The City of Vantaa Relies on Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Cost Planning

Determining the amount of piping down to a millimetre

The City of Vantaa commissioned Granlund Consulting to deliver constructor’s quantity surveys and cost estimates for both heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and construction technology work for quote calculations of the Martinlaakso day care centre. The cost and works accountants used designer-created building information models in their work.

“It was a pilot project for both parties, as building information models were used both in HVAC and in construction technology cost and works calculations,” says Sari Linna, the Leading Consultant in Cost Management at Granlund Consulting. “Using building information models facilitated cost calculation, and improved its efficiency and accuracy. Producing quantity data from the model saved time, and it was possible to, for instance, determine the amount of piping down to a millimetre.”

“The City of Vantaa is aiming at using BIMs in all of its new building projects, at the least,” says Tuula Raulo, Cost Engineer at the Real Estate Department of the City of Vantaa. “Our goal is get more specific timetables, obtain the most accurate cost calculations and plans possible, and to reduce the number of changes and errors in the implementation phase.”

BIM-based Works Calculations for Technology

Based on the experiences in the project, BIM-based works and cost calculations are usable both in HVAC and in structural engineering.

“Using and utilising a building information model in cost calculation requires that the designer and the cost accountant have a shared understanding of what information from the model is required in the cost calculation, and what information is available. This means that the model cannot be designed for visual demonstration purposes only,” says Jari Salmi, the Director of Cost Management at Granlund Consulting. “I believe that in the future, cost data is part of the information included in the building information model.”

Time Savings through a Consultant

The City of Vantaa wanted to provide contractors the quantity surveys made by consultants because the timetable of the calculation phase was very strict.
“With the help of Granlund, we managed to carry out the design phase of the project within the set timetable,” says Raulo. “In addition, the accurate quantity surveys provided support for our contractors, improving our co-operation and reducing misinterpretations. We also benefited significantly from Granlund’s thorough review of the whole contract material.”
Raulo highly recommends BIM-based cost planning for municipalities and cities.

“Consultants are especially useful in special projects with a strict timetable. Experts are continuously calculating costs for multiple clients, but in some municipalities a certain kind of site may be built only once in 20 years. We received up-to-date knowledge, experience and perspective from Granlund. In the future, we will also utilise other services of cost management, in addition to cost calculation.”

Further information:

Jari Salmi
Director, Cost Management
firstname.lastname@granlund.fi
tel. +358 43 820 0487

Picture: Architects Anttinen Oiva Arkkitehdit Oy, head designer of the project