Building by the Model: Turning BIM into the Backbone of Field Execution

Adam Abernathy, BIM/VDC Manager, Jesse Stutts Inc

Adam Abernathy is BIM/VDC Manager at Jesse Stutts Inc., where he leads digital coordination, modeling, and prefabrication strategy. He focuses on field collaboration, clash detection, and schedule acceleration, helping scale integrated BIM processes that reduce rework and drive measurable labor efficiencies.

This article is based on an interview conducted by Construction Tech Review with Adam Abernathy, where he shares insights on driving field adoption of BIM, improving coordination, scaling prefabrication, and measuring the real-world impact of digital construction strategies.

From Resistance to Ownership: Real-World Construction from Day One

Keeping BIM models aligned with field execution as projects evolve can be challenging, especially for field teams who are not accustomed to working with BIM models or BIM generated shop drawings. The key is to involve field teams from the very beginning and continue gathering their input throughout every stage of the project. Incorporating their feedback during RFIs and design changes ensures the model reflects how the field intends to build the project. This collaboration not only strengthens field‑team buy‑in but also makes teams far more likely to rely on the model during construction. Another way we ensure models remain aligned with field execution is by encouraging field teams to follow the BIM model and shop drawings as closely as possible. This accomplishes two things: it prevents potential field coordination issues with other trades caused by deviating from the model and causing rework we would be responsible for, and it minimizes as-built markups needed to bring the model into compliance with most general contractors’ BIM execution plans, since what we installed is what was modeled.

The short answer: The model is the bible.

Accelerating Coordination through Live Digital Collaboration

Accelerating workflows is important to any department, especially a BIM Department with tight deadlines. For us, we make the most coordination progress through live 1 on 1 coordination meetings with general contractor VDC teams, where we can quickly coordinate an area. If this isn’t an option, nothing beats having both a Revit and Navisworks window open and doing some good old‑fashioned clash resolution. To work even faster, linking high‑quality 3D design files directly into Revit allows us to easily identify and resolve architectural and structural clashes early in the design process. Combine these with a general contractor VDC team that utilizes Procore’s Coordination Issues tool, and it makes projects move along quite smoothly.

“When a model is fully coordinated, prefabrication stops being a risk and becomes a competitive advantage. This enables organizations to reduce rework and deliver projects faster.”

To collaborate effectively with field superintendents, it’s essential to involve them at every phase of the model’s development. Their input not only strengthens buy‑in but also ensures that they trust and want to use the model and shop drawings during installation. The same applies to trade partners. It’s important to connect with their installation teams to confirm they’re building according to the model. In my experience, it’s common for trades to participate fully in coordination meetings, only for their field installers to deviate once onsite. It also helps for field teams to review the general contractor’s phasing plan to make sure it aligns with the sequence established during coordination. This alignment helps everyone build in the right order and reduces surprises in the field.

Making Prefabrication a Strategic Capability, Not a Risk

Once we have established a verified design and fully integrated it into our model and its coordinated, prefabrication opportunities become immediately clear. At JSI, this has allowed us to rapidly expand our prefabrication department, enabling us to prefabricate major portions of our underground work, as well as overhead branch racks and panel walls. The foundation for making this possible is confidence in a well‑coordinated model—without that, prefabrication becomes a risk instead of a benefit.

Another major advantage of prefabrication is the reduction of costly rework. By designing the project upfront in collaboration with project managers, field installation teams and ensuring it is coordinated with other trades, we’re able to install efficiently and with far fewer surprises. We have also found that prefabrication helps us keep pace with increasingly compressed construction schedules.

To measure the impact of these efforts, we’ve conducted several cost‑analysis reviews on past prefabrication projects developed within our BIM department. By comparing scheduled activity durations with the actual time spent on prefabrication and rough‑in, we consistently found significant labor savings. Staying ahead of the schedule and driving the project forward is yet another way we can indirectly measure how BIM contributes to project success.