BIM-based data mining approach to estimating job man-hour requirements in structural steel fabrication

In a steel fabrication shop, jobs from different clients and projects are generally processed simultaneously in order to streamline processes, improve resource utilization, and achieve cost-effectiveness in serving multiple concurrent steel-erection sites. Reliable quantity takeoff on each job and accurate estimate of shop fabrication man-hour requirements are crucial to plan and control fabrication operations and resource allocation on the shop floor. Building information modeling (BIM), is intended to integrate multifaceted characteristics of a building facility, but finds its application in structural steel fabrication largely limited to design and drafting. This research focuses on extending BIM´s usage further to the planning and control phases in steel fabrication. Using data extracted from BIM-based models, a linear regression model is developed to provide the man-hour requirement estimate for a particular job. Actual data collected from a steel fabrication company was used to train and validate the model.