Across the infrastructure sector, one challenge continues to slow progress, increase costs, and frustrate both field and office teams: the long wait for as-built documentation. Although as-builts are essential for asset management, maintenance, and future planning, they often take years to finalize. In many cases, organizations do not receive complete as-builts until three to five years after construction has begun, or even after it has finished.

During that gap, critical information about newly installed or relocated infrastructure remains scattered across contractor notes, disconnected spreadsheets, and legacy systems that do not integrate with modern GIS and BIM environments. Meanwhile, decisions still need to be made. Utilities need accurate asset locations for maintenance and emergency response. Cities need to understand what has been buried beneath newly paved corridors. Engineering teams need to coordinate ongoing work with real-world construction progress. Yet all of this is happening without access to the most current data.

This disconnect comes at a real cost. When teams are forced to rely on outdated or incomplete drawings, risks increase significantly. These include accidental utility strikes, duplicated work, misaligned designs, unexpected change orders, and inefficient field operations. For decades, the industry has largely accepted these challenges as an unavoidable part of the construction lifecycle. However, that assumption is increasingly being challenged.

The Case for Intermediate As-Built Data

More organizations are now recognizing the value of capturing intermediate as-builts, which are datasets collected throughout the construction process rather than waiting for a single final package years later. These incremental snapshots provide a near-real-time understanding of what has been installed, moved, or modified.

Instead of relying solely on end-of-project documentation, teams can reference spatially accurate digital representations of construction progress as it happens. This shifts as-built information from a static, retrospective deliverable into a living project asset that evolves alongside construction.

Intermediate as-built data does not replace final as-builts. Instead, it fills the information void that currently exists between construction and documentation, giving organizations a clearer and more reliable picture of their infrastructure at every stage.

How vGIS Helps Close the Information Gap

At vGIS, we have seen firsthand how transformative real-time spatial data can be for infrastructure teams. Using augmented reality and simplified, field-ready capture tools, vGIS enables crews to record the location, dimensions, attributes, and context of newly built infrastructure the moment it is installed.

Whether the asset is an underground utility, road feature, telecom conduit, or water system component, field crews can quickly capture high-accuracy information without disrupting their workflow or relying on specialized survey equipment.

This approach offers several practical benefits:

• Accuracy: vGIS leverages GNSS, photogrammetry, and AR-guided positioning to support high spatial accuracy.
• Consistency: Standardized forms and guided workflows reduce variability that often comes from manual field notes.
• Integration: Intermediate as-built data is immediately viewable in vSite, giving teams instant access to data as it is collected.
• Transparency: Stakeholders across engineering, construction, and operations can monitor progress visually, bringing clarity to complex projects.

The Future of As-Built Management

As infrastructure investment grows and project timelines tighten, the way the industry handles as-built documentation must evolve. The traditional model of waiting years for final documents no longer aligns with the pace of modern construction or the need for accurate, accessible data in the field.

Intermediate as-built data that is captured continuously, accurately, and efficiently represents a meaningful step forward. It reduces uncertainty, improves safety, minimizes rework, and gives stakeholders greater confidence in the information they rely on every day.

vGIS is committed to helping organizations bridge this long-standing gap. By empowering teams to document construction progress as it happens, we are helping create a future where as-built data is no longer an afterthought, but an integrated part of the construction and asset lifecycle.