Category: Construction Services

The Building Safety Bill is fast-approaching the UK construction sector, and promises widespread change.

The government is aiming to “overhaul regulations, creating lasting generational change and setting out a clear pathway on how residential buildings should be constructed, maintained and made safe.”

Although the Fire Safety Act is now in place, the Building Safety Bill is still being finalised and it may be difficult to know how to get ready. So, what are the headlines from the bill – and what should owners and construction firms do today?

Here’s a summary of the Building Safety Bill and six key takeaways for UK businesses.

n overview of the Building Safety Bill 

Building owners will need to demonstrate that they have effective, proportionate measures in place to manage safety risks.A golden thread of building safety information must be maintained from planning to completion of each high risk building project.Duty holders must be appointed to take responsibility for fire and building safety throughout the lifecycle and provide the accountable person with the golden thread of information.A new Building Safety Regulator will oversee the implementation and enforcing of the legislation, with stringent penalties for noncompliance.The legislation is expected to be passed in April 2022.

Get ready for change – because it will impact everyone

First of all, it’s important to acknowledge that there are gaps in the practical guidance out there for construction companies. Right now, the details are being worked out and it’s hard to see exactly how organisations will consistently meet the requirements.

But nonetheless, it’s vital that all construction businesses get ready for change. From owners to individual subcontractors and suppliers, the Building Safety Bill will place new obligations on every collaborator in the supply chain.

This isn’t just for tier one contractors; everyone will have to buy in, and there will be strong legislative punch to enforce the changes. Irrespective of your size and scale, understanding what’s around the corner and starting to get ready is critical.

Prepare for a mental shift about project information

The principle of the golden thread of information will require everyone in the supply chain to maintain a record of every project. It’s not just about handing over documents at the end of the project, or even uploading project files onto the cloud.

Everyone from designers to contractors will need to maintain a local electronic audit trail, rather than relying on clients to hold the data. Choosing data platforms that easily integrate with others will be important, to ensure that data records can be slotted together.

That’s not to say that everyone will need to use advanced modelling tools, but internal records will be critical – particularly in the event that something goes wrong in the future. It might not be as disastrous as a fire, but the identification of a faulty or dangerous component that needs to be removed from other builds is essential.

Again, this applies to all companies – no matter your size or scale. Small suppliers will need to revisit how they collect and store project information, just like everyone else. And positively, this also offers the chance of process improvements within businesses, from improved efficiency to quality control.

The onus will be on owners, so know what to ask for

Arguably owners face the biggest challenge from the Building Safety Bill, especially if they aren’t already on a digital transformation journey. It will be critical to have systems in place to receive, and then manage and maintain, project data throughout the operational life of an asset.

That can’t be racks of drawings or folders of paperstuck in a cupboard. Owners will need to consider the best way to structure information – for example, in a common data environment – to ensure that it’s as easy to manage and access as possible.

Owners should work to set out their information requirements, so that they know what to ask for at the start of each project. Again, this richer dataset can offer other benefits for owners, such as more efficient asset management and more straightforward refurbishments in the future.

Prepare for skills shortages by investing in people

We will need to see a skillset shift across the construction industry to meet these new regulatory demands. Arguably, right now the sector suffers from an on-demand approach to specialist skills, with businesses waiting until there’s a problem to go and find someone who can solve it.

The issue with the obligations being imposed through the Building Safety Bill is that there simply aren’t that many people with the skills and availability to help. It might not be normal practice to spend funds on training at very traditional organisations; nonetheless, businesses will absolutely need to invest in staff to prepare for the potential avalanche of demand.

This is a definite change of approach. Companies will need to plan differently, while owners will need to recognise that the cheapest approach won’t always be acceptable. But without more digitally confident staff, businesses won’t be able to cope with the demands – and the uncertainties – inherent in any new legislation of this kind.

Existing technology can be used in creative ways, but interoperability is critical

Although we’ll see a step change in information management, companies won’t need to build Revit models to track every component. There are actually lots of different ways of meeting the regulations, sometimes using existing technology in new and creative ways.

For example, Oculus has developed a system that uses camera footage to record on-site processes, like installations or subsequent inspections. The video record is timestamped to show progress over a project, and can then be linked with model-based information sets to create a detailed dataset or reviewed with other snapshots to show progress or changes over time.

However, the way that we connect these different technologies and approaches together will be critical, to ensure data can be transferred and collated seamlessly. At the company level, choosing open data platforms will help to ensure interoperability with other systems.

At a national level, there are a number of working groups developing an information management framework, such as theNational Digital Twin Programme and the Government and Industry Interoperability Group (GIIG). All of this will not only support the golden thread of information on projects, but help the industry as a whole to create more consistent data and deliver better outcomes.

Embrace the positives – this could be a turning point for quality and sustainability

Meeting new legislation always seems like a bit of a headache. But it’s important to recognise that these are extremely positive developments overall. It’s not only about trying our utmost to avoid another horrific incident like the Grenfell Fire, but cascading information across the industry, to enable us to fix things that might be faulty or at risk.

Access to more detailed digital information can also help construction businesses ensure the quality of their work – while increasing efficiency and highlighting ways to boost productivity across the organisation.

Similarly, with a record of the materials used in each asset, owners can move towards the circular economy: designing buildings that can be dismantled, reused or repurposed, to massively improve the sustainability of the built environment.

Finally, it might seem that businesses are facing multiple changes in tandem right now, from the BIM Mandate Initiative to the Construction Playbook and digital twin initiatives. But arguably, the UK is much more joined up in its strategy than anywhere else in the world.

There’s a clear link between aspiration and execution – and by meeting these demands, companies will be helping to create a safer, greener and more productive sector. That is a huge advantage.

The post How to Prepare for the Building Safety Bill appeared first on Digital Builder.

Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.dennis-construction.com/?p=1230

Discover the latest updates to Autodesk’s construction software

Our product team continues to pinpoint valuable ways to improve your favorite Autodesk products. I’m excited to share the launch of over 50 new feature releases and enhancements across Autodesk Construction Cloud products.

From creating higher quality designs to speeding up RFI workflows, the latest product updates within Autodesk Construction Cloud can be found below.

Jump to releases by product:

Autodesk Construction Cloud Unified PlatformAutodesk BuildAutodesk BIM CollaborateAutodesk TakeoffBuildingConnected>Bid Board ProBIM 360Assemble

 

 

utodesk Construction Cloud Unified Platform

* = features on both Autodesk Construction Cloud unified platform & BIM 360

Dashboards | Additional Partner Cards

Both Autodesk Construction Cloud Unified Platform and BIM 360 users now see new partner cards for Aespada, DAQS.io, Embneusys, Geometrid, Oculo, Pronovos, Safe Site Check In, Structshare, Viact.ai, and WakeCap.

Dashboards | Send Dashboard as Reports*

Both Autodesk Construction Cloud unified platform and BIM 360 users can now share data from a dashboard within Insight as a PDF report to any external team members. A great example of this is if a general contractor wanted to share a dashboard view with an owner who did not have an account. This broadens visibility into project data and allows teams to create custom dashboards and easily share relevant views. Note: PDF reports of dashboards do not include partner cards in this initial release.

Dashboards | Unified Account Level UI Enhancements

From within the Executive Overview dashboards within Insight, both Autodesk Construction Cloud unified platform and BIM 360 users now see a consistent UI to help indicate that all projects shown on this overview list are pulled from projects across both BIM 360 and ACC. This ensures that executives see a holistic view of all projects, regardless of the product used, and help improve the migration experience.

Desktop Connector | Non-Conforming File Validation*

Autodesk Construction Cloud unified platform and BIM 360 users now have the ability to select specific files, and put them through the naming validation tool to rename them in order to meet the project’s naming standard in Docs.

Desktop Connector | Right-click to Rename Files*

For any file, a user be able to right click and rename a file from Desktop Connector without needing to navigate to Docs in the web browser.

Files | Import/Export of Naming Standard*

As a project admin setting up the naming standard on a project, the admin now have the option to export a .xlsx template. They can also make adjustments to the naming standard attributes in MS Excel for ease of use and import to a single project or multiple projects.

