The challenge

All site engineers will tell you: performing progress reports is one of their important missions and it is often a complex task, which can also be tedious at the end of the month. This is especially true when the construction site is large, with lots of stakeholders from different companies working in parallel on the site. The hazards and the additional costs are frequent and they quickly impact the profitability of the building site if the quantities to be carried out are not correctly planned and controlled from the beginning.

The progress reports often arrive in all sorts of forms with quantities and accounting data that are sometimes not justified. These data are often encoded in long Excel spreadsheets, for which it is necessary to check that there are no wrong formulas, that the amounts are correct and that the data are up to date. Amounts must be recalculated at a rapid pace, while keeping track of the latest versions. In addition to being a time-consuming process, this process lacks robustness, reliability, and transparency, which can lead to significant financial consequences and quite a bit of friction between the different parties around the table (client, general contractor, subcontractors)!

The solution

With this in mind, Kabandy and Smartbeam start-ups have decided to collaborate, in order to try to bring a common solution to these problems. How do they do this? By combining Kabandy’s online software technology (for intuitive extraction of quantities from the 3D model) and Smartbeam’s (for easy financial follow-up of the construction site)!

How does it work in practice?

Today, both solutions communicate through a simple file exchange; we talk about interfacing. In the implementation phase, the project engineer loads the 3D model (received from the architect or modelled internally) into Kabandy. Then, (s)he prepares the initial version of his/her schedule, which can be done manually, automatically or via a file import (template). From there, (s)he will be able to link the different objects of the model to his/her schedule to detail his quantity survey for each identified zone of the building site according to its type (by floor, by apartment, by facade, …) and at the same time to compare the total quantities of the model with those which are in the order.

This initial statement will then be exported in an Excel spreadsheet that can be imported directly into Smartbeam, with all the items and the quantities detailed by zone. Everything is now in place for budget tracking.

During the site monitoring phase, Smartbeam will update the progress made directly during site tours, with respect to your localization and to the quantities foreseen. Based on these updates, the total quantities for the month are automatically calculated to automate and generate progress reports that can be shared in Excel or PDF format.

All internal and external parties can be invited to the project to indicate the progress made, to approve or correct it with a clear and detailed activity history. The data is therefore only entered once and everyone has the latest version of the order elements, the accepted amendments and the progress made at all times.

Why is it better?

By combining both technologies, the project engineer and all the invited participants are able to base the progress reports on the information in the model from quantities identified by zone and easily exploitable on site. Everyone will save a lot of time. The extracted quantities are accurate, reliable and transparent, since they are linked to the model in intuitive dynamic tables that can be consulted in Kabandy. The amounts of the various budget items calculated in Smartbeam are also more accurate and reliable, which will reduce errors, budget surprises and conflicts between the various parties.