Digitalization has been a growing trend in the construction industry for many years. Even though the
construction industry has been slow to adopt new processes and technology innovations, digitalization
is now accelerating and building information modelling is regarded as its backbone. To adopt new
technologies and digitalization, engineering and consulting companies have to re-engineer their business
processes.
This work focuses on the re-engineering of the quantity takeoff process. The goal is to digitalize the
traditional quantity takeoff process using BIM. The presented business process re-engineering is done
adopting existing guidelines, recommendations and methodologies from the experts in the field. First,
the existing AS-IS process is captured, modelled and analyzed. Three alternative solutions are proposed
and evaluated. The chosen solution for the re-engineered BIM-based quantity takeoff process proposes
implementing a new, specialized application software, standardization of process inputs, outputs and
workflows, controlled vocabulary and development of custom solutions using Revit API to address
specific challenges.
The TO-BE process is defined, modelled and implemented through a variety of developments. The reengineered
process is successfully applied to a case study of an existing project following the defined
TO-BE process model, accommodating all critical success factors. The whole process was executed in
a single, digital environment. The number of model-based items in the bill of quantities increased from
approximately 20% in the existing process to approximately 70% in the re-engineered process. While
there is still room for continuous process improvement, the analysis of the case study suggests that the
re-engineered process is much more reliable, time-efficient, better in managing changes, and the overall
process control is improved.
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