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ECAM
28,9 An integrated BIM-based approach
for cost estimation in
construction projects
2828 Abdulwahed Fazeli and Mohammad Saleh Dashti
School of Civil Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran
Received 12 January 2020
Revised 28 May 2020 Farzad Jalaei
16 September 2020
Accepted 11 October 2020
Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University,
Montreal, Canada, and
Mostafa Khanzadi
School of Civil Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran

Abstract
Purpose – Analyzing different scenarios at the design stage of construction projects has always been a
challenging task. One of the main parameters that helps owners in making better decisions in designing their
buildings is to look after the cost perspective on different design scenarios. Thus, this study aims to propose a
semi-automated BIM-based cost estimation approach that enables practitioners to estimate the cost of projects
based on different design scenarios by an accurate and agile system.
Design/methodology/approach – This study proposes an integrated framework, through which the cost
estimation standard of Iran (FehrestBaha) is linked to the materials quantity take-offs (QTO) from BIM models.
The performance of the system is based on connecting the classification standards of UniFormat and
MasterFormat to the cost estimation standard of FehrestBaha. A BIM-based extension in the Revit
environment is developed to automate the cost estimation process.
Findings – To evaluate the efficiency of the proposed approach in cost estimation, it is implemented to
estimate the cost of the architectural discipline in a real construction project. The results indicate that the
proposed BIM-based approach estimated the cost of the architectural discipline with an acceptable level of
accuracy.
Practical implications – The proposed approach could be used by practitioners to have an agile and
accurate BIM-based cost estimation of different scenarios during design process. The semi-automated system
considerably reduces the time of cost estimation in comparison to the traditional manual approaches,
particularly in complex structures. Owners are able to easily trace changes in project cost according to any
changes in components and materials of the BIM model. Furthermore, the proposed approach provides a
practical roadmap for BIM-based cost estimation based on cost estimation standards in different countries.
Originality/value – Unlike the traditional manual cost estimation approaches, the proposed BIM-based
approach is not highly dependent on the knowledge of experienced estimators, which therefore facilitates its
implementation. Furthermore, automating both QTO process and the required calculations in this approach
increases the accuracy of cost estimation while decreasing the probability of human errors or omission
occurrence.
Keywords Building information modeling (BIM), Cost estimation, MasterFormat, UniFormat, Iran’s cost
estimation standard, FehrestBaha
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
The construction industry is considered as one of the most important bases of the
economy in every country in the world. The industry plays a much more outstanding
role in developing countries like Iran (Atlaf, 1979; Ghoddousi and Hosseini, 2012;
Engineering, Construction and
Architectural Management Proverbs et al., 1998). More than 11% of the job opportunities in Iran have been found in
Vol. 28 No. 9, 2021
pp. 2828-2854
the construction industry during the last decades, according to the report of the
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0969-9988
Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MHUD). Approximately 40% of the total
DOI 10.1108/ECAM-01-2020-0027 annual investment has been dedicated to the construction industry over the last
decades (Tabassi et al., 2012). This investment volume contributes to the importance of BIM-based
cost management in Iranian construction projects. approach for
Analyzing different scenarios at the design stage of construction projects has always been
a challenging task. One of the main parameters that helps project owners in making better
cost estimation
decisions in designing their buildings is the cost perspectives of different design scenarios.
Accurate cost estimation is a significant success factor, especially in large and complex
projects (Lee et al., 2012). Efficient cost estimation heavily relies on many elements such as
availability of time for the estimator, experience of cost estimators, and level of assumptions 2829
about the project (Jrade and Alkass, 2007). The cost of each activity in the work breakdown
structure (WBS) of each project is due to its required materials and the other required
resources such as laborers. Therefore, the cost estimation process generally consists of three
parts: (1) Classification of all building materials, including all items; (2) Measurement of the
amount of materials, workers, and equipment which are involved in completing the project;
and (3) Calculating the project cost (Ma et al., 2013).
In the traditional cost estimation approaches, quantities of the materials are taken-off by
analyzing the two-dimensional drawings of buildings. The quantities of the materials and the
amount of other required resources, such as laborers, are subsequently multiplied by their
unit cost to estimate the cost of each activity of the project (Toenjes, 2000). This approach not
only demands a lot of time and cost, but it is also exposed to human errors due to the large
volume of manual calculations, as well as personal interpretations about the concept of
breakdown structure (Jadid and Idrees, 2007). Furthermore, the two-dimensional drawings
have always contributed to many difficulties in cost estimation in comparison with the three-
dimensional models (Sabol, 2008). In the case of design changes, the lack of automatic updates
in two-dimensional drawings leads to the repetition of the calculation process (Farooq et al.,
2018; Khosakitchalert et al., 2019; Whang et al., 2016). All of the mentioned problems can lead
to a set of tedious reworks and inefficiencies in cost estimation (Rajabi et al., 2015; Zhao
et al., 2015).
During the last decades, information technology has evolved in the construction industry,
and numerous software applications have emerged in the area of cost estimating (Ma et al.,
2013). Despite the previous research efforts and development of different tools, cost
estimation is still a time and cost demanding process for engineers. Many software
applications need to traditionally match the materials of building components during the cost
estimation process (Lee et al., 2013). Elfaki et al. (2014) investigated twenty-seven cost
estimation methods in their research study. They concluded that despite recent
developments, the cost estimation process suffers from a lack of automated techniques
and particularly the absence of intelligent systems, which can solve human over-dependency
problems. Therefore, project managers need some cost estimation tools that facilitate the
process of cost estimation, save time and cost, avoid errors, and have compliance with the
design changes (Whang et al., 2016).
Building Information Modelling (BIM) is one of the most promising evolutions in the
architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry (Azhar, 2011; Eastman et al.,
2008). BIM is a comprehensive approach that enables practitioners to manage the design and
construction information successfully by accurate modeling, collaboration, and integration
throughout the project lifecycle (Koseoglu et al., 2018). Historically, the initial concept of BIM
has come from the United States in the mid-1970s and was distributed to Europe in the late
1970s. Since then, BIM has expanded quickly and has been used by many owners and
contractors (Cha and Lee, 2014). The efficiencies and capabilities of the BIM process are
widely accepted by practitioners. It has been used in different areas of construction
management such as risk management (Musa et al., 2015, 2016), energy analysis (Abanda
et al., 2014a, b; Abanda and Byers, 2016), and facility management (Ibrahim et al., 2016). Many
countries have started adopting BIM technology in their construction industry due to its
ECAM considerable advantageous, such as Australia (Hong et al., 2017; Mary and Newell, 2011), UK
28,9 (Khosrowshahi and Arayici, 2012), China (Chan et al., 2019) and Turkey (Koseoglu et al., 2018).
Few research studies have been performed to illustrate the current state of BIM use and
practice in Iran. The adoption of BIM in the Iranian construction industry is considerably
below the current potentials, comparing to the other countries in the Middle East, particularly
countries in the Persian Gulf (Hosseini et al., 2016; Khanzadi et al., 2020). However, awareness
of the Iranian construction practitioners about BIM technology has considerably grown in the
2830 last few years.
The BIM approach has the potential to provide acceptable cost estimation for different
design scenarios of building projects. It facilitates taking-off the quantities of building
materials using 3D parametric models, which are enriched by lifecycle data (Schade et al.,
2011). Numerous research studies have been performed in the area of implementing the BIM
approach for cost estimation. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, none of the
previous studies has proposed an integrated framework that can link the taken-off quantities
from the BIM models to the items of cost estimation systems using the well-known
classification standards that are compatible with the BIM approach. Developing such
integration leads to a faster and more precise cost estimation, which facilitates the decision-
making process in the design phase of construction projects (Fazeli et al., 2019).
Therefore, this study contributes to the body of knowledge by proposing a semi-
automated BIM-based cost estimation approach, through which the items of the cost
estimation standard of Iran (FehrestBaha) are linked to the taken-off quantities from the BIM
models. A general framework is proposed, which connects the classification standards of
UniFormat and MasterFormat to the cost estimation standard of FehrestBaha. A BIM-based
extension in the Revit environment is developed to automate and facilitate the cost estimation
process.
The rest of this paper is organized as follows: A literature review of using the BIM
approach in cost estimation of construction projects is presented at first. The classification
standards of MasterFormat and UniFormat, as well as the structure of Iran’s standard of cost
estimation, are briefly explained in the backgrounds section. Afterward, the proposed BIM-
based cost estimation approach is presented. Thereafter, the process of implementing the
proposed cost estimation approach in a case study is explained, and the obtained results are
discussed. The conclusions are finally drawn at the end of the paper.

