The study is designed to elaborate the effectiveness of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in regard to its financial benefits and risk management. BIM has been widely analyzed by the previous literature, but its specific effectiveness has not been assessed and its utilization for risk management is at its infancy. Therefore, this study identifies barriers in conducting the BIM studies and articulates possible outcomes of the actual BIM-based construction project. Overall about 20 domestic and international projects are assessed and about 50 literature is reviewed to detail the benefits and risks of using BIM in real projects. It is found that BIM brings benefits in communication, time-saving and return-on-investments. In addition, some cases have reported that BIM creates positive aspects for risk management against human accidents and natural disasters in construction sites.