The integration of BIM technology with the IPD collaborative management model marks a significant breakthrough in cost management. This approach breaks down traditional barriers to information sharing and collaboration within construction project cost management. It facilitates seamless horizontal and vertical communication, enabling real-time, dynamic, and accurate control over costs. By combining BIM and IPD, all project participants enhance their ability to manage expenses effectively, ensuring comprehensive cost control throughout the project.
① Information Sharing on the BIM Platform
Construction projects often span long periods and require vast amounts of information for effective cost management throughout their lifecycle. Accurate data forms the foundation for various calculations, including investment estimates, preliminary budgets, and construction drawing budgets in the early phases. During construction, real-time updates on cost management are essential for change orders, dynamic settlements, and final accounting upon completion and handover.
Moreover, the integration of diverse professional information—such as architecture, structural engineering, and installation—can complicate the exchange of project data. The current use of computer information management in construction remains relatively underdeveloped, often lacking standardized categorization and storage, which reduces the efficiency of retrieving required information.
BIM addresses these challenges by encompassing all construction-related information within a parameterized information model. The BIM sharing platform connects all aspects of the project both horizontally and vertically, ensuring quick and smooth transmission and sharing of project information. Meanwhile, the IPD collaborative management model introduces a new organizational approach to cost management. Unlike traditional models, IPD emphasizes collaborative sharing among all project participants, enabling more effective control of project progress, costs, and quality—ultimately fostering a win-win outcome for the entire project.
Together, BIM and IPD provide not only the technical platform necessary for collaboration but also the organizational framework required. This synergy facilitates rapid sharing of cost management information, allowing construction projects to complete cost management tasks more efficiently.
② Enhancing Cost Management Collaboration Among Participants through BIM and IPD
Traditional construction cost management often suffers from fragmented perspectives due to the involvement of various stakeholders, including owners, designers, and general contractors. Each party has different views on cost management, leading to inconsistent information and difficulties in maintaining a holistic approach. Communication tends to be linear, complicating coordination among participants.
By integrating BIM technology with the IPD collaborative management mode, real-time updates and interactions are possible through multidimensional virtual models that reflect project progress and stakeholder needs. From construction through to completion and handover, all parties can coordinate and communicate cost management efforts via the BIM platform.
BIM can generate detailed models of buildings, plumbing, electrical systems, HVAC installations, and more, tailored to the needs of different participants. Its visualization and simulation capabilities help identify and resolve conflicts within the IPD team, while providing the necessary project information for effective cost management across all parties.
③ Facilitating Cost Management Collaboration Across Project Stages with BIM and IPD
In conventional construction projects, disconnections between different stages often occur due to traditional management models. This leads to challenges in coordinating cost management across the project lifecycle. Typically, participants lack a comprehensive understanding of the project and tend to prioritize their own interests over the overall project goals. Additionally, cost management information is often not communicated smoothly or in real-time, causing further coordination difficulties between disciplines and stages.
The combination of BIM and IPD addresses these issues by leveraging BIM’s real-time dynamic updates. The latest project information and tasks are communicated promptly to each stage. Cost management data from earlier phases is summarized and used as a reference for subsequent stages.
Management and coordination across different disciplines are efficiently handled on the BIM platform, while the IPD model ensures organizational alignment and shared objectives between stages. This results in more effective collaboration and coordination throughout the project lifecycle.
— Excerpt from “Research on Construction Project Cost Management Based on BIM and IPD Collaborative Management Mode” by Yin Xiaofei
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