Purpose Prompt and effective responses to incompatibilities between as-designed and as-built drawings prevent cost and time overruns and material waste. This paper aims to provide an efficient framework to handle mismatches between these two models with the least negative impact on the whole project. Design/methodology/approach First, 11 most frequent mismatches were identified through questionnaires. Also, the respondents were asked to determine the mismatches’ roots and solutions and the impact of applying solutions on the whole project. Afterward, the process to present the optimum solution to one of these mismatches was modeled. After running the application programming interface developed in Navisworks software, decision-makers access a form, showing mismatches, their causes and solutions, as well as the solutions’ effect. To finalize the optimal solution, a platform was provided on whether to accept the system solution or to propose an alternative. Findings To empirically validate the reliability of the proposed framework, two projects were investigated. Two different approaches to dealing with the same mismatch occurred in these projects were compared in terms of time, cost and material required. The results showed that addressing the mismatches through the proposed framework can efficiently enhance time, cost and material consumption, in comparison with the traditional approach. Originality/value There is currently no building information modeling-based holistic framework for managing mismatches between as-designed and as-built drawings. The results of this research can help contractors to make the best decision, saving project resources, when setting about a mismatch during construction.