Preparing a Construction Cash Flow Analysis Using Building Information Modeling (BIM) Technology

Abstract

Construction is a competitive industry and successful contractors must be able to win bids to obtain projects. Cash flow analysis not only determines actual profit at the end of the project, but also estimates required cash resources or cash ballances at the end of every month. Cash flow analysis is important in managing a construction project; however, it requires extensive information that is not immediately available to the general contractor. Before contractors can perform cash flow analysis, they must first complete a series of pre-requisites such as the quantity take off, scheduling, and cost estimating, followed by accurate assessments of project costs incurred and billable progress made. Consequently, cash flow analysis is currently a lengthy, uncertain process. This paper suggests improved cash flow analysis can be developed using data extraction in Building Information Modeling (BIM). BIM models contain a wealth of information and tools have been developed to automate a series of process such as quantity takeoff, scheduling, and estimating. This paper describes a prototype tool to support BIM-based, automated cash flow analysis.