Assessing the Implementation of Bim for Cost Management by Quantity Surveyors in Nigeria

Abstract Construction industry plays a central role in the economic development of most countries; however, it faces major issues relating to project complexity and cost control. Nigeria has not been an exception to high costs in building projects for such challenges, and new technique known as Building Information Modelling (BIM) could potentially provide a solution to these difficulties and rectify inadequate cost management practices. This research therefore sought to evaluate the application of BIM for cost control as per the Quantity Surveyors in construction industry of Lagos State, Nigeria. The survey aimed at assessing the level of BIM realization among Quantity Surveyors while the main focus areas concerned: Identifying the barriers to BIM implementation and Realizing the changes of Quantity Surveyors’ activities due to BIM implementation. The target population was Consultant and Contractor Quantity Surveyors in Lagos State. Closed questionnaires were used to gather data which was later analyzed by the use of Chi-square tests results, mean scores as well as regression products. It was emerged that there is a low level of BIM implementation in regard to cost management; BIM is adopted for few quantity surveying tasks. H1 revealed that the major challenges towards its implementation were the expensive nature of deploying BIM software, cost of training, and limited availability of skilled professional. The other outcome of the analysis was that the BIM implementation for cost management would not significantly enhance the role of Quantity Surveyors, although there would be a positive influence. To address the research question, the study recommends the following: increase awareness of Quantity Surveyors in the capabilities of BIM, ensure proper training to be offered by professional bodies of Quantity Surveyors and the inclusion of BIM in the curricula of universities in the Quantity Surveying program. Also, professional bodies should formulate guidelines to compel BIM emission among the quantity surveying organizations.