Chat-to-Quantities with Flinker Copilot and Excel IFC Viewer
How Sawa Engineering used Flinker Copilot and Excel Viewer for reliable BIM quantity takeoff, cost segmentation, and faster planning decisions.
Challenge
Fast, reliable quantities within tight schedules
In a complex BIM environment, the team needed robust quantity takeoff and segmentation of reinforced concrete elements by floors and construction phases — including cost mapping — while keeping decision-makers supplied with transparent data across multiple design variants.
The process had to minimize tool switching and leverage existing Excel know-how to keep the learning curve low and iteration speed high.
Solution
Excel-centric analysis with model context from Flinker Copilot
The workflow combines the Flinker Copilot and IFC Viewer (for model context and parameter export) with rule-based queries and filtering in Excel. Predefined criteria segment reinforced concrete elements by floors and construction phases while mapping costs for each variant. Thanks to the linkage to the 3D model, location and scope remain clear at all times.
Parameter issues (e.g., basement walls mislabeled as ground-floor walls) are surfaced early and corrected quickly. Because teams already work confidently in Excel, iteration cycles are significantly faster than with traditional, multi-tool approaches.
For this public case, a sample IFC was used to reproduce the exact workflow without exposing project data. The final results feed into a comparison table to support variant selection.
Flinker Apps
BIM Apps for Microsoft 365 used
Our Apps run in your Microsoft 365 tenant — no external servers, databases or platform.
The Results
Outcomes reported by the user:
- Reliable evaluation of three variants within three weeks
- Chosen solution shortens shell construction from ~10 to ~7 months
- All variants available with transparent, decision-ready data
- Iterations significantly faster than traditional methods, with minimal learning curve
3 weeks
Time to evaluate 3 variants~ 7 vs. 10 mo
Shell construction (chosen vs. prior plan)3 variants
Compared with decision-ready dataWorkflows enabled
- Variant evaluation with decision-ready data
- Quantity takeoff & segmentation (floors, construction sections)
- Rule-based Excel queries & filtering
- Model parameter QA & correction workflow
- Cost mapping handover to schedule & budgeting
“With Flinker Copilot and IFC Viewer for Microsoft 365, we evaluate models transparently and quickly, without extra interfaces. That speeds us up and makes our handover to schedule and cost planning more reliable.”
Sékou Sawadogo
Civil Engineer, at Sawa EngineeringGet the free IFC Viewer for Microsoft 365
Install the Flinker IFC Viewer from Microsoft AppSource. No external servers. Works right in your tenant.
