A Word Cloud Reveals BuildSite is All About Submittals

Word clouds are a fun way to get a bird's-eye view of your website, blog, or Twitter feed. I recently ran a word cloud for the BuildSite News Blog using Wordle, and here is what I found:

Read about these topics and more on the BuildSite News Blog.

Not surprisingly, our biggest topics are electronic submittals and construction products. Phew, at least we are staying on message!

Adding Value with Electronic Submittals

In my previous post, I presented how projects can reduce costs with electronic submittals. In the third of my three-part series on electronic submittals, I will look at how project managers can add value for owners with electronic submittals.

Leading companies in construction are moving toward Integrated Project Delivery, with the Building Information Model (BIM) at its heart. Contractors are adopting 3D BIM software for its multitude of benefits, including clash detection, scheduling, cost estimating, and material tracking and ordering. But the model has the potential to extend beyond the construction phase of the project and provide information to owners and facilities managers that can replace a room full of paper.

Building Information Models link the design database with building material properties. Information such as manufacturer details and product data, much of which is found in the project submittals, can be attached to objects in the design model. By providing submittals electronically, for example, the approved mix design for the concrete footings can be attached to the footing object in the model. The design model has the potential to hold all the information to the project in a single electronic resource.

Tekla Structures' Building Information Models link the design database
with building material properties available at BuildSite.

At the end of the project, the owner gets a fully-digital 3D model of the finished building, rather than a room full of paper. Facilities managers do not need to comb through file cabinets of documents to find the warrantee they need. Instead, they can go to the electronic record and access product information from submittals that are attached to the model. From a building owner’s perspective, an as-built electronic resource adds enormous value to a project over the alternative paper system.

In considering an electronic submittal process, business owners may have to push adoption of electronic systems by other members of the project team. Division I requirements may ask for a rubber stamp on a printed submittal. But there are now software tools available for creating submittals and tracking approvals, not to mention incorporating these into full-fledged project management and BIM. And the movement in construction, as with BIM and Integrated Project Delivery, is toward a seamless electronic documentation process.

In the future, construction data flows electronically from specification to submittals to project management and design. We may well see the demise of Banker’s boxes and rubber stamps in construction. It’s certainly worth working toward.

This is the third in a 3-part series on improving the submittals process with an electronic system. A similar article was published in the September 2011 issue of Construction Business Owner called How to Streamline Construction Submittals.

Primary Workspace is "In the Field" for One-Third of Construction Users, Survey Finds

This week ENR released the preliminary results for a survey on technology use among AEC professionals. The survey, conducted by a committee of young professionals in the Construction Users Roundtable, had several very interesting takeaways. Here are a few of my favorites:

• The primary workspace for almost a third of respondents was "in the field."
• Results suggest engagement is strongest among age groups 30-and-under and 51-and-over.
• Tablets are not yet seen as the most important technology tools companies use, whereas email and database management are highly valued.
• BIM is seen as the most important technology tool among 20% of respondents ages 30-and-under and among 18% of those 51-and-over.

See the full article by Tom Sawyer, senior technology editor at ENR, Embrace of Technology in Construction Swings With Ages and Attitudes, Survey Finds.


Photo by cobalt123.

Reducing Costs with Electronic Submittals

In my last post on electronic submittals, I wrote about a process that one construction expert called tedious, time consuming, and redundant. In the second of my 3-part series, today I look at the cost savings of an electronic submittal process.

The first and most immediate return on an investment in electronic submittals is a reduction in the cost of distributing submittals. Multiple parties need to receive submittals, including subcontractors, the general contractor, the architect, structural engineers, consultants, and the owner. With a few assumptions, it is easy to see how the cost savings adds up.

Consider that each spec subsection requiring a product data submittal has, on average, eight items. Each item in the submittal has two to three pages of product data and often installation details as well. That adds up to 17 to 25 pages per submittal, including the cover page. Project specs can require as many as eight copies of each submittal. With multiple copies, each spec section can generate as many as 200 pages. Submittals also go through a review process, so there are often iterations that need to go back and forth between an architect and the general contractor or subcontractor.

When you combine multiple spec sections with multiple copies and iterations, you are paying for thousands—or even tens of thousands—of pages to be copied and delivered throughout the course of a project. It is no wonder large commercial and infrastructure projects have full-time document managers, with entire rooms devoted to storing these materials on the job site. The amount of paper for product submittals alone is staggering, even before considering shop drawings, LEED® submittals, and Operations and Maintenance (O&M) manuals.

