Why “Co-Location” is a bad idea

 

Most BIM specifications include some language that references “Co-Location” or some other verbage that may require all of the trade contractors to congregate in the job site trailer to coordinate together.  Most GCs/CMs only use this as a form of punishment to ensure that the offending contractor is putting the appropriate amount of time into their project (typically because the coordinator has fallen behind).  This threat is very costly and, worse, extremely inefficient.

First, it is highly unlikely that our staff of BIM Coordinators would ever fall behind in a given project requiring the GC/CM to take this action against us.  We ensure that enough resources will be on every project to meet (or exceed) all reasonable schedule expectations.

However, we cannot control the other subcontractors and if one falls behind, the GC/CM may enforce the “Co-Location” requirement on ALL of the subcontractors.

Second, here is a picture of one of our workstations:

To remove our BIM Specialists from their ergonomic, powerful workstation (where they have numerous licensed software add-ins and customizations set up), triple 27-30” monitors (some have four), and personal climate controlled office to work in a room, shoulder-to-shoulder with others, at plastic folding tables on metal folding chairs using a less powerful laptop with a single small monitor is, to say the very least, extremely inefficient.

Of course we can, and will, fulfill “Co-Location” requirements if we are asked to; but it does come at an extra cost.  Because the “Co-Location” duration is an unknown, the price provided is a per diem cost and the exact quantity needs to be determined by you, our client.

 

If you have any questions about “Co-Location” please don’t hesitate to call.