner of the Rider Levett Bucknall LLP Singapore and Regional Practice, for appointing me as the BIM Lead of the firm, enabling me to test-bed/pilot-test my various BIM initiatives, processes, innovations and implementations in the organization as well as in major multi-disciplinary live projects. These iterative developments have provided ample opportunities for me to refine and fine-tune the initiatives. The implementations/innovations ultimately clinched the GoldPlus award in the inaugural Building and Construction Authority (BCA) BIM Awards Organization Category for the firm – the firm was the only participating Project Management/Quantity Surveying firm in Singapore to be awarded GoldPlus as well. Lastly, I would also like to thank my good friends and colleagues in the RLB BIM Team – including Wan Ding, Allan, Ka Foong, Elless, Sun Mei, Peng Chong and Wei Ing, for their support, and for assisting me to test-bed the BIM implementations, processes and innovations through multiple iterations. Not forgetting friends/colleagues/project team members from other (architectural, civil and structural, as well as mechanical, electrical and plumbing) consultancies, such as Garvin, Jolyn and Kuan Wei, as well as other consultants I have had the opportunity to work with in various BIM multi-disciplinary projects, and who have provided supplementary information from other domains. BIM is not a panacea for a lack of productivity, lack of experience or lack of knowledge. It is integral for a company to establish an efficient link between the core competencies of its practice and the use of BIM to derive benefits. The excerpt above was quoted from my undergraduate dissertation – I hope that through this study, I have made a positive impact to aid BIM advancements in the domain of cost management, and have provided innovative ideas to take the BIM initiatives forward to benefit the AEC industry in one way or another. TABLE OF CONTENTS iv Page TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF FIGURES viii LIST OF TABLES xi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUC TION 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Terminology 2 1.3 Research Problem 3 1.4 Research Aim 4 1.5 Research Objectives 4 1.6 Research Scope 4 1.7 Research Hypothesis 5 1.8 Organization of Study 5 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW I 2.1 Chapter Overview 7 2.2. Project Cost Management 7 2.2.1. Resource Planning 9 2.2.1.1. Inputs to Resource Planning 9 2.2.1.2. Tools and Technique for Resource Planning 10 2.2.2. Cost Estimating 10 2.2.2.1. Inputs to Cost Estimating 11 2.2.2.2. Tools and Techniques for Cost Estimating 12 2.2.2.3. Outputs from Cost Estimating 13 2.2.3. Cost Budgeting 14 2.2.3.1. Inputs to Cost Budgeting 14 2.2.3.2. Tools and Techniques for Cost Budgeting 15 2.2.4. Cost Control 15 2.2.4.1. Inputs to Cost Control 16 2.2.4.2. Tools and Techniques for Cost Control 17 2.2.4.3. Outputs for Cost Control 18 2.3. Cost Management in the Project Life Cycle 18 2.4. Effective Project Cost Management 19 2.4.1. Total Cost Management 20 2.5. Cost Management Professionals 21 2.6. Non BIM-Based Quantification Methods 21 2.7. Chapter Summary 21 TABLE OF CONTENTS v CHAPTER THREE: LITERATUR E REVIEW II 3.1 Chapter Overview 22 3.2 Overall Trend and Context for BIM and Project Cost Management 22 3.2.1. Subsets of BIM – BIM and the Cost Management Dimension (5D) 23 3.2.2. BIM-enabled Cost Management and 5D BIM Implementation 24 3.3. BIM-enabled Project Cost Management 25 3.3.1. Resource Planning for BIM-enabled Cost Management 26 3.3.1.1. BIM Level of Details (LOD) 27 3.3.1.2. BIM LOD and the Project Delivery Stages 33 3.3.1.3. BIM Level of Details vs Level of Development 33 3.3.1.4. Industry Foundation Class (IFC) 33 3.3.1.5. BIM Taxonomies 34 3.3.2. Cost Estimating for BIM-enabled Project Cost Management 35 3.3.2.1. Preliminary Cost Estimate 38 3.3.2.2. Detailed Cost Estimate 39 3.3.2.3. Quantity Take-off 40 3.3.3. Cost Budgeting & Cost Control for BIM-enabled Cost Management 41 3.4. Problems/Challenges in Current Literature, Application & Concepts 41 3.5. 