The Digital Builder’s

Guide to
Preconstruction
Collaboration
 The Digital Builder’s Guide to Preconstruction Collaboration

Table of Contents
3 Introduction

4 Try Collaborative Project Delivery Methods

6 Embrace Lean Construction Principles

7 Expand Access to Key Project Data

9 Make the Most of BIM Technology

11 Improve Transparency with Owners

12 Facilitate Communication with the Field

14 Develop a “One Model” Approach

16 Conclusion

2
Introduction
A massive team of contributors working
together effectively is required to kick off
the preconstruction phase successfully.
Unfortunately, preconstruction planning has
historically been disconnected, with project
partners only collaborating or sharing
data when necessary. The issue with this
siloed approach is that you’ll run into
problems later in the construction lifecycle:
projects delivered behind schedule, over-
budget, or with a ton of rework needed.
You may be wondering, why focus
specifically on the preconstruction
phase? The MacLeamy curve shows that
the further along a construction project
is, the more difficult and costly changes
become. Therefore, when efforts are
shifted toward better collaboration,
information sharing, and decision-making
earlier in the construction process,
it’s easier to avoid issues like rework
and increased costs down the road.
Today, leading contractors are seeing that
more collaboration during the preliminary
stages of a project leads to better
outcomes. The purpose of this guide is to
help contractors learn how to overcome
historically contentious relationships
between themselves and trade partners,
internal departments, and others while
moving toward a more connected and
collaborative process across the board. The
following examples will explore both the
strategy and the methods used by seven
contractors to improve preconstruction
collaboration. We’ll also outline the
benefits each team achieved from their
collaborative approach, proving the
concrete value of the changes they made.
3
 The Digital Builder’s Guide to Preconstruction Collaboration
1. Try Collaborative Project
Delivery Methods.
Integrated project delivery (IPD) can be
a compelling solution to the issues that
come from making changes later in the
construction workflow. This innovative
project delivery method focuses on
building an integrated team that’s
responsible for closely collaborating
from the very beginning of the project.
Chandos Construction, a Canadian
general contractor, uses IPD to
minimize project risks and gain more
certainty throughout the entire project
cycle. A unique aspect of IPD is that
the entire project team—including
architects, building engineers, trade
partners, owners, and the general
contractor—works collaboratively
from the preconstruction stage on.
This is unlike other popular project
delivery methods, like design-build,
which rely on the general contractor
to take the leading role on a project
and often creates bottlenecks.
4
As is true with any organizational By using the highly collaborative IPD
change, adopting IPD required an approach, Chandos saw more than just
intelligent and well-planned approach. improved accuracy in preconstruction
One of the challenges of implementing planning. The team also created a
IPD methodology is that older, more work environment that tapped into
manual processes don’t lend themselves the experience and knowledge of
well to real-time collaboration. In many everyone from subcontractors to
cases, valuable information lives in designers to general contractors.
inaccessible places, such as physical This integrated approach made
filing cabinets or someone’s personal every team member feel valued and
hard drive. This makes it difficult to invested in the project’s outcome.
accurately share data across teams.
For this reason, Chandos looked
to improve the technology it used
to ensure its team’s successful
adoption of IPD. To do so, Chandos
turned to a cloud-based solution
to ensure that everyone had equal
access to data as needed. This not
only allowed for transparency among
team members, but also led to
cleaner, more accurate data sets.
“IPD changes relationships for
the better by creating more
collaboration and communication
between stakeholders. This creates
alignment from the project’s onset,
reducing risk and maximizing value
by identifying potential problems
earlier in the construction process.”

