Streamlining Takeoff and Estimating with BIM: A Case Study of a Construction Cost Estimating Course

Since the construction industry has been adopting Building Information Modeling (BIM) as the standard practice for design, engineering, and fabrication in the recent decade, many Construction Management (CM) programs at U.S. universities have started to introduce BIM for cost estimating in their curriculum. Although considered as the fifth dimension beyond 3D and schedule, BIM for cost estimating in many cases is still used merely as an alternative model-based quantity takeoff method to the traditional plan-based approach. The disconnection between automated quantity takeoff and cost estimating, however, still exists, and the benefits of the BIM process in a project life cycle can not be fully understood by CM students without realizing its impact in the preconstruction phase. To bridge these gaps in a CM curriculum, an Advanced Cost Estimating course for CM programs has been developed that focuses on integrating BIM in both the takeoff and estimating process. The new course streamlines the connection between model-based quantity takeoff and cost estimating with the help of a combination of multiple construction software programs. Through the integration between the software, quantity data from a BIM model can be seamlessly transferred to a construction cost database for bid pricing and reporting. This paper presents the development of the new Advanced Cost Estimating course as a case study, including its objectives, layout, and assessment methods, and provides empirical and valuable insights on how to integrate BIM in a cost estimating course for a CM curriculum.