In some cases, your company does not have a choice in how submittals are distributed. The architect, owner, or construction manager sets forth the submittal requirements as part of the Division I Project Administration requirements. If the requirements ask for a physical submittal with a rubber stamp, the end results is, of course, a room full of Banker’s boxes containing all the submittals from the project.

The owner does need a record of what building products were used in the building’s construction. He or she needs to know what equipment was installed and be able to access all warranties and maintenance information on equipment. But there is a better way!


This is the second in a 3-part series on improving the submittals process with an electronic system. A similar article was published in the September issue of Construction Business Owner called How to Streamline Construction Submittals.

Find 'Made In America' Building Products on BuildSite

Everyone in construction is talking about 'Made in America' building products after ABC News' David Muir ran a segment last week on the Bozeman, Montana home completely made in America.

At BuildSite, we are of course eager to tell folks that most of the products on BuildSite are manufactured domestically. To help you source American-manufactured products, look for the "Made in the USA" and "Regional MFG" icons when you search BuildSite.com. A product category search for air barriers brings up products that are made here in the U.S. and manufactured regionally:

A search on BuildSite pulls up products made in America.

Because many of the building products in our database that are made in America are not marked with icons, we went through contractor Anders Lewendal's list of 'Made in America' building products to show what you can find on BuildSite. Click on the links below to be taken to the manufacturer and product pages, then find a retailer near you using our distributor zip code search.

'Made in USA' Products	Manufacturer	Manufacture State
Hangers, straps, H clips	Simpson Strong-Tie	CA
TJI’s	iLevel	OR
Powder actuated pins	ITW Ramset / Red Head	IL
Foam board	Dow Building Solutions	IL
Spray insulation	JM Corbond	MT, TX
Paint	Sherwin Williams	OH
Telephone wire	3M	MN
Duct Liner	Johns Manville	CO
Allthread Anchors	ITW Buildex	IL
Soulder Flux	Rectorseal	TX

We list hundreds of other manufacturers with products made in America. If you have any questions about the products you find on our site, email us. Start your search now!

The ASCC Band, Powered by BuildSite

Many thanks to Molly Dallman and Bev Garnant for giving BuildSite the opportunity to participate in the American Society of Concrete Contractors Annual Conference this year with sponsorship of the ASCC Band. The event, held in Grand Rapids, MI in September, featured band members Molly Dallman, Tom Leyes, Tom Ralston, David Fudala, Andy Baugh, and Jim Jaillet.

Construction Submittals: Tedious, Time Consuming, and Redundant

Bankers Boxes file submittals in a paper-intensive process.

Construction submittals play a seemingly small but critical role in commercial projects. When submittals are done right, they can tell you almost everything you need to know about a project. They can inform scheduling and expose inaccuracies or discrepancies in the spec.

Paul Stout, Founder and Director of Education at Power Summit, an AGC partner and national provider of construction training programs, says the importance of submittals in construction projects cannot be overstated. "Traditionally, the submittal process assures owners that their plans and specs are clearly understood by contractors building the project. It is the single best way for owners to ensure quality, functionality, and compliance per the plans and specifications." At the same time, he admits,

"The process itself has been tedious, 

time consuming, and redundant."

When they are done at the last minute, submittals can create all kinds of problems, from RFI’s to change orders. Project delays can result. Because engineers need time to analyze and approve submittals, mix designs, for example, are on the critical path of a project.

Given that submittals play such a central role in a project, it is a wonder that leading design firms, general contractors, and subcontractors still use old systems for creating and distributing submittals. Plenty of projects still rely heavily on printers, photocopiers, rubber stamps, and hand delivery. These time- and paper intensive methods are inefficient at best, and wasteful, at worst.

Electronic systems for creating and distributing submittals have many advantages, including time and cost savings. An electronic process also provides an opportunity to integrate submittals with project management and design software. There is a rapid return on investment for electronic submittal processes, especially when many of the solutions available are low (or no) cost.

Next week, I will look at how an electronic submittal process reduces costs over the paper-intensive alternative.


This is the first in my 3-part series on improving the submittals process with an electronic system. A similar article was published in the September issue of Construction Business Owner called How to Streamline Construction Submittals.