Construction Research Congress 2020
Exploring the Cost Benefit of Building Information Modeling Implementation in Metal Stud Framing—A Central Valley Specialty Contractor’s Perspective
Publication: Construction Research Congress 2020: Project Management and Controls, Materials, and Contracts
ABSTRACT
As popular as BIM has become with general contractors (GC) and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) trades in project delivery today, the drywall industry has seemed to lag behind the rest. Metal stud framing in drywall construction is a crucial constituent of project coordination in various project types such as healthcare, institutional, and general commercial projects. It could significantly affect MEP trades and overall project coordination efforts due to critical framing arrangement required at the interfacing between metal studs and MEP components. Poor design and construction coordination of metal stud framing often lead to an increase in costs, materials, and time. Currently in the Central Valley, very few drywall and metal framing contractors are involved in BIM-facilitated project coordination process, attributed to either a lack of technological sophistication of BIM, or uncertainty in perceived value of investing in BIM by the specialty contractors. This paper attempts to explore the cost benefit of implementing BIM from the perspective of a well-established local drywall and metal framing specialty contractor. A cost benefit analysis was conducted with historical project cost data to compare potential cost savings and business benefits should the specialty contractor had in-house talent for BIM-facilitated metal stud framing design and coordination. The analysis considered major cost factors including investment in BIM hardware, software and training, BIM employee’s salary, as well as potential benefits from avoided coordination mistake costs, savings of reduced construction rework and change order, and potential new business opportunity due to capacity in BIM-facilitated metal stud framing design and coordination. The paper provides a quantitative method for specialty contractors in decision-making when facing BIM adoption and implementation uncertainties.
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Published In
Construction Research Congress 2020: Project Management and Controls, Materials, and Contracts
Pages: 823 - 831
Editors: David Grau, Ph.D., Arizona State University, Pingbo Tang, Ph.D., Arizona State University, and Mounir El Asmar, Ph.D., Arizona State University
ISBN (Online): 978-0-7844-8288-9
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Nov 9, 2020
Published in print: Nov 9, 2020
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