Construction Will Never Go Paperless

A lively discussion has been taking place in the Construction Professionals Forum on LinkedIn regarding the future of iPads in construction. The discussion thread titled "How Tablets Will Transform Construction" highlights many of the challenges our industry faces, not just in using iPads, but in going paperless.

In jest I have titled this blog post "Construction Will Never Go Paperless." But at times the challenges to an electronic system feel insurmountable: fragmented technologies, limited resources to invest in new technology, and, well, technophobia. Read on for excerpts from the discussion thread:

"[I]n regards to electronic submittals and shop drawings it seems like the first thing I see people doing is turning around and hitting print to have a hard copy to review."*

There is a tendency among construction industry professionals to be tactile. Often that means printing documents for review and annotation, even if they are received electronically. Also, drawings are printed on large pieces of paper for a reason. There is an incredible amount of information to take in at once. But just as maps are migrating online, technologies that digitalize drawings have the potential to provide more information than a 2-dimensional drawing can capture.

"[T]hese devices require deep pockets."*

Construction teams are not often granted big technology budgets. Despite the fact that technology will often provide immediate returns, teams don't feel they can justify the expense.

"I think [the iPad] has it's place and on a job site isn't one of them. There will be communications of private nature's going on... Thats the same as allowing staff to use their cell phones or pc's for personal usage..."*

To those who think tablets will lead contractors wasting time on the job doing personal tasks,

"They said they same thing about the Internet in the work place. We can receive emails in the field from suppliers or project managers we can troubleshoot electrified hardware that's failed... The money we save in one year alone pays for the four [tablets] that we purchased."  - Darren Patton, FDAI,CSI,CDT

Fortunately, there are voices in the industry that recognize the value of investing in technology and enabling better communication in the field.

But at times, it feels we as an industry have a long way to go...


*Quotes have been anonymized to protect the privacy of LinkedIn members. If you would like your quote attributed, please email mloftus[at]buildsite.com and I will be happy to credit the source!

The Future of Construction Technology (According to FutureTech)

This week, Tom Sawyer of ENR published results of a technology survey among readers, Hot Tech Topics: ENR Readers Speak Up About Info Tech in Construction. So what is the future of construction technology according to FutureTech readers?

• BIM
• iPads and mobile
• Collaborative tools
• Cloud software

This will come as no surprise to many of us in the industry, but it is good to see momentum building behind these systems.

We do continue to face a very siloed industry with different firms employing different technology solutions. According to one subcontractor quoted in the article, Ray Chen of Faith Technologies, GC's are the ones who need to make the call for new technologies:

"As a subcontractor, it doesn't matter what I've implemented in my own company—I'm going to do what the GC wants me to do," he says. "If the GC isn't using a data-driven approach—and a lot of them aren't--Faith isn't going to, either."

But here's the good news. Whether it's the GC or the sub who makes the call to use collaborative tools, these systems add value far beyond the construction phase.

Ted Weidner, assistant vice chancellor for facilities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, notes, "[BIM] is a nice tool for architects and structural engineers so far, but its real value will be... when the facility is turned over to me after construction."

Read the full article.

Contractor Purchasing Forecast for 2012

This week, a new study on contractor purchasing behavior came out from management consulting firm L.E.K. Consulting. You can read the full Building Contractor Behavior Survey, but here are some of our key take-aways:

• Contractors are planning for growth in 2012.


• Professional distributor channels will win more business. Big box retailers have done well with low prices over the past few years, but contractors have loyalty to the "pro channel." This shows that value-added services and personal relationships do make a difference.


• Thirty percent of contractors are using social media more today than they were a year ago.


• Contractors will continue to increase use of the Internet for product research, price comparisons, and purchasing.


• Energy efficiency and sustainability continue to factor (in equal parts) into product choices for commercial contractors.

All this spells good news for construction manufacturers and their distributors who have been hard hit these past few years.

I leave you with this great take-home:

"Building products manufacturers have an opportunity to capitalize on growth by continuing to promote trusted brands, introducing product features that will command a premium and reevaluating how they reach their customers across traditional and online channels."

--Chris Kenney, Vice President and Head of L.E.K. Consulting's
North American Basic Industries Practice

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.