Issue Tracking in Construction and Why It’s Essential
Construction projects are some of the most complex undertakings in any industry. Dozens of subcontractors, shifting timelines, design changes, site conditions, and evolving stakeholder demands all run risks. Even small miscommunications can result in major cost overruns and schedule delays. According to industry research, rework alone can account for up to 5–10% of total project costs, and many of these issues could have been prevented through better coordination.
Issue tracking for BIM coordination offers a systematic way to surface, document, assign, and resolve conflicts before they impact the actual work. Instead of reacting to problems during construction, project teams can proactively identify discrepancies between the design model and as-built conditions. This enables data-driven decision making, enhances accountability, and minimizes expensive rework.
Unlike traditional QA/QC practices that rely on paper documents or spreadsheets, BIM-integrated issue tracking anchors each problem to specific model elements. This means teams know precisely where the problem lies, who owns it, and what action is needed. With issue tracking based on scan data, communication becomes clearer, data becomes more actionable, and project risk is significantly reduced.
Leveraging Laser Scan Data for Coordination
Reality capture has revolutionized how teams verify construction accuracy. 3D laser scanning allows for highly precise digital representations of the jobsite, capturing millimeter-level details of the as-built environment. These scans, when converted into mesh surfaces by platforms like Cintoo, become powerful tools for coordination and quality control.
Overlaying laser scan data with the BIM model enables a process known as scan-to-BIM comparison. Any deviation between the design intent and actual construction becomes immediately visible. Missing penetrations, misaligned systems, and incomplete installations show up as gaps or clashes in the digital twin.
Turner Construction, in a billion-dollar data center project, leveraged this approach at scale. By integrating laser scan data into their coordination workflows, they identified several issues before they translated into costly rework. The use of laser scanning, paired with robust digital workflows, allowed Turner to meet stringent client requirements while maintaining tight construction tolerances, ultimately allowing them to reach 98% accuracy in their workflows.
Assigning Issues: Bringing Clarity to Responsibility
Finding a problem is only half the battle. Knowing who is responsible for fixing it and ensuring it gets resolved is where true value emerges.
With Cintoo’s Annotations tool, project teams can place markers directly onto the 3D mesh and classify them as issues. These annotations can include metadata such as location, severity, due date, and even attached images or notes. Crucially, they are tied to specific BIM model elements, eliminating ambiguity about the issue's location and scope.
Assigning issues becomes a structured process. Each annotation can be pushed to integrated platforms like BIM Track, Autodesk Construction Cloud, or Procore, making them immediately visible in field apps and model coordination tools. Teams no longer chase down responsibilities or rely on out-of-date PDF markups.
In Turner’s workflow, issue assignments were streamlined through a collaborative spreadsheet linked to Cintoo’s viewer. Trade partners received issues relevant to their scope, with supporting visuals and detailed context. This reduced confusion, accelerated response times, and ensured that resolution stayed on track.
Resolving Them Early: Avoiding Rework and Delays
Issue resolution isn’t just about fixing what's broken – it’s about preventing problems from becoming cost drivers. The sooner an issue is resolved, the less impact it has on labor, materials, and scheduling.
Modern digital workflows ensure that resolution is part of the same environment as detection. Once an issue is addressed in BIM Track or Autodesk, that status can sync back to Cintoo, where stakeholders can visually verify completion using updated scan data.
Turner Construction's VDC team empowered their technical teams (like TTS) to assign, manage, and resolve issues independently. With documentation, training, and a feedback loop in place, issue resolution became a distributed, scalable process. The result was a significant drop in rework, improved trust between stakeholders, and enhanced project visibility.
Enhancing Collaboration Across Stakeholders
Issue tracking is a communication strategy. In the past, collaboration often broke down due to siloed tools and fragmented information. With Cintoo, all stakeholders operate from a shared, web-based 3D environment that integrates scan data, models, and issues.
Field teams can add annotations during walkthroughs. VDC managers can perform scan-to-model comparisons. Executives can view progress and reports without needing specialized software. Everyone works from the same data, with the same context, and sees the same problems within Cintoo.
The platform's ability to assign public or private annotations, add tags and add tags enhances coordination.
Cintoo Tools That Support Issue Tracking and Resolution
Cintoo offers a robust suite of tools designed for modern construction issue management:
-
Annotations: Add visual issue markers to 3D mesh, classify by type, assign users, and sync with BIM/field platforms.
-
Progress Monitoring: Compare BIM models to scans using tolerance thresholds. Automatically generate reports (.csv) showing deviations, coverage percentages, and distances.
-
CIPM to Issue Generator: Automatically convert gaps in coverage from Progress Monitoring reports into actionable issues in Cintoo.
-
Field Integrations: Push annotations to Autodesk Construction Cloud, Procore, and BIM Track. Link issues back to Cintoo’s viewer for context.
-
Visual Interface: Web-based navigation of scans and models, making collaboration accessible to all project roles.
These features create a feedback loop where issues are not only found faster but also resolved more efficiently and collaboratively.
How It Looks in Action: Turner Construction Case Study
Turner Construction’s work on a billion-dollar hyperscale data center illustrates the full power of integrated issue tracking.
Faced with high-accuracy demands and massive amounts of scan data, the Turner team needed a scalable system. They started by digitizing their scan request workflows using Microsoft Forms. Scanning responsibilities were handled by a third party (Olsson), and scan data was fed into Cintoo for comparison.
From there, the TTS team took over. Using Cintoo’s viewer, they identified thousands of scan-to-model deviations and created issues directly on the mesh. These issues were automatically pushed into BIM Track, assigned to trades, and tracked through to resolution.
By combining process transparency, weekly check-ins, whitepapers, and stakeholder training, Turner built a sustainable QA/QC loop. Their work not only reduced errors but gave leadership the confidence to scale the approach across future projects.
Issue tracking for BIM coordination is becoming a project necessity. With the rise of digital twins, laser scanning, and model-based workflows, the old ways of managing problems are no longer sufficient.
Cintoo brings together reality capture and model coordination into a unified environment where issues can be seen, assigned, tracked, and resolved in context. The benefits are clear: fewer surprises, reduced rework, better documentation, and higher stakeholder satisfaction.
For forward-thinking construction teams, this becomes the ultimate strategic advantage. Ready to make your project smarter, faster, and more accurate? Book a demo with Cintoo and see how modern issue tracking can transform your coordination process.
