How can Building Information Modelling (BIM) support the New Rules of Measurement (NRM1)

The emergence of BIM has remarkably changed the way theconstruction industry operates. BIM through its extensivedigital capability of virtually representing physical andfunctional characteristics of a built facility creates a shared source of information among the construction project team thereby forming a reliable platform for the decision making process to take place throughout the whole life cycle of the facility. It has shifted the industry from traditional paper based information management processes which typically tend to be cost ineffective, tiresome, error-ridden and time consuming, to automated processes facilitated by sophisticated technology that bring a number of advantages in terms of time, cost, and quality.BIM’s capability of automating measurements throughextracting quantities directly from digital building modelsis its key benefit towards quantity surveyors as it clearlyaccelerates the traditional estimating process. BIM basedestimating can be executed in three ways, namely, byexporting the measurements to spreadsheets, by directlylinking modelling tools with estimating plug-ins, andusing specialised BIM estimating tools. However, quantitysurveyors in the UK construction industry are yet tointegrate the comprehensive use of BIM into their practices.The key reason for the limited usage of BIM in quantitysurveying practice is the unavailability of BIM based costestimating or take-off software tools that fully adopt theUK practices and standards of measurement.Attempting to bridge the gap of a BIM based estimatingor take-off tool that adheres to the UK standards andpractices of measurement, this research investigatesthe required information from a BIM model to support the estimating process according to the RICS standard ofNRM1 order of cost estimating and elemental cost planning.Additionally reviews the technical requirement for BIMbased software tools to support NRM1. A comprehensiveliterature review, a series of in-depth interviews with BIMexperts, and a workshop with a group of quantity surveyors,on BIM in general; application of BIM in quantity surveyingfunctions, estimating and cost planning in particular;standards for cost estimating and cost planning laid thefoundation of this research. The information requirementoutlined in this report provides overall guidance for thequantity surveyors on the types of measurements a BIMmodel can generate, and the ways of utilising the quantityinformation in a BIM model in cost estimating and planning.The review of technical requirements enables the quantitysurveyors to select the most appropriate BIM based costestimating tool for a specific scenario from a numberof those available. The research reviews the four mostwell known tools in the UK market, namely, Solibri modelchecker, Autodesk QTO, CostX and Causeway BIMmeasurebased on a set of criteria which is relevant to the NRM1 cost estimating and cost planning exercise.The study reveals it is essential for the project team to agree on a set of requirements which is defined from the viewpoint of cost estimating and planning to enable the quantity surveyor to use BIM more effectively. Having formed the basis of such information requirements it suggests that the efficiency and accuracy of cost estimating and planning processes can be significantly improved by supporting BIM models with NRM 1 requirements