Files | Improvements to ISE File & Folder Operations*

Autodesk Construction Cloud unified platform and BIM 360 users can now take advantage of ISO naming standards validation when moving or copying files from enforced to enforced folders​ and when making a file “current”​. Additionally, users can now have their search results be a method to organize files for selection to move or copy to an enforced folder.

Files | Open and Edit DWG with AutoCAD (web app)

From within Files, users can now right click on a .dwg file type to open the drawing within the AutoCAD web app, exposing the use of native AutoCAD tools (viewing and editing). NOTE: Once the file is clicked, a new tab is opened, exposing the AutoCAD web interface.

Library | Search & Sort

There is a new search bar as well as the option to sort within the account level library in the Autodesk Construction Cloud unified platform. This makes it easier to find library components so that teams can use consistent practices and drive standardization across all projects.

Reports | Issue Summary & Issue Detail Filter by Custom Attribute

Autodesk Construction Cloud unified platform users can now filter both the Issue Summary and Issue Detail reports by any custom attribute. This allows teams to run more specific reports that are catered to the way individual companies track issues.

Reports | Logo Management

Project Admins can now customize the logo that shows up on reports by either selecting the account logo or adding in a net new logo. This allows teams to improve the branding of their reports and provide clarity of ownership when sharing reports externally.

Reviews | Add Custom Attributes to Workflows*

The project admin can now add custom attributes to a workflow so that each review initiated has the custom attribute columns for the approve to complete as needed. Note: For BIM 360 users, only projects created after Mar 23, 2021 will have this feature.

 

 

utodesk Build

** = features in both Autodesk Build & BIM 360

*** = features in both Autodesk Build & PlanGrid

**** = Autodesk Docs feature (available across all unified products)

***** = features in both Autodesk Build and Autodesk BIM Collaborate

Note: This list is alphabetical. Please see this blog post for Autodesk Build updates organized by workflow.

Assets | Bulk Edits on Web & Mobile

Within Autodesk Build or the PlanGrid Build mobile app, teams can now make bulk edits to a selected group of assets by simply scanning barcodes, QR codes, or NFC tags in sequence. This allows teams to better standardize information and make updates faster.

Assets | NFC Support

In addition to using barcode / QR code scanning within the Assets tool of Autodesk Build, users can now use Near Field Communication technology to pull up detailed asset information. This saves teams time since they can simply set a device within range of the asset, and all asset related information stored within the PlanGrid Build mobile app will instantly appear.

Assets | RFI References

Within the Assets tool flyout panel, teams now see an added reference option for RFI’s. This means that users can link a specific asset to an RFI, connecting information and making it more accessible throughout both the assets and RFI workflow. Note: Mobile functionality will come by the end of the month.

Assets | Schedule References

Within the Assets tool flyout panel, teams now see an added reference option for Schedule. This means that users can link a specific asset to schedule item which gives visibility into where an asset status is in relation to the broader project schedule. Having this level of visibility helps teams better plan and forecast dates. Note: Mobile functionality will come by the end of the month.

Bridge | Automatic Sheet Sharing

As a follow up to the ability to share sheets across accounts (released in July 2021), team members can now specify certain sheets that they are sharing to automatically update when a new version is published. This ensures teams, even if they are from different companies or using different accounts, are always looking at the most up to date sheet information. NOTE: We are currently working on building up the feature functionality of the Bridge tool. Please watch for more enhancements to Bridge in future releases.

Bridge | Import Functionality

Within the ‘Incoming’ tab of Bridge, Autodesk Build users see a new option to ‘Import’ and select sheets from other projects, in which they are also a member, to add to their current project. This improves cross-team and cross-project collaboration, and gives users the ability to surface relevant information to their teams. NOTE: We are currently working on building up the feature functionality of the Bridge tool. Please watch for more enhancements to Bridge in future releases.

Cost Management | Enhanced Document Review Functionality**

Autodesk Build and BIM 360 Cost Management users can open and edit Microsoft Word documents online directly from the document package section within the items details flyout panel, enhancing and accelerating the document review processes.

Cost Management | Expense Photo References

Autodesk Build Cost Management users can now add photo references (e.g., delivery tickets, receipts, etc.) to expenses, ensuring accounting has what they need to process payments.

Cost Management | Home Page**

Autodesk Build and BIM 360 Cost Management users now have access to a new Home Page within Cost Management, displaying an aggregated calendar view of important dates across the system for increased visibility.

Cost Management | Issue to Potential Change Order

Expanding on the ability to create a Potential Change Order (PCO) from an RFI or Submittal Item, Autodesk Build Cost Management users can generate a PCO directly from Issue. Continuing to help teams capture the origin of change orders.

Data Connector | Photos Data

Autodesk Build users can now extract Photos data using the Data Connector. This is especially important to teams tracking quality and safety and wanting to see details around things like how many photos have been captured.

Data Connector | Progress Tracking Data

Autodesk Build users can now extract Progress Tracking data using the Data Connector. This gives teams the ability to create custom dashboards around the use of Progress Tracking and further analyze installation progress of objects on a project using other BI tools.

Handover | Files & Issues in As Built Export

Autodesk Build users can now export Files and Issues data as a part of the As Built Export tool. This adds to the RFI, Submittals, and Sheets download that was currently available and further improves the handover process by saving time, enhancing documentation accuracy, and improving owner satisfaction. Note: Files data will not be available until the end of November.

Issues | Add reference to submittals, forms, PCOs

In addition to the existing ability to link photos, files, RFIs and assets, user can now also add a reference to submittals, forms and PCOs, directly from the issue. This way, teams ensure even more of the issue’s context gets captured.

Meetings | Upload Attachments Directly from Computer*****

Users can upload and remove attachments directly from their PC. Attachments can be added at a meeting or at an item level. This ensures up-to-date information is shared and reviewed during the meeting.

RFIs | Roles and Companies as Users

Within each RFI, all roles and companies can now be specified as a watcher or co-reviewer. This release improves ease of use when creating, editing, or assigning RFIs.

RFIs | Short RFI Creation on Mobile

Users have the option to create an RFI by simply filling out the information for three fields: RFI title, question, and photos. This feature allows users to save time on RFI creation in the field.

RFIs | Step Back From Manager to Subcontractor

This feature allows RFI managers to request additional information from subcontractors by sending the RFI back to the sub. This release helps to speed up the RFI workflow by making sure necessary changes are made in a timely manner.

Schedule | Add Cost reference

Users can reference cost items from the cost management tool to an activity in schedule.

Schedule | Enhanced iOS support

iOS users can filter schedule information by Activity codes/ Outline codes imported from the schedule authoring tools. Allowing teams to find the right information, faster.

Schedule | Suggestions [coming soon]

Users with the right permissions can now submit an update suggestion on an activity to the schedule manager, improving communication across stakeholders. The schedule managers can review, approve or reject the suggestions. The schedule manager must update the master schedule in the schedule authoring tool to ensure the latest schedule is imported into Autodesk Build.

Submittals | Import Enhancements

During the upload process, Autodesk Build users get a new processing loader which can be referred to as a progress bar. This release supports a friendlier and more transparent import process.

Submittals | Project Home Support on Mobile

Users can now view a submittals work status card on iOS & Android. This allows access to critical and actionable information faster from any device at any time.

Submittals | Report Enhancements

From the Submittal tool, users can generate both the detail and summary reports, and have the option to include specific submittal items when exporting the report. Report enhancements now also include a single item report that can be generated from the action menu. Users can also copy a public link to share the report from the panel once the report has been generated. These enhancements allow customers to have more flexibility when exporting submittal reports.

Submittals | Review & Annotate PDF Attachments

Autodesk Build users now can view and annotate submittals, such as adding an approval stamp (image stamp), text, arrow, cloud, highlighter and various shapes directly in Autodesk Build. This enables a faster and more efficient review process.

Submittals | Upload Attachments from Files or from Computer

Autodesk Build users can select up to 10 existing files from Autodesk Docs and attach it to the specific submittal item. Now, Document Management and Project Management workflows are even more connected.

Learn more about this month’s product releases specific to Autodesk Build in this blog post.

