Ready access to information should be a huge boon to people on the ground. I remember a friend of mine who did HVAC work on large scale projects once told me about mistakes in plans where electrical conduit and ducts would intersect. Sometimes the electricians would get there first, so the people doing the ducts would put a little detour around the conduit!
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This could really screw with the airflow to rooms fed by that particular duct. (I'm sure we've all been in office buildings with little climate control "quirks" like that.) Better communications might prevent mistakes like this from becoming physical reality. (Of course, more competent use of CAD software would prevent mistakes like this in the first place.)
my electrician friend tells me that electricians, HVAC, plumbing and other dudes sometimes get the same set of drawings, so each of them think in their heads "okay I'm gonna put my stuff here" and conflict happens. this essentially happens because the general contractor or a sub contractor hires everyone in parallel to each other, and while the same drawing is sent to each, none of them talk to each other to "plan" the actual deployment. This will likely change when more and more people jump on the BIM wagon, and move the conflict stage to 3D model space rather than on the site.
This whole problem is being solved with BIM and Integrated Project Delivery where all the systems are modeled in 3d well in advance of construction thus resolving all the 3d conflicts ahead of time.
Communication between groups could also be used to resolve such conflicts in real-time. Even with BIM and Integrated Project Delivery, there will always be errors in plans for large projects. The ability to clarify these as soon as possible (ideally before any mistakes have become physical reality) will save people money.