Existing studies on BIM-based cost estimations

Many studies have been performed in the area of using BIM approach for cost estimation in
construction projects. Karshenas (2005) proposed a BIM-based object-oriented estimating
system, which automates the quantity take-off process. Despite the advantages of the
proposed system, a substantial amount of data must be inputted by the user. Shen and Issa
(2010) quantitatively compared the performance of the BIM-assisted detailed estimating
approaches with the manual estimating approaches in cost estimation of a set of test cases
with different complexity levels. The results indicated that the BIM-based approaches have
better performance for the entry-level users. Zhiliang et al. (2011) developed an information
requirement model for construction cost estimating for tendering in China. Concentrating on
the Chinese standards, they investigated the possibilities and methods of applying the
Industry Foundation Class (IFC) standard and explored the solutions. IFC is an object-
oriented, open, international and standardized specification for BIM data. It enables BIM data
to be shared and exchanged among software applications used by different stakeholders in a
construction project (Ilhan and Yaman, 2016). Cheung et al. (2012) provided a cost estimation
tool that enables quick and intuitive exploration of early-stage design. However, the tool is
developed in the SketchUp software environment, which has limitations in terms of BIM
approach. Ma et al. (2013) developed a semi-automatic cost estimation system based on IFC BIM-based
data of BIM for the tendering phase of building projects (TBP). The proposed method is approach for
matched with the Chinese national mandatory specifications. It is presented in the form of a
prototype software application for TBP cost estimation. Monteiro and Martins (2013)
cost estimation
surveyed the quantity take-off features of the ArchiCad software. They concluded that the
success of the QTO process is highly dependent on using a structured system of IDs and
layers to ensure the consistency of workflows. However, the scope of this research study is
limited to ArchiCAD. Lee et al. (2013) proposed an ontological inference framework to 2831
automate the process of searching for the most appropriate work items in cost estimation.
Although the approach decreases the need for the intervention of a cost estimator, it is limited
to tiling work only. Liu et al. (2014) proposed a framework for integrating the construction
process model with the BIM model of project for detailed cost estimation. However, they faced
some difficulties, including some incompatibilities between the BIM-based QTO and
downstream analyses, such as estimation. Lawrence et al. (2014) proposed an approach for
cost estimation by mapping the BIM objects to cost data. The approach benefits from using
query languages, which connects design parameters to cost estimation. Wu et al. (2014)
investigated the impact of adopting BIM on cost estimating practices in the UK They
identified information exchange, model quality and UK standards as the most important
challenges. Cha and Lee (2014) developed a generic BIM database structure for cost analysis in
an aged-house renovation project. The approach identifies the work items and recognizes the
relationships between the activities. However, it considers only the demolition and structural
works for building elements. Niknam and Karshenas (2015) conducted a research study to
show the potential of semantic web technology in integrating the required distributed cost
estimation information provided by project designers, contractors, and material suppliers.
Although the ontology-based approaches reduce human involvement in the cost estimation
process, implementing them requires defining standard ontologies and semantic web services
in the construction industry. Abanda et al. (2015) proposed an ontology-based approach using
the UK standard method of measurement for cost estimation. Liu et al. (2016) proposed an
ontology-based semantic framework for taking-off the construction-oriented quantities from a
BIM design model. The study concentrates on the light frame building industry. Ma et al.
(2016) developed an ontology-based methodology to formalize the specifications for
construction cost estimation in China. They concluded that the proposed approach could be
used to classify the building components to accelerate cost estimation. Xu et al. (2016)
introduced a framework based on semantic web ontology for taking data from BIM models
and using it for generating the required items for a bill of quantity that enables cost estimation.
Abanda et al. (2017a, b) developed an ontology-based on new rules of measurement for
quantity take-offs and cost estimation in the tendering stage of construction projects. The
results show an insignificant difference between the quantities taken-off by the proposed
method and real manual computed quantities. Abanda et al. (2017a, b) also proposed an
integrated system based on BIM and new rules of measurement for automating the
computation of the environmental impacts of building components and their corresponding
costs. Kim et al. (2019) compared the extracted quantities via two different BIM model types
and addresses the problems in order to ensure the efficiency and reliability of BIM-based
quantity take-off. Khosakitchalert et al. (2019) proposed a BIM-based approach to improve the
accuracy of extracting the quantities of compound elements that are incomplete or incorrect.
Accurate material quantities, as well as time savings in editing the BIM model, are the main
advantages of the proposed approach. However, implementing it has limitations for some
components that consist of multiple materials. Khosakitchalert et al. (2020) also developed an
automated framework for modifying compound elements in BIM models, which leads to
accurate material quantities. Yang et al. (2019) developed a BIM-based quantity calculation
framework which can calculate the quantities of particular structural elements according to
ECAM the Chinese quantity calculation code. The proposed approach does not automate the entire
28,9 cost estimation process.
As it can be inferred from the literature, automating the process of accurate quantity take-
off from 3D parametric models has made BIM-based approaches popular among cost
engineers (Hartmann et al., 2012; Liu et al., 2014; Monteiro and Martins, 2013). However,
appropriate mapping of the taken-off quantities to the standard cost items has a critical role in
having an accurate BIM-based cost estimation. The object-oriented concept of BIM can
2832 facilitate this connection, which leads to a faster and more precise cost estimation (Forgues
et al., 2012; Tiwari et al., 2009; Wu et al., 2018; Zima, 2017).
Considerable research efforts have been made in the area of BIM-based cost estimation.
However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, none of the previous studies has proposed an
integrated framework that can automatically link the taken-off quantities from the BIM
models to the items of cost estimation systems, using the well-known classification standards
that are compatible with the BIM approach.
Therefore, this study contributes to the body of knowledge by proposing a semi-
automated BIM-based cost estimation approach, through which the taken-off quantities from
BIM models are linked to the items of the cost estimation standard of Iran (FehrestBaha). The
performance of the proposed system is based on connecting the classification standards of
UniFormat and MasterFormat to the cost estimation standard of FehrestBaha.