 

 

utodesk BIM Collaborate

****** = features in both Autodesk BIM Collaborate and BIM 360

Change Analysis | Easier navigation

Design changes are now more easily managed and analyzed with a new experience that allows users to select the models they want to compare and quickly apply filters by discipline, category or modification type (shape, property, transform). Teams now have more control over the changes they decide to focus on and how those changes affect them.

Change Analysis | Review of non-consecutive designs

Previously, architects and engineers who review design changes before consuming them could only review the differences between the new design and the last design. Now, any design from the past can be reviewed alongside the latest.

Go Online | Revit Issues Add-In******

Architects, engineers, and BIM managers using Revit can immediately access issues, clash information, and models from cloud applications like Autodesk BIM Collaborate or Autodesk Docs. When an issue gets resolved in Revit, designers can use this quick link to access related files or check their work against other models using the clash matrix—making it easier to create high quality designs.

Model Coordination | Advanced grouping******

Group clash results with a greater level of granularity with advanced grouping capabilities. Now, clashes can be grouped by any property of a clashing object. Choose standard properties or custom ones to group and organize clashes for faster clearing and resolution.

Model Coordination | IFC, NWC, and VUE File Support******

With the added support of NWC and VUE files and extended support for IFC files for automatic clash detection or model aggregation, Autodesk BIM Collaborate offers greater flexibility for BIM managers, design teams, and trade partners to engage in model coordination.

 

 

utodesk Takeoff

Snapshots

Autodesk Takeoff users can preserve critical information including sheets and/or models along with associated takeoffs and inventory within a project at a given point in time. Users can access saved snapshots to view prior versions of takeoffs and inventory for a specific milestone or other key events. These stored references provide estimators confidence in their work by citing key information critical to the takeoff detail.

Flexible Output for Takeoff Types

Users can assign a code from both primary and secondary classification system to any output (primary or unlimited “additional” outputs) when creating takeoff types. The classification field is now optional, allowing estimators to create takeoffs faster when needed. The outputs not classified are automatically grouped as “unassigned” to make it easier for users to track and reassign later if needed. Each output can be assigned up to 2 classification codes—one from each classification system uploaded.

Inventory Enhancement

Users can view information from both primary and secondary classifications at the same time in the inventory panel. Multiple outputs can be seen together, grouped by takeoff type, when appropriate. A new grouping has been created in the inventory for “unassigned” outputs. Location information is also surfaced in the inventory panel.

Locations Support

Users can assign takeoffs to specific locations created in the “Project Admin” tool so quantities can be assigned accordingly. Whether you are allocating quantities by Floors, Levels, Phases or Zones, locations are a great way to organize your takeoff inventory.

 

 

BuildingConnected

Bid Board Pro

Opportunity Rules

Users can create opportunity rules (“if/then” statements) to help organize opportunities and filter out junk invites by either applying tags or removing followers. This helps to streamline the Bid Board experience and remove unwanted invites automatically.

 

 

BIM 360

 

****** = features in both Autodesk BIM Collaborate and BIM 360

Daily Logs | XLS Report from Field Management******

BIM 360 users can now export the activity log of any daily log. The export includes timestamp, user, activity and before after status which makes it a full audit trail useful in case any disputes arise.

Dashboards | Permission Changes******

BIM 360 users can now control permission to view certain dashboards within BIM 360. This helps drive focus for team members and eliminate unnecessary dashboard views. Additionally, it gives more control to Project or Account Admins to filter only relevant information to team members. For more information view the FAQ on our Help Site.

 

 

ssemble

Expanded Support for Special Characters

Assemble has expanded support for Unicode characters for property names and values. Assemble users can now publish model properties names and values with expanded characters from desktop tools as well as Revit models from BIM 360 and Autodesk Docs. Users are also able to sync property values with expanded characters back to Revit.

Model Publishing Improvements

Continuing to build upon the recent enhancement of publishing Revit models from BIM 360 and Autodesk Docs to Assemble without the need of the  Revit add-in, Assemble now supports importing Revit Cloud Workshare models as part of the cloud publishing workflow. By leveraging the common data environment, BIM/VDC Managers can ensure that everyone is working from the latest project documents.

 

Get the latest Autodesk Construction Cloud product updates

 

The post 50+ New Product Updates for Autodesk Construction Cloud appeared first on Digital Builder.

The construction industry isn’t short on data. In fact, every project creates massive amounts of construction data from design and planning to turnover and beyond. Yet one of the most significant challenges faced by stakeholders is accessibility to the most important data right when it’s needed. This step is critical to uncovering insights and powering better decision-making. 

So how do we make critical project data accessible through the entire AEC lifecycle to the teams and individuals who need it most? Lauren Collier, Business Leader Project Technology/VDC at SSOE Group, and Sunny Manku, Technical Solutions Executive at Autodesk explore this very question in the Autodesk University 2021 session, Data in the AEC Lifecycle: Using Data to Better Connect AECO Stakeholders

We’ve gathered highlights from their session, including why a data initiative—and subsequently a unified platform—is paramount, the benefits of gathering data throughout the project lifecycle, how to best prepare your firm to succeed at data analysis, and more. Let’s explore their recommendations for making the most of data through the entire AEC lifecycle. 

 

1. Understand the need for a unified platform

To make data accessible and meaningful to decision-makers, you first must understand the value of capturing project data in a unified platform. 

For starters, what is a “unified platform”? A unified platform connects people, data, and workflows together throughout each stage of the project lifecycle for comprehensive construction project management. 

The next question: What makes a unified platform so powerful? It’s the technology that connects with and moves your strategy forward. As Lauren explains, “ Technology shouldn’t just be the driving force to your strategy. Technology should be that accelerator. It’s that integrator. It’s the glue that allows you to really get your strategic initiatives done.”

“Technology shouldn’t just be the driving force to your strategy. Technology should be that accelerator.”

Lauren Collier, Business Leader Project Technology/VDC, SSOE Group

A unified platform also provides a single source of truth to rely on. Often referred to as a common data environment (CDE), this isn’t merely a list of APIs connected to a SaaS solution. Instead, it’s a type of construction management software that provides access to data and tools that designers, engineers, and builders need. Furthermore, a unified platform enables third parties and customers to create and share their own purpose-built solutions whenever, wherever, and however they need. 

When data lives in one place, you have the ability to break it down across design, planning, building, and operating. As Sunny puts it, this opens up “an opportunity for all stakeholders, regardless of what they’re doing in the project, to be able to collaborate effectively in one place.” Stakeholders not only have the confidence that data is living in one place, but they can also pay attention to version controls and review past decisions made on the project in earlier stages. 

A unified platform should play an active role in coordinating how products work together, rather than just allowing you to exchange data with other applications. The data exchanged must flow seamlessly and bidirectionally across all capabilities within the platform. By doing so, users receive a productive, intuitive experience that drives much more effective workflows. 

 

2. Connect costs and schedules to project data

Cost certainty is an important part of setting expectations and delivering a great project outcome. By picking the right unified platform, you’ll find budgets are easier to manage because you’re more effectively connecting cost activities to schedule with real-time project data. When you stay on schedule and within budget, it’s no surprise that customers are happier and open to working together on more projects.

In addition, maintaining budgets and schedules is critical to maximizing profit margins. However, the construction industry is no stranger to delays, rework, and blown budgets. A recent Dodge Data & Analytics research report revealed that 66% of general contractors are carrying added costs from overtime shifts on at least three-quarters of their projects due to schedule slippage, with 50% of them needing to extend the project end date. Bad construction data is at least partly to blame for these statistics and adds up to $1.85 trillion in cost impacts to the industry globally. 

Construction data and technology both play major roles in maintaining budgets, schedules, and customer satisfaction.

Construction firms need a solid data strategy to overcome the impacts of bad data. In the Harnessing the Data Advantage in Construction report from Autodesk and FMI, proper data management is identified as being a significant competitive advantage in today’s fast-paced market. You can download the report for free to discover actionable steps for implementing a data strategy and access the useful checklist with the most most important steps.

