Funders: Bundesinstitut für Bau-, Stadt- und Raumforschung (BBSR) im Rahmen der Forschungsinitiative Zukunft Bau

Project term: 01/2021 - 06/2022

German construction projects, especially in the public sector, regularly generate headlines due to significant cost increases. Cost planning in construction is predominantly based on non-transparent and decoupled determination and tracking processes, which are carried out by a large number of parties involved in the construction project. This conventional approach does not meet the requirements of modern cost management for construction projects. On the basis of the Building Information Modelling method, transparent, consistent cost management is possible.

Based on qualitative surveys, BIM-based cost management is already considered useful, but there is a lack of a standardised, generally valid process model for the complete establishment of software-independent, BIM-based cost management and thus the transformation of cost planning, tracking and control.

Within the framework of the research project, a standard process model for BIM-based cost management is to be developed. This standard process model will be used to quantitatively demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness advantages of the BIM method for cost management compared to conventional project implementation. The investigations are based on the already published BIM process model of the University of Wuppertal. For quantitative proof, the research team, consisting of List Digital GmbH, the Institute of Applied Building Informatics the  at the university of Munich (iabi) and the Bergische Universität Wuppertal, is pursuing the research and development of a measurement metric.

The intention of this research project is to determine efficiency aspects in a user-oriented manner through a statistically valid, process-oriented comparison between conventional and BIM-based cost management. These efficiency and effectiveness advantages should generate widespread acceptance in the German construction industry and, in particular, contribute to a digital transformation in the medium-sized construction industry.

The comparison between conventional and innovative procedures is carried out by means of guide-based time measurement series. For this purpose, test persons of different professional competences from the construction industry will simulate cost management on the basis of a sample project. The determined time series will be generalised by statistical methods. As a result, an evaluation of the software-neutral economic benefit of digital cost management based on the BIM method will be possible.