Cost Engineer with BIM

Project scheduling and cost estimating are essential components in the pre-construction process and should be included in an advanced BIM system to facilitate informed decisions with regards to time and costs and the impact of each on a projects bottom line. The potential advantages of BIM with its cost attributing features span a wide range of outcomes including a robust cost estimating. BIM model allows for better cost estimation to cost engineers for human resources, raw materials and structural components.

Adding 4D(Schedule) and 5D(Estimating) to a BIM project creates an environment that enhances profitability and add value in the model development optimizing the benefits of BIM for both the project team and project owner.

Cost engineers can easily measures construction costs like total project cost per square foot, construction contract cost per square foot, and construction change order costs and percentages. The entire scope of a project — from design, scheduling and costing to contracts, purchase orders, change requests, as-builts and completion — is all reliably and digitally co-ordinated.

Failure to promptly resolve project impacts results in disputes that quickly escalate in cost and duration and distract the project team from its chief purpose. A critical role of the cost engineer is to quickly harness such disputes with an equitable, contemporaneous resolution that prevents impact creep

BIM by developing quantified cost models identify construction quantities for cost engineers and facilitate earlier planning, management, and procurement activities, especially for the mega-projects, driving to earlier completion dates by as much as a year. BIM also provide earlier guidance supporting optimization of costs in designs.

BIM can significantly reduce engineering man-hours expended solely for the purpose of supporting the development of cost estimates

With its 3D and 4D models BIM demonstrates the scope of work to subcontractors during the bidding process, eliminate ambiguities, and reduce cost contingency in sub bids through increased clarity.