Where Construction Projects Lose Control, and What Can Be Done About It

The construction industry is undergoing one of its most significant transformations in decades. Projects are becoming larger, quality expectations are higher, and the complexity of managing them continues to grow.

The more complex a project becomes, the more stakeholders, contractors, models, drawings, design revisions, and decisions need to be synchronized. At a certain point, the biggest challenge is no longer the design itself — it is managing that complexity.

That is why even technically well-designed projects can face construction delays, budget overruns, or operational issues long after the design phase has been completed.

In most cases, these problems are not caused by a single critical mistake. Project control is gradually lost when information is no longer consistent, up to date, and accessible to everyone involved.

When projects begin to lose control

Many believe that major problems start on the construction site. In reality, most of them begin much earlier.

Every design change triggers a chain of updates. Drawings need to be revised, contractors informed, clashes reviewed, schedules updated, cost estimates adjusted, and technical documentation synchronized. If just one of these elements falls out of sync, the risk of costly mistakes increases rapidly.

The most common challenges include:

• different teams working with different versions of documentation;
• changes that are not synchronized across project participants;
• information stored in disconnected systems;
• decisions based on outdated data;
• critical project knowledge residing with individuals rather than in the project itself.

Each of these issues may seem relatively minor on its own. Together, however, they lead to material waste, rework, schedule delays and ultimately the loss of project control.

Budget overruns are only a symptom

When construction projects exceed their budgets, rising material costs, labor shortages or changing market conditions are often blamed. While these factors certainly have an impact, a significant share of overruns results from a less obvious issue — losing control over project information.

When project participants rely on different sets of data, decisions are delayed, clashes are identified during construction rather than before it, design changes require repeated approvals, and completed work often has to be redone.

For this reason, budget overruns, delays, and rework should be viewed as consequences rather than the root cause of the problem.

Why BIM alone is no longer enough

Over the past decade, BIM has become the industry standard for design and engineering. It helps project teams coordinate more effectively, identify clashes before construction begins, and improve the overall quality of project documentation.

However, completing the design phase does not mean the work with project information is finished.

Throughout construction, the model continuously evolves. Specifications are updated, materials change, schedules shift, and new engineering decisions are made. Unless these changes remain connected within a single information environment, projects gradually lose control.

That is why more organizations are moving beyond BIM models towards managing project data throughout the entire asset lifecycle.

The focus is shifting. The greatest value no longer lies in the 3D model itself, but in trusted, up-to-date information that continues to support decision-making long after design is complete.

Digital Twins: the next step in construction digitalization

A Digital Twin is far more than a detailed 3D model. It is a digital representation of a real asset that connects design, construction, and operational data within a single information environment.

Instead of working with isolated files or drawings, project teams gain access to accurate, up-to-date information regardless of the project phase.

For owners and project stakeholders, this means faster decision-making, better coordination, greater visibility into project changes, and a smoother transition from construction to operations.

Ultimately, Digital Twins help organizations regain control, a capability that becomes increasingly difficult to maintain as projects grow in complexity.

What international practice shows

Global project experience shows that digital approaches deliver their greatest value not only during design, but through better coordination and more effective use of data across the asset lifecycle.

During the construction of Children's Hospital of Richmond in the United States, digital planning and Bentley solutions helped the project team:

• reduce coordination time between teams by 62%;
• complete approximately 95% of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems six months ahead of the original schedule;
• save approximately USD 1.4 million by reducing rework and improving construction planning.

Another example is the Transpennine Route Upgrade railway modernization program in the United Kingdom. By using a Digital Twin, Jacobs and Network Rail saved more than 20,000 working hours and approximately GBP 1 million during the first six months of the project through more efficient data management and collaboration.

These results are not achieved because digital tools work faster than people. Their main value lies in giving every project participant access to a single source of trusted information and enabling decisions to be based on current data.

Why this matters before the asset enters operation

Once construction is complete, the asset's lifecycle is only beginning. The operational phase accounts for the largest share of the total cost of ownership.

When the information created during design and construction is preserved after handover, owners can plan maintenance, modernization, reconstruction, and asset management more effectively over the decades that follow.

This is why Digital Twins are increasingly viewed not as a standalone technology, but as the foundation for continuous data management throughout the asset lifecycle.

How Softprom can help

Digital transformation in construction does not begin with choosing software. It begins with understanding where a project is currently losing control.

Softprom helps organizations assess their existing processes, identify critical points where information is lost, and select the most suitable approach to implementing BIM and Digital Twin solutions from Bentley Systems, based on project scale and business objectives.

Our goal is not simply to deploy a software tool, but to help establish processes in which data remains a valuable asset — from the first drawing through decades of operation.