In discussions about measuring from models, the name Cubicost comes up alongside Revit and Navisworks, though rarely with much precision. Is it one program or a suite? Does it replace the estimating software already in use? And where does it sit between the design model and the documents submitted for approval?
This article answers those three questions. It is a reference piece about a tool, built on the vendor's published material. If the term "5D" is unfamiliar, read What are BIM 3D, 4D and 5D? first, because most of what follows belongs to the fifth dimension.
What Cubicost is and who makes it
Cubicost is the international brand name for the BIM-based cost management suite developed by Glodon. It is not a single program but a group of modules, each handling one kind of quantity.
Glodon Company Limited is a Chinese construction software company headquartered in Beijing. The vendor's own company page states that the firm was established in 1998 and listed on China's A-share market in May 2010 under code 002410. Glodon records this as the first listing by a company in Chinese construction industry informatisation. The published scale is more than 7,000 staff, over 60 branches and customers in more than 100 countries and territories.
That figure matters for a professional reason rather than for its size. Measurement software is tied very closely to the quantity measurement rules used by the estimating side in each individual market. Only a vendor large enough to maintain several different rule sets can operate beyond its home country. That is also the first thing to check before adopting the suite, and the article returns to it at the end.
Which modules the suite contains
According to Glodon's product listing, the suite currently has four main modules, divided by the kind of quantity being measured.
TAS measures architecture and structure. This is the central module, covering concrete, walls, slabs, columns, beams, roofs, doors and finishes.
TRB measures reinforcement. Bars in beams, columns, slabs, walls and foundations are handled separately because reinforcement is measured and deducted quite differently from the concrete around it.
TMEC measures building services: water supply and drainage, HVAC, electrical and fire protection. This is the current name for the services module, replacing the older TME still found in earlier documentation.
TBQ measures nothing. It receives quantities from the three modules above, merges them, builds the tender bill of quantities, applies rates and manages the cost documents.
The split follows a clear logic. The first three modules work with geometry, the fourth works with money. Glodon describes TBQ as holding three reusable libraries: a bill of quantities library, a build-up rate library and a report template library. Alongside those sit tender comparison, change marking and role-based permissions across the team.
How data gets into the suite
This is what separates the software from traditional estimating packages, and it is where most misunderstandings begin.
According to the vendor's product description for TAS and TRB, there are two ways in.
The first is drawing recognition. The software reads DWG or PDF files, identifies walls, columns, beams and slabs from the linework, then builds a model from them. TRB additionally accepts JPG images and allows tracing directly over 2D drawings. This route suits projects that have drawings but no model.
The second is importing an existing model in IFC or Revit RVT format, for projects already working in BIM. Glodon states that TAS holds buildingSMART IFC2x3 Coordination View 2.0 certification for both import and export, meaning its model exchange has passed independent testing rather than resting on marketing claims alone.
Once a model exists, measurement runs against the built-in quantity rules: the software deducts overlaps between elements automatically and produces quantities in a single operation. When the design changes, the model is amended and recalculated instead of being measured again from scratch.
The most valuable feature for checking sits elsewhere. Glodon describes every figure as traceable back to the element that produced it, complete with the calculation expression and the deducted volumes shown in three dimensions. A reviewer sees why the number came out that way, not merely the number.
How it differs from Revit and Navisworks
All three programs can produce quantities, but they were built for three different jobs.
Revit is design software. Its schedules count exactly the objects the designer modelled. That is adequate at design stage, but Revit knows nothing about the quantity measurement rules the estimating side works to, and does not split elements according to norm conditions.
Navisworks is coordination software. Its Quantification tool measures both from model objects and over 2D drawings, which is useful when a coordinator needs a quick figure for a meeting.
Cubicost was built for the estimating side. The core difference lies in the market-specific quantity measurement rules and in making every figure traceable so that somebody else can check it. The article What is quantity take-off? explains why a geometrically correct quantity is not automatically a quantity fit for estimating.
