# Data Center BIM Coordination Checklist

**Ardaron** — Version 2026-09-03  
Ungated professional working list. Not a substitute for the project BEP.  
Named technical review of this cluster is pending.

## How to use
Print or import into your issue tracker. Tick items per package / federation cycle.

## Project and model setup
- [ ] Project BIM uses and success criteria stated in writing.
- [ ] Software versions and interchange formats locked for the appointment.
- [ ] Template, title blocks, units and workset/link strategy agreed before production.
- [ ] Security / access rules for the CDE understood by every producer.

## Information requirements
- [ ] Appointing party has stated why information is needed (coordinate / fabricate / operate).
- [ ] Exchange requirements list format, date and acceptance checks.
- [ ] Level of information need is specified per exchange — not a single slogan.
- [ ] Responsibility matrix exists for who authors, who reviews, who approves.

## BEP / BIM convention
- [ ] Named BIM manager, discipline owners, federation owner.
- [ ] Naming standard adopted and exemplified.
- [ ] Issue tool and definition of “resolved” agreed.
- [ ] CDE states (WIP / Shared / Published or equivalent) documented.
- [ ] Coordination meeting cadence and escalation path written down.

## Coordinates and naming
- [ ] One defining coordinate file identified.
- [ ] Shared coordinates acquired or published as per that strategy.
- [ ] Origin verified after each new link or vendor model drop.
- [ ] File and element naming conforms to the BEP sample set.

## Model health
- [ ] Warnings / errors reviewed before issue; critical warnings owned.
- [ ] Unused links and exploded groups cleaned where they affect federation.
- [ ] Workset or cloud-worksharing rules followed for concurrent work.
- [ ] Internal QA gate completed before Shared / Published.

## Federation
- [ ] File split and ownership match the BEP.
- [ ] Federation taken from agreed CDE states only.
- [ ] Vendor / prefabrication models enter under the same origin strategy.
- [ ] Published federation timestamp recorded for each coordination cycle.

## Electrical
- [ ] Primary and redundant routes remain spatially independent where design requires it.
- [ ] Switchgear, UPS, busway and tray clearances checked against manufacturer envelopes.
- [ ] Electrical rooms: maintainability and equipment replacement paths reviewed.
- [ ] Containment vs structure / HVAC interfaces included in the clash matrix.

## Mechanical
- [ ] Plant, pipework and ductwork clearances for valves, coils and filters modelled or ruled.
- [ ] Heat-rejection and primary plant interfaces coordinated with structure and electrical.
- [ ] Raised-floor / underfloor or overhead distribution conflicts reviewed.
- [ ] Fire / life-safety interfaces included where those models are in the federation.

## Containment and cable routes
- [ ] Tray and ladder routes leave access for pulling and future adds.
- [ ] Segregation rules (power / data / control) reflected spatially where specified.
- [ ] Penetrations and openings owned and coordinated before freeze.

## Equipment clearances and maintainability
- [ ] Rack-out, coil-pull, valve and filter envelopes modelled or ruled.
- [ ] Replacement routes through live or staged areas reviewed.
- [ ] Soft-clash / clearance tests run for maintainability zones, not only hard clashes.

## Clash detection
- [ ] Test matrix (which vs which, hard vs clearance) agreed.
- [ ] Results classified; not a raw dump.
- [ ] Owners and due dates in the issue tool.
- [ ] Close-out verified on the next federation.

## Openings and penetrations
- [ ] Opening requests tracked against structural / architectural ownership.
- [ ] Sleeve and fire-stopping interfaces identified before construction issue.

## Prefabrication
- [ ] Module / skid interface planes defined in the model.
- [ ] Vendor model information need matches the interface exchange.
- [ ] Site connection tolerances and temporary works constraints noted.

## Construction updates
- [ ] Drawings cut from the issued model state.
- [ ] Site / RFI changes recorded as revisions, not silent edits.
- [ ] As-built capture method agreed before claiming “as-built BIM”.

## Commissioning and handover
- [ ] Asset / COBie / IFC requirements exist only if specified — and were planned from the start.
- [ ] No claim that the design federation is an AIM or a digital twin unless the appointment says so.
- [ ] Information state for handover matches the exchange acceptance criteria.

## QA governance
- [ ] Issue log age and reopen rate reviewed at coordination meetings.
- [ ] Client hold points respected before Published.
- [ ] External producers follow the same BEP gates as the internal team.

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HTML version: https://www.ardaron.com/resources/data-center-bim-coordination-checklist/
Managed BIM delivery: https://www.ardaron.com/engineering/data-center-bim/