Software finds clashes in minutes. Deciding which trade moves is the slow part. It needs a meeting, a person with authority and a named owner for every issue.
That is where a BIM coordination scope succeeds or fails, and it is why two quotes for “BIM coordination services” can differ without either being wrong. They are pricing different jobs.
The short answer: BIM coordination services combine the design and trade models, test them for conflicts, and manage resolution until the field package is clean. Scope depends on which models, how much detail, how many disciplines, how often you meet and who decides each fix. Price follows those inputs, so define them before asking for a quote.
This page is for general contractor project executives and VDC managers who are buying coordination support, not learning what BIM is. It covers what the scope includes, what to expect back, the inputs that move price, and a one-page scope sheet you can copy.
What do BIM coordination services include?
Skyline’s Revit BIM coordination page lists six service areas. They are a fair map of what a coordination scope can contain:
- Federated model coordination: architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection models combined in one environment.
- Clash detection: hard clashes, clearance conflicts, access issues, ceiling congestion, sleeve conflicts and sequencing constraints.
- MEP and structural coordination: ductwork, piping, conduit, cable tray, equipment, framing and openings.
- Constructability and model QA/QC: checks for duplicate elements, disconnected systems and incorrect elevations.
- Coordination drawings and shop support: field-usable plans, sections, elevations and details.
- As-built and record model updates: redlines, field changes and RFIs folded into a clean record model.
Not every job needs all six. A tenant fit-out may need only the first three. A podium building with heavy MEP may need all of them, weekly, for months.
Who does what matters as much as what. A published description of BIM coordination from Revizto (January 2025) splits the roles three ways: a BIM coordinator who runs the plan and the meetings, trade contractors who own their models and fix their own conflicts, and the general contractor who oversees the schedule and makes the final call when trades disagree. However you split it, write it down. A coordinator who finds a conflict cannot decide which trade moves. That is a construction and design decision.
What deliverables should you expect back?
Ask for these by name in the scope. Skyline’s Navisworks clash detection page lists them as its standard set:
- A federated Navisworks model (NWF or NWD).
- A project-specific clash test matrix, which says what is tested against what.
- Hard, soft and clearance clash analysis.
- A prioritized issue register organized by trade, level and zone.
- Saved viewpoints with visual markups.
- Clash reports in HTML, PDF or spreadsheet form.
- Weekly coordination and model-health summaries.
- Re-test logs and resolution-status tracking.
Two more to ask about: the file formats you get back and the coordination drawings. Skyline’s coordination page lists RVT, NWC, NWD, IFC, DWG, PDF and BCF-compatible outputs. Match those against what your trades and your field crews actually open.
The test matrix and the issue register are the two most useful items on the list. The matrix shows what was and was not tested. The register shows who owns what.
What drives the price of BIM coordination?
Skyline’s pages do not publish rates, so price comes from scope. These are the inputs that change it. Three of them (disciplines, contract type and clash severity) appear in Revizto’s description of what drives coordination effort. The rest are general practice.
| Driver | Why it changes the effort | What to define |
|---|---|---|
| Number of disciplines and models | More models means more test sets and more owners | Which trades model, and in what software |
| Level of detail required | Higher detail means more modeling and finer tests | Level of development by system, in writing |
| Model health at intake | Bad coordinates or duplicate elements have to be fixed first | Shared origin, units, file formats, point-cloud availability |
| Contract type and delivery method | Changes who is obliged to model and to fix | Who is responsible for resolution under your contracts |
| Clash volume and severity | Hard clashes need geometry fixes; soft clashes need judgment | Tolerances and which clearances count |
| Meeting cadence and update cycles | Each cycle is a re-test, a report and a meeting | Weekly or biweekly, and how many cycles |
| Deliverable formats and closeout | Record models and coordination drawings are extra work | What comes back at the end |
On level of detail, the BIMForum 2025 LOD Specification (released December 31, 2025) is the usual reference. It describes LOD 300 as elements modeled specifically within project tolerances, and LOD 350 as LOD 300 plus the interfacing features with adjacent systems that detailed coordination needs. It also says who decides: project owners and their stakeholders set the controlling LOD in contracts and in the BIM section of the project execution plan. The specification itself does not.
In other words, ask what LOD the models are supposed to arrive at before you ask what coordination costs.
What should a scope sheet cover?
The Penn State guide to BIM project execution planning (version 3.0, published through buildingSMART alliance in 2021) treats 3D coordination as a standard model use and says the plan should be built early, with representatives from all the organizations that have a major role. You do not need a full execution plan to price coordination. You do need a page. Copy this one.
What can go wrong with BIM coordination?
Nobody defines the level of detail. The specification says the owner and team must do it, and if they do not, each trade models to its own idea. Clash reports then fill up with noise or miss what matters.
The models do not line up. A shared origin and units are the first thing to check. Skyline’s process starts with model intake, which includes validating coordinates and file health. Better to find out in week one.
Meetings without authority. A weekly call where nobody can approve a move produces a list, not a resolution. Get the decision-maker into the room, or make the escalation path explicit.
Noise buries the real clashes. A raw test returns duplicates and low-priority hits along with the ones that matter. Skyline’s page describes filtering duplicates and prioritizing by constructability risk. Insist on a triage step.
Models are treated as the truth. A model shows design intent and, at best, verified installed conditions. Field verification stays with the field. And design changes, engineering decisions and professional seals stay with the project’s licensed architects and engineers, which is how Skyline states its own role.
Ask for a scoped quote against one page
If you would rather compare a real scope than a marketing page, you can request a scope review: send one model set or a project description, your standards and a note on what you would keep in your own office. Skyline coordinates the models to your standards and tracks each issue to resolution. See the MEP modeling and coordination page for the trade side, and the clash detection guide for what a report looks like.
Sources
- BIM Coordination: How It Works, Revizto blog (January 21, 2025; a software vendor)
- BIMForum 2025 LOD Specification and release notice, BIMForum
- BIM Project Execution Planning Guide, Version 3.0, Computer Integrated Construction Research Program, Penn State, with buildingSMART alliance (2021)
- Skyline Design Group: Revit BIM coordination, Navisworks clash detection and MEP modeling and coordination. Checked 2026-09-21.