Construction data and technology both play major roles in maintaining budgets, schedules, and customer satisfaction. Lauren elaborates on how data management fits into SSOE’s efforts, “We are more successful in our design effort and our value proposition to the client if we can coordinate that design, construction, and execution with no surprises. That’s really why [our] data initiative became very important to us.” This level of accessibility and coordination must be available at all phases of the construction lifecycle: designing, planning, building, and operating. 

To help avoid unwelcome surprises, the Schedule tool in Autodesk Build is worth checking out. This tool allows teams to collaborate, connect, and integrate with the most up-to-date schedule. Everyone has access to real-time information around the master schedule data in the field to work together seamlessly and efficiently. All of which helps prevent cost overruns due to schedule disruptions.

 

3. Unlock the potential for data analysis

Of course, one of the main benefits of a good data management strategy is a more confident analysis of the numbers, which leads to smarter decisions. SSOE uses Autodesk Construction Cloud products to provide greater context for all stakeholders and increase collaboration between design and construction. Hence, why Lauren is presenting on this popular topic.

Her team worked to better understand the potential for analysis through data architecture mapping. This exercise made the team realize they wanted to measure key performance indicators by connecting and consuming data. To do so, they decided to bring their data into a single source of truth through investment in Autodesk’s unified platform. This initiative also reflects SSOE’s commitment to respect in the workplace by fostering a culture of personal accountability. 

For SSOE, increasing respect and accountability is about reducing waste and increasing collaboration. “It allows for the whole team to kind of come together. It’s not these wasteful silos [sic] anymore,” explains Lauren, “It really is, ‘this is the place I go. This is the place I can consume information. This is the place I communicate. And this is the place that I report out.’”

 

4. Identify infrastructure and talent needs for full-lifecycle data management

Ultimately, making construction data accessible to AECO stakeholders really comes down to simplification. Firms often have multiple, complex systems producing and storing data. These systems may run effectively in the background but impede collaboration and analysis through their lack of connectivity, and thus a lack of practical usability. To better prepare your infrastructure for lifecycle data analysis success, Lauren recommends being selective about the tools and integrations you select to keep your tech stack simple and efficient.

From there, bring your internal and client resources into the picture. SSOE has leveraged its internal technology staff as well as clients in the digitization process. “Our clients have been very informative in this digitization process because there’s data they want to consume downstream. The easier that we can make that data easily accessible to them, we become a more valued partner.”

As you work with internal and external resources, consider which data skills you’ll need to prioritize. Having a strategy for upskilling your workforce will help to get more out of data and foster a more data-driven culture. For insights into what roles construction leaders expect to grow in importance,  this article sheds some light

 

Want to learn more? 

The most effective construction software platforms quickly and easily connect decision-makers to the data they need the most, when and where they need it. A unified platform is the first and most crucial step to data accessibility across the entire AECO lifecycle. From there, you can increase your results by implementing a data management strategy and encouraging your firm to analyze data by preparing your infrastructure and talent. 

If you need help finding the right unified platform, our team would be happy to help you unpack that. You can contact us here

 

The post Construction Data: How to Make it Valuable & Accessible to AECO Stakeholders appeared first on Digital Builder.

In any workplace, good decisions drive good outcomes. In construction, those outcomes can vary from staying on schedule to facing major time and cost over-runs.

But decision makers are now contending with more complex projects and shorter timelines than ever before.

In fact, four in five APAC construction professionals say schedule compression is fueling the need to make more rapid decisions, according to Autodesk Construction Cloud’s new Harnessing The Data Advantage In Construction report.

Autodesk partnered with FMI Global to survey more than 3,900 construction industry stakeholders, including more than 500 across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, India, and Hong Kong, to understand how their approach to data was propelling them forward – or holding them back.

And the single biggest factor interfering with making good decisions? The lack of reliable data.

 

Data quantity

The research revealed vastly different approaches to data strategy, but what’s almost universal is the fact that more data is being generated and collected than ever before. In fact, most project managers and field supervisors report spending two to three days a week collecting and managing the ever-increasing torrents of data.

A big factor in this workload is the multiple channels from which data must be collected, and the numerous formats it arrives in. As one subcontractor told us, “The usual way in which most construction companies operate is a lot of decentralised information.

“We create 2D designs, spreadsheets, PDFs and a whole range of different file types and formats. This is very hard to manage.”

 

Data quality

Not only are many streams of data unwieldy – they can also be tainted.

For the average construction firm, almost 40% of the data they are collecting is bad – inaccurate, incomplete, inconsistent or untimely.

For data to produce valuable insights and drive better project outcomes, it needs to be readily:

AccessibleConsumableUnderstandable

Worryingly, just one in eight construction professionals believe that most of their data meets this definition. This doesn’t just undermine confidence in data-driven decision-making; it undermines projects too.

Industry data indicates that for every $1 billion of revenue earned by a contractor, the total cost of poor decisions driven by bad data could be as high as $165 million. In fact, it is estimated that bad data is responsible for 14% of all construction rework.

That means bad data costs the construction industry an estimated A$2.49 trillion in 2020. And that’s before we count:

the environmental cost, with global construction waste reaching 2.2 billion tons by 2025, andthe reputational cost, including 77% of megaprojects being delivered at least 40% late.

 

Difficulties using data

Despite the vast increases in data flows, barely one in 10 construction professionals report always incorporating project data into their decision making. Most do it sometimes, at best.

These concerns over data quality are why the companies that are reporting getting the most out of their data have formal plans in place to ensure the quality of their data.

“We have invested a lot of time and money ensuring the integrity of our data. Otherwise, it will all be a terrible waste,” one told us.

Another contractor explained, “We want the data to work for us and not against us. If you have bad data, the results will be bad, no matter how good the process is.”

Among the chief challenges faced in using the data being collected are:

combining data from two different sourcesgrappling with missing informationdifficulties in accessing data, either because of its structure or because other parties are unwilling to share.

Overcoming this requires both process and people solutions.

On the process side, for instance, replacing non-collaborative digital channels such as email with cloud-based, construction specific technology can ensure data is collected accurately and easily accessible.

Underpinning all of this is a firmly mapped out data strategy. Such a strategy must cover which data is the most valuable to a given team, and how it can be made reliable and accessible.

Having this not only helps you ensure your processes and tools are fit for purpose – it also helps bring the people you need up to speed.

A subcontractor in the mechanical, electrical and plumbing sector told us, ”Everything is centred on our information being iterative and creating bidirectional workflows with BIM software to drive commissioning activities out on-site.

“That means that we can actually collect data from the field and format it back into the model. We’re getting consistency through construction documentation – and consistency breeds quality.”

 

Data-driven decision making

Our research clearly shows the impact of trying to make decisions with bad data – the average company reports that it results in poor decisions 38% of the time.

On the other hand, those companies that have nailed their data strategy say it is driving fewer budget overruns, fewer missed schedules and fewer safety incidents.

By managing data effectively from collection to access, these are the companies unlocking its value and moving to the next level, where nothing is left to chance.

An integrated digital approach allows them to see all of the dependencies on a construction site and review the project schedule for potential risks.  They can see how a change order might affect the project’s critical path, and re-prioritize accordingly.

Despite this, one in three APAC construction firms without a data strategy say the cost and resourcing required for a data strategy is holding them back.

It’s a bit like trying to save money by skimping on maintenance – any savings you make will be wiped out when something inevitably goes wrong.

Learn more about how Asia-Pacific construction firms are using data to build better in the Autodesk/FMI Harnessing The Data Advantage In Construction report.

DOWNLOAD NOW

The post The True Cost of Not Having a Data Strategy appeared first on Digital Builder.

Picture this: there’s a group of people working on a major presentation and each person is assigned their own section or chapter. Everyone has a general idea of what the presentation is about, so team members decide to tackle their sections separately and plan to get together to combine their work.

But problems arise when the team meets to put together their chapters. While each person did well with their respective assignments, the finished presentation lacks cohesiveness. And because some members were unaware of certain changes and updates, the presentation was filled with inaccurate information.

It’s quite obvious where the team went wrong. Each member was assigned their own “thing” and they ran off to execute without collaborating with each other.

