Abstract
Many construction projects suffer from poor design and from inconsistent time and cost management. This situation has led to rethinking of the industry’s performance and how it could be improved. Technology is breaking through design and management practices. Earned value management (EVM) enables better management of time and cost constraints. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is recognized to improve the planning and realization of a construction project. The present paper proposes an integrated time and cost management system (ITCMS), where an EVM platform is used in a virtual environment during the planning and construction phases of a project. The ITCMS enables early involvement and project integration plus thorough time and cost management. The system consists of four modules and 13 different processes. The ITCMS is beneficial at the design stage; construction professionals are able to synchronize the building model with time and cost parameters as well as optimize it through a clash detection process that results in budget and schedule compressions early on. The ITCMS is a useful tool for construction and engineering managers that strive to increase projects’ performance. The authors demonstrate in this paper the validity of using the ITCMS through an actual project.
Highlights
Multiple issues such as decrease in labor productivity, poor identification of design requirements, and lack of steady and professional construction management hinder the construction industry
It is believed that the integrated time and cost management system (ITCMS), coupled with Building Information Modeling (BIM) tools and processes and used in a virtual design and construction environment, will better promote construction practices and improve budget and schedule success on most of future construction projects
The conceptual methodology revealed that this system would consist of four modules: time and cost estimating, scheduling, visualization, and Earned value management (EVM)
Summary
Multiple issues such as decrease in labor productivity, poor identification of design requirements, and lack of steady and professional construction management hinder the construction industry. This situation made the industry reevaluate its performance and look into ways for improvement. BIM improves technical work at the design stage by creating 3D models that integrate all building’s features and it better represents the infrastructure’s requirements. Those models can be enhanced if linked with schedule (4D) and costs (5D); the construction can be better planned almost entirely at the design phase. It is believed that construction and engineering managers as well as project stakeholders will benefit from this system
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