–Vincent Plourd, VDC Manager at

Chandos Construction

5
 CASE STUDY
The Digital Builder’s Guide to Preconstruction Collaboration
2. Embrace Lean
Construction Practices.
Transparency Market Research reports that
construction waste will nearly double to
2.2. billion tons by 2025. With construction
waste increasing, many companies are
looking to lean construction, which has
the potential to improve many aspects
of a project while also reducing waste.
Lean construction is an organizational
model that’s helping integrate a once
fragmented industry. This collaborative
project management movement has
companies working more diligently than
ever at putting together teams to improve
efficiency. Lean construction is about
maximizing value and minimizing waste.
It’s not cost effective to have people trying
to outbid and undercut each other, so
lean proponents embrace collaboration.
6
Cannistraro, a Boston-based mechanical The team’s focus on lean construction
construction firm, was an early adopter of helps enable true collaboration among
lean construction principles. Cannistraro’s the stakeholders on every project
world-class team includes experts and throughout the company. Plus,
across the industry, including designers, they’re already seeing incredible
fabricators, contractors, owners, engineers, results: their prefabricated skids on
and front-line workers. The team has found a major multi-use project resulted
that access to tools that encourage multi- in five fewer deliveries, two weeks
disciplinary collaboration creates savings in off the schedule, 18 fewer material
materials and time, improves jobsite safety, handling hours, 110 fewer field hours,
and adds to the bottom line of every project. and 13% cost savings on materials.
Cannistraro also turns to prefabrication
to build more efficiently, achieving
certainty in cost, schedule, and
quality, while creating a safer working
environment. This methodology also
reduces waste and minimizes risk.
Within Cannistraro’s ultramodern facility,
they focus on universal stations to
enable all trades access to equipment
automation. This functionality connects
BIM model data directly to equipment.
3. Expand Access to Key
Project Data.
The connected construction site The company sought out a solution PARIC has seen countless benefits
can lead to better, faster, more cost- that encompasses every step from from this improved approach, including
effective outcomes for contractors the earliest stages of preconstruction increased quality, better safety, and
and owners. Capturing, sharing, and to the end of the project. saved time. The members of this
managing construction data in real-time team can continually learn and adapt
This team chose a cloud-based
makes every aspect of the process run using cohesive data management.
technology, complete with an open API,
smoothly. However, there’s a catch: Too
allowing for real-time data capture. This
much data without the ability to organize
provided a single source of truth for the
and manage it can turn into “noise” that
project team and provided access to
causes more problems than it solves.
this dashboard for every team member.
General contractor PARIC provides a
From the first moment when a
notable example of implementing the
project begins, PARIC’s team starts
right technology to enable collaboration.
funneling all data points through
PARIC is a full-service construction
this cloud-based software. The
company that has stayed competitive
result is that silos are broken down
over four decades by marrying its
and everything from bids to camera
strength and longevity to practical,
footage on a job site is compiled in
forward-thinking innovation. Their team
one convenient location. General
focused on finding a solution that would
contractors can collaborate with every
create a streamlined and collaborative
team member, creating meaningful
workflow for every team member.
preconstruction collaboration.

7
 The Digital Builder’s Guide to Preconstruction Collaboration

“At every phase of every project,

there are so many people involved
that it’s easy for communication to
get messed up. Meetings used to be
how we communicated, but now it’s
text and chat boxes, and emails and
Zoom and Microsoft Team calls. The
information is scattered all over.”

–Andy Leek, Vice President of Technology

and Innovation at PARIC

8
4. Make the Most of
BIM Technology.
At the center of any strong
collaborative approach must be the
right technology and tools. Another
best practice that has led to improved
preconstruction planning is the use
of building information modeling
(BIM) technology. One company
that was able to tackle a massive
project while improving collaboration
using BIM is Brasfield & Gorrie.
This team took a unique approach to
strengthen early project estimates.
From the beginning, Brasfield &
Gorrie integrated virtual design
with an emphasis on constant
collaboration across teams.
Brasfield & Gorrie’s virtual design
and construction (VDC) team used
BIM technology to better collaborate
across key stakeholders, such as the
estimating, engineering, and architect
teams. By dividing the BIM models
into usable views, every team was
able to work on early estimations in
an integrated way. The result was
that the teams were able to make
adjustments before sending the
estimate, leading to improved accuracy
and time savings down the road.
Through the intentional use of BIM
models, Brasfield & Gorrie involved
project managers, superintendents,
and field engineers earlier in the
process than ever before.
9
 The Digital Builder’s Guide to Preconstruction Collaboration

“We self-perform much of a project’s

concrete work, using the models to
understand lift and pour sequences
and create drawings. It’s crucial that
we involve our project managers,
superintendents, and field engineers
in constructability reviews, getting
them involved in this process as early
as possible. We want to make sure our
involvement is an all-encompassing
process and ensure our field team gets
the benefit from the technology.”

