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What if we could live in a world where constructability challenges were resolved prior to construction? What if we had the capability to identify coordination issues before they became an issue in the field so that cost and schedule could be made more certain—and budget savings could be realized?

When we leverage the full potential of a comprehensive Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) process, it benefits every project stakeholder. VDC helps eliminate constructability pain points and deliver project certainty with potential cost-savings. In order to enable VDC to its highest and best use, we need it to be introduced early in the planning process. Building a project virtually enables everyone who is a project stakeholder to have a seat at the table, creating transparency and facilitating collaboration and problem-solving.

VDC should be leveraged early in the pre-construction phase with the design team actively engaged in order to help inform the design process through collaboration. The project owner is then also kept fully apprised and can sign off on design changes before they potentially result in further cost or schedule impacts.

Additionally, VDC can facilitate the constructability process by providing greater coordination between the construction manager,the architects, and engineers. VDC can track open issues from beginning to end so that resolutions are well in place prior to the buy-out of a project. A well-developed BIM (Building Information Model) can be used as a de-scoping tool to assess unique elements on a project. It can also be used to assess trade contractor BIM capabilities, eventually using that as criteria for an award. This approach can work especially well in the case of non-traditional trades so that they can be most effective in coordination of work, whether that involves site utilities, casework, carpentry, façades, and more. Additionally, a comprehensive VDC process can help ensure sufficient coordination of manpower, scheduling coordination, and even correct sequencing.

When used creatively, VDC can be a problem-solver for almost any coordination challenge. At Gilbane, we’ve used VDC for the coordination, fabrication, and installation of multiple high-end finishes that were desired by a client who was on a compressed project schedule. By using laser scanning and VDC hyper coordination, we could be extremely detailed and address dozens of issues concerning connections, overlap, and interfacing details between multiple finishes of metal, stone, and wood panel. This resulted in man-hours saved on site and material waste. We were also able to optimize field installation among multiple trades by using pre-fabricated materials. All of this, in turn, delivered significant budget savings for our client.

We all strive to build projects with the greatest excellence, efficiency, and budget in mind. An investment in VDC is well worth it when you understand that it allows you to identify and solve problems well before shovels are in the ground. Our experience has shown that its application builds trust and collaboration, which are at the heart of any successful project. We all want to mitigate risks and challenges on our projects in order to deliver the best possible project outcome. An investment in VDC will deliver a shared value to the benefit of every project stakeholder.