CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
The construction industry consists of a large variety of organisations
which aims to erect, alter or refurbish different building or civil
engineering structures. Building clients or developers responsible for
the developing of these building or civil engineering structures can
range from central and local government and housing associations to
private organisations. Their policies and procedures may differ
substantially, but the need for aesthetically striking, quality, functional
buildings that is economical and cost effective, remains the same
(Seeley, 1997).
Traditionally quantity surveyors fulfilled the role of measuring and
valuing construction works. With the deterioration of this role, quantity
surveyors have been evolving and adapting their services that have led
them to become professional experts on the contractual and financial
aspects of construction developments and the management thereof.
Cost estimation, feasibility studies, tendering, cost planning, value
management, and dispute resolution are the main activities performed
by quantity surveyors that makes them an essential contributor to any
construction development. The purpose of most construction projects
is usually to obtain a product that is good quality, great value for
money and therefore provides a sufficient return on investment. The
need for cost effective, quality, “green” construction has brought new
technologies forward in the construction industry. In order to keep up
with a competitive industry professionals need to evolve with
technology and constantly bring new technology into play. BIM is one
of the latest technologies that have been stirring up the construction
industry. BIM is a practical, multidimensional technology that promises
to add exponential value to construction projects through higher quality
and efficiency, reduction in costs, effective construction management,
and improved customer services.
BIM uses digital modelling to simulate the planning, design, construction
and operation of a project (Azhar et al. 2010). The model containing
all the physical and functional characteristics of the facility serves as
an information resource that is shared between the various parties
involved and forces collaboration between the different stakeholders. It
manages projects through its innovative characteristics, and is aimed at
integrating working systems and adding value to building economics
and project delivery (Matipa, 2008). Although its main functions are
the design and interoperability of the model and its information, it still
holds many other functions that promise to be of great use to
professionals other than designers. BIM does not only provide
construction project management and scheduling facilities but it also
contains various cost management functions that will come in handy to
quantity surveyors. “The accurate and computable nature of building
information models provides a more reliable source for owners to
perform quantity take-off and estimating and provides faster cost
feedback on design changes” (Eastman et al. 2008). The model
automatically analyse all materials and components and extracts
quantities directly from it. It offers to simplify some of the traditional
tasks performed by quantity surveyors and remove routine and
drudgery that come with such tasks.
BIM can therefore be used to automatically produce bills of quantities
and through this also produce cost estimates at various levels of the
project, rapidly update costs due to design changes and calculates
maintenance costs, and evaluate space planning or renovation
alternatives in the post-construction phase of a project. Through the
automation of the production of bills of quantities quantity surveyors
will be able to produce deliverables much more efficiently and timely,
and at higher and accurate standards.
There is however still many factors that needs to be evaluated and
barriers that need to be overcome before quantity surveyors will be
able to fully implement BIM into their work environment. Quantity take-
off and estimating software will need to be upgraded to overcome
shortcomings and be made consistent and compatible with BIM
software. This must provide for different file formats to enable the
share of data effortlessly between the different consultants involved.
Quantity surveying software should therefore be developed to be used
in a fully collaborative environment. The upgrading of software and
implementation of new methods into a working environment usually
brings forth various expenses and training needs that will need to be
addressed. In the case of BIM there are also various legal issues
that will need to be taken into concern to overcome legal pitfalls
created by BIM, such as professional responsibility and risk allocation,
insurances and copyrights. The changing role of the quantity
surveyor lies in the ability to remain key advisors on the financial and
contractual decisions on construction developments. Quantity surveyors
need to keep reinventing themselves and continually add value and
enhance their professional services (Ashworth and Hogg, 2007).
Implementing BIM into a quantity surveying firm will enable quantity
surveyors to do their work more accurately and efficiently, which will
give them a competitive advantage. The successful implementation of
BIM will however not happen without affecting the quantity surveying
profession in some way or another. The cost management functions
of BIM will change the process of cost management of construction
projects, which will shift the responsibilities of the professionals
involved, forcing quantity surveyors to focus on different parts of the
cost management process and create new responsibilities and
opportunities for themselves, and rearrange the structure that they
work in.

