When you look today at all the publicity, news, and information about BIM and Virtual Construction it can be overwhelming.  Questions like, "What should I do first?" or "Is model-based scheduling really important?" are usually asked.  In order to make sense of all this perhaps you should go back to basics.  A Construction Manager or a General Contractor is in business to build and manage on behalf of the Owner.  The manage part is important here because what you are really managing is RISK!  Almost any company can put up an office building or even a more complex laboratory or medical building, but what is the difference between a good project, one that generates more business, and a bad project?  Most of the problems that escalate to hurt Owners have to do with the risk of managing change during the project, and although contracts and insurance spread the pain the Owner typically remembers one thing, "We got hit with an additional 3% of the total project cost in last minute Change Orders. Why did this happen again?"

 

BIM for Coordination is good for any Construction Management business and it helps to mitigate risk, but the real risk to Owners is meeting Cost and Schedule. So as you look at including BIM in your companies arsenal ask yourself why you are doing it?  Frequently the answer will be, "To win more business and improve project results."  If this is the case then Virtual Construction is not just Coordination but a Quantity and Location driven management approach to limiting risk by creating high quality engineering information to help make informed decisions and keep the project on the right course.