RICS Americas Breathes New Life Into 5D Cost Estimating Development

01/20/2011 14:10

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the world’s leading professional body for qualifications and standards in land, property and construction, has embarked on the process for enhancing the Building Information Modeling (BIM) process by generating 5-D Estimating capability, to offer a single standardized coding system for use by cost consultants, designers, sub-contractors and vendors. “We all understand the basic philosophy that BIM is a process that generates a 3D model of a construction project, but it also has the potential to provide a dynamic link to other products that can interface with that environment,” says Bailey . “Creating what we refer to as an intelligent building informational model is the key to allowing other consultants and processes to have the ability to link to the intelligence that is embedded within the 3D model. From here we can integrate scheduling and cost information to generate 4D and 5D interfaces to the model,” says Chris Bailey MRICS and Chief Cost Planner for Bovis Lend Lease LMB Inc. in New York. “The plan is for all 3D model components to eventually incorporate a unique OmniClass code that allows recognition of its properties by a cost database.”   “If the market embraces technology and practices such as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), improved efficiency and significant benefits can be achieved for the pre-construction team, as well as vendors and clients,” Bailey adds. Most designers are now developing projects in a 3D environment, Bailey reveals, adding that, with this process it assists in exploring the model and helps to improve coordination of the components through such practices as clash detection. Bailey declares everything that goes into a 3D model should be an intelligent component; the days of including 2D lines have passed. “The ability and willingness of designers to add “I” (information) into the 3D models would exponentially benefit the process.” Bailey notes that 5D can be simply defined as, “The ability to link the intelligence within a 3D BIM environment to a cost estimate.” In one example of using a 5D model, Bailey explains that by using a library component, such as a drywall partition you simply pick it up and drop it into the model then stretch it to where you want it. He goes on to say, “What we’re working on at the moment is trying to add intelligence into all objects like this so that when selected from the library it knows what it is. Significant volumes of additional data can be embedded in the object and extracted simultaneously to enhance the knowledge sharing process.” RICS’ goal is to embed a uniform coding structure into all objects so that everything will have a unique DNA. The system we are looking at is an OmniClass code; it’s a standard system that works on the old CSI Uni-Format system, but is essentially a string of numbers that identifies a given component at a defined level of detail. If you can use a unique code for every object then you can link the estimate and cost database to it. So when it appears in a 3D model it can be mapped to an estimate database that automatically understands what it is. “It can then generate an automated take off and price instead of the lengthy manual process,” Bailey says. Depending upon your role in the industry the unique coding system has the ability to provide the level of information required, Bailey adds. For example, as a Construction Manager or from a General Contractors’ point of view, “I’m only interested that it is a drywall partition and it is this thickness and that quantity of board layers included because that’s all I need to price it.” However, as a drywall sub-contractor, you can structure your database to work out how many square feet of board you need per square foot of wall, as well as calculate the floor track, the head track, and the vertical studs and even the taping, and price anything you want it to do because it is all working off the same code. What RICS is trying to do effectively is populate every model component with a unique code. That way it doesn’t matter whether a designer, an estimator, a sub-contractor, a supplier or vendor utilizes the process, everybody uses the same coding system. It is how the database interprets it that creates the difference, Bailey points out. An everyday example of this process is the SKU code system at the supermarket register. If you select a product from the shelf you might not know everything about it simply from its appearance, but the scanner code gives you a lot more information. So when it’s scanned at the checkout it displays all the additional information. The OmniClass code in a 3D model object effectively does the same thing but via the estimating database. “The continuing issue that we have with BIM in terms of informational modeling is that we don’t see enough information in the model yet with which to interact, hence the search for the “I” for BIM. Without this information, there is no intelligence.” “Anything you extract from the 3D model is totally reliant upon the intelligence that sits within it. If it’s not in there you can’t extract it or map it to anything else. So the real push is to get the designers to embed more intelligence into the model. But to achieve that we have to assist with the development of a coding system as the immediate benefit is not always appreciated by the designer as it doesn’t change the deliverables that they issue to the client,” Bailey asserts. In order for unilateral buy-in, the industry needs to be more forward-thinking and realize now that we’re working in 3D maybe for the short-term at least we need to review the fee structure and how it is supported, Bailey says. If the designer spends more time putting information into the model it is likely to cost more initially, but the benefits come later in the process because the estimate generation will be more efficient. So, working for example, in a typical IPD type arrangement, the client can offset the designer’s premium with the estimator’s savings by simply reallocating his fee percentages. “If he’s prepared to collaborate with the team and embrace this type of philosophy from the outset of the project then the designers will generate higher quality models as they will have additional fee, at least in the short-term until this becomes common practice, and more man-hours to complete it” Bailey declares. Bailey believes that if clients are more perceptive, work more collaboratively and integrate; by distributing the fee provision more wisely they can achieve better results. -- Abigail E. La Croix Chris Bailey MRICS Chris Bailey has more than 32 years of experience in the construction industry; the majority in quantity surveying and estimating. Having worked in a quantity surveying environment in Europe for 19 years, Mr. Bailey made the transition into estimating after joining Bovis Lend Lease UK in 1998. He now holds the position of Chief Cost Planner in the New York office and is actively engaged in the development of estimates on a wide variety of projects throughout the US, centrally focused in the New York area. He currently heads the estimating initiative on Columbia University’s development of their West Harlem Campus among others and has also worked on Madison Square Garden and the proposed Hudson Rail Yards redevelopment project. As a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in the US, he is currently engaged on a committee for the development of a series of initiatives to enhance the delivery of the professional service offering to owners and the construction industry throughout the US. Development of 5D Estimating Paper