Articles

Bouwdata Why RIBA Plan of Work and facet classification are essential for structure, collaboration and cost control Every strong design starts with a powerful idea. An architect translates the client’s ambition into a shape that touches, surprises, or soothes — and...

BouwdataHow realistic cost estimation starts with geometry Ask a client how much a building should cost, and the answer will often come in the form of a square metre price. It’s a reflex deeply ingrained in the industry. But anyone who has ever worked on a project...

BouwdataHow a simple cost breakdown can improve collaboration between client and contractor In traditional bill-of-quantities structures, some essential cost items remain underexposed. Many clients don’t understand what “indirect costs” actually entail, and architects...

Bouwdata Why a structured approach can improve collaboration between client and architect even during a competition This final article in our series on Whitepaper I 'A Unified Framework for Cost reconciliation and 5D BIM' – 3rd edition, offers a vision of how...

Bouwdata How geometry enables realistic and sector-wide cost benchmarking   Many still see a mass model as a visual sketch — a box, a volume, a shape to discuss in urban planning. But those who look closely, see something else. A mass model isn’t an empty shell —...

BouwdataHow the link between NEN2699, NLBE-SfB and specification systems paves the way for transparent cost control In both Belgium and the Netherlands, an important step has been taken toward classification standardisation: the NLBE-SfB Table 1 matrix. This matrix is...

BouwdataProject development is anything but simple. With construction costs often surpassing 60% of the total budget, many developers take a shortcut, relying on rough per-square-meter estimates. But here’s the catch: despite constant complaints about inaccurate data...

BouwdataIn August '22, the Standard Task List (STL) was published on BIMPORTAL. It came about in a collaboration between Buildwise, the G30, ORI and VBA-ADEB. The source of inspiration was the DNR in the Netherlands, which has its roots in table 1 of NEN 2699...

BouwdataWhen ‘blending’ the technical provisions from a classic specification book into the structure of element clusters as described in the White paper ‘Univocal framework for post-calculation and 5D BIM’, there are a few points of attention that we would like to...

BouwdataThis spring, the Agentschap Facilitair Bedrijf, in collaboration with BouwData© and Bimplan, published the Whitepaper "Univocal framework for post-calculation and 5D BIM". In the context of circularity and accompanying materials passport, people usually refer...

BouwdataThe future belongs to those who digitise, diversify and recycle.For the latter, BouwData© fell short. So we dove back into the theory to find an answer i.c.w. Laura Denoyelle. With its eyes focused on cost control, agreement scheme AS9 Substances is the...

BouwdataOn 18/5 WTCB is organising an information session on classification in BIM, one of the topics being ‘The deliverables produced by WG1 do not seem to correspond 100% to the needs of the sector. What are the needs of the sector?’. A recurring question in this...

BouwdataIt happens more than once that the building owner discovers when tendering that his/her budget is insufficient for the dream design that his/her eager architectural firm has worked out. To put a stop to these frustrations on both sides of the drawing board,...

BouwdataAnalyzing an office building I encountered some issues concerning measuring the outside spaces according to the NBN EN 15221-6. The standard is quite clear but one has to consult several pages. Hence a practical guideline. For people not familiar to this...

BouwdataLast Saturday morning, while driving to the stable, I heard on the radio an expert from Gradon explaining his figures. The most important thing in his message was that he advocates a system economy rather than a competition economy as the way to a sustainable...

BouwdataThe ‘pressure test’ from Masterchef Australia illustrates nicely how amateur chefs, in a well-defined period - which is never, ever extended by even one second! - via X number of precisely defined steps to reproduce a memorable dish made by a top chef.The...

BouwdataAnyone who occasionally watches Masterchef is undoubtedly familiar with the term ‘three ways’ popular there. It means that a dish contains an ingredient prepared in three different ways. We can apply the same, strangely enough, to budget management in the...

BouwdataThis week on LinkedIn, subsequent to a post of Rik Neven, I read a number of articles about the VRT building written by Jozef Hessel and Philip Adam.There were both sensible and nonsensical things in them. So I cannot resist shining my light on the matter as...

BouwdataThe earlier I get involved in the process, the more I realise that different denominations and approaches to construction cost by different partners hampers our efficiency in construction more seriously than it might first appear. This starts with the board...