The State of BIM-Based Quantity Take-Off Implementation Among Commercial General Contractors

• Main Author: Tagg, Morgan Christian
• Format: Others
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2017
• Subjects: building information modeling (BIM); quantity take-off (QTO); estimator; preconstruction; virtual design construction (VDC); commercial general contractor; Construction Engineering and Management
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6607; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7607&context=etd

Building Information Modeling (BIM) plays an important role in today's construction industry. Models are tools that help stakeholders communicate, visualize building geometry, perform trade coordination and clash detection among others. A less popular aspect of BIM that shows high potential is the quantity take-off (QTO) feature. Yet, its implementation among commercial general contractors (GC) has not received as much attention. The purpose of this study was to identify how the BIM QTO features were being implemented among commercial general contractors, what challenges they faced and how they worked to overcome those challenges. Through a three-step process including semi structured interviews with estimators, preconstruction, BIM and Virtual Design Construction (VDC) managers, valuable insights on the BIM QTO implementation state among general contractors were gathered and analyzed. Links between BIM QTO benefits, project design phases and delivery methods, software, training, leadership and jurisdictions were discussed. The data indicated that BIM QTO's benefits were best leveraged through early general contractor involvement, the adequate contract framework, trained BIM QTO estimators, and early and strategic communication between owners, designers and estimators. The conditions for increased efficiency were discussed along with the solutions to the common BIM-based QTO challenges.