BUILD LONDON LIVE 2008

Dynamic cost analysis using ISY Calcus

BIM costing in 48 hours whilst design in progress

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BIM Products was one of the few teams to attempt cost analysis from the BIM. As distributors for ISY Calcus we received excellent support from our suppliers who produced impressive results in the 48 hours at BIM Central.

ISY Calcus bridges the gap between traditional early stage cost estimates based on the gross area of the proposed buildings, and detailed cost calculations by QS at the other end of the spectrum.

The former is fast but 'rough and dirty' whilst the latter is time intensive and dependant on good documentation, assumptions and design details. Neither method suits a dynamic environment such as Build LONDON Live where the information is constantly changing - as it does in the real world!

The Calcus method sits between these two scenarios. It is extremely fast, generates a high level of accuracy with little input, produces good documentation and is easy to adapt to a dynamic project.

Using the IFC files for Tower 1 we linked the BIM to ISY Calcus so that we could run cost calculations. These were run and re-run several times during the 48 hours as the design of the building evolved.

The speed by which cost analysis can be generated is truly astounding and would be impossible to match by manual process.

One of the main points to understand is that once again the interoperable IFC BIM was used by another discipline for analysis. By linking to IFC's Calcus creates valuable spin-off information for the stakeholders who only need to invest in a single BIM.

Click to download PDF report

BIM Products Ltd will announce shortly that Calcus is using BCIS Wessex price book data, but for Build LONDON Live we used Norwegian prices and converted these into Euros & GBP.

Tower 1 Build LONDON Live