Optimization of the Quantity Take-off (QTO) Process for Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) Trades in Tender Estimation Phase of the Construction Projects

Nowadays, many leading construction companies are still using 2D drawings, Microsoft Excel or other spreadsheet programs to prepare tenders regarding MEP trades. 2D drawings are scanned and the quantities of commodities are extracted and imported into spreadsheet programs. This method is not accurate and transparent. In addition, too much time and effort is required to keep these files up to date. on the other hand, the variety of other solutions are developed to help estimators for a more accurate and transparent cord calculation. Building Information Modelling (BIM) is one of the solving methods. Nowadays, BIM is applied for many of the construction projects, and its usage is growing up worldwide. Truly BIM has been used for Visualization, Clash detection, building design and very more other tasks in building industry; however, its acceptance for quantity take off (QTO) and following, tender estimation is limited. Currently, not too many quantity surveyors (QS) are using BIM as normally a detailed building model is not available in the very early stage of a construction project. This research work is done to develop a new workflow to use BIM for QTO regardless the availability of a detailed Building model. It's tried to create some logics which simulate the required quantities of the commodities. These logics can be based on defined norms and standards or be created according to the reached experience of QS. Subsequently, they will be implemented in RIB iTWO to create the variable wizards. These wizards create a better user interface to be used by QS for QTO.