BIM Management: Blending Technology With Construction Expertise

New and innovative technology has always been game-changing in the construction industry - from simple tools like a 20-volt compact drill to data-capturing drones flying around skyscrapers. One of the most interesting examples of modern technology in the construction industry is the use of building information modelling (BIM), where modelling buildings in 3D before ground-break allows stakeholders to virtually walk through the project, identify potential issues and best chart the path forward.

In the UK, BIM management now sits within the ISO 19650 information-management framework, making the model not just a design aid but a contractual source of truth that mitigates risk, drives efficiency and enables data-driven decisions on site.

Some firms have their own internal BIM experts - often with job titles like BIM manager - while other companies tap people in other roles to manage BIM. Whether there’s a specific team member assigned to BIM management or responsibilities get distributed, the work can make or break a project. A robust BIM Execution Plan (BEP) agreed at tender stage is now standard practice across the UK, clarifying responsibilities, levels of information need and model-approval workflows before a shovel hits the ground.

As a result, any teams undertaking BIM management need clarity on what managing building information modelling means, how it applies to that specific project and how it can be leveraged for the project’s success.

What is BIM Management?

BIM management involves overseeing and coordinating the use of building information modelling on a construction project. That means organising and applying 3D models of the planned building to help guide everyone - from owners to trade contractors - along the path forward. Under UK BIM Framework, this role is often split between a BIM Manager (coordination and clash detection) and an Information Manager (metadata quality, approvals and archive rules).

To best understand what BIM management entails, it’s useful to frame up this part of the construction world. 

First, we should clarify some terms. People often use BIM as a verb, but it’s also a noun: the building information model is an object that multiple stakeholders can see and use. It’s the content created through the process of modeling. 

Take, for example, a window. If coordination efforts reveal that electrical needs to run through the wall where the window was planned, the person handling BIM management could move the window over in the model. With proper systems in place, that would update the corresponding 2D drawings that stakeholders will use and notify them of the change. If this all happens before installation, the change could take just minutes. 

Even if construction hasn’t started, companies still see efficiency gains with BIM. With a 3D model, when the change gets made in the model, all of the relevant plan sheets are updated. Without the BIM, all of those individual files may need to be updated manually. 

UK standards to know:
- ISO 19650 Parts 1-3 define the information-management principles that underpin every BEP.
- The UK BIM Framework, developed by BSI, CDBB and Nima (formally the UK BIM Alliance), provides step-by-step guidance for implementing those clauses on live projects.

Managing BIM

Because BIM usage delivers gains for firms, many have been hiring for BIM management roles for a decade or longer. Usually, you’ll see large main-contracting (MC) companies and established trade contractors with a dedicated BIM manager. This role can be particularly useful to pull all the pieces together in design-bid-build (DBB) projects, when different parties own different parts of the project-delivery process.

Owners are less likely to have someone on payroll with a BIM management job title, although you might find someone in a preconstruction or design manager role who’s responsible for overseeing the BIM model. 

Even when the company doesn’t have a dedicated BIM role, they may have team members assigned to oversee the 3D model. That model and its resulting responsibilities don’t live in a silo. Coordination is a big part of BIM management. As subbies submit their portion of the model to the MC, for example, whoever is responsible for BIM management at the MC is the one responsible for integrating those data points into the overall model.

This is not to say that the project then moves forward using the BIM model as the single source of truth. Instead, it serves as the backbone from which 2D drawings get pulled. Slicing up the BIM model to the appropriate level of detail enables the generation of the drawings needed for the contract, legislation and more.

BIM Execution Plan (BEP)

Your BEP sets modelling responsibilities, levels of information need and clash-resolution timetables. Aligning the BEP with ISO 19650 ensures every participant understands when an element moves from “Shared” to “Published” in the Common Data Environment (CDE) - a frontline risk-mitigation tool shown to cut average rework costs significantly.

The Ripple-Out Effect of BIM Management

BIM management is a two-pronged role. The first prong is obvious: the person or team tasked with BIM management handles that company’s building information model for any projects on which they’re working. They’re responsible for building the model from scratch or putting the model together with data from various sources, depending on the project. 

The second prong is just as important, although it might not seem as visible at first glance. A huge part of BIM management is facilitating meetings with trade partners, design consultants and other stakeholders. The bulk of this work needs to happen prior to installation activities. 

In some ways, then, BIM management is similar to project management in that it organises and orchestrates efforts to help the project move forward. However, unlike project management, which oversees the project in its entirety, BIM management focuses on building information models and everything related to them. 

Common BIM Management Tasks

The responsibilities required for BIM management vary from project to project. The person or team overseeing the project’s BIM could be in the office or in the field doing any of the following:

• Running coordination
• Checking in with the project team
• Getting notified of and sending out notifications about project updates (e.g., email updates)
• Prepping for and running coordination meetings
• Reviewing and updating the model with the latest files
• Communicating with the coordination team and external trade partners
• Running clash tests and updating the list of issues
• Writing requests for information (RFI)
• Reviewing drawings
• Walking the site
• Administering the CDE to ensure only the latest “Published” files are visible to site teams

BIM management usually requires the heaviest lift in the pre-construction phase, but the responsibilities here don’t end at ground-break. Dashboards pulling from the federated model now give commercial managers real-time cost certainty - turning BIM data into board-level decisions. BIM management needs to stay ahead of the construction programme so the building information model can be utilised to try to alleviate issues before they hit the site - and become more expensive.

Building Stronger BIM Management Skills

Strong BIM management sits at the intersection of technology know-how, construction expertise and people skills. To elevate your effectiveness on your upcoming projects, focus on three complementary pillars:

• Technical Mastery

  - Become fluent in core authoring tools, plus coordination platforms like Procore’s BIM Viewer.
  - Configure clash-detection rules, federate discipline models and automate issue tracking so that coordination cycles run like clockwork.
  - Explore open-format exchanges (IFC, COBie) to safeguard data interoperability and prevent vendor lock-in across the asset life cycle.

• Construction Process Knowledge

  - Understand sequencing, temporary works and buildability so that your model coordination addresses real-world site constraints.
  - Interpret programme logic and cost plans, linking model elements to 4D and 5D datasets to surface schedule and budget risks early.
  - Align every deliverable with ISO 19650 and the UK BIM Framework, ensuring that your BIM Execution Plan (BEP) speaks the same language as the wider project documentation.

• Soft Skills and Stakeholder Enablement

  - Set up training sessions on naming conventions, CDE workflows and digital sign-offs; clear, confident communication builds trust and drives adoption.
  - Mediate between designers, sub-contractors and client teams, translating technical findings into actionable recommendations that keep the project on track.
  - Champion a culture of collaboration by rewarding information sharing and celebrating model-driven wins - from reduced rework to safer installation sequencing.

What’s Next for BIM Management?

Digital twins will extend the CDE into operations, linking model objects to live sensor data for predictive maintenance. Machine-learning clash detection is already flagging high-risk zones before human review, while pilot schemes on UK infrastructure projects are testing blockchain ledgers to prove document provenance across the asset lifecycle.

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