Associated General Contractors (AGC) is on a mission to spread knowledge about building information modeling, BIM, through a series of courses that lead to a certificate of management.

The four-part course series ends with an exam for the certification.

BIM is an approach that uses computers to devise project models that give a 3-D representation of what's to be built and pull together information about location, space, materials and other factors. That way, its advocates say, problems that would appear in the actual construction process can be seen ahead of time in a virtual process.

Using BIM can, AGC says, help contractors manage quotations, shop drawing and fabrication and construction scheduling.