An Integrated System for Design/Build Firms to Solve Cost Estimation Problems in the Design Phase

摘要

One of the basic problems that architects encounter during the design process are keeping costs within the budget given by the client and warning the client about the impacts on building costs of various decisions. The calculation of the impacts of alternative decisions on the cost of the building must be a continuous activity. The models developed for architectural practices and construction companies should provide tools that integrate this activity into the buildingproduction process. In certain project delivery systems, e.g., design/build, the continuity and integration of the cost estimation function gains importance. That is why the cost estimation system should be designed not only to meet the requirements of a particular phase of a project (i.e., design, bidding, construction, or operation) or a certain type of firm that undertakes the project (i.e., architectural office, client organization, or contracting company) but also to integrate the information systems used by the organizations undertaking different roles in the various phases of the building production process. This paper presents an integrated system (MITOS) and its cost estimation module that have been designed primarily for design/build firms, i.e., firms or alliances of firms that do both design and construction. The cost estimation module was designed to achieve integration and continuity of the cost estimation function by introducing a model that is based on project-based productivity information in similar past projects.