Instead of this approach, the group should’ve synced and communicated more frequently with each other. They should’ve connected their workflows and established a single source of truth, so that everyone was working with the same information.

Doing so would have prevented the headaches of having to edit and reconstruct the presentation.

The above scenario may be a bit simplistic, but it illustrates what could happen if workflows aren’t integrated. This problem is prevalent in the construction industry. Too often, teams suffer from miscommunication, data loss, and mistakes due to a disconnect with their processes and systems.

The key to avoiding all that? Three words: connected construction workflows. 

In this post, we’ll go over the value of integrated workflows in construction and shed light on how you can put them into practice.

What are Connected Workflows?

To understand connected construction workflows, let’s back up a bit and discuss what a workflow is to begin with. According to Gennpact, a workflow “is the definition, execution and automation of business processes where tasks, information or documents are passed from one participant to another for action, according to a set of procedural rules.”

Workflows are used to coordinate tasks between people and keep information and systems in sync. They play a major role in executing tasks and bringing projects to life, which is why it’s important to optimize them.

One way to do that is to implement connected workflows. By keeping workflows integrated, data flows smoothly from one system to the next, thus ensuring smooth collaboration between all stakeholders.

The key attributes of connected workflows are:

Automation: Data and processes are automated. There’s no need for manual entry, and you can rest assured that information is automatically in sync across all your systems.

Integrated: Multiple systems are connected to each other, which means there are no silos or duplication. Teams enjoy a common data environment and are on the same page at all times.

Transparent: Connected workflows provide a single source of truth for data and information, thus supporting trust, transparency, and accountability in the team.

Benefits of Connected Construction Workflows

Now, let’s look at some of the key benefits of having connected construction workflows.

Increased efficiency. According to the Harvard Business Review, knowledge workers spend up to 50% of their time “hunting for data, identifying and correcting errors, and seeking confirmatory sources for data they do not trust.”

That’s a lot of wasted time and effort, and you can avoid all that by keeping your workflows connected. With integrated systems and automatic data flow, team members won’t have to spend time re-entering information, asking for clarification, or hunting down data. Instead, they can focus on execution and complete tasks more efficiently.

Reduced risk. When data entry and other processes are automated, you minimize human error and information loss. Data is kept accurate and secure, and it’s easy to retrieve the information you need to make important project decisions.

Detailed records. Connected workflows automatically capture records of activities, such as when new information is added or if any changes are made. Names, dates, and time stamps are recorded, making it easy to audit projects.

Improved collaboration. When workflows are connected, so are teams. Everyone has access to the same data and are able to communicate effectively, which streamlines collaboration.

Needless to say, more collaborative teams tend to work better. A survey by Salesforce found that 97% of respondents believe that a lack of alignment within teams has a direct impact on a project’s outcome. What’s more, 86% believe that lack of collaboration and ineffective communication lead to workplace failures.

Commonly Disconnected Construction Workflows [and How to Fix Them]

So far we’ve discussed what connected workflows are and the benefits they offer to construction teams. Below we’ll shed light on the construction workflows that are most commonly disconnected, and how to fix them.

Bidding and Qualification

The bidding and qualification process is often disjointed, particularly when it comes to evaluating vendor risk. This is because risk managers are siloed from the estimating department and the information they need (i.e., company data, info on safety, financials, and insurance of subcontractors) live on separate platforms.

All that makes it difficult to analyze and manage risk.

You can fix this by integrating your prequalification and risk management software with your preconstruction software. This ensures that the information required by both estimators and risk managers are accessible through a tightly-integrated system.

When teams can view all the data they need in one place, they can search for subcontractor data, build lists, and assess risk much more quickly.

Preconstruction and Construction

When done manually, bringing preconstruction data (e.g., plans, models, and estimates) to the field is a process that’s fraught with issues like lost data and wasted time. Information can slip through the cracks and as a result, project managers have to grapple with missing files and data.

Unfortunately, most of the tools used to manage these workflows are outdated and aren’t intuitive, so much of the process involves manual and inefficient work.

All that can be solved by integrating your preconstruction software with your construction management solution. By keeping these two systems together, you can ensure that any information created during the preconstruction phase stays intact when handed over to project managers in the field.

Checklist Follow up Actions

Quality and safety checklists often contain a long list of questions. The answers to those questions can either confirm everything is going according to plan or flag a problem that needs immediate attention.

If the checklists have no built in controls to require action depending on the answer to a question, the necessary follow up can be delayed or even completely missed. This can be avoided if teams set up their checklists to leverage controls such as conditional logic. This approach provides the ability to require a specific action depending on a specific answer. 

Forms in Autodesk Build have this advanced capability — based on the answer someone in the field gives to a question, the form can be set up to require an action. For example, you can require the creation of an issue or suggest the attachment of a photo as proof. This way, project teams can ensure that every flagged problem gets addressed as soon as possible.

Issues and RFIs

As project issues come up, it’s necessary to create RFIs and obtain information or clarifications to move the project forward.

The task isn’t very straightforward, though. When the process of surfacing issues is disconnected from RFI creation, data leaks and delays may occur. For instance, if a team member needs to set up an RFI regarding an issue they didn’t create, that RFI may end up missing important details.

To solve this, ensure that your projects management solutions are tightly integrated. Details about all issues should be readily available, so that anyone tasked with creating an RFI can do so without missing anything.

Integrated project management workflows also come in handy when they’re connected to meetings. By linking issues and RFIs to meeting minutes, you can make sure that they’re discussed during your team catch-ups.

And since all the data lives in one place, team attendees will be able to access the right information and engage in productive discussions. BIM 360 Meetings is a great solution for enabling these connected workflows.

“We use BIM 360 Meetings to document everything going on in our meetings. The tool is fluid and meeting-friendly. We can easily share a screen, pull up documents, and adjust a meeting agenda on the fly,” said John Weaver, Project Director at Charles Perry Partners, Inc. (CPPI).

“It’s also great that it’s linked to our project management module. We can easily access submittals and RFIs directly from meeting minutes.”

Change Management and Cost

Inefficiencies around managing and implementing changes in construction projects can diminish your bottom line. When it comes to change management, poor communication and data sharing results in projects being delayed and over-budget, which can wreak havoc on your financials.

It’s important to understand and anticipate how changes would affect a project in order to manage them in the most cost-effective way possible.

One way to accomplish this is to integrate your RFI and potential change order (PCO) workflows. Ideally, any RFI information you have will be synced with the PCO (and vice versa) so the two components have a bi-directional relationship.

This setup saves you time from having to double-handle data. Details like status information are synced and accessible, so stakeholders can always get the latest information.

Ideally, your solution should have user permission features that enable or restrict access to data based on people’s roles. Cost information is sensitive, afterall, and it’s important to keep that data secure.

ssets and Issues and Checklists

Managing and tracking construction assets is essential in any construction project. Having a solid handle on moveable equipment, building materials, and other assets will ensure that the necessary components are installed and projects are delivered successfully.

As such, it’s important to streamline your processes around asset tracking. Arm your teams with construction management technology that has built-in asset tracking features, so stakeholders can view and monitor the lifespan of your assets. The solution should also enable users to store and access any asset-related documentation (e.g., warranty documents, cut-sheets, etc.).

You should connect your asset management workflows to checklists and issues, to streamline quality assurance as well as the commissioning process. When assets and issues are tracked and viewable in one place, it’s a lot easier to conduct inspections and ensure that issues are resolved. Commissioning agents can create checklists and view those items alongside the right information, enabling them to quickly verify that the assets have been delivered.

Bringing Everything Together with Connected Construction Workflows

As the digital age of construction continues to progress, connected construction workflows are going to be more important than ever. These days, it’s simply too expensive and inefficient to wrangle siloed systems and procedures. The pressure to deliver projects efficiently, on-time, and within budget continues to grow, and the best way to keep up is to tighten up your workflows and the technologies that power them.

The post Why Connected Construction Workflows Power Better Building appeared first on Digital Builder.

