BIM and Quantity Surveying

Steve Pittard, Peter Sell, Steve Pittard, Peter Sell

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781317387947
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Tecnologia e ingegneria
• Subtopic: Ingegneria edile

The sudden arrival of Building Information Modelling (BIM) as a key part of the building industry is redefining the roles and working practices of its stakeholders. Many clients, designers, contractors, quantity surveyors, and building managers are still finding their feet in an industry where BIM compliance can bring great rewards.

This guide is designed to help quantity surveying practitioners and students understand what BIM means for them, and how they should prepare to work successfully on BIM compliant projects. The case studies show how firms at the forefront of this technology have integrated core quantity surveying responsibilities like cost estimating, tendering, and development appraisal into high profile BIM projects. In addition to this, the implications for project management, facilities management, contract administration and dispute resolution are also explored through case studies, making this a highly valuable guide for those in a range of construction project management roles.

Featuring a chapter describing how the role of the quantity surveyor is likely to permanently shift as a result of this development, as well as descriptions of tools used, this covers both the organisational and practical aspects of a crucial topic.

1 Introduction

Steve Pittard and Peter Sell

What this book is about

Whilst there is certainly no shortage of information about Building Information Modelling (BIM), there is little yet to guide industry practitioners and students through the maze of implementation and, more specifically, how BIM impacts their day-to-day roles and responsibilities – essentially putting BIM in the context of their world. The absence of this important missing link lies behind the core motivation of this text, addressing the all-important question of how does BIM affect me, and specifically quantity surveying (QS). Without this reference point, many industry professionals and students may struggle to make the required transition from general knowledge and awareness to full engagement and ability to deliver QS services in a BIM world.

Through a series of case studies, this book considers a number of key service streams to assess the impact of BIM on the role of the QS – essentially providing a practical guide to ‘how does/will BIM affect me’. A list of recognised core QS service streams featured follows:

• Cost Planning

• Risk Management

• Whole Life Costing

• Procurement

• Information Management

• Contractual Framework for BIM

• Contract Administration

• Performance Measurement and Management

• Facilities Management

• Dispute Resolution.

Each service stream forms the basis of a separate chapter. However, it is also stressed that BIM is holistic and, therefore, the case studies are not intended to show fragmentation of process.

The book is not intended to either replace or duplicate existing texts on BIM or quantity surveying but, rather, to specifically help the reader gain an understanding of what BIM means for them, through specific service delivery examples, to provide relevance and context.

The service streams featured have been selected to reflect the broad nature and scope of a QS appointment. They illustrate the impact of BIM on some of the more traditional QS services such as Cost Planning, Measurement and Procurement, along with more contemporary and specialist services to highlight opportunities in the field of Performance and Information Management.

The case study format also lends itself more easily to revision as BIM matures and existing service streams change and/or new service streams come on line.

Who this book is aimed at

Although primarily aimed at Quantity Surveyors, the text is equally relevant for those carrying out any one of the services featured and, therefore, depending on the scope of service, should find interest with many others including Project Managers, Facilities Managers, Supply Chain Managers, Estimators, Commercial Managers and Building Surveyors. It is also intended to guide those just setting out on their career path as well as the more experienced professional. In essence, the book should find interest with anyone (practicing or otherwise) looking to gain a better understanding of how BIM does (or will) affect them.

Whilst the book features UK-based case studies, much of the content should also be relevant to those operating internationally as many of the principles should still apply. The book is also agnostic in terms of either project or business size and should, again, find equal relevance to both the large and the not so large!

Definitions

In order to ensure common meaning and understanding, the following establishes definitions of the two key terms used throughout this book, namely, BIM and quantity surveying.

The term facility and building are used ubiquitously to mean any built asset. The terms client and employer are interchangeable in this book.

What is BIM?

