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Coordination
What is BIM Coordination?
The discipline of making several models behave as one building — with a process, not just software.
5 min read
What the coordinator actually does
- Sets shared coordinates, levels and grids so all models align.
- Federates discipline models on an agreed cycle, usually weekly.
- Runs clash tests by rule set, not one giant unusable list.
- Groups and prioritises issues, assigns them and tracks closure.
- Chairs a review session where decisions get made and recorded.
What a good clash report looks like
- Grouped by area, level and discipline pair
- Each item: location, elements, screenshot, owner, status
- Duplicates and tolerance noise filtered out
- Closed items retained with evidence
Common process mistakes
- Coordinating too late, after structural issue
- Sending an unfiltered list of thousands of clashes to a consultant
- No named owner per issue, so nothing closes
- Fixing a clash in the federated file rather than the source model
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