The Impact of BIM Design-Related Changes on the Performance of VDC Tasks of Electrical Contractors in the United States

Specialty trade contractors are increasingly using building information models (BIM) and other virtual design and construction (VDC) tools to deliver their projects more efficiently. Trade contractors are prone to VDC performance deterioration and cost overruns due to the lack of true integrated project delivery and their heavy investment in BIM/VDC tools and processes. This paper summarizes the finding of a study to investigate current experiences and best practices of electrical contractors of executing and controlling the costs of BIM and VDC tasks under design changes. The study included two main objectives: (1) examine the current industry experience of performing BIM and VDC tasks under design changes; and (2) identify best practices to mitigate, track and communicate the cost impact of VDC changes. The study depended on two main data collection tasks: online questionnaire and interviews. Sixty-four percent of the questionnaire respondents reported experiencing VDC cost overruns in more than 10% of their projects, and more than 2/3 of them did not recover such cost overruns. Best practices of managing and recovering these cost overruns were suggested based on the interviews and the questionnaire findings.