Overview of cost estimation standards

This section provides a brief overview of the classification standards of UniFormat and
MasterFormat, as well as the cost estimation standard of Iran, as the main foundations of
this study.

The classification standards of UniFormat and MasterFormat

By increasing the adoption of BIM approach, project managers need a tabulated set of
product models in terms of different purposes, such as cost estimation, as well as exchanging
and sharing project information with stakeholders (Afsari and Eastman, 2016). Arranging
such information plays a key role in better understanding and efficient use of them (Howard,
2001). Various classification systems have been generated by several nations over the last
fifty years (Ekholm et al., 1996; Jørgensen, 2011). MasterFormat and UniFormat are well-
known classification systems. MasterFormat is developed by the Construction Specifications
Institute (CSI) and Construction Specifications Canada (CSC). UniFormat is firstly developed
by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and General Services Administration (GSA),
and then revised by CSI and CSC. Both MasterFormat and UniFormat have been finally
adopted as the standards of arranging construction data in North America (CSI and CSC,
2010). MasterFormat categorizes the product models and work results in the form of numbers
and titles (Afsari and Eastman, 2016). In contrast, UniFormat classifies the physical parts of
project, known as functional components. Based on UniFormat, every assembly is specified
by its function, without mentioning the work result (CSI, 2012; CSI and CSC, 2010).

Iran’s cost estimation standard (FehrestBaha)

Cost item codes of Iran, named FehrestBaha, is published in 1976 for construction and
transportation fields at first. The positive impacts of publishing FehrestBaha led to its
publication for seventeen more fields of civil engineering, such as water, mechanical and
electrical. Nowadays, FehrestBaha is being revised every year. It provides a standard for the
bill of materials method of cost estimation in Iran.
 The structural and architectural fields of FehrestBaha include 925 cost items. A unique BIM-based
six-digit code is dedicated to each cost item. Each two-digit of the code represents a type of approach for
information, including activity, material, and specification levels. The activity level shows the
basic type of construction activities such as “steelworks,” “woodworks” and “cast-in-place
cost estimation
concreting”. The material level indicates the detailed type of materials used in each type of
construction activities, such as “lightweight concrete with mineral powder” or “concrete with
natural or crushed aggregates” used in “cast-in-place concreting” activity. Lastly, the
specification level demonstrates the specifications of the materials indicated in the material 2833
level, such as the compressive strength of concrete. Figure 1 shows the coding system for the
cost item of “cast in place concrete with natural or crushed aggregates and compressive
strength of 12 Mega Pascal (Mpa).” The six-digit code of “080103” represents the activity level
of “cast in place concreting,” the material level of “concrete with natural or crushed
aggregates,” and the specification level of “compressive strength of 12 Mpa.”
Each cost item of FehrestBaha is also linked to some other data as follows: (1) Description,
which briefly explains activity, material, and specification information of the cost item. (2)
Unit, which defines the basis for cost estimation of the activity. For example, if the estimating
unit of activity is square meter, it means that the total area for which the indicated material is
used should be considered for cost estimation. (3) Unit cost, which defines the total cost for
performing the indicated activity for one working unit using the described materials. All
these data are collected in the tables of FehrestBaha. A sample table of FehrestBaha is shown
in Table 1.

Integrated BIM-based cost estimation methodology

This study aims to propose a semi-automated integrated BIM-based approach for cost
estimation in construction projects, through which the items of the cost estimation standard
of Iran (FehrestBaha) are linked to the QTO of the BIM models. The proposed framework is
based on connecting Iran’s cost estimation standard to the CSI MasterFormat and
UniFormat. Facilitating this connection is the main challenge associated with the integrated
BIM-based cost estimation approach. In doing so, a BIM-based extension with five primary
functions is developed in Autodesk Revit, which is a well-known BIM-based tool, using C#
programming to facilitate and automate the process of cost estimation. Figure 2 represents

Type of objects: Wall

Material type: Cast-in-place concrete

Cost item in FehrestBaha

08 01 03
Figure 1.
The structure of six-
digit code related to the
Specification level: Compressive strength of 12 Mega cost item of “Cast-in-
place concrete with
natural or crushed
Material level: Concrete with natural or crushed aggregates aggregates and the
compressive strength
of 12 (Mpa)”
Activity level: Cast-in-place concrete
ECAM the general framework of the proposed approach, which includes five sequential steps. The
28,9 steps are explained in the following sections in-depth:
Step 1: developing the library of building materials in revit. Given the fact that Revit has a
constraint number of building materials and components, a comprehensive library of
materials should be created by designers to develop a BIM model with an acceptable level of
detail (LOD). The created bill of materials makes it possible for a quick and accurate cost
estimation based on a price list. Furthermore, the created library enables design team to
2834 analyze different design scenarios by changing the material type of the building elements
based on the project owner’s opinions. Some of the components and materials can be accessed
from their manufacturers’ webpages or some well-known repositories (i.e. SmartBIM
(SmartBIM, 2018) or Arcat (2018) libraries), and then be imported in Revit.
Step 2: creating the BIM model of a project. The BIM model of the project is created in this
step. BIM models are enriched by the object-based and built-in parametric information.
Therefore, it is easier and more accurate to capture the quantities of the objects using the BIM
models (Plebankiewicz et al., 2015). This will increase the accuracy of cost estimation.

Cost
item Description Unit Unit cost (rials)

080101 Cast-in-place concrete with natural or crushed aggregates, whose Cubic 839,000
weight is 100 kg per cubic meter of concrete meter
080102 Cast-in-place concrete with natural or crushed aggregates, whose Cubic 896,500
weight is 150 kg per cubic meter of concrete meter
080103 Cast-in-place concrete with natural or crushed aggregates, whose Cubic 987,500
Table 1. compressive strength is 12 Mpa meter
A sample table of 080104 Cast-in-place concrete with natural or crushed aggregates, whose Cubic 1,048,000
FehrestBaha compressive strength is 16 Mpa meter

Step 3

Developing a Developing a database

database for linking for linking cost items of
MasterFormat and FehrestBaha and
User
Step 1 Input
UniFormat MasterFormat
Step 2

Adjusting Connecting Uniformat

Developing the Creating the BGM MasterFormat and items with their
Start
library of model of the project UniFormat of the corresponding
building materials building elements FehrestBaha cost items
in Revit