1.2 STATMENT OF PROBLEM

BIM is a multi-dimensional model that acts as a communication
and information resource over the lifecycle of a construction
project. It consists of 3-dimensional (3D) design functions, cost
estimating functions and programming and scheduling functions.
(Eastman, 2007).
BIM is a new technological advancement, integrating all trades
associated with Civil Engineering and Architecture into a single
fold. But its implementation has been confined to 3D drawings in
India and elsewhere. Its potential is known, but has not utilized in
Quantity Surveying, due to fear it will alienate jobs and also lack
of its authenticity in application in Quantity Surveying. This paper
tries to alienate that fear and aims to compare the results by
Quantity Surveying a project by conventional method and BIM.
 LITERATURE REVIEW

IMPACT OF BIM ON QUANTITY SURVEYING PROFESSION

design which are referred to Technology is developing rapidly by
improving all its subsectors across the world and making all the real
life functions easier than they were. The construction industry which
identifies technology as vital, has been sensitive to these technological
changes. Ashworth and Hogg (2007 as cited Gee, 2010) emphasized
that the Quantity Surveying profession is, like many other professions,
an evolving profession that needs to continue to change to meet the
ever changing conditions of the building industry. The history of
Quantity Surveying and the way Quantity Surveying tasks were
performed provides enough substantial evidence to show how
Information Technology has changed the way the Quantity
Surveyor.BIM has the potential to influence every characteristic of the
construction industry together with construction professionals. BIM
consists of 3-dimensional design functions (3D), programming and
scheduling functions (4D) and cost estimating functions (5D). Olatunji
et al. (2009) specified that, BIM is a major challenge to the services
conventionally provided by Quantity Surveyors and other construction
disciplines. The adoption of BIM may redefine traditional professional
boundaries in construction not just for Quantity Surveying. BIM has the
potential to automate measurement and facilitate the preparation of
accurate estimates. Building Information Modeling has the capability to
automate a quantity take-off, which will reduce the time and costs
required to estimate a project; however, the industry is not using BIM
for estimating. BIM software is compatible with estimating software,
such as Innovaya Composer, which converts
• Errors associated with moving data between files
• Risk of double counting
• Risk of missing elements
• Multiple 2D drawings themselves are likely to contain many errors
compounding the problem further more Paul et al. (2011) denote that
BIM software can help assist the Quantity Surveyor in various tasks
rather than quantification. BIM can aid program me certainty at tender
stage, contractors can link their program me to the model upon tender
submission, and this should reduce the amount of variations required
during the construction phase. As a summary it can be illustrated that
there is considerable impact of BIM on the profession of Quantity
Surveying.
BIM files, making them compatible with Timberline’s estimate and
quantity data (Sattineni and Bradford, 2012). According to Gee (2010),
BIM’s capabilities of automating the production of bills of quantities,
which is one of the Quantity Surveyors fundamental tasks, will have
both positive and negative effects on the Quantity Surveying industry.
Hergunsel (2011) reported that two main elements of a cost estimate
are quantity take-off and pricing. Quantities from a Building Information
Model can be extracted to a cost database or an excel file. However,
pricing cannot be attained from the model. Cost estimating requires
the expertise of the cost estimator to analyze the components of a
material and how they get installed. If the pricing for a certain activity
is not available in the database, cost estimator may need a further
breakdown of the element for more accurate pricing. Autodesk (2007)
argues that as BIM tools are capable of automating the tedious task
of quantifying, they allow the estimators to dedicate their valuable time
on other cost sensitive tasks as pricing and factoring risks. Baldwin
and Jelling (2009) emphasized that traditionally followed Quantity
Takeoff and bill generation is a very time consuming process that are
prone to error. Moreover, it is perceived that the following factors
undermine the accuracy of the manual Quantity Takeoff.