Construction only grows more complex each passing year, if not each quarter. As these complexities increase and timelines grow tighter, the management of resources becomes increasingly important. Equipment makes up some of the most valuable assets in this category. These items are not only expensive to purchase but also to maintain. Studies show that the maintenance of construction equipment plays a role in about 40% of total project overrun costs

Broken equipment has a domino effect on projects, leading to downtime, additional expenses, and frustrated owners. Putting more effort into planning the management of your equipment and its maintenance can improve project and financial outcomes. 

Fortunately, prioritizing construction equipment management has proven to pay off. Today, we’ll take a look at what successful equipment management looks like and the innovations to make the management process much more efficient. 

What Is Construction Equipment Management?

As you probably guessed, construction equipment management refers to the administration of equipment used on construction projects. At a more detailed level, the practice encompasses the review of the equipment, its costs, and usage. 

Construction managers want to ensure that the cost of the equipment pays off in the long run. Besides the cost of the equipment itself, there are expenses associated with operation, maintenance, usage, and storage. Construction managers study this information alongside upcoming and current projects to inform decision-making. Ultimately, the goal of these decisions is to generate the highest possible ROI. 

Tips for Effective Equipment Management

Your construction equipment management system will vary depending on your needs. However, here are some key tips to making your system a success::

Determine the Right Tracking Workflows

To manage construction equipment successfully, start by establishing the right tracking workflows. This information should be used to drive decisions made by project managers, professional engineers, superintendents, owners, inspectors, etc. 

Basically, you need insights to determine in real time if:

The right equipment has been deliveredThe equipment has been installedThe equipment has been inspectedThe appropriate data has been collected

With the right tracking workflows in place, this information can also be harnessed for more efficient handover and operations. 

Set Up a Preventative Maintenance Program

Next, prioritize maintenance. Preventative maintenance is essential to extending the life of your equipment and avoiding costly repairs. As MacAllister puts it, “Preventive maintenance is more than regular maintenance like lubricating moving parts and changing filters. A proper preventive maintenance (PM) program is all-inclusive. It’s an intentional approach to equipment management from the time equipment is purchased until the end of its useful life.”

PM programs take action before wear and tear lead to major expenses or equipment failure. Through regular inspections, part replacement, testing, and analysis, you can improve the reliability, performance, and resale value of your fleet. 

Create Collaborative Communications Plans for Equipment

Your frontline workers are the ones most likely to identify issues with equipment or delivery. For optimal usage, your team needs to be notified when equipment is on-site, on its way, or if any changes take place. By creating a collaborative communications plan, this information can get in the right hands at the right time. 

The benefits of this type of plan for construction equipment management include:

Proactively addressing damages, repairs, and delaysPreventing people from using inoperable or damaged equipmentFacilitating ordering of parts

Be sure to integrate cloud-based construction technology into your communications plan; that way, you can collaborate with stakeholders in real time and have a single source of information. 

Monitor Your Equipment Smartly

Managing a fleet can make it difficult to know where your equipment is at all times. The same is true for scheduling maintenance across multiple items. IoT sensors can help to reduce the manual nature of monitoring equipment and planning maintenance.

According to Leverege, construction equipment managers can leverage IoT technology to

Track equipment status and utilizationIdentify the location and status of equipment in real timeGet instant notifications when equipment is moved off-siteMonitor engine runtime

Benefits of Successful Construction Equipment Management 

Setting up an equipment management system takes time. You might be wondering, “Is it really worth the effort?”

The answer, of course, depends on the benefits received by the system. You can expect to achieve the following advantages from successful equipment management:

Better visibility into where equipment is located, its status, and how it’s being used.Fewer delays and cost overruns. With real-time information at their fingertips, teams can make quick decisions about how to use equipment. Better safety standards as the equipment is kept up-to-date and maintained.Less downtime as equipment can be used as soon as it’s available. Reduced expenses in the form of costly repairs and project overtime. Cohesive data to help inform decisions about retiring, selling, or upgrading assets. 

The Top Technology for Construction Equipment Management 

As managers look for ways to improve the efficiency of their construction equipment, new innovations are coming to the forefront. Here are some solutions to keep in mind while building your system:

IntelliwaveWith their SiteSense platform, you can manage all of your owned and rented assets in one single location. The software makes it easy to locate, maintain, and track the utilization of equipment.

Atlas RFID from JovixAtlas RFID  is an award-winning Material Readiness application from Jovix. Atlas RFID provides real-time visibility to all stakeholders throughout the supply chain. Employing a combination of web-based server software, mobile devices, and smart RFID tags and barcode labels, Atlas RFID removes impediments to productivity and ensures workers have the materials they need to spend more time on tools.

Milwaukee OneKeyAs the industry’s largest tracking network, ONE-KEY streamlines everything from tool tracking to maintenance planning for Milwaukee tools and products. The solution includes asset ID tagging, equipment trackers, barcode scanning, and geofencing capabilities.

Linxup: Linxup helps you track data points for visibility into your fleet’s location in real time, driver and operator behavior, maintenance, electronic driver logs, and more. Its devices use vehicle power, solar power, or rechargeable batteries to tell you where your assets are, where they’re going, and how they’re getting there. 

TruckIt: TruckIt is a dispatching and electronic ticketing cloud-based platform. The dispatch side gives insights into owned and rented assets for optimal utilization. Its ticketing system automates paper tickets, time sheets, billing, and payments. This data can then be used for material delivery verification, driver performance insights, project yield, and ticket reconciliation.

Enhance Equipment Management Processes

Construction equipment management will help you reduce downtime and delays. In the event that you do encounter some downtime, you can use your time effectively based on the information gathered through your management system. That may look like scheduling maintenance, moving equipment into storage, or swapping out parts. As you refine your system, you’ll discover ways to optimize the processes around construction equipment management. 

For more insights into the construction industry, subscribe to our blog

The post Guide to Construction Equipment Management: Everything You Need to Know appeared first on Digital Builder.

Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.dennis-construction.com/?p=1042

Ensuring safety, quality and cost is not compromised on a critical vaccine production facility

Blue Projects is a highly experienced project management company and a preferred strategic project partner for the world’s leading blue-chip international companies. The complexity of multi-disciplinary projects inspired Blue Projects’ founders to surround themselves with a highly innovative and flexible team of leading professional engineers that shared the same passion and commitment to project excellence. 

Today, the team continues to push the boundaries of project excellence, and has since expanded to operations covering Romania, Poland, Russia, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Germany, Africa and North America.  Providing project and engineering solutions across industry sectors for a number of major global players, their services include construction management; design and engineering; health and safety management; commercial management and production lines relocation. 

“When it came to our project details, we knew that digital construction solutions could play an important role in ensuring communication and collaboration was seamless and smooth given we had to work to such tight timescales.”

As the Covid-19 pandemic swept the world over, there was a collective sigh of relief when national health regulators began approving the use of a number of vaccines which provide immunity against the Coronavirus. The global demand for this vaccine far outstripped supply, and with a worsening picture during the winter months of 2020 and early 2021, it was imperative that the construction of production facilities was stepped up. 

Michal Zajac, Senior Architect and BIM Manager for Blue Projects partnered with their client to support the design and construction ofa vaccine production facility at lightning speed which contributed to the global effort to provide vaccines to the most vulnerable people in our societies. Blue Project’s role was to integrate design solutions, coordinate the project and support the client’s engineering and on-site teams in the construction phase. For Michal and the Blue Projects team, the task at hand was clear but an even bigger challenge lay ahead. 

What can we do to accelerate the construction of this facility without compromising on quality, safety, and cost?

When it came to our project details, we knew that digital construction solutions could play an important role in ensuring communication and collaboration was seamless and smooth given we had to work to such tight timescales,” reflects Michal. For Blue Projects, there were several essential factors that a construction technology solution needed to support them to achieve. These included: coordinating teams across different geographies and timezones, improving the design process to aid collaboration between design and site teams as well as improving communication with supply chain partners. 

Working in a 3D environment on design models to better manage the project, as well as track issues resolution and design changes, was another aspect the team knew needed to be set up correctly from the beginning. “The team had to get this project up and running quickly as the outcomes we were delivering would have a direct impact on the global health crisis so making sure we had the right technology implemented from the beginning of the project was very important,” says Michal. 

