Cost Estimating Sand & Cement Using Revit

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A purpose-built BIM solution like Revit features computable building information that enables a model to be understood by a computer as a building. A wall for example, "knows" what it is and how to react to the rest of the building.

As such, it can be scheduled or quantified as a wall: a building assembly made of real materials. Computable building information supports numerous building design and construction activities: structural analysis, MEP system modeling, building energy analysis, and specification management, to name just a few.

Cost estimating is yet another aspect of the building process that can benefit from computable building information. Designing a building is the responsibility of architects, whereas assessing the cost to build it is the domain of estimators. In general, the architect's scope of work doesn't extend to material takeoffs or cost information. That's left to the estimator.

When preparing their cost estimates, estimators typically begin by digitizing the architect's paper drawings, or importing their CAD drawings into a cost estimating package, or doing manual takeoffs from their drawings.

All of these methods introduce the potential for human error and propagate any inaccuracies there may be in the original drawings.

By using a building information model instead of drawings, the takeoffs, counts, and measurements can be generated directly from the underlying model. Therefore, the information is always consistent with the design. And when a change is made in the design – a smaller window size, for example – the change automatically ripples to all related construction documentation and schedules, as well as all the takeoffs, counts, and measurements that are used by the estimator.

The time spent by the estimator on quantification varies by project, but perhaps 50-80% of the time needed to create a cost estimate is spent just on quantification. Given those numbers, one can instantly appreciate the huge advantage of using a building information model for cost estimating.

When you do not require manual takeoffs, you can save time, cost, and reduce the potential for human error. In fact, a common complaint from estimating firms is how much they hate paying estimators to simply count or quantify when they bring so much more expertise and experience to the table.

By automating the tedious task of quantifying, BIM allows estimators to use that time instead to focus on higher value project-specific factors - identifying construction assemblies, generating pricing, factoring risks, and so forth - that are essential for high-quality estimates.

For example, consider a commercial project slated for construction in northern Minnesota in the winter. The estimator will realize that winter heating and dewatering will be needed for a portion of the concrete substructure. This is the sort of specialized knowledge only professional estimators can factor in to the cost estimate accurately.

This construction wisdom, not "counting," is the real value professional estimators bring to the cost estimating process.

Today, we present you a video intractable on how to estimate the cost of sand and cement using one of the most popular BIM software – Autodesk Revit. Engineer Deepak Verma will be with you to explain, step-by-step, how can you perform cost estimation of cement and sand in Revit.

To get more details, go through the following video tutorial.

We hope you found the lecture useful. Please let us know if you want more such instructibles, guides, tutorials or other lectures. The comment form below will allow you to let us know of your thoughts and ideas. Thanks, and happy learning!