How AECOM manages 100.000+ issues for Kuwait International Airport with BIMcollab
Managing coordination on a large, complex airport project requires more than powerful design tools: it demands absolute clarity, accountability, and collaboration at scale. While working on Kuwait International Airport Terminal 2, AECOM faced the challenge of coordinating tens of thousands of BIM issues across globally distributed teams. Traditional clash detection workflows quickly reached their limits. To stay in control, AECOM turned to BIMcollab.
Background
AECOM is a global infrastructure consultancy delivering complex projects worldwide. For Kuwait International Airport Terminal 2, AECOM was responsible for managing design coordination on a 750,000 m² terminal, designed by Foster + Partners, and built to serve 25 million passengers annually. The project set high ambitions, not only in size and comfort, but also in sustainability and quality assurance.
Aitor Chavarri, Architect at AECOM, served as BIM Manager on the project, working with teams across multiple tools and locations.
Challenge: Growing risk as clashes and issues increased
From an early stage, it became clear that issue and clash management would be a critical risk factor. The project involved:
- Extremely large and complex BIM models
- Multiple design teams distributed globally
- Strict quality requirements demanding full traceability of design changes
- A rapidly growing number of clashes and design issues
In addition to technical complexity, the project also presented geographical challenges. With multiple teams working across different locations, AECOM needed a workflow that supported clear communication and consistent issue tracking, while simultaneously meeting strict quality requirements and tracking changes from tender design through to construction.
Initially, AECOM relied on Navisworks alone to manage clashes. However, as the project progressed, the number of issues increased to a level that made this workflow unsustainable. As Chavarri explained, “We soon realized that managing all issues and clashes with Navisworks only would become unmanageable in the near future.”
AECOM needed a solution that could centralize issues, support multiple BIM tools, and support collaboration across global teams.
Solution: A central place for managing model quality
AECOM adopted BIMcollab as the central platform for Model Quality Assurance, using BCF Managers to integrate issue workflows directly into the authoring tools already used by the teams.
With BIMcollab, AECOM was able to:
- Manage 100,000+ issues and clashes in a structured, scalable way
- Centralize all issues in one environment, accessible online to all stakeholders
- Connect teams working in Revit, Tekla, Rhino, and Navisworks
- Enable non-modeling stakeholders, such as managers and reviewers, to participate without BIM software
- Track every issue, comment, and decision throughout the project
Ever since we discovered BIMcollab, it has been our main tool for tracking all issues and clashes along the project. It has eased the communication between teams to solve problems and has given us the chance to track every action taken. — Aitor Chavarri, AECOM
Because issues could be viewed and resolved directly inside each team’s native BIM software, the communication process became smoother and clearer.
Results: Predictable coordination and more control
With BIMcollab in place, AECOM improved its approach to managing a high volume of issues and clashes across a complex project environment.
Key outcomes included:
- Improved control over a high volume of BIM issues and clashes
- Easier collaboration across globally distributed teams
- Clear visibility and traceability of decisions and actions
- Better involvement of clients and other stakeholders
- More time available to spend on respective focus areas
With BIMcollab we can manage a large number of issues and clashes, especially for teams working in different locations. — Aitor Chavarri, AECOM
On a project as large and complex as Kuwait International Airport Terminal 2, effective issue management is essential. By using BIMcollab, AECOM enabled issues to be clearly communicated, tracked, and resolved across disciplines and geographies, supporting a more structured and collaborative BIM workflow at scale.
