Savings Through Collaboration: A Case Study on the Value of BIM

Quantitative data proving the return on investment of BIM is yet to be substantially proven in a real project environment. In 2009, Boston-based mechanical construction firm J.C. Cannistraro LLC formed a BIM Task Force to study exactly how BIM had improved its construction practices. To quantify the savings that were becoming evident through the growth of BIM adoption in the industry, J.C. Cannistraro examined $500M of past work and separated its projects into three categories.Each category differentiated the projects and determined the grounds for comparison based upon the method used for design. Base contract data was gathered for all plumbing, HVAC and fire protection projects and the total value of all change orders for each trade was compiled for each project. The six years of construction data included more than 400 new construction and renovation projects and was separated into 3 categories: 2D projects, 3D lonely BIM projects, and collaborative BIM projects (note, lonely BIM is building models for internal use only).