W18_PieroAnticona_ Comparing 5D BIM Estimates against other Estimating and Budgeting Process Map. Part 1

1)    Step 1- Problem or Opportunity Statement

BIM is a method to develop a 3D model and use the information elaborated to communicate, collaborate and coordinate among different stakeholders for designing, constructing and operating assets. Building projects and non-building projects use BIM. During the stages of development, it elaborates a budget, and it is called 5D BIM.

According to the method, companies which implement BIM need to evolve to modify the traditional process to develop a model, to integrate information, to share information and to manage the relationship among stakeholders. This evolution depends on the level of maturity of BIM.

From the Estimating and Budgeting perspective, is the process to obtain a Project Budget better than a traditional one? What are the advantages of developing a project budget with BIM?

  

2)    Step 2 – Feasible Alternatives

In the post 15.1 Comparison of Processes for Estimating and Budgeting, we have identified three processes for estimating and budgeting as follows:
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1.    Guild of Project Controls

Guild of Project Controls suggests the following process map

GPC Estimating and Budgeting Process Map

2.    AACE International - Total Cost Management

Total Cost Management from AACE International suggests the following Process for Cost Estimating and Budgeting:

AACE International - Estimating and Budgeting Process Map

3.    Government Accountability Office

GAO suggests the following Cost Estimating Process

GAO - Estimating and Budgeting Process Map

4.    Building Information Modelling

BIM is a method that improves technology, work practices and processes for the construction of any building and non-building project. It covers different stages of the life cycle of an asset as shown in the following figure.

Figure: BIM Workflow

The company requires a certain maturity level developing, to implement BIM, not only to elaborate 3D models but also for collecting, coordinating and communicating all the information to be shared with all stakeholders during the entire life cycle of the asset. According to this maturity level, the tendency is to reach level two and three as observed in the following figure:

                                                                                    Figure: Maturity level from Bew and Richard

Several entities have elaborated BIM’s execution plans to suggest good practices to implement BIM to reach level two and three and they include the following:

I.             goals and use of BIM to set expectation levels for all stakeholders

II.            roles and responsibilities of the project team members

III.          an overall BIM strategy, keeping in mind the procurement strategy and delivery methodology

IV.          a BIM process and exchange protocols used by the team members

V.           data requirements at various stages of the project

VI.          collaboration procedures and methods to handle shared models

VII.        quality control of models; and

VIII.       technology infrastructure and the software required for proper implementation.      

Some execution plans are listed below:

1.    BIM execution planning guide version 2.0 by Penn State University

2.    The VA BIM guide by the US Department of Veterans Affairs

3.    Singapore BIM guide: version 2 by the Building and Construction Authority

4.    BIM execution plan by CPIx (UK)

5.    BIM protocol by the Construction Industry Council (CIC)/BIM Pro)

These plans complement with Digital Plan of Work such as:

1.    RIBA Plan of work 2013 with BIM overlay

2.    BIM task group digital plan of work (PAS 1192-2)

3.    AIA Building Information Modelling and Digital Data Exhibits

4.    UK government Digital Plan of Work

And they guide us to define the key objectives, BIM activities, type of model and also level of detail (LOD) to obtain the following:

I.             To develop a conceptual design or a planning stage of a project

II.            To analyse and to enhance the value generation of the project through time, cost and sustainability-related efficiencies

III.          To drive documentation, procurement and pre-construction planning activities

IV.          To drive the construction process and commissioning

V.           To assist in the operation and maintenance phase

VI.          Also to retrofit and to demolition

BSI - PAS 1192-2 has elaborated an information delivery cycle shown as follows:

Figure: The information delivery cycle (BSI – PAS 1192-2)

                                                                    

As the reader can observe, the information is shared under a Common Data Environment (CDE) through the stages of asset development. To elaborate the project cost, there is a simple workflow that summarises all the process:

Figure: 5D Workflow

                              

This simple workflow can be applied to each phase, what changes is the Level of Detail (LOD) of the model required to each stage.

3)    Step 3- Develop the outcomes for each alternative

According to post 15.1, All the alternatives have the following list of processes to elaborate a project estimate:

1.    GPC

-       Overview of Cost Estimating and Budgeting

-       Develop a Cost Estimating and Budgeting Policies and Procedures Manual

-       Define the Estimate Purpose and Scope of Work (Owner)

-       Developing Top-Down Cost Estimate (Owner)

-       Define the Estimates Purpose and Scope of Work (Contractor)

-       Developing Bottom-Up Cost Estimate (Contractor ) (ABC)

-       Validate the Time Cost Trade-Offs

-       Validating Horizontal and Vertical Traceability (Costs)

-       Conducting the Cost Risk Analysis

-       Baselining and Communicating the Cost Loaded Schedule

-       Capturing Progress and Updating Schedule

-       Assessing and Interpreting Progress

-       Project Performance Forecasting

2.    AACE International - Total Cost Management

-       Plan for Estimating and Budgeting

-       Quantify the Scope Content (take-off)

-       Cost Scope Content

-       Price the Cost Estimate

-       Simulate and Optimize the Costs

-       Budget Costs

-       Analyse Cash Flow

-       Review and Document the Estimate

-       Bidding the Cost Estimate

-       Develop and Maintain Methods and Tools

3.    GAO

-       Define Estimate Purpose

-       Develop Estimating plan

-       Define program characteristics

-       Determine Estimating structure

-       Identify rules and assumptions

-       Obtain Data

-       Develop point estimate and compare it to an independent cost estimate

-       Conduct sensitivity analysis

-       Conduct risk and uncertainty analysis

-       Document the estimate

-       Present estimate to management for approval

-       Update the estimate to reflect actual costs and changes

These process maps are applied to a traditional project stage such as:

-       Planning

-       Construction

-       Operation

-       Closing out

4.    BIM

In the case of BIM, as mentioned before, to elaborate an estimate is necessary to develop the model and then list the quantity take-off to allocate prices to these resources.