5D BIM Process 42 3.6. Gap in Knowledge 44 3.7. Chapter Summary 45 CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 4.1 Chapter Overview 46 4.2 Overall Research Design 46 4.3 Rationale for Case Study and Case Study Design 48 4.3.1. Population 50 4.3.2. Sampling Frame 50 4.3.3. Sampling Method 50 4.4. Data Collection 51 4.5. Chapter Summary 51 CHAPTER FIVE: CASE STUD IES 5.1 Chapter Overview 52 5.2 Case Study One – Multi-Disciplinary BIM Project 52 5.2.1. Background 53 5.2.2. Resource Planning 55 TABLE OF CONTENTS vi 5.2.2.1. Resource Planning (Model Details) 58 5.2.2.2. Detailed Modelling Plan 59 5.2.3. Cost Estimating 60 5.2.3.1. Impact of BIM on Cost Estimating 71 5.2.4. Cost Budgeting 76 5.2.4.1. Limitations 82 5.2.5. Cost Control 82 5.2.5.1. Limitations 87 5.3. Case Study Two – Multi-Disciplinary BIM Project 87 5.3.1. Background 87 5.3.2. Resource Planning 91 5.3.3. Cost Estimating 99 5.3.4. Cost Budgeting 105 5.3.4.1. Limitations 107 5.4. Chapter Summary 107 CHAPTER SIX: RECOMMEN DATIONS/CONTRIBUTIONS AND DEVELOPMENT 6.1 Chapter Overview 108 6.2 Cost Codes 108 6.2.1. Development 109 6.3. Cost Management Plug-in 113 6.3.1. Development 113 6.4. Cost Model 126 6.4.1. Development 126 6.5. Modeling Best Practices/Core Information for BIM Cost Management 134 CHAPTER SEVEN: VALIDAT ION 7.1. Chapter Overview 137 7.2. Methodology 137 7.3. Results 140 7.4. Chapter Summary 141 CHAPTER EIGHT: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND FURTHER RECOMMENDATION 8.1. Chapter Overview 142 8.2. Objectives and Findings 142 8.3. Main Findings and Validation of Hypotheses 144 8.4. Contribution to Existing Knowledge and Practice in BIM 145 8.5. Limitations of Study 145 8.6. Conclusion 146 TABLE OF CONTENTS vii 8.7. Recommendations 146 BIBLIOGRAPHY 158 SUMMARY viii Building Information Modelling has been described as the next-generation solution to enhance productivity of the various disciplines in the project delivery process, and to streamline the delivery processes of the buildings. The convention cost management functions in the project delivery stages, such as the traditional manual measurement methodologies, have been often marked with peculiarities, and BIM have been perceived as a solution to enhance productivity, accuracy and cost certainty of the cost management process. However, while the potential of BIM as a catalyst poised to integrated and enhance cost management functions in the project delivery process is apparent, the lack of studies, methodologies, processes and frameworks guiding the implementation of BIM-enabled cost management impedes the derivation of benefits from BIM. This study investigates and analyzes the utilization of BIM in major multi-disciplinary case studies, throughout the phases of resource planning, cost estimating, cost budgeting and cost monitoring and control. Through the case studies, the author seeks elucidations on the distinctions between conventional and BIM-enabled cost management methodologies. The findings suggest that a BIM-enabled project cost management process leads to improvement in workflow productivity (man-hours), and cost certainty as compared to the conventional cost management methodologies, and the extent of advantages/benefits varies according to the different stages in the project delivery process. The author also proposed several recommendations to manage BIM-enabled cost management. The recommendations include formulation of a cost code library to manage BIM cost data (to be utilized resource planning stage); a cost management software plug-in/add-on (to be utilized at cost estimation/cost budgeting stage); and a cost model, which integrates the cost codes with the BIM models, creating a 5D living cost plan where cost information can be aggregated and extracted accurately at any point of the project delivery process (to be utilized at the cost monitoring and control stage). LIST OF FIGURES ix