“To deliver the production facility quickly, the project was set up with the design and construction phases running in tandem.”

A key requirement of the client on this project was to use Autodesk’s BIM 360 platform as their common data environment to aid communication and improve collaboration between teams as well as work collaboratively on 3D models in a BIM environment. However, the coordination team needed support in implementing these workflows in the most effective and streamlined way that would support real-time collaboration in both the design and construction phase of the project which were running in tandem.  “We worked with the team at Autodesk to connect our design authoring tools like Revit and Navisworks into BIM 360 for maximum impact,” says Michal. “We needed to be able to track progress on any issues or design changes which BIM 360 supported.  But, what was really fantastic is that we could link all of the data we captured in BIM 360 and visualise how it affected our model in Navisworks”, Michal continues. 

Designing and delivering in real-time and at lightning speed

The complexity of the project meant time was of the essence. The design phase was delivered alongside the execution phase due to the need to move swiftly on the production facility. This meant that the design team needed to deliver on an exact project schedule and as accurately as possible so that the designs could be executed immediately. “Delivering to schedule was so crucial as the project was live straight away,” says Michael. “Not only this, when it came to the quality we delivered, we had to ensure that we focused on delivering with complete precision as we could not afford to have any major reworks or defects,” continues Michal. 

To do this effectively, identifying and capturing issues as early as possible in the design phase meant that cost and time savings were realised as the project got underway. “Collaborating across geographies during a global pandemic where teams were working remotely and on-site is a challenge for any project,” says Michal. “But working collaboratively in this way with extremely tight project timescales made it that much more difficult. However, using a common data environment like BIM 360 meant all project collaborators had access to real-time project data from anywhere

Using BIM 360 as the single source of truth for the project team meant that design changes could be communicated amongst project partners quickly through proactive clash and issue detection. “We needed to move at lightning speed on this project as it has such a critical role to play in supporting the Covid-19 crisis. Being able to keep all project team members informed of progress, changes and issues in a timely manner was imperative. As well as this, knowing that everyone was working from a single source of truth allowed us to be confident in decision-making and handing over execution,” affirms Michal. 

“If we had not used BIM 360, we would have needed…thousands more hours to dedicate to manuallyidentifying clash and issues detection to avoid the need for re-work on site.”

When it came to achieving their goals, Blue Projects have been able to deliver not only to their original project schedule, but exactly on time. The design phase of the project was completed earlier than planned schedule based on the experience of similar projects, meaning that Blue Projects not only completed this critical stage of the project earlier than planned, but also gained time to focus on the construction phase and support the teams responsible for installing key production equipment

Over the last eight months, the team have opened nearly 1700 coordination issues to reduce the number of hard clashes that would have happened on site. The team were able to use technology to speed up the time it took to carry out key processes without risking the quality they delivered for their client.   By saving project time as well as resolving a number of project defining errors upfront, the project’s schedule and costs were not adversely impacted at all.  

Michal reflects: “If the solution had not been provided by Blue Projects, we would have needed hundreds and thousands more hours to dedicate to manually identifying clash and issues detection to avoid the need for re-work on site. The team have been able to do this quicker and easier using BIM 360 not only saving valuable project time, but this has also led to reduced project costs in the long term

Collaboration between stakeholders has improved, remote communication practices have been established and working in 3D has been enabled. But vitally, and most importantly of all, a major vaccine production facility has kept to its project schedule meaning much needed vaccines will be able to be produced, delivered, and distributed to countries and individuals who need them most. 

The post Delivering a Major Vaccine Production Facility on Time, Without Compromising Quality appeared first on Digital Builder.

Industry leaders such as APTIM, Barton Malow and Boldt are turning to Autodesk Construction Cloud’s project management and field execution solution to reduce risk, drive efficiencies and boost margins

San Francisco, Calif., July 27, 2021 – Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) today announced that Autodesk Build, the project management and field execution solution of Autodesk Construction Cloud, is now being used on over 8,000 active customer projects across the globe since being made available in February 2021. Construction teams are increasingly turning to Autodesk Build to bolster quality, safety and cost management workflows, and connect project data across the construction lifecycle in a single solution that is easy to deploy, adopt and use. 

Contractors and owners adopting Autodesk Build to connect their project teams, data and workflows include:

APTIM – an industrial construction, engineering and maintenance firm specializing in complex government, oil, gas, chemical and power projectsBarton Malow – a general contractor building commercial, institutional and industrial projects across North AmericaBoldt – a construction management firm building in the healthcare, industrial, commercial, food and beverage and renewable energy markets across the U.S.Burns & McDonnell – an engineering, construction and architecture firm working in the critical infrastructure sectors globallyPolytek – a Belgian construction project management and engineering building complex projects for pharmaceutical and food sector clientsPond – an engineering, architecture, planning and construction firm serving defense, government, corporate and private sector clients worldwideRobson Communities – a residential developer creating master-planned active adult resort communities across the southwestern US region

Autodesk Build unifies best-in-class features from BIM 360 and PlanGrid with powerful new capabilities to deliver a cloud collaboration environment where information sharing and workflows are both tightly-controlled and highly-configurable. The solution features collaborative workspaces for project, cost, quality and safety management, as well as field collaboration and project closeout, and ties them all together in a common data environment. 

With the project management features available in Autodesk Build and its PlanGrid Build app, which is purpose-built for mobile field collaboration, teams can organize and connect on RFIs, submittals, meeting minutes and predictive insights, staying ahead of any issues that could result in project risks. Using the cost management toolset, teams can enhance collaboration with project owners and suppliers by bringing them into the system to review contracts, change orders and payment applications securely, with confidence that any of their sensitive information will be safeguarded.

“Managing information across various technology systems can be counterproductive, leaving our teams and data siloed and ultimately resulting in increased rework, delays and risks,” said Werner Herbots, CEO of Polytek. “To deliver our projects with excellence, it’s essential that we have a powerful construction management platform to stay connected and coordinated. Autodesk Build empowers us to manage all aspects of a project from one single location so our workflows for RFIs, submittals, change orders and other critical processes are all tightly connected, and the team can easily collaborate and track progress.”

“Cost management in Autodesk Build creates transparency by gathering financial activities in a central location to easily track status and see how a change order is progressing and impacting budget,” said Emily Rech, program manager at Pond. “With Autodesk Build, we can remove information silos and drive accountability across project teams.”

Autodesk Build empowers stakeholders across construction teams to stay in sync, enhance collaboration capabilities, mitigate risks and enable data-driven decision making by focusing on:

Single source of truth – Autodesk Build centralizes document management so teams can rely on a single source of truth for the latest project information and manage discussions around potential quality, safety, cost and schedule issues. Users only need one login and project administrators can control permissions for the various team members, trade partners and companies involved. Connected data and teams – Project stakeholders from multiple companies can connect in Autodesk Build for more efficient collaboration, ensuring everyone is in sync to minimize miscommunications and rework, and keep projects moving along schedule. With the ability to store all project data in one place and build integrations, teams can also connect their workflows throughout the lifecycle of a project, from design to operations.  Predictive analytics and insights – Centralized data collection initiates a strong foundation for analytics across all workflows. Stakeholders can gain visibility into project- and operation-level insights that uncover risks, drive efficiencies and further boost profit margins.  

“Bringing the entire project team together in Autodesk Build’s common data environment keeps everyone on the same page to minimize errors and the need for anyone to wonder, ‘Am I getting this right?” said Jim Lynch, senior vice president and general manager, Autodesk Construction Solutions. “Significant adoption for Autodesk Build in the five short months since it’s been available signals that teams across the industry are making strategic technology investments to maximize their ability to deliver high quality projects within budgets and timelines.”

About Autodesk

Autodesk makes software for people who make things. If you’ve ever driven a high-performance car, admired a towering skyscraper, used a smartphone, or watched a great film, chances are you’ve experienced what millions of Autodesk customers are doing with our software. Autodesk gives you the power to make anything. For more information visit autodesk.com or follow @autodesk.