Selecting relevant
Fehrestbaha cost items

Step 4

Adding required cost estimation

paramaters to the component
information tables in Revit
Figure 2.
The general
Filling the FehrestBaha
framework of the parameters
proposed BIM-based
cost estimation
Finish Taking-off the quantities
approach Cost items calculation
Step 3: connecting uniformat, masterformat and fehrestbaha. To have a BIM-based cost BIM-based
estimation using FehrestBaha, the quantity of each related cost item of FehrestBaha should approach for
be taken-off from the BIM model. The quantities should be multiplied by the unit cost of the
cost items and then summed together to calculate total project cost. The challenging part of
cost estimation
this process is mapping the QTO to the item costs of FehrestBaha. The QTO from BIM
models is based on the building elements. However, the structure of the cost items of
FehrestBaha is initially based on the type of construction activities.
Revit is developed based on OmniClass, which is a well-known classification system in the 2835
construction industry, established by the CSI. OmniClass includes the Uniformat and
MasterFormat classifications. The structure of UniFormat is based on the type of building
components (i.e., exterior wall, interior wall, floor, ceiling, foundation, window, door, etc.). On
the other hand, similar to FehrestBaha, MasterFormat is structured based on construction
activities and their required materials.
Comparing the structures of MasterFormat and FehrestBaha with each other indicates
that MasterFormat includes the activity level and material level information of the cost items
in FehrestBaha. However, some of the required information in estimating Iranian projects
based on FehrestBaha, such as ones presented in the specification level of the cost items of
FehrestBaha, are not included in or compatible with the cost items of MasterFormat.
MasterFormat and UniFormat are highly compatible with each other. On the other hand,
the structure of MasterFormat is highly similar to the structure of FehrestBaha with this
difference that FehrestBaha has some customized information based on Iran’s cost
estimating system. Therefore, linking the classification standards of MasterFormat and
UniFormat to each other and subsequently linking MasterFormat to FehrestBaha creates a
connection between UniFormat, MasterFormat, and FehrestBaha. This can facilitate the
process of mapping the BIM- QTO with FehrestBaha. The following sections explain the
process of creating this linkage in-depth.
Step 3–1: developing a database for linking MasterFormat and UniFormat. Due to the high
compatibility between the standards of MasterFormat and UniFormat, they are easily linked
to each other through a generated database. Table 2 shows a sample table of the database for
linking the UniFormat codes of an exterior wall element to its associated
MasterFormat codes.
Step 3–2: adjusting the MasterFormat and UniFormat parameters of the building elements.
One of the main requirements of cost estimation in the proposed approach is defining the
parameters related to MasterFormat and UniFormat for all the components in the BIM model.
In case that the mentioned parameters are not defined for some building components in the
BIM model, the user should fill them using the database of linking MasterFormat and
UniFormat. At this step, to facilitate the process, all the materials and components of the BIM
model are extracted from the Revit and subsequently exported to a file in the Microsoft Excel
environment. Afterward, all the UniFormat and MasterFormat related parameters of the
components in the Excel file are filled and checked by the user. Lastly, the modified data are

UniFormat code MasterFormat code Description in UniFormat Description in MasterFormat

B2010 03200 Exterior Wall Concrete Reinforcement Table 2.

B2010 03310 Exterior Wall Cast In Place Concrete A sample database for
B2010 03100 Exterior Wall Waterstops linking the Uniformat
B2010 03362 Exterior Wall Concrete Finishing codes of an exterior
B2010 09210 Exterior Wall Gypsum Plastering wall element to its
B2010 05810 Exterior Wall Expansion Control associated
B2010 04220 Exterior Wall Concrete Unit Masonry Masterformat codes
ECAM imported from the Excel file to the Revit file of the project again. The process of extracting the
28,9 data from the Revit as well as importing the modified data to it again is automated using the
functions of “Export Information” and “Import Information” in the developed BIM-based cost
estimation extension, respectively. Figure 3 shows an overview of this step.
Figure 4 demonstrates a sample sheet of the mentioned Excel file. The ID and name of the
material layers in the Revit model are presented in the first and second columns of the table in
the Excel environment, respectively. The name of the materials with one layer and those
2836 which do not have any layer is presented only one time in the table. The name of the materials
which have several layers is repeated several times. The third and fourth columns represent
MasterFormat and UniFormat codes, respectively, and the user fills them.
Figure 5 depicts the linkages between the material layers of a sample architectural wall
and its associated codes of MasterFormat and UniFormat conceptually. The sample wall has
five layers, including “Gypsum plaster,” “Brick,” “Cement plaster” and “Stone” that are
recognized by their MasterFormat codes. On the other hand, it is considered as an exterior
wall by its UniFormat code.
As shown in Figure 6, the MasterFormat and UniFormat codes of building elements are
introduced to Revit by their keynotes and assembly code parameters, respectively.
Step 3–3: developing a database for linking cost items of FehrestBaha and MasterFormat.
The process of linking MasterFormat and UniFormat is explained in the last parts. As
mentioned before, linking the cost items of FehrestBaha and MasterFormat is also required to
have an integrated BIM-based cost estimation. Therefore, in this step, a database is created in
an Excel file to link the cost items of Fehrestbaha and MasterFormat. It is possible to have
several cost items of FehrestBaha in one cost item of MasterFormat. Therefore, each sheet of
the Excel database is dedicated to an item of MasterFormat. In each sheet, the items of
FehrestBaha that are related to the corresponding item of MasterFormat are located; as well
as some other data (i.e. unit cost and description of the items). Figure 7 demonstrates a sample
sheet of the created Excel database for linking the cost items of MasterFormat and
FehrestBast for the “Gypsum plastering” item. As shown in the figure, the first column of the
table shows the MasterFormat codes. Cost items of FehrestBaha, including description, cost
item, unit, and unit cost, are presented in the rest of the table, respectively.

User Input

Figure 3.
Process of adjusting
Taking-off the quantities of the
the MasterFormat and Adjusting the MasterFormat and Importing the adjusted values of
building elements and import them
UniFormat parameters Uniformat parameters by the User the parameters into Revit
into an Excel file
of building elements

Figure 4.
A sample sheet of the
Excel file for adjusting
the MasterFormat and
UniFormat parameters
of building elements
Step 3–4: connecting uniformat items with their corresponding FehrestBaha cost items:. In this BIM-based
step, the database of linking Uniformat to MasterFormat, which is mentioned in the step 3–1 approach for
and Table 2, and the database of linking the items of MasterFormat to their corresponding
items in FehrestBaha, which is mentioned in the step 3–3 and Figure 7, are linked to each
cost estimation
other using the developed BIM-based cost estimation Extension. Linking the two mentioned
databases makes it possible to create a connection between the existing elements of a BIM-
model in a Revit file with their corresponding cost items of FehrestBaha.
Figure 8 demonstrates a sample framework for linking an “Exterior wall” item in 2837
UniFormat to its related FehrestBaha cost items. As shown in the figure, the “Exterior wall”
UniFormat item is linked to its related items in MasterFormat, including “Gypsum
Plastering” and “Cement Plastering.” On the other hand, the item of “Gypsum plastering” in

Type Of Materials
Brick
ID of the Materials in Revit Stone Gypsum Plaster

Cement Plaster

ID Name Of Objects MasterFormat UniFormat Area Volume Length

20536 Wall-Brick-concrete-stone 09210 B2010 80 1.6 10
Figure 5.
207149 Wall-Brick-concrete-stone 09220 B2010 160 3.2 10
Linkages between the
20491 Wall-Brick-concrete-stone 04200 B2010 80 8 10 material layers of a
207149 Wall-Brick-concrete-stone 09220 B2010 160 3.2 10
sample architectural
wall and its associated
206016 Wall-Brick-concrete-stone 04400 B2010 80 2.4 10 codes of MasterFormat
and UniFormat
Exterior Wall