Put briefly: Revit answers how many cubic metres of concrete there are. Cost software must answer how many cubic metres of concrete belong to which operation, at what level, placed by what method. Those three answers decide the norm code, and the norm code decides the money.
Where the suite stops in the Vietnamese workflow
This is the most important section of the article, and the one usually skipped when software is introduced.
Estimating in Vietnam passes through two stages. The first is measurement, producing quantities for each operation. The second is applying norm codes, unit rates and coefficients under the cost management regulations in force, then issuing the documents in the official forms for approval.
Cubicost is strong at the first stage. The second stage is bound to the domestic body of cost regulation, so in practice it stays with Vietnamese estimating software. The common workflow today is a hybrid: take quantities from the model, export to Excel, then load them into local software.
This boundary is not a defect. It follows from the fact that every country maintains its own system of norms. Understanding it properly helps you ask the right questions when a vendor presents the product.
Three questions are worth asking. Does the version being sold include a quantity measurement rule set for the Vietnamese market, or must it be declared by hand? How closely do the exported quantities match the operation headings of the estimating software already in use? And who provides technical support when an imported model comes in broken?
The last question has a practical basis. Glodon has no dedicated official site for the Vietnamese market. The language selector on the vendor's own home page currently offers Global, China, Hong Kong, Asia and UK editions. In Vietnam the software reaches buyers through resellers, so the quality of support depends on the reseller rather than on the software.
The vendor's own certification scheme
There is one, and few people outside the user base know about it.
Glodon runs its own user certification programme, published on its official Asia site. There are four individual levels. Basic covers people who know the fundamental operations. Intermediate covers people who have applied the software on a planned project. Expert covers extensive operation together with basic BIM practice. Master covers those who help their organisation plan and implement 5D. Enterprise certificates and a Glodon Certified Trainer status sit alongside them.
These are worth distinguishing clearly from professional practice licences. They are vendor certificates attesting competence with a tool. They carry weight in a capability statement or an international tender submission, but they do not substitute for the practice certificates required by Vietnamese regulation.
What to learn before touching the software
The order of learning matters more than the choice of program, because measurement software only amplifies whatever ability the user already has.
Reading drawings is the bottom layer. Anyone who cannot read a drawing cannot check the model the software generated from the linework, and a generated model always needs checking.
Measurement principles form the second layer. You have to know which operations are measured by volume and which by area, what is deducted and what is not, before you can read what the software gives back. The article Where to start with construction cost estimating follows exactly this order, while What does a quantity surveyor do? describes the role these skills serve.
Reading models is the third layer, and it only becomes necessary once a project genuinely has a model. You need not be able to build a model to measure from one, but you do need to understand how it was built.
With those three layers in place, moving to any measurement package becomes a matter of operation. Without them, the figures arrive very quickly and the errors are very hard to spot.
Frequently asked questions
Does Cubicost replace the estimating software we already use?
Not entirely. The suite is strong at measuring quantities from drawings or models. Applying norm codes and unit rates and issuing documents in the domestic official forms stays with Vietnamese estimating software. The two connect through the bill of quantities.
Can it be used without a BIM model?
Yes. Glodon states that the software recognises DWG and PDF drawings and builds a model from them, with the reinforcement module also accepting images and allowing tracing over 2D drawings. A model generated from linework always needs checking, so the benefit depends on the quality of the incoming drawings.
How does Cubicost differ from Revit?
Revit is design software and its schedules count the objects that were modelled. Cubicost is software for the estimating side: it measures against built-in quantity rules and traces every figure back to the element that produced it. Revit usually acts as the source of the model fed into it.
Do Glodon certificates carry legal weight in Vietnam?
No. They are vendor certificates attesting competence with the software. They are useful in an individual capability statement and in international tender submissions, but they do not replace the practice certificates required under Vietnamese regulation.
Should a beginner learn the software first or learn estimating first?
Estimating first. Measurement software returns figures very quickly, so anyone who has not grasped measurement principles will not notice when a figure is wrong. Once the principles are secure, switching packages is only a matter of operation.