– Contessa Hayter, Senior VDC

Coordinator at Brasfield & Gorrie

10
5. Improve Transparency
with Owners.
Another key practice for successful
preconstruction collaboration
includes careful consideration of
owners early in the process. Juneau
Construction Company has proven
how including owners early and
often in the preconstruction process
leads to phenomenal results.
Founded in 1997, Juneau Construction
Company (Juneau) is a female-owned
general contracting and construction
management firm headquartered in
Atlanta, Georgia. Co-founded by Les
Juneau—a former estimator with Holder
Construction—and his wife Nancy, a
focus was placed on preconstruction
services from the beginning. Most of
Juneau’s work is heavy design assist,
where an owner or designer comes to the
firm with a napkin sketch and a budget.
Together, the VDC team works with
the owner, architect, and engineer
“Any way you can
to collaborate on the best design demonstrate your ideas
options for the project. From the
earliest stages of pre-construction better to the client, the
planning, this team focuses on being
as detail oriented as possible. The better off you are.”
result is that Juneau builds stronger,
longer-lasting relationships with its
– Jake Landreneau,
clients—in fact, the firm currently VDC Director, Juneau
boasts over 85% repeat business.
This owner collaboration approach
allows Juneau to find any challenges
or gaps in the project early on,
making changes less costly and more
efficient. “We’re going to be as detail
oriented as we can from the start,”
says Jake Landreneau, VDC Director
at Juneau. “There’s definitely a focus
of getting it right the first time, and
that’s one of our key differentiators.”
11
 The Digital Builder’s Guide to Preconstruction Collaboration
6. Facilitate Communication
with the Field.
The preconstruction phase usually
involves many planning meetings, where
only certain stakeholders are invited to
the table. In many cases, field workers
only receive vital information through
2D model printouts. These field teams
work autonomously, often working in a
competitive way that leads to logistical
headaches. One company, Hawaiian
Dredging Construction Company Inc.
(HDCC), decided to change its approach
to field collaboration, embracing a
process they call “virtual construction.”
“Unlike manufacturing, where
products are mass produced on an
assembly line, everything we do is
unique,” said Christopher Baze, BIM
Manager at Hawaiian Dredging. “Our
BIM platform empowers our team
to prototype, virtually constructing
and scheduling the project in the
same sequence it will be built.”
12
This process of virtual construction has
helped HDCC ensure quality and solve
problems before they occur onsite. With
earlier work processes, the field workers
received information through 2D model
printouts. These layout sheets (lift
drawings, shop drawings, etc.) would be
the only deliverable they would receive
from the BIM team. In the new process,
field workers can remotely open the
3D BIM model that has been digitally
constructed using the same simulated
sequencing that will be used onsite.
“This provides a better and more
comprehensive understanding of the
construction requirements,” says
Baze. “The number of problems this
is solving for us is countless.” Using
this collaborative, equal-access
platform, HDCC’s preconstruction
planning process now involves trade
partners, which has led to less rework
due to up-front problem-solving.
Instead of the competitive and often ad-
hoc approach of the past, field teams now
work alongside each other in a cohesive
manner. This allows HDCC to tap into the
expertise and intelligence of every team
while also creating more buy-in on the
success of the project across trades.
“Investing in the right
technology removed previous
barriers to model entry, such
as having specific software
knowledge and desktop access.
Now, all stakeholders across
the construction lifecycle
can easily access powerful
3D visuals and data that is
complete and up-to-date.”
– Christopher Baze, BIM Manager
at Hawaiian Dredging
“Investing in the right technology
removed previous barriers to model
entry, such as having specific
software knowledge and desktop
access. Now, all stakeholders across
the construction lifecycle can easily
access powerful 3D visuals and data
that is complete and up-to-date.”

– Christopher Baze, BIM Manager

at Hawaiian Dredging

13
 The Digital Builder’s Guide to Preconstruction Collaboration
7. Develop a “One Model” Approach.
A common thread across each
customer example outlined thus far
has been access to a single source
of truth. Mortenson, a family-owned
company with more than 65 years
of experience in the industry, took a
hyper-focused approach to this concept
through their “One Model” approach.
To support their integrated teams,
Mortenson developed a design
collaboration ecosystem that has
been like rocket fuel for collaboration.
Mortenson uses 3D modeling views
and data conditioning ability to give all
parties—from designers to estimators
to trade partners—controlled access to
review a single model and contribute
information as the design progresses.
14
Rather than all stakeholders creating
their models from scratch, the team
decides where optimized handoffs
exist in authoring efforts between
designers of record, trade partners, and
fabricators. Eliminating redundancy
drives greater collaboration and
results in better coordination. With
all details and estimates derived
from the same model, the team can
produce shop drawings that are
the same as the engineering and
architect of record drawings.
“As the design is advancing, we’re
automating the trending of quantities,
constantly comparing them against the
original target. In that feedback loop,
we cut out latencies in design response
and can design to expectation,” says
Rolando Mendoza, Director of Virtual
Design Construction at Mortenson.
This integrated approach is accelerating
the decision-making process by
eliminating confusion, latency from the
design team, and ensuring scope and
budget remain aligned. All of this allows
the team to set clear expectations with
customers with greater assurance of
delivery. With one shared model driving
the project, every key stakeholder can
review and contribute information
as the design progresses. This has
proven to be the key to preconstruction
collaboration for this talented team.
“We are integrating design and
modeling efforts with design partners
and introducing the trade partners who
are incorporating their inputs during
the design process. This has been
invaluable to reaching our goal of a
fully coordinated set of Construction
Documents at a much faster rate,”

–Rolando Mendoza, Director of Virtual

Design Construction at Mortenson

15
 The Digital Builder’s Guide to Preconstruction Collaboration

Conclusion
These seven best practices highlight how each contractor was able to improve
preconstruction collaboration. The payoff has been increased profits, reduced rework,
improved efficiencies, and greater amounts of knowledge shared in real-time. By
implementing the right technological solutions, each general contractor was able to
enhance collaboration, starting during the earliest stages of preconstruction. The
construction industry is prime for digital transformation, and these companies are
enjoying the competitive edge that innovative ideas and improved technology bring.

16
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