In its simplest form, the outcome of BIM is nothing more than delivering buildings or assets more efficiently – doing what we said we would do in the way we said we would do it and by the time we said we would deliver it! This outcome necessitates defining the format of, considering the usage of, and the processes associated with, the information required and produced from the construction of an asset (building) so that it is reusable for the entire life cycle of that asset. Whilst technology plays a role, BIM is more about the way we do things (process), embodying the ambitions of Latham and Egan (and other past evangelists for change) to drive improved efficiencies and eliminate waste.

BIM is in essence an enabler. By enabling better information flows, it enables better decision-making, which in turn enables better buildings and, consequently, better results.

In concept, BIM is extremely simple. The simplest definition, if rather sweeping ‘single source of truth’, appears on the Crossrail website (<http://www.crossrail.co.uk/benefits/design-innovation/>, accessed May 2015). However, even Gu and London’s (2010) more complex definition quoted below reinforces the simplicity in concept:

Building Information modelling (BIM) is an IT enabled approach that involves applying and maintaining an integral digital representation of all building information for different phases of the project lifecycle in the form of a data repository.

(Gu and London, 2010: 988)

Another easily understandable definition, drawing on practice in the USA, comes from Azhar (2011):

With BIM technology, an accurate virtual model of a building, known as a building information model, is digitally constructed.

(Azhar, 2011: 241)

That said, both the definitions above imply a technology focus, which is misleading. After all, it is possible to have the best technology in the world and still be inefficient! The implementation of BIM requires a change in processes and relationships compared to non-BIM project delivery. BIM necessitates processes that support collaborative ways of working.

It is really all about changing the way we do things to improve performance and, more importantly, eliminate unnecessary (and avoidable) waste and inefficiency.

Essentially, BIM combines technology with new working practices to improve the quality of the delivered product and also improve the reliability, timeliness and consistency of the process to create, control and amend the information. It requires a move away from the traditional sequential workflow, to an environment where all parties share and effectively work with a common information pool – creating a ‘single version of the truth’.

BIM changes the emphasis by making the model the primary repository for information, from which an increasing number of documents, or more accurately ‘reports’, such as plans, schedules, and bills of quantities may be derived. The primary asset of a Building Information Model is the information. In essence, BIM involves building a digital prototype of the asset or building and simulating it in a digital world – coining the phrase ‘build before you build’.

BIM changes the traditional process by making the model the primary tool for the whole project team. This ensures that all the designers, contractors and subcontractors maintain a common basis for design and delivery so that the relationships between what have been traditionally isolated information pools may be explored and fully detailed. Working with BIM requires new skills and these will have to be learned from practice. As all parties involved with a BIM project have access to the same data, the information loss associated with handing a project over from design team to construction team and to building owner/operator is kept to a minimum – or even eliminated.

Figure 1.1 Key components of BIM.

A building information model contains representations of the actual parts and components being used to construct a building along with geometry, spatial relationships, geographic information, quantities and properties of building components (for example manufacturers’ details). BIM provides a common data environment (CDE) to store all the information that can be used to demonstrate the entire asset lifecycle from construction through to facility operation.

Often (mistakenly) referred to as 3D, 4D or nD, BIM should not be confused with the number of dimensions used to represent a building or asset. More traditional 2D or 3D drawings may well be outputs of BIM. However, instead of generating these in the conventional way (i.e. as individual drawings), they could all be produced directly from the model as a ‘view’ of the required information. In this regard, a better definition of BIM might actually be Better Information Management!

When defining BIM, it is often better to address the common misconceptions surrounding BIM by discounting some of the more popular – but inaccurate – definitions:

• It’s not just 3D-CAD

• It’s not just a new technology application

• It’s not next generation, it’s here and now!

(BIM Task Group, n.d.)

So, in many ways BIM is nothing new. People have conceptualised in 3D from the beginning of time and both architects and quantity surveyors are trained to think three dimensionally. Quantity surveyors are also trained to translate three-dimensional information into costs and construction managers to translate this same information into a programmed sequence. The difference with BIM is that much of this analytical process is removed to a single digital representation. This means both that it will no longer be nec...