Figure 6.
Introducing the
MasterFormat and
UniFormat codes of
building elements to
Revit: (a) Different
layers of materials for
each component, (b)
Importing different
items of FehrestBaha
according to the layers
of components, (c)
Importing Uniformat
codes for every
components
ECAM MasterFormat is linked to its related cost items of FehrestBaha with the activity level of
28,9 “Plastering works”, which includes “Gypsum plastering on the vertical surface with a
maximum thickness of 2.5 cm,” “Gypsum plastering on ceiling surfaces with a maximum
thickness of 2.5 cm,” “Gypsum plastering on vertical surfaces with a maximum thickness of
2.5 cm using a plastering machine (mechanical method),” and “Gypsum plastering on ceiling
surfaces with a maximum thickness of 2.5 cm using a plastering machine (mechanical
method).” As a result, the “Exterior wall” Uniformat item is linked to its corresponding items
2838 in FehrestBaha. Creating this connection is considered as one of the most critical steps of the
proposed BIM-based cost estimation approach.
Step 3–5: selecting relevant FehrestBaha cost items. After linking the MasterFormat items
to the FehrestBaha cost items, only those items of FehrestBaha, which are related to the
materials used in the building elements, should be identified and considered in the process of
cost estimation. This process can be performed using a function named “FehrestBaha” in the
developed extension.
To illustrate the process, a sample exterior wall and its corresponding four FehrestBaha
cost items are shown in Figure 9. When the user clicks on this element in Revit, a multi-page
form will be opened. Each page of the form is related to a UniFormat item. Figure 10 shows a
view of the designed multi-page form for the sample exterior wall. The related MasterFormat
items are shown as some list boxes in the form. The relevant cost items of FehrestBaha are
shown as the options of the list boxes, which can be selected by the user.

Figure 7.
A sample sheet of the
created Excel database
for linking the cost
items of MasterFormat
and FehrestBast for
“Gypsum
plastering” item

UniFormat MasterFormat Cost items of FehrestBaha

Gypsum plastering on vertical surfaces with a maximum

thickness of 2.5 cm

180202
Gypsum Plastering Gypsum plastering on ceiling surfaces with a maximum
thickness of 2.5 cm
Exterior Wall 09210
180203
B2010
Gypsum plastering on vertical surfaces with a maximum thickness
Figure 8. Cement Plastering of 2.5 cm using a plastering machine (mechanical method)
A sample framework
for linking the 09220 180208
Uniformat item of
Gypsum plastering on ceiling surfaces with a maximum thickness
“Exterior wall” to its
of 2.5 cm using a plastering machine (mechanical method)
related FehrestBaha
cost items 180209
Figure 11 shows the high-level concepts of the developed connection between Uniformat, BIM-based
MasterFormat, and FehrestBaha. The building components in UniFormat are linked to their approach for
corresponding MasterFormat items. On the other hand, the items of MasterFormat are linked
to the cost items of FehrestBaha through the activity level information of FehrestBaha.
cost estimation
Several FehrstBaha cost items are available for every cost item of MasterFormat. For
instance, there are several cost items for “Plastering works” in FehrestBaha based on
different specifications, which are required to be selected by the user.
Step 4–1: adding the required cost estimation parameters to the component information 2839
tables in revit. In this step, five blank parameters are added to each of the existing layers of
the component information table in Revit using a function named “Add parameter” in the
developed plug-in. The cost items of FehrestBaha (named FehrestBaha) and the unit cost
of each item (named CostFehrestBaha) parameters are added that enables the cost
estimators to see which items of FehrestBaha are provided for the layers of the building
components. Furthermore, total area (named AreaFehrestBaha), total volume (named
VolumeFehrestBaha), and overall length (named LengthFehrestBaha) parameters of the
same items are also added to each layer of the component information table in Revit. The
reason for adding the last three parameters is that the total volume, total area, and total
length of the same elements are not provided by Revit. However, they are required for cost
estimation. For example, Revit can only calculate the area of a selected wall, not the total
area of all the same walls in a building. Figure 12 shows the generated parameters for a
sample exterior wall in the component information table in Revit. There are four layers for
the sample wall. The five mentioned parameters are created for each layer.

180202 - Gypsum plastering on vertical surface with a maximum

thickness of 2.5 cm
180304 - Cement plastering with a maximum thickness of 2 cm

110502 - Simple brick wall with a thickness of one brick

Figure 9.
180304 - Cement plastering with a maximum thickness of 2 cm A sample exterior wall
and its corresponding
220502 - Green Piranshahr Granite stone with a thickness between four FehrestBaha
1.5 and 2 cm cost items

Figure 10.
A view of the multi-
page form designed in
Revit for selecting
relevant Fehrestbaha
cost items
ECAM
28,9

2840

Figure 11.
The High-Level
Concept of connecting
UniFormat,
MasterFormat and
FehrestBaha
 BIM-based
approach for
cost estimation

2841

Figure 12.
The process of
acquiring the total
geometric information
of building
components

Step 4–2: filling the FehrestBaha parameters. In this step, the generated parameters of
FehrestBaha for cost estimation are filled by the function of “FehrestBaha” in the developed
plug-in. To acquire the total area, the total volume, and the total length of components, all the
quantities of the components are taken-off from Revit and then exported to an Excel file using
the function of “Export Information” in the developed extension. Thereafter, the geometric
information of components with the same name and material ID is summed together. The
obtained results are subsequently imported to Revit again using the function of “Import
Information” in the developed plug-in. Upon the acquired information is imported, they
automatically fill the blanked FehrestBaha parameters of the component information tables
in Revit. A sample process of acquiring the total geometric information of an exterior wall
component is shown in Figure 12. As shown in the figure, the generated FehrestBaha
parameters are filled out during the cost estimation process.
Step 4–3: quantity take-offs (QTO). In this step, all the quantities of the materials are taken-
off from the Revit file again. Then the obtained quantities and the other required information
for cost estimation (i.e. cost items, unit costs of materials as well as the area, volume, and
length of building elements) are exported to some sheets in an Excel file using a function
named “Revit Cost Estimate” in the developed extension.
Step 4–4: cost items calculation. Since the quantities of all materials are extracted from the
BIM model, the project cost can be calculated by summing the values of multiplying all related
FehrestBaha cost items by their corresponding FehrestBaha unit costs (Figure 13). The units of
cost items are different, including meter, square meter, cubic meter, and kilogram. For those
cost items whose unit is meter, the length of the related elements is multiplied by the unit cost of
the items. For those cost items whose unit is square meters, the area of the related elements is
multiplied by the unit cost of the items. For those cost items whose unit is cubic meters, the
volume of the related elements is multiplied by the unit cost of the items. Finally, for those cost
items whose unit is kilograms, the volume of the related elements should be multiplied by their
density and their unit cost. The MasterFormat structure is based on construction activities and
their required materials. Therefore, a database is created in an Excel file for linking
MasterFormat to the material density of the elements. Table 3 demonstrates a sample table of
the database created for linking MasterFormat to the material density of the elements.
The process of cost calculation is automatically executed in the Excel environment using
the function of “Revit Cost Estimate” in the developed extension. Figure 13 depicts an
overview of the cost items calculation process in Excel.
ECAM DB of linking MasterFormat
28,9 and Density
Kgs

