Guest Commentary

November/December 2008

A Well-Kept Secret: BIM in Preconstruction Wins Clients

Using BIM models in preconstruction allows contractors to determine costs of different sites and building modifications and reduces nonbillable time

By Stewart Carroll

Stewart Carroll CEO Stewart Carroll is chief operating officer of Beck Technology, developers of DProfiler BIM software. He has been a leading A/E/C technologist for over a decade and is an expert on A/E/C technology and its applications in the marketplace. Stewart often speaks on the integration of cost and scoping technologies to owners and developers.

Practitioners are increasingly applying building information modeling during design and collaboration with contractors and even after occupancy for long-term facility operations and upkeep. These are excellent uses of BIM technology, but the case can be made to apply BIM even before all of these.

That phase before an owner or developer says, ”Yes, let’s do it,” can be a time of client uncertainty, fiscal fluctuations and competing priorities, especially in an unpredictable economy. For practitioners who are asked to do preliminary work for new commercial properties, these early, nonbillable services for a client can cost a great deal of time and money.

That’s doubly taxing because with bottom-lined resources, work to land a project that will not be completed until 2012 also takes time and man-hours away from other work already on the books and earning money.

Every firm has stories of missed or unbillable preconstruction work such as retail town centers, hotels, office parks and corporate campuses. One solution that is catching on is the use of macro BIM technology that is targeted toward the conceptual and schematic phases of a project.

In 50 hours, one firm using macro BIM produced important information for a client who wanted the virtual building in hand to attract high-dollar tenants. The client envisioned a 275,000-sq-ft complex in Tampa, Fla., featuring a hotel, offices and a parking garage that would cost in the range of $50 million.

The firm produced a conceptual estimate based on the design. With the help of architects, the BIM model was then enhanced working within the parameters of the pro forma while simultaneously continuing to develop a visual aesthetic for the project.

Even though upfront work before the client’s decision is not billed, it makes sound fiscal sense to minimize preconstruction hours. Ad- ditionally, the BIM models allowed the firm to correlate costs to different sites and building modifications.

The owner, still undecided, praised the firm’s ability to produce two different high-quality building and site options and their conceptual estimates—at low cost to the firm. This shows how BIM can work in an integrated delivery method.

Making All the Pieces Fit

In the case of a Dunedin, Fla., mixed-use project, preconstruction using BIM took 80 hours. That may sound typical, but without incorporating the technology, an estimator would have racked up two months of fee work to deliver the same level of detail with prices.

BIM model of the $9-million medical and residential project in Dunedin, Fla.

The project called for medical offices, retail space, residential space and parking. A preconstruction BIM application was especially beneficial because the project had to meet historic district standards.

Ten cost options were produced, complete with graphic depictions and detailed estimates for the project, now estimated to cost $9 million. Options included variations in the construction materials, the numbers of floors and building types, all divided into a three-phase construction schedule.

Additionally, the firm provided schematic designs, design development and a breakdown of the different programmatic facilities.

Despite the long incubation period for the project, BIM allowed the client to continue refining his pro forma while getting a better understanding of what it would cost. The client especially liked the ability to pick and choose among the options to discover what worked best. Both the architect and contractor also welcomed the quick and accurate preconstruction work. Construction will begin on phase one in 2009.

Similarly, Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods, within the span of just one week, had to determine whether to build a proposed 16-floor building with its signature grocery store, additional office space, and both a below-ground and above-ground parking garage.

The director of construction worked with an integrated firm that used macro BIM to create a digitized framework of two different exterior scenarios and three separate models for each, for a total of six estimates. The sole estimator produced a comprehensive and cost-exacting package for the developer in 50 hours. The traditional method would have taken 100 hours by each of two estimators.

While the economic fallout in October caused the project’s cancellation, the client was so enthusiastic that macro BIM had produced valuable information in a short timeframe that the firm is now at the top of his list for future work. The client praised the resulting proposals and data-rich models created during the request-for-proposal process.

The Preface to Any Project

Why use BIM even before the contract is signed? Because it can win work for the contractor. This sophisticated modeling software makes good business sense.

A BIM proposal can be produced in half the hours and manpower as a traditional approach, with just as much information that leads to that go/no-go project decision.

Any practitioner in the owner’s door first can opt for BIM use. It’s a three-dimensional, detail-rich, parametrically accurate computerized representation of a commercial structure. With some basic training, anyone familiar with the working knowledge of building trades, design, construction and estimating can create these models for clients.

While the growing list of quality BIM products can be confusing, some preconstruction or macro BIM technology is perfectly suited for the arduous work expected by an owner. Macro BIM can even integrate with other technology once the project is approved so that continued costs charged to the client are lessened.

Everyone knows BIM has proven to be the application for the future of the industry. Not many know BIM’s best-kept secret. The technology is equally dynamic in preconstruction. Now you do.