An Integrated BIM System to Track the Time and Cost of Construction Projects: A Case Study

Abstract

Many construction projects suffer from poor design and from inconsistent time and cost management. This situation has led to rethinking of the industry’s performance and how it could be improved. Technology is breaking through design and management practices. Earned value management (EVM) enables better management of time and cost constraints. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is recognized to improve the planning and realization of a construction project. The present paper proposes an integrated time and cost management system (ITCMS), where an EVM platform is used in a virtual environment during the planning and construction phases of a project. The ITCMS enables early involvement and project integration plus thorough time and cost management. The system consists of four modules and 13 different processes. The ITCMS is beneficial at the design stage; construction professionals are able to synchronize the building model with time and cost parameters as well as optimize it through a clash detection process that results in budget and schedule compressions early on. The ITCMS is a useful tool for construction and engineering managers that strive to increase projects’ performance. The authors demonstrate in this paper the validity of using the ITCMS through an actual project.

Integración de las metodologías Building Information Modeling 5D y Earned Value Management a través de una herramienta computacional

“…This tool includes just the planning phase of building projects, because its interface did not develop a cost and time control module. (Jrade and Lessard, 2015) developed ITCMS, which is able to integrate both budget and schedule, adding a time and cost control through the EVM technique. However, the use of different tools for construction project management causes data reprocessing and leaks.…”

“…Based on the above, authors like (Jrade and Lessard, 2015) propose an integrated time and cost management system, called (ITCMS). It is composed by an EVM platform developed in Microsoft Excel and MS Project, which synchronizes the construction model with the project's time and cost parameters.…”

Analysis of the Earned Value Management and Earned Schedule Techniques in Complex Hydroelectric Power Production Projects: Cost and Time Forecast

“…EVM finds application in very varied contexts. It is a technique traditionally applied in the construction industry [28][29][30], where it has been regularly and successfully applied. But it has also been applied in different highly specialized contexts with a large number of special features and needs.…”

A comparison between different approches for 5D BIM in construction site surveying

“…BIM automatically presents data both visually and analytically, information is clearer and easier to understand, and 4D models serve as platform for detection of potential conflicts and risk analysis [10] Having observed that an intrinsic limit of 4D visualization in BIM models is the lack of economic features, we propose system to integrate BIM technology and EVM, following Haque [10] and Jrade and Lessard's intuition [11]. The basis of the study comes from the idea of Construction Site Information Model (Co.S.I.M.)…”