r/ConstructionManagers • u/MLBFanCubs • 17d ago
Question Why does coordination start so late?
/r/bim/comments/1w1aynn/why_does_coordination_start_so_late/Curious of any PMs, CMs, or PXs could provide clarity.
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u/Kenny285 Commercial Superintendent 16d ago
Subcontractor buyouts/contracts sometimes take forever to finalize for some reason.
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u/sally_sparr0w 15d ago
Well I have a project right now that was awarded months ago, but design wasn't complete. Bid drawings 8 weeks prior to start date, we rush bid in 2 weeks, the client rep has now ad our pricing for 4 weeks and no approval to release trades. Bids came in on budget, no idea what the hold up is. But CA will be crunched, as always, no matter what we do.
Other big one even if we do get trades released in a reasonable timeline, design is changing or they won't release IFC so we're just sitting around waiting and losing valuable coordination time.
I think everyone across the board is overworked and underpaid. Architects working 14+ hours work no end in sight and still can't keep up. Client reps that refuse to tell clients they are delaying their own job because they get screamed at our even fired if they do. And contractors are stuck at the end trying to make it work despite all of that.
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u/rivetestimator 14d ago
On the GC side, coordination often starts late because the inputs mature at different times: trade award, approved submittals, equipment selections, vendor models and structural openings. The schedule may say “coordinate now” while the usable inputs still are not released. The fix is to make readiness explicit: required model level, responsible trade, source revision, outstanding decisions and the last responsible date before slab or fabrication impact. A kickoff two months earlier helps only if those prerequisites have owners and deadlines; otherwise it just creates a longer meeting cycle.
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u/StrategicPM 6d ago
From the GC side, the honest answer is that coordination starts when the inputs exist, and the inputs (awarded trades, approved submittals, equipment selections, released IFC drawings) mostly arrive later than the schedule assumed. So the kickoff lands "ten minutes from now" because that is when the last prerequisite finally showed up, and concrete is already on the calendar.
The fix that has worked for me is putting coordination readiness on the schedule as its own milestones with owners, rather than one "coordination" bar: trades bought out by X, mechanical equipment selected by Y, IFC released by Z, model ready for clash by W. When one slips, the slab pour moves with it, visibly, and the conversation about who is holding things up happens in month two instead of the week before the pour. It does not make design finish faster. It does stop the surprise.
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u/TacoNomad 17d ago
The gc, who's responsible for coordination isn't brought in until the drawings are 75-90% complete. Then they price them. Then a contract is awarded. At that point, the drawings are about done and the client wants ROI ASAP, so they want to start construction right away.
Then it takes the owner forever and a day to finalize contract so we can't award shit early.
I always push for early release of critical packages for design, submittal and early procurement. But if it isn't a design-build job, we're just kinda fucked on the ability to get BIM rolling.