Density (Kg/ Volume (Cubic UnitCost

Cost (Rials)
Cubic Meters) Meters) (Rials/Kg)
2842
UnitCost
Area (Square
Cost (Rials) (Rials/Square
Meters)
Meters)

UnitCost
Volume (Cubic
Cost (Rials) (Rials/Square
Meters)
Meters)

UnitCost
Cost (Rials) Length (Meters)
(Rials/Meters)

Figure 13.
Overview of the cost MasterFormat Name Cost Item Unit Unit Cost Density Area Volume Length Total Cost
items calculation 05100 preparing an 090202 Kg 27500 7850 1647.395 17.67 740 3,816,078,729
process in the Excel 31000 7850 62424.7 1863.544 35,979 453,493,527,044
05500 preparing an 090211 Kg
environment
05090 preparing an 091002 Kg 142500 7850 717.2035 24.50555 255 27,412,520,770

MasterFormat code Density ðkg=m3 Þ Description of MasterFormat

Table 3. 03200 7,850 ReinforcingSteel

A sample table of the 08110 7,850 SteelDoorsandFrames
database created for 09130 7,850 Metal furing
linking Masterformat 08210 700 WoodDoor
to the material density 08120 2,700 AluminumDoors
of the elements 08510 7,850 SteelWindows

As the calculation process ends, the cost estimation results, including the estimated cost of
each item of FehrestBaha, as well as the total estimated cost, are summarized and shown in a
page in Revit. The final results are also exported to an Excel file. Figure 14 demonstrates a
sample view of the final results of cost estimation using the proposed approach in the Excel
environment. Each sheet of the excel file is dedicated to a UniFormat item. Each row in a sheet
shows the estimated cost of the FehrestBaha items.

Overview of the developed BIM-based cost estimation plug-in

As mentioned in the previous sections, to automate the proposed framework, a BIM-based
cost estimation plug-in is developed in the Revit environment. As shown in Figure 15, the
developed plug-in has five major functions according to the explained steps of the proposed
cost estimation framework. The first function, named “Export Information,” enables the user
to extract the information of the elements that have been used to an Excel file. The second
function, named “Import Information,” facilitates importing the information from the Excel
database to the Revit file. The third function, named “Add Paramete,” enables the user to add
 BIM-based
approach for
cost estimation

2843

Figure 14.
A sample view of the
final results of cost
estimation using the
proposed approach in
the Excel environment

Importing the changed Selecting the items of

Parameters in Revit DB FehrestBaha

Exporting information of Adding New Parameters Calculating the cost

elements in order to specify in Revit DB of project
MasterFormat and UniFormat

Figure 15.
Functions of the
developed BIM-based
cost estimation
extension

a blank cost estimation parameters of FehrestBaha to the Revit database. The fourth
function, named “FehrestBaha,” enables the user to select the relevant cost items of
FehrestBaha by the user and filling the created blank parameters. Lastly, the fifth function,
ECAM named “Revit Cost Estimate,” implements the required project cost estimate calculations and
28,9 exports the obtained results into the Excel environment.
The architecture of the proposed system is briefly depicted in Figure 16. The inputs of the
system include the databases (DBs) of linking UniFormat and MasterFormat, databases of
linking MasterFormat and FehrestBaha, the databases of linking MasterFormat and density,
the Revit database, and project information, such as material dimensions, project type, and
project dimensions. After performing the cost estimation steps by the user, which are
2844 explained in the last sections in-depth, the final result of BIM-based cost estimation is shown
to the user and stored in the Excel database.

Model validation
Case study description
To evaluate the workability of the proposed approach in cost estimation, it is implemented to
estimate the cost of architectural discipline in a real residential complex in the city of Tehran,
Iran (Figure 17). The building has eighteen floors, and each floor has two flats. Its total
residential area is about 1850 m2, which can accommodate about 490 people.

Cost estimation in tiffa project using the proposed BIM-based cost estimation approach
To estimate the cost of the project, at first, the MasterFormat and UniFormat of each
component of the project had to be defined. To facilitate the process, the quantities of the
elements are taken-off and then exported to a table in an Excel file, using the function of
“Export Information” in the developed BIM-based cost estimation plug-in. The user can
determine the MasterFormat and UniFormat of each element in a specific cell of the Excel file.
Table 4 demonstrates the extracted objects, their related determined MasterFormat and
UniFormat codes, as well as the area, volume and length of them.
In the next step, the modified information is imported to Revit again, using the “Import
Information” function of the developed plug-in. The parameters of FehrestBaha are added by
the user, using the “Add Parameter” function of the plug-in. Thereafter, suitable items of

Input Data Analysis

FehrestBaha DBMS Module

BIM model UniFormat MasterFormat
DB of linking Database of BIM Creating BIM Specifing Specifing
FehrestBaha items and MasterFormat model for cost UniFormat of the MasterFormat of
MasterFormat Keynotes estimation material objects the material objects
Assembly Code
DB of linking UniFormat
MasterFormat and Material description Density Excel FehrestBaha
UniFormat
Adding Density to Transforming Fehres- Selecting
FehrestBaha data -Baha items to excel FehrestBaha items

Density Project Data

Project information Project Data
DB of linking Density Element Area Adding Geometric Performing cost items calculation
and Element Volume information of
MasterFormat Building components elements into
Type of building FehrestBaha items
Transforming Data of cost estimation to Revit

Figure 16.
The overall Output
architecture of the
proposed BIM-based Generating a reporting file of cost estimation in
cost estimation system Excel for the user
 BIM-based
approach for
cost estimation

2845

Figure 17.
Tiffa project, a real
residential complex
being built in the city of
Tehran, Iran

FehrestBaha are specified by the user, using the function of “FehrestBaha” in the plug-in.
Finally, all the required information for cost estimation, such as the quantities of the elements
and their density, are exported to an Excel file again, using the function of “Revit Cost
Estimate” in the plug-in. Consequently, the final cost estimate of the project is obtained after
implementing the required calculations in the Excel file.

