Construction disputes and BIM software – we win.

Thursday, July 11th, 2019

Article By: Jo Mulgrew

Quick takeaways:

  • Technology is gradually reducing the value of construction disputes
  • BuildingWorks software, with its high quality data, offers a practical BIM solution valuable in disputed projects.

HKA, the consulting and advisory firm, analysed over 200 projects for which they’d provided construction disputes resolution services. As Charlie Woodley, director of HKA points out; the top 10 causes of construction disputes aren’t particularly surprising:

  • Slow progress
  • Variations
  • Extensions of time
  • Late availability of information/design
  • Change of scope
  • Managing time
  • Interpretations of contract provisions
  • Adversarial culture
  • Design errors/buildability
  • Lack of communication

But more revealing is his company’s discovery. It found the problem lay in the sheer number of contributory factors entangled within every dispute. A major challenge in dispute resolution is trying to establish what the facts were on site. And that’s where digital construction comes in, or more significantly, where BuildingWorks construction software comes in to help resolve the issues.

End-to-end construction solution

Every BuildingWorks project is packed with valuable data. It allows the facts to be established much faster, and with less expense. In fact the savings in time and money could be dramatic. A paper trail or multi-faceted digital trail can take weeks to unravel. By contrast, 3D models, full cost breakdowns, and project data (that can be easily shared across multidisciplinary teams), would speed up the extrapolation process massively.

Award-winning software platform

The Design and Estimate Modules within BuildingWorks more than prove themselves as resolution solution providers.

  • The clever estimating software calculates the geometry of the wall and all the quantities and costs of everything involved to build the project using your chosen specification (including labour, materials and plant)
  • It has automatic on-board full 3D models and elevations 
  • All the priced rates data is built in to BuildingWorks – there is no need to link to Microsoft Excel for instance
  • You can also add annotations and comments to help others understand the drawing
  • The material schedules, detailed cost reports, client quotations and NRM BoQs are all on-board BuildingWorks – there’s no exporting data to other programs
  • It saves to the cloud, so other people can take a look and review your drawing and estimate.

This extraordinary level of integration securely locks-in the all-important data that will be used as evidence in the event of a dispute. As a result, possibility of data loss and misinterpretation is eliminated.

BuildingWorks Software Library | Construction Software for Builders

BIM+ is published on behalf of the Chartered Institute of Building. They reported in June 2019 that greater use of technology helped the average value of construction disputes in the UK fall by 47% last year.

So in conclusion, will digitalisation end construction disputes? Well with BuildingWorks in your corner, we think you’ve a good chance of being on the winning side.

To find out more call us on 0117 916 7880 or email hello@getbuildingworks.com or to start an instant free trial visit here

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