Design Information Extraction from Construction Specifications to Support Cost Estimation
The automated method significantly reduces the time required for construction cost estimation by extracting design information, matching materials with a database, and retrieving material pricing with high precision.
Researchers at Purdue University have proposed a new method to automate construction cost estimation. Construction cost estimation relies heavily on manual inputs. The Purdue researchers' automated method extracts design information from construction specifications, matches the materials from the design with materials in a database, and retrieves pricing information of the materials from the database.
Technology Validation: In analyzing eight wood construction projects, the technology was 99.2 percent precise in extracting design information, was 100 percent precise in matching the materials from the design with materials in the database, and only required 5.56 percent of the time it took using the manual method.
Advantages
-Accurate
-Cost- and time-savings
-Efficient
-Objective
Applications
-Construction cost estimation by contractors, architects
TRL: 4
Intellectual Property:
N/A, N/A, N/A
Keywords: Automated construction cost estimation, construction estimating software, construction cost estimator, digital estimating tools, real-time cost databases, BIM takeoff, project budgeting, cost estimation techniques, construction technology, construction management software, AI​, Automation, Building Design, Civil Engineering, Construction Specifications, Information Extraction, Natural Language Processing