Results and discussions

Table 5 shows the final cost estimation results of the Tiffa project, using the proposed BIM-
based cost estimation approach. This report is shown to the user in the format of an Excel file
and immediately after clicking on the “Revit Cost Estimation” function.
As shown in Table 5, the overall cost of each element categories, including exterior walls,
interior walls, floors, interior doors, exterior doors, exterior windows, ceiling, and stairs, are
being separately calculated using the proposed BIM-based cost estimation approach and then
summed together. The overall estimated cost of the architectural discipline is equal to
34,414,141,140.51 Rials (the currency of Iran). It is obtained after implementing the additional
coefficients, including province and adjustment, which are determined officially by the
government every three months. The annual inflation rate is considered in the adjustment
coefficient.
What has been done by this case study is assume that the BIM model is designed and
generated at the design stage of the project, and at the next step, we ran the developed cost
estimation plug-in with Fehrest Baha cost database in the back-end. Since the integrated cost
estimation process through the developed plug-in was run perfectly and the results were
created, it shows that the developed plug-in is working properly and could be verified if the
BIM model is considered as a hypothetical model (model verification). To evaluate the
accuracy of cost estimation based on the proposed approach (model validation), the results of
the BIM-based and the traditional approaches for cost estimation of the project are compared
with its actual cost, as shown in Table 6. The traditional estimated cost of the project is
ECAM MasterFormat UniFormat Area Volume Length
28,9 ID Object name code code (m2) (m3) (m)

1061 Retaining - 300mm 03310 B2010 682.08 204.62 162.70

Concrete
13546 190mm max riser 250mm 04400 C3010 0 0 0
going
2846 213038 Exterior–Glazing 08510 B2020 232.49 51.98 57.16
285149 Concrete Shear Walls 03310 B2010 1973.34 592.00 501.20
285048 Concrete Slab 300mm 03310 B1010 14986.88 4496.06 0
394857 Flooring-Cork- 09220 C3020 18.60 2.01 0
Floating_Cork_Tile
628 Generic 300mm 06110 B1010 36.05 10.82 0
436519 Metal Joist/Temple Inland 09250 C3030 1726.94 520.89 0
5/8” Gypsum Board
212813 Site–Grass 09650 C3020 1437.33 431.20 0
218721 Glass 300mm 06150 C3020 204.26 61.28 0
218913 Precast Concrete Panels 03310 B2010 2117.49 421.80 1973.29
366 Curtain Wall 1 08510 B2010 4438.27 0 1360.03
423596 As Specified in the 08120 B2030 14.66 0.31 0
Contract Documents
286000 Floor Tiles 09310 C3020 13147.31 131.47 0
1050 Interior - 135mm Partition 09220 C1010 1241.69 168.25 320.11
(2-h)
285791 1830 3 2134mm 08110 C1020 0 0 0
394882 Exterior-Wall_Brick- 04200 B2010 49.02 9.81 17.20
Table 4. Qazvin
The quantities of the
398120 Door-Single 08210 B2030 7.19 0.11 0
elements extracted
from the BIM model of 414719 Not A Type–Load Type 08510 B2020 3.22 0.04 0
the tiffa project, as well Catalog
as their related 434864 Door-Panel_Galaxy-Metal- 08120 C1020 62.59 2.60 0
Masterformat and Doors_Flush
UniFormat codes 434848 Handle_Generic Lever 08120 C1020 0.71 0.01 0

manually calculated by an experienced cost estimator. The project was constructed in 2018.
Therefore, the version of FehrestBaha, which is officially published in 2018, is used for both
traditional and BIM-based cost estimation processes to compare the estimated and actual
costs under the same assumptions.
As shown in the table, the actual cost of the floor section is equal to 1.45Eþ10 Rials, while the
estimated cost of this section using the BIM-based and the traditional approaches are equal to
1.38Eþ10 Rials and 1.29Eþ10 Rials, respectively. The actual cost of the floor section is more than
its estimated values in both BIM-based and traditional approaches. Meanwhile, the deviation
percentage of the BIM-based estimated cost from the actual cost of the floor section is less than its
traditionally estimated cost, with the values of 5.28% and 11.66%, respectively. The actual
cost of the section of exterior windows is equal to 1.41Eþ10 Rials, while the estimated cost of the
project using the BIM-based and the traditional approaches are equal to 1.38Eþ10 Rials and
1.21Eþ10 Rials, respectively. The actual cost of the section of exterior windows is also more than
its estimated values in both BIM-based and traditional approaches. The deviation percentage of
the BIM-based estimated cost from the actual cost of the section of exterior windows is also less
than its traditionally estimated cost, with the values of 2.66% and 14.66%, respectively. The
same trend as what is seen for the floor and exterior Windows sections is also observed in most of
the other sections. However, the actual cost of the section of exterior walls is equal to 1.46Eþ9
Rials, while the estimated cost of the project using the BIM-based and the traditional approaches
MasterFormat Cost item Unit cost (rials) Unit Density Area (m2) Volume (m3) Length (m) Total cost (rials)

Exterior walls
FAEW 612 299,000 m2 B2010 182988000.00
03310 080105 1,094,000 m3 N/A 682.08 204.62 162.70 223858656.00
04400 220303 545,000 m2 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
03310 080105 1,094,000 m3 N/A 1973.34 592.00 501.20 647651806.00
03310 080105 1,094,000 m3 N/A 2117.49 421.80 1973 461453098.00
08510 160102 33,700 Kg 7,850 4438.27 N/A 1360.00 N/A
04200 110201 1,785,000 m3 N/A 49.02 9.89 17.20 17510656.00
Interior walls
FAIW 468 299,000 m2 C1010 139932000.00
09220 180304 92,000 m2 N/A 1241.69 168.25 320.10 114235240.00
Floors
FAFl 11754 311,000 m2 B1010 3655494000.00
03310 080104 1,048,000 m3 N/A 117.12 34.81 0 36476295.00
03310 080104 1,048,000 m3 N/A 65.68 19.18 0 20104308.00
03310 080104 1,048,000 m3 N/A 258.31 70.65 0 74037663.00
03310 080104 1,048,000 m3 N/A 237.00 62.06 0 65042876.00
03310 080104 1,048,000 m3 N/A 185.62 44.31 0 46432164.00
03310 080104 1,048,000 m3 N/A 185.10 35.02 0 36700502.00
03310 080104 1,048,000 m3 N/A 148.22 29.33 0 30741715.00
03310 080104 1,048,000 m3 N/A 14986.88 4496.06 0 4711873692.00
03310 080104 1,048,000 m3 N/A 166.92 24.07 0 25221168.00
03310 080104 1,048,000 m3 N/A 178.08 30.53 0 31990200.00
03310 080104 1,048,000 m3 N/A 98.26 14.37 0 15064476.00
03310 080104 1,048,000 m3 N/A 51.68 5.032 0 5273536.00
09220 180308 74,500 m2 N/A 18.60 2.08 0 1385700.00
06110 191302 18,051,000 m3 N/A 36.06 10.82 0 195263622.00
09650 210201 268,500 m2 N/A 1437.33 431.20 0 385921891.00
06150 230201 289,000 m2 N/A 204.26 61.28 0 59029822.00
09310 200105 336,000 m2 N/A 13147.31 131.47 0 4417497486.00

(continued )
BIM-based

2847
approach for
cost estimation

approach
project, using the
Table 5.

results of the tiffa

proposed BIM-Based
cost estimation
Final cost estimation
 28,9

2848

Table 5.
ECAM
MasterFormat Cost item Unit cost (rials) Unit Density Area (m2) Volume (m3) Length (m) Total cost (rials)

