Field team using tablets, augmented reality overlays, drones, and laser scanners to coordinate constructible models and reduce rework.
Greeley, Colorado, August 22, 2025
Hensel Phelps is broadening its digital-construction capabilities across projects while enacting multiple executive leadership changes. The firm has standardized a Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) program on every job, pairing BIM, drone operations, laser scanning, augmented reality, and cloud collaboration to reduce rework, improve safety, and boost field efficiency. A staffed VDC group supports project kickoff through construction with clash detection and constructible models accessible on tablets in the field. The company emphasizes hands-on, in-field training and practical technology use tied to measurable outcomes, including improved risk scores, reduced rework, and recognized safety and innovation performance.
In a move that blends technology and management change, Hensel Phelps is expanding its virtual design and construction and augmented reality efforts while shifting several senior roles effective January 1, 2025. The company is increasing field-facing use of BIM and AR tools across projects, formalizing training, and scaling licenses for cloud and AR platforms, even as it promotes and reassigns leaders across regions and business units.
The company’s board approved several executive moves that took effect at the start of 2025. A long-tenured executive was promoted to Executive Vice President with oversight of multiple regions and business lines. New regional and business-unit leaders were installed, including a new regional vice president for the Rocky Mountain region and a general manager for Mission Critical Integrated Solutions. One senior executive with more than three decades of service retired as part of the reshuffle. Separately, a 27-year company veteran assumed the role of President and Chief Operating Officer, taking operational leadership while the existing chief executive officer continues as CEO and board chair. The company also added two new C-suite positions: Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Health and Safety Officer.
Hensel Phelps has been steadily building a centralized digital ecosystem. The firm collects BIM data on every project, regardless of client demands, and uses cloud platforms as a single source of truth for field data and collaboration. The company increased its count of licenses for cloud collaboration tools and acquired hundreds of licenses for a popular AR system to support field visualization and validation.
The VDC group, led by a director and made up of 95 staff across roles such as senior VDC managers, VDC managers, lead VDC engineers and BIM engineers, installs and runs technology on jobsites. Their work includes clash detection, drone operations, AR setup, and laser scanning. Senior VDC managers develop BIM execution plans during procurement and kickoff to align project teams on deliverables and workflows.
Field crews use powerful tablet devices to view constructible models and AR visualizations that help anticipate conflicts, avoid utility strikes and plan next steps. The company uses an AR mapping system on multiple jobs to map demolition, validate installed elements, and track continuous QA/QC. In major airport and healthcare projects, engineers and field teams pushed color-coded models from cloud platforms to AR devices for collaborative validation and safety verification. These tools are used across concrete, mechanical/electrical/plumbing, civil utilities and framing work.
Hensel Phelps emphasizes onsite, hands-on training by VDC staff, sometimes held at a regional level to reach more people. The company encourages all staff — field, safety and quality control — to adopt VDC tools. The approach favors hiring people with field or superintendent experience into VDC roles so the department stays practical and tied to site needs.
The firm reports that integrating VDC language into operations and linking safety procedures to digital workflows improved jobsite safety and reduced rework. Those changes helped improve the company’s risk scores and had a positive effect on insurance rates. The firm has received national and local safety recognitions, and earned an industry innovation award in 2024 for connecting data across stakeholders.
On a hospital replacement program, AR was used to map floor removals, visualize spatial constraints in real time and track quality checks through construction. On a major airport redevelopment, demolition and utility installation were visualized on tablets with AR validation added as part of safety checks. The firm also reported selection to provide construction manager at-risk services for a large concourse reconstruction project in another major city.
Founded in 1937 in Greeley, Colorado, the company is employee-owned and is among the largest employee-owned general contractors in the United States. It works across aviation, healthcare, transportation infrastructure and other sectors. A regional office move in the Rocky Mountain area and relocation of a facilities services group are planned by next summer.
The write-up on these VDC practices and the leadership announcements was published on January 8, 2025 and was authored by a freelance writer and market researcher. Company marketing and communications contacts were named in the announcements for follow-up.
The combined effort to scale AR and BIM, formalize VDC roles and add executive capacity for administrative and health-and-safety leadership signals a move to make digital tools standard operating practice. That shift aims to cut mistakes and rework, raise safety and improve coordination between office and field teams.
The company is expanding use of Building Information Modeling (BIM), augmented reality (AR) platforms, cloud collaboration tools, tablet-based visualization, and project management platforms that track cost, RFIs, daily logs and punchlists.
AR and BIM are used to visualize demolition and installation requirements, map removals, validate installed elements, detect clashes, and support continuous QA/QC across concrete, MEP, civil and framing work.
A director of VDC leads the effort and the team includes 95 professionals in roles such as senior VDC managers, VDC managers, lead VDC engineers, VDC engineers and BIM engineers.
Several executives were promoted or reassigned, a long-serving executive retired, and a veteran company leader became president and COO. Two new executive roles — chief administrative officer and chief health and safety officer — were also created.
Reported benefits include reduced rework, improved safety, stronger coordination between teams, better accountability, improved cost control and favorable impacts on insurance risk scores.
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| VDC Team | 95 staff across VDC roles handling BIM, clash detection, drone ops, AR setup and scanning |
| Core Tools | Cloud collaboration platform, AR mapping system, tablet visualization, project management software |
| Field Strategy | Hands-on, onsite training; region-level sessions to scale adoption; encourage field-to-VDC career paths |
| Benefits | Fewer change orders and rework, improved safety outcomes, better cost control and improved risk scores |
| Leadership changes | Multiple promotions and reassignments effective Jan. 1, 2025; retirement of a long-serving executive; new president and COO named |
| Company profile | Founded 1937 in Greeley, Colorado; employee-owned; works in aviation, healthcare, transportation and more |
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