Integration of VR with BIM to facilitate real-time creation of bill of quantities during the design phase: A proof of concept study

Abstract

As building practices change, procedures that seemed indispensable at one point can be abandoned for others, one example of which is the bill of quantities (B/Q). Research into the extant literature attributes the declining use of B/Qs to a multitude of reasons, such as its complexity, the potentially long time required to produce it, the growth in popularity of non-traditional procurement systems, and the challenge of using the information within the document in a construction schedule. With these issues in mind, building information modeling (BIM) and virtual reality (VR) are combined and proposed as a potential solution that allows inclusion of the client into the design process. Following a literature review and precedent study, an experiment was carried out using this new process to simulate a client’s design decisions on window and interior furnishings. The choices made by the client using VR automatically updated a B/Q schedule built in Revit and allowed them to have a firm understanding of project costs. Besides giving the client more confidence in a pleasing final outcome, the technology also ensured an up-to-date, accurate, and easily understandable B/Q. The proposed method features great potential savings in cost and time and gives the B/Q a newfound importance in future construction processes. The research case presented in this paper is a stepping stone in exploring new opportunities offered by VR and BIM and how they could improve the reliability and accuracy of traditional procurement within construction, specifically within the B/Q document.

Keywords

virtual reality / bill of quantities / BIM / Revit / real-time synchronisation

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