Eliminating design clashes with real-time coordination

The Challenge

Bridging the gap between design and construction is a cumbersome process of many opinions and siloed information. A worker might address a design clash with small unannounced modifications on the fly, spawning unplanned-for changes down-project. The result: fingerpointing and a schedule-eating blame culture.

The Solution

Procore’s Models and Coordination Issues tools let integrated construction technology teams push the coordinated model out to the field, providing the clarity and ball-in-court accountability that assures issues are resolved in a timely manner.

The Results

• Enhanced decision-making with unfettered access to the model for all Procore users, providing actionable insights 24/7
• Improved team collaboration through dashboard clarity, allowing remote members to monitor real-time project progress
• Increased productivity with ball-in-court notifications from automated emails, keeping team members focused and on track

Okland’s Second Century: The 21st

Okland Construction has been going strong for 102 years, and contrary to the image of an unchanging construction classicist, Okland’s innovative energy is unparalleled. Or as Okland’s BIM/VDC Engineer & Reality Capture Specialist Jeremy Felix puts it: "Okland is a company that likes to look at what’s next. It’s about the emerging technology and new ideas we can utilize to make our jobs easier, and the build superb." To which Okland’s ICT Manager Dan Shaffer adds, "I enjoy working with people. A lot of it is getting together with all the different trades and figuring out how to solve problems." Hamilton Ramirez —ICT Senior Coordinator at Okland— has his own take. "Okland gives us the freedom to explore new trends in modeling software, so it’s been very exciting working here. Okland and Procore have opened up the BIM world—and it’s vast!"

Okland Fast Tracks BIM Collaboration

Not everybody likes surprises. In the construction world, "surprise" can be a very expensive word. "I’ve seen projects where they’ve reinstalled a piece of duct four or five times just because they didn’t do any coordination," says Dan Shaffer, who then goes on to recount a contrasting success story. "BioFire was a pretty large manufacturing and diagnostic facility that we did here in Salt Lake City—the likes of which we need right now with regards to this virus that we’re dealing with. Procore’s Coordination Issues was a hugely effective tool on that, getting us through coordination efficiently as we assigned issues and communicated through the tool." A combination of prefabrication and Procore brought the project in way ahead of schedule. "When the governor came and asked if we could get it done quickly, we were able to hand the project over two months early. Procore definitely played a role in terms of making it productive and keeping everybody on task." However straightforward or complex the build, one smallish misstep can cause downstream havoc. But it doesn’t have to be so. Jeremy Felix spells it out. "Once we’ve got things coordinated in the model using the Coordination Issues tool and the trades are viewing the model using the Models tool, they’ll install their items in the proper coordinated space. That prevents rework."

Okland Coordinates a New World

At this writing, the world is in a pandemic lockdown, and having remote access to critical information is more important than ever. How is technology affecting this period? "Pre-COVID," Greg says, "we were already doing so much virtually. But our project sites have been impacted the most, and having the Procore BIM web viewer and mobile viewer available for them when we’re not on site is a win as we try to get through these difficult times." Difficult times indeed. The historical moment is making real demands on integrated construction technology and BIM teams to assure project success. Visualizing and predicting the build ahead is the name of the game. "The biggest challenge that we face is schedule," says Jeremy Felix, Okland ICT Engineer. "It’s all about time, right? The industry keeps pushing and pushing for buildings to be completed more quickly, more efficiently. Procore’s Coordination Issues and Model tools are going to get us there. We’ll take lead time out of the schedule by coordinating upfront." Greg Low concurs. "There’s a lot of value in Procore’s Coordination Issues and Model tools. We are making big strides with it."