The fifth Meet-up of the Centre for Digital Built Croatia successfully took place, this time under the theme ‘Cost estimate in 1 Click: Myth or Reality?’
On Thursday, June 6th, a full house at Urania in Zagreb welcomed representatives from architectural and construction firms across Croatia to discuss the automation of generating and reviewing cost estimate.
Vedran Orešić (BIM4me) provided the introduction to the topic, presenting the correct structure of a BIM model for generating a cost estimate.
In his presentation, Orešić highlighted the difference between the traditional method of preparing a Bill of Quantities and the BIM-based approach, which leverages advanced software tools to assign parameters and export the Bill of Quantities automatically.
Practical examples and expert insights
Marko Dabrović (3LHD/Volum3) also shared his perspective on the topic, presenting their approach to developing specifications and streamlining Bill of Quantities management through the use of predefined classification systems and specifications.
Dabrović emphasized the need for a national classification system and invited all interested industry stakeholders to collaborate on its development.
Dinko Žele from Pro Elemento presented the company’s perspective, drawing on their experience in cost management and the development of BIM models to generate accurate quantities for Bill of Quantities preparation.
Žele highlighted the challenges they face when utilizing architectural models for this purpose.
Through his presentation, he shared Pro Elemento’s internal process for refining BIM models to support quantity take-off.
ATP and Strabag presented their processes for developing BIM models using software tools such as iTWO.
Goran Anić provided a detailed overview of how data is extracted from BIM models, highlighting both the advantages and limitations of the current digital solutions available on the market.
Filip Prpić from Strabag discussed several methods used to verify quantities for the company’s cost estimation department.
Through a concrete example, he illustrated the challenges that contractors face in this process.
The final presentation was delivered by Marko Šimac from Hrvatske ceste (Croatian Roads), who provided insights into the preparation of Bills of Quantities from an investor’s perspective.
Šimac presented the processes that Hrvatske ceste has developed for its projects and emphasized the importance of structured information for the lifecycle management of infrastructure.
An excellent panel discussion closed the event — focusing on generating Bills of Quantities within a BIM environment.
The CDI Meet-up concluded with an excellent panel discussion.
The panel featured all of the day’s speakers, joined by Marko Bašić (Arhigon) and Damir Mance (Arhitektura Minimal).
The key takeaway from the panel was that the current methods for preparing Bills of Quantities are not the most efficient, especially given the range of digital solutions now available on the market.
The discussion highlighted the need for standardized Bill of Quantities elements and expressed a strong call for the development of a national classification system — and even standardized specifications — to support this process moving forward.
The Centre for Digital Built Croatia, together with its partners, will certainly continue its activities on this topic.
We invite all interested stakeholders to get involved and contribute to the development of guidelines and proposals for a national classification system.
Anyone interested is welcome to contact us at info@cdih.hr.
A big thank you to all participants, speakers, and our partners for another excellent Meet-up.
