in 90 seconds ·the bim part of the tender · october 2026

What the contract does not say gets paid for later.

A tender properly adapted to BIM passes on to each party what the council requires of you at each phase. Everyone knows what they deliver, when, and how it is checked.

With digital delivery properly in place, design and construction costs fall by 13 to 21 %.

Source: BCG, How technology is revolutionizing construction (2016)

Prepared for Student Experience by Avatar

in 90 seconds ·the opportunity

The tender has to be adapted to BIM anyway. Do it once and make it work for every project you build.

Required

The tender already demands it. You will spend time on it either way; the gap between doing the minimum and doing it well is small, and it shows in every contract.

3,600

beds in your Spanish pipeline (Iberian Property). On every development of your own, the same adapted tender avoids renegotiating, redoing work and paying extras.

€300,000+

of rent for every month of delay on a residence like Granada: 520 studios from €650/month (studentexperience.com), at 95 % occupancy. Far more than adapting it properly costs.

The opportunity cost: use the tender only to comply, or as the lever that puts all your Spanish projects under the same rules.

in 90 seconds ·an example

In a residence, mistakes multiply. So do good decisions.

× 520

The typical room

A bathroom duct hits a beam and it is found on site. At €300 per room, that is €156,000 and weeks of delay. If the tender requires the typical room to be coordinated in the model with every trade before construction is tendered, the clash is solved in the model, not on site.

€0

The skirting boards nobody should model

Without a rule, skirting boards, handles and sockets get modelled in 520 rooms, or billed as an extra. With one, only what is measured, tendered or handed over gets modelled. You pay for decisions, not modelling hours.

Example figures.

in 90 seconds ·our offer

We adapt your tender to BIM. You run it.

€3,360

fixed price, plus VAT: 48 hours of technical lead.

2 weeks

built on your draft: we review it and complete it with the missing annexes, as the template for tendering student residences.

Up to the LPO

every phase, from the bid to the contractor's as-built model and the architect's documents for the first occupancy licence.

One day of delay in Granada costs about €10,700 in rent: more than three times this assignment.

Sample clause

"The model will be updated at the end of construction."

"The contractor delivers the as-built model, with data for every piece of equipment, before handover. Site supervision checks it within 10 days against the checklist. It is a condition for signing the certificate of completion."

Deducted if you later commission the roll-out. Optional: 10 hours of support during the tender, €700. Breakdown (PDF)

What it covers →
Detail · What it covers

Six phases, each with its owner and its saving.

  1. 1 · BidBetter odds of winningAreas and beds from the model.Architect
  2. 2 · Basic design and permitEarlier permitAreas and beds matched to the brief.Architect and engineers
  3. 3 · Detailed designFewer change ordersCoordinated with every trade before tendering.LOD 300 · Architect and engineers
  4. 4 · Construction tenderComparable bidsQuantities from the model, the same for everyone.Architect
  5. 5 · ConstructionProgramme protectedChanges in the model and installation detail.LOD 400 · Contractor; site supervision integrates
  6. 6 · CompletionPaid for onceAs-built model and documents for the first occupancy licence.LOD 500 · Contractor and architect; site supervision verifies

The council only asks for a level of detail per phase. Your adapted tender says who produces it, what data it carries and how it is accepted, and puts it in each party's contract.

Detail · More cases

Four common situations a tender properly adapted to BIM settles before they cost money.

The site change

Negotiated with numbersSwitching 20 studios to a larger type: with the change in the model, before and after quantities are objective and the change order closes in days.

The beds

The business plan matches the designThe count updates itself. Ten miscounted beds are about €74,000 of rent a year (10 × €650 × 12 × 95 %).

The construction tender

Everyone prices the same thingQuantities from one source for every contractor: comparable bids and no claims for forgotten items.

The final handover

Paid for onceIn the contractor's contract, it is part of the price. In the architect's, it is billed as an extra or nobody delivers it.

Example figures, using Granada prices.

Detail · What it is worth

With your Granada figures. Swap in the project's own.

An example, not a forecast or a market benchmark.

Change orders avoided–
Delay avoided–
Extras avoided–
BIM premium in contracts–
Return per € invested – – –

Undiscounted, before tax. Adapting the tender (€3,360) is separate and barely changes the result. Each month of delay is valued at lost rent only; financing and overheads would make it larger.

Starting data: Granada, 520 studios, from €650/month (Student Experience website); plan for 5 residences in Spain (Iberian Property, 2021) and a 3,600-bed pipeline (Iberian Property). Occupancy, construction cost and percentages: example.

Detail · Why Avatar

We write requirements teams can price and meet, because we apply them on site.

Multi-family housing800+ homes and 75,000 m² as BIM manager, on schemes of 33 to 138 homes in the Madrid region, for private developers and a municipal housing company.
Developer requirementsBIM plan written to the developer's specification and compliance checked through design and construction: 67 homes in Alcobendas and 33 in Valdemoro.
CompetitionsFour concept designs for a public housing competition, 420 homes, leading a team of five.
Construction and handoverSite supervision support and the as-built model for 33 homes in Arroyomolinos.
HotelsHotel refurbishments in Madrid and Ávila, from surveying the existing building to the detailed design quantities.
  • A technical lead accountable for the BIM adaptation paying off in your business.
  • Requirements written for Spanish phases, permits and contractors.
  • We know both sides of the contract: what is asked and what it costs to deliver.
  • We work in Spanish and English, with your team, your architects and contractors.
Next step

We already have your draft. In 2 weeks you get your tender back, adapted to BIM.

€3,360 + VAT, fixed price. Offer valid for 30 days; accepting it by email is enough. If you can share your design guide, we tailor the requirements to your product and your room types. Then, if you want: support on site and the same tender as the standard for all your projects in Spain. If you commission the roll-out within the following 12 months, these 48 hours are deducted.

Alejandro García Nicolás · Technical leadFee proposal (PDF)