Application of BIM in early stage design cost estimation

Abstract

Architects, in general, are very excited in designing a project, that they often become engrossed and deviated from the original budget. A quick solution, architects will frequently reduce the floor area and sometimes they even have to redesign the projects in order to keep within the clients’ budget. This study explores the elements that could effectively and practically reduce and control the construction cost during the early stage of the design process. The aim of this research is to seek the impact of the selected design elements that can be manipulated by architects at the early design stage to control the project cost. This study has utilised building simulation technique to analyse the design elements variation and their impacts on the construction cost. The results from these simulations show that there are significant differences among the design elements where every changes gave impacts to the construction cost. After analysing the results acquired, it is concluded that floor area gives the greatest impact to the construction cost, followed by door and grid structures. Architects equipped with good decision-making skills and cost strategizes are seen as well-informed and reliable leaders especially when the projects encounter financial constraint. The result of this research can help architects to strategize the construction cost at early design stage in a more proficient and practical manner.