The Model and level of detail depend on the stage of development. The most common stages according to different Digital Plan of Work are:

-       Brief

-       Concept Design

-       Preliminary / Definition / Developed Design

-       Design / Technical Design

-       Construction / Build and Commission

-       Handover and close out / As Built

-       Facility Management

According to RIBA there is a list of deliverables as follows:

Figure: RIBA's Matrix

                                                 
           

4)    Step 4- Selection of the acceptable criteria.

Despite that RIBA has determined an equivalent between BIM’s stages and Non-building projects’ phases, as the table shows below, the current analysis intends to establish if a different process can guarantee to obtain a reliable, accurate and precise cost estimate.

                Figure: Equivalent between BIM’s stages and Non-building Project’s stages
                                  

The phase gate approach is a very well known process for owners that TCM, GPC and GAO are usually implemented. Also, BIM can be implemented as we can see in the delivery cycle figure above. Under the phase gate approach, how can we identify the advantages of BIM compare to others?

If we observe the following figure, it shows a traditional method to define the best alternative for the owner to implement a project and make changes with a low-cost impact.

            

Figure of MacLeamy Curve

As BIM advocates collaboration and participation of stakeholders in the early stages of the project based on Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) approach, is this a big differentiator against TCM, GPC and GAO which use a traditional Project Delivery approach?

            The figure below shows a Front-End Loading process and how an IPD and a Typical Project Delivery method might influence in the changes to impact in developing the project estimate.

Figure: Front-End Loading and Project Delivery Approach

                                    

            According to the efforts involved to produce a project cost estimate, what happens if we have to conduct a sensitivity analysis. Would the cost drivers have the same probability of occurrence and consequence as listed in the following table?

                                                                                  Table of Probabilities and Consequences

            GAO suggested the following list of cost drivers.

1.           a shorter or longer economic life;

2.           the volume, mix, or pattern of workload;

3.           potential requirements changes;

4.           configuration changes in hardware, software, or facilities;

5.           alternative assumptions about program operations, fielding strategy, inflation rate, technology heritage savings, and development time;

6.           higher or lower learning curves;

7.            changes in performance characteristics;

8.           testing requirements;

9.           acquisition strategy, whether multiyear procurement, dual sourcing, or the like;

10.        labor rates;

11.         growth in software size or amount of software reuse; and

12.         down-scoping the program.

We are going to assess what is the ranking of cost drivers according to the use of any of the approaches mentioned above.

To continue next post...

8)    REFERENCES.

1.    The B1M. (2015, September 16). What is 5D BIM? | The B1M [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0LiBQ6Jhl0

2.    SIGMA ESTIMATES. (n.d.). 5D BIM / VDC - Sigma Estimates. Retrieved January 5, 2019, from https://sigmaestimates.com/products/integrations-and-apps/bim-5d-vdc/  

3.    THE B1M. (n.d.). BIM For Beginners by The B1M. Retrieved January 5, 2019, from https://www.theb1m.com/BIM-For-Beginners   

4.    Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). (2016, November 4). International BIM Implementation Guide, 1st edition. Retrieved January 5, 2019, from https://www.rics.org/latin-america/upholding-professional-standards/sector-standards/construction/international-bim-implementation-guide/  

5.    British Standard Institution. (2013, March 28). Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) 1192-2. Standards | BIM Level 2. Retrieved January 5, 2019, from https://bim-level2.org/standards  

6.    Guild of Project Controls. (2016, January 05). M10-3_managing_change_the_owner_perspective_-_rev_1.01-pdf. Retrieved September 15, 2018, from http://www.planningplanet.com/guild/gpccar/managing-change-the-owners-perspective

7.    American Institute of Architects. (2007). Integrated Project Delivery: A Guide. Version 1. Retrieved from http://content.aia.org/sites/default/files/2017-02/Integrated%20Project%20Delivery%20Guide.pdf

8.    H. Lance Stephenson. (2015). Total cost management framework: An Integrated Approach to Portfolio, Program, and Project Management (2nd ed.). Morgantown, WV: AACE International. Page 176 - 183

9.    GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide- Best Practices for Developing and Managing Capital Program Costs. Page 8.

10.    Guild of Project Controls. (2015, October 03). 08.01 Introduction to Managing Cost Estimating Budgeting Rev 1.03. Retrieved September 15, 2018, from http://www.planningplanet.com/guild/gpccar/introduction-to-managing-cost-estimating-budgeting