Interior Doors
08110 160102 33,700 Kg 7,850 N/A N/A N/A N/A
08120 170101 118,500 Kg 2,700 62.60 2.60 0 832385207.00
08120 170101 118,500 Kg 2,700 0.71 0.01 0 1758990.00
Exterior Doors
08110 160102 33,700 Kg 7,850 24.72 0.77 0 203778047.00
08120 170102 123,500 Kg 2,700 14.66 0.31 0 103525446.00
08210 190706 489,500 m2 700 7.19 0.11 0 3518126.00
Exterior Windows
08510 160102 33,700 Kg 7,850 232.49 51.98 57.16 13751218632.00
08510 160102 33,700 Kg 7,850 3.22 0.04 0 10688692.00
Ceiling
09250 180205 87,700 m2 N/A 1726.94 520.89 0 151,453,020.60
Stairs
03310 080101 953,000 m3 N/A 170.00 67.58 0 67405000.00
Sum of all Element Categories’ Cost (Rials) 30726911732.60
Additional Cost of Implementing Province Coefficient (%5) (Rials) 1536345586.63
Additional Cost of Implementing Adjustment Coefficient (%7) (Rials) 2150883821.28
Total Estimated Cost of the Project (Rials) 34414141140.51
 Deviation
BIM-based
Deviation percentage of approach for
percentage of the cost estimation
the cost traditional
Construction BIM-based cost estimation Traditional cost cost
sections estimation using BIM estimation estimation Actual cost

ExteriorWall 1533462217.00 5.04 1622223167.87 11.12 1459884060.36 2849

InteriorWall 254167239.90 15.92 387823150.00 28.30 302280563.60
Floor 13813551116.00 5.28 12883684650.00 11.66 14583391708.00
Roof N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
InteriorDoor 834144197.50 18.28 457843150.00 35.08 705252175.90 Table 6.
ExteriorDoor 310821619.20 31.43 284567150.00 37.22 453276768.90 Comparing the
ExteriorWindows 13761907324.00 2.66 12064780000.00 14.66 14137963505.00 estimated cost of the
Ceiling 151453020.60 4.13 132555122.60 8.87 145453020.60 project based on the
Stair 67405000.00 7.28 66262251.70 8.85 72697690.91 BIM-based and the
Coefficients 3687229407.91 3.56 3347968637.06 12.43 3823223939.19 traditional approaches
All 34414141141 3.56 31247707279.23 12.43 35683423432.46 with its actual cost

are equal to 1.53Eþ09 Rials and 1.62Eþ09 Rials respectively. The actual cost of the section of
exterior walls is less than its estimated value in both traditional and BIM-based approaches.
Meanwhile, the deviation percentage of the BIM-based estimated cost from the actual cost of the
section of exterior walls is also less than the deviation percentage of the traditionally estimated
cost with the values of 5.04 and 11.12%, respectively.
The overall actual cost of the architectural discipline of the project is about 3.57Eþ10, while the
estimated cost of the architectural discipline using the BIM-based and the traditional approaches are
about 3.44Eþ10 Rials and 3.12Eþ10 Rials, respectively (Table 6). The actual cost of the
architectural discipline is more than its estimated values in both BIM-based and traditional
methods. This can be due to some other factors, which have had some impacts on the actual cost of
the project, such as reworks, change orders, wastes of the materials, and delays in project
completion. Furthermore, the proposed BIM-based approach cannot consider some “Extra Work”
cost items of FehrestBaha as a limitation, which has possibly influenced its estimation. However, the
overall deviation percentage of the BIM-based estimated cost from the actual cost of the
architectural discipline is less than its traditionally estimated cost, with the values of 3.56% and
12.43%, respectively. This fact can be due to the possible omissions and errors that happen in
taking-off the quantities and cost estimation calculations using the traditional approach due to the
manual works in comparison with the BIM-based approach, in which the mentioned operations are
mostly automated.
Therefore, the results of the study illustrate the capabilities of the proposed approach in cost
estimation using the BIM model of construction projects with an acceptable level of accuracy (model
validation). The proposed BIM-based approach facilitates owners’ decision-making process about
different design scenarios. It enables owners to easily trace the changes in the project cost according
to the changes in the components and materials of the BIM models

Conclusion
Analyzing different scenarios in the design phase of construction projects has always been a
challenging task. Having an agile and accurate system with the ability to estimate the cost of
different design scenarios helps owners in making better decisions in designing their
buildings. The BIM approach has the potential to provide acceptable cost estimation for
different design scenarios of building projects. Previous studies have investigated the
ECAM implementation of the BIM approach for cost estimation. However, to the best of the authors’
28,9 knowledge, none of them has proposed an integrated framework for linking the items of cost
estimation systems to the taken-off quantities from the BIM models using the well-known
classification standards that are compatible with the BIM approach. Such an integrated
system leads to a faster and more precise cost estimation, which facilitates the decision-
making process for owners in the design phase.
The proposed study contributes to the body of knowledge by proposing an integrated and
2850 standardized BIM-based approach for cost estimation, which assists design team to come up
with a cost estimation process in a more quick and accurate basis. The performance of the
proposed system is based on linking the standards of MasterFormat and UniFormat to the
items of Iran’s cost estimation standard. A BIM-based add-in is developed using C#
programming to facilitate and automate the process of cost estimation as well.
To evaluate the efficiency of the proposed approach in cost estimation, it is implemented to
estimate the cost of the architectural discipline in a real residential complex. The results
indicated that the proposed BIM-based approach has an acceptable performance in
estimating the cost of the project. However, the actual cost of the project is more than its
estimated values in both BIM-based and traditional methods. This can be due to some other
factors, which have had some impacts on the actual cost of the project, such as reworks,
change orders, wastes of the materials and delays in the project completion.
Consequently, the results of the study illustrate the capabilities of the proposed
integrated BIM-based approach in evaluating the cost of different scenarios in the design
process in an accurate basis. The proposed approach enables owners to easily trace the
changes in the project cost according to the changes in the BIM design. Unlike the
conventional cost estimation approach, the proposed BIM-based approach is not highly
dependent on the knowledge of an experienced estimator since the process of cost
estimation is being mostly automated. This fact not only facilitates its implementation
but also decreases the required time for cost estimation in comparison with the traditional
approaches. Furthermore, automated extraction of QTO, as well as the required
calculations in the BIM-based plug-in, increases the accuracy of the cost estimation
process and decreases the probability of human errors or omissions occurrence. The
mentioned benefits of the proposed approach in cost estimation can encourage
construction practitioners in Iran for more adoption of BIM approach in the project
and organization levels.
Lastly, one significant contribution of this study is the successful integration between
Iran’s cost estimation standard (FehrestBaha) and the CSI standards of UniFormat and
MasterFormat. The proposed methodology tried to figure out a solution to make Iran’s cost
estimation standard compatible with the BIM environment.
Besides the advantages of the proposed approach, one of the major factors which may
impede its implementation is that the user should have sufficient acquaintance with
UniFormat and MasterFormat, which are less prevalent in Iran. The proposed approach
also has some limitations in considering some “Extra Works” cost items of FehrestBaha.
These items are those complementary cost items, which should be considered in some
special conditions. Future studies will require to improve the accuracy of the proposed
approach by considering the “Extra Works” cost items.
The proposed approach is developed for the structural and architectural divisions of
FehrestBaha. Further studies will be potentially performed for implementing the same
approach in the other divisions of the FehrestBaha. This study also proposed a general
framework for linking the items of Iran’s cost estimation system to the standards of
MasterFormat and UniFormat. Therefore, the proposed approach could be considered as
a practical roadmap for the BIM-based cost estimation approach by other countries’ cost
estimation standards.
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Corresponding author
Mostafa Khanzadi can be contacted at: khanzadi@iust.ac.ir

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