Chapter 2 Title Page Figure 2.1 Project Cost Management Processes 7 Figure 2.2 Overview of Project Cost Management Components 8 Figure 2.3 Resource planning inputs, tools & techniques and outputs 9 Figure 2.4 Cost estimating inputs, tools & techniques and outputs 11 Figure 2.5 Cost budgeting inputs, tools & techniques and outputs 14 Figure 2.6 Cost baseline and S-curve example 15 Figure 2.7 Cost control inputs, tools & techniques and outputs 16 Figure 2.8 PMBOK processes mapped by process groups/knowledge areas 19 Figure 2.9 Total Cost Management Framework 20 Chapter 3 Figure 3.1 Cost Classification Matrix 28 Figure 3.2 Construction information standards by phase 34 Figure 3.3 Cost estimating, cost planning and tender preparation stages 37 Figure 3.4 Project cost estimating through the project delivery process 38 Figure 3.5 Relation of QTO with other tasks 40 Figure 3.6 BEP Cube 42 Chapter 4 Figure 4.1 Overall structure and design of the study 47 Chapter 5 Figure 5.1 Site floor plan, including primary entrances 54 Figure 5.2 West elevation 54 Figure 5.3 South elevation with vertical stacking plan 54 Figure 5.4 East elevation at park side 55 Figure 5.5 Overall view 55 Figure 5.6 Core plan for mechanical services 55 Figure 5.7 BIM collaborative process mapping (coordination plan) 56 Figure 5.8 Corresponding cost management activities undertaken 64 Figure 5.9 Full C&S model built in Revit and extracted for cost estimation 65 Figure 5.10 3D BIM analysis model of ‘modified column-assisted’ scheme 65 Figure 5.11 Analytical model for cost estimation purposes 66 Figure 5.12 Isolated component for localizes cost estimation 66 Figure 5.13 Consolidated BIM model in .dwfx transferred 68 Figure 5.14 Isolation of individual categories and elements 69 Figure 5.15 Schedules generated from isolated BIM components/elements 70 Figure 5.16 Schedules generated from isolated BIM components/elements 71 LIST OF FIGURES x Figure 5.17 Old vs new (hybrid) BIM process done in parallel 71 Figure 5.18 Modelling methods 74 Figure 5.19 Resultant differences between the modelling/jointing methods 75 Figure 5.20 Tabulation of GFA using BIM vs manual measurements 78 Figure 5.21 Process for managing RVOs 84 Figure 5.22 Placement for development A and B in Project C 86 Figure 5.23 Overall site planning, including placement for A and B 89 Figure 5.24 Overall site planning, including placement 90 Figure 5.25 Solar exposure and building orientation for main medical block 90 Figure 5.26 Solar exposure and building orientation for main medical block 90 Figure 5.27 Wind-flow simulation of overall surrounding 90 Figure 5.28 Overall BIM planning process 91 Figure 5.29 Modeling authoring QA/QC process 92 Figure 5.30 3D coordination process 92 Figure 5.31 BIM tender specifications process 93 Figure 5.32 BIM development timeline for development A within Project C 94 Figure 5.33 BIM development timeline for development B within Project C 94 Figure 5.34 Segmentation of models 95 Figure 5.35 Organization of model files and file naming conventions 98 Figure 5.36 Segmentation and categorization of main BIM files 99 Figure 5.37 Site file (not used for extraction of quantities) 100 Figure 5.38 Core and interior BIM file (used for quantity extraction) 100 Figure 5.39 Exterior enclosure/façade BIM file (used for quantity extraction 101 Figure 5.40 Documentation BIM file (used) 101 Figure 5.41 Overall BIM linked main file (used for quantity extraction) 102 Chapter 6 Figure 6.1 Sample of trade groups 110 Figure 6.2 Sample of cost code library built up by author 110 Figure 6.3 Cost management plug-in for BIM 113 Figure 6.4 Insert elemental code macro function 115 Figure 6.5 Insert trade code macro function 115 Figure 6.6 Insert cost code macro function 116 Figure 6.7 Edit cost code source and cost code library 117 Figure 6.8 Highlight empty mapping macro function 117 Figure 6.9 Running of macros based on GUID matching 117 Figure 6.10 Show new item macro function 118 Figure 6.11 Show deleted items macro function 118