| This research extends the concept of product features that is used extensively in the manufacturing industry to the domain of cost estimating for building construction. I represent the features of building product models that are important for planning construction work and hence for estimating construction costs. I relate the features of building product models to construction activities and resources to determine the construction time and resulting construction cost.; Current tools and methodologies allow estimators to establish a relationship between a component in a 3D product model and a cost item in a cost estimating database to create a cost estimate. However, this relationship is incomplete because it does not account for the different types of design information that affect construction cost and the different ways that a project's activities and resources are affected by different design information. Features of building components, such as penetrations, turns, and component similarity, also affect construction costs and can limit the requirement for activities and the allocation and execution of resources in an activity. My research enriches the representation of the relationship between product and cost information by representing the features of the building product model that are important, when they are important, and how they affect construction activities and their resources to calculate to describe the design information that affects construction costs and the different ways estimators adjust a project's activities and resources to account called Activity-based Cost Estimating (ACE).; These formalisms enable estimators to establish and maintain the many relationships between features, activities, resources, and costs. By providing a rich representation of the relationships between a project's scope (features), schedule (activities and resources), and costs, project teams should be able to avoid many of the inefficiencies that often result in cost overruns and schedule delays and better manage and control the design and construction process. |