Media Contact

Niyati Desai
Autodesk
[email protected]

Autodesk, the Autodesk logo, Autodesk Construction Cloud, BIM 360, and PlanGrid are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.

© 2021 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

The post Leading Construction Teams are Increasingly Adopting Autodesk Build appeared first on Digital Builder.

The Latest Across Autodesk Construction Cloud Unified Platform, Autodesk Build, Autodesk BIM Collaborate, Autodesk Takeoff, BuildingConnected, BIM 360, and Pype 

With construction’s busiest season in full swing, our product teams have been hard at work—rolling out new features and updates to make Autodesk Construction Cloud even better. We’re thrilled to share more than 40 releases and enhancements across Autodesk Construction Cloud products. 

From enhanced meeting views ensuring critical action items don’t get missed to smarter clash tolerance tools and more, read through for details on the latest product updates for Autodesk Construction Cloud. 

Jump to releases for: 

Autodesk Construction Cloud Unified PlatformAutodesk BuildAutodesk BIM CollaborateAutodesk TakeoffBuildingConnectedBuildingConnected ProTradeTappBIM 360Pype

utodesk Construction Cloud Unified Platform 

*=features on both Autodesk Construction Cloud unified platform & BIM 360

Data Connector | Reviews Data & Document Management Power BI Template* 

Both BIM 360 and Autodesk Construction Cloud platform users can now extract document review data using Data Connector. This release adds to the document management related data extractions, including previously released sheets and transmittal data. This way teams can create custom dashboards in their own BI tools to better optimize document management workflows including driving better review processes. 

Data Connector | Schedule Daily Refresh* 

Both BIM 360 and Autodesk Construction Cloud platform users can now schedule extracts using Data Connector on a daily basis. This allows teams to get new data — refreshed every day — for use in other BI tools to ensure they always have the most up to date information.  

Data Connector | Power BI Connector on EU Servers*

Both BIM 360 and Autodesk Construction Cloud platform users can now use the Power BI Connector in both US and EU accounts. Previously the connector early access was available only for US accounts. 

Reports | Report Automation by Company 

Autodesk Construction Cloud platform users can now automatically generate Issue Summary and Issue Detail reports that are specific to individual companies. Prior to this release there was not an easy way to see an overview list of which companies had open issues. Now project leaders can run issue reports and distribute specific reports to each company to better manage issues and improve resolution rates.  

Reports | Issue Status Summary 

A new Issue Status Summary report is now available in BIM 360 and will be coming out shortly for the Autodesk Construction Cloud platform. This new report highlights a list of issues by company and gives an overview of how many are unresolved, overdue, open, answered, closed, etc. This helps teams get better visibility into issue status for each company and promotes resolution.  

Insights | Additional Partner Cards* 

Several new partner cards have been added to the card library in both BIM 360 and Autodesk Construction Cloud platform. The Box, Progess Center, Aespada, Sitekick, Daqs.io, Join.Build, OneConstruct, AgileHandover, and Novade partner cards will have their own branded card. The following list of partner cards are accessible through copying and pasting links into the generic partnercard; Airtable, Embneusys, Hoyst, OpticVyu Construction Camera, and Quickbase. 

Document Management | Custom Attributes in Project Templates 

Setting up a common data environment on the Autodesk Construction Cloud platform is now easier and faster with the ability to add file custom attributes to project templates. 

utodesk Build 

* = features in both Autodesk Build & BIM 360

** = features in both Autodesk Build & PlanGrid

*** = Autodesk Docs feature (available across all unified products)

**** = features in both Autodesk Build & Autodesk BIM Collaborate

***** = features in Autodesk Build, BIM Collaborate & BIM 360

Cost | Custom Tax Calculations* 

With the new custom tax calculation feature, teams can now easily calculate taxes in all cost processes, such as change orders and payment applications, and display the tax in the generated cost documentation to comply with requirements. 

Handover | As Built Export [coming soon] 

The As Built Export feature in Autodesk Build improves the handover process by giving teams the ability to easily filter, find and export all relevant as built information including Sheets, RFIs, and Submittals, as well as carrying over any links to other related documents — like files or photos. With the elimination of manual processes used in the past, this feature not only speeds up the handover process, but it also improves the accuracy of handover documentation and increases overall client satisfaction.  

ssets Enhancements 

The latest Assets releases for Autodesk Build allows project teams to bring more visibility into their asset workflows to improve decision-making. With these enhancements, teams can standardize asset tracking and commissioning and better understand historical data when it comes to an asset:  

Assets | Submittal Linking Assets | Configuration Data in Project Templates Assets | Activity Log

Meetings | Edit Meeting – General Information on Mobile 

Autodesk Build users can now edit general meeting information on mobile including meeting title, date, time, and location. Additionally, users will be able to change the meeting status from Agenda to Minutes on their iOS or Android devices through the mobile application. 

Meetings | Enhanced Meeting Views**** 

Autodesk Build and BIM Collaborate users now have a new, enhanced view of meetings to help better manage and address critical meeting items. In Project Home, users will have a snapshot of open, ongoing and overdue meeting items assigned for the project as well as to them as an individual. In the Meetings tab, users will have two enhanced views. The Meetings view will group all meetings by series, making it easier to manage and track all relevant meetings. The Items view pulls out items from all meetings and allows users to filter by flagged items, status, assignee, and due date, ensuring that critical action items get addressed and resolved. 

Learn more about Enhanced Meeting Views here. 

Meetings | Create Issue from a Meeting***** 

Autodesk Build and BIM Collaborate users can now create an Issue right from a meeting instance. When adding an Issue as a reference to a meeting item, users will have the option to create an Issue, streamlining the process and ensuring that all issues are addressed. 

Meetings | Reorder Meeting Items & Topics*

Autodesk Build and BIM Collaborate users can now easily reorder meeting items and topics, making it easy to customize and organize all project information within meetings. 

Photo Enhancements 

The latest photo enhancements for Autodesk Build improve efficiency when adding, viewing, linking, and searching for photos:  

Photos | Autotags for Photos [beta] Photos | Photo Viewing Enhancements [coming soon] Photos | Reverse Referencing  

Project Lifecycle | Sheet Sharing Across Accounts 

Autodesk Construction Cloud platform users can how easily share sheets across different accounts. This helps gives teams the ability to share sheets with other external team members, like subcontractors or owners, who need access but are not a part of the main account. Sharing data across the entire project team is a critical part of ISO 19650 compliant workflows, and this release is the start of building out more data and file sharing functionality across the platform.  

RFIs Enhancements 

The latest RFI enhancements for Autodesk Build help to improve visibility to critical project information. With these releases, reduce manual work, improve customization, and enhance company and project data standards: 

RFIs | Custom Fields RFIs | Embed PDFs in RFI Reports RFIs | RFI Settings – View Closed RFIs RFIs | Project Templates 

Submittals | Custom Types 

For each project,Autodesk Build users can now add in custom submittal types or remove the preset types that are not required. This ensures all submittal information is correctly classified. 

Learn more about this month’s product releases specific to Autodesk Build in our blog.

utodesk BIM Collaborate 

**** = features in both Autodesk BIM Collaborate and Autodesk Build

Model Coordination | Clash Tolerance Filter [coming soon] 

BIM/VDC managers, designers, and specialty contractors can now organize their automatically generated clash results with greater control, using the tolerance filter. Set a distance in millimeters or inches to filter out clashes beneath the tolerance value. This easy-to-use filter empowers each user to prioritize major clashes first and refine more as the project progresses.  

Model Coordination | NWC & IFC Support in Automatic Clash Detection [coming soon] 

Support for NWC and additional IFC file exports enables quicker and broader automatic clash detection in model coordination. 

Meetings | Enhanced Meeting Views****

Autodesk Build and BIM Collaborate user now have a new, enhanced view of meetings to help better manage and address critical meeting items. In the Meetings tab, users will have two enhanced views. The Meetings view will group all meetings by series, making it easier to manage and track all relevant meetings. The Items view pulls out items from all meetings and allows users to filter by flagged items, status, assignee, and due date, ensuring that critical action items get addressed and resolved. 

Learn more about Enhanced Meeting Views here. 

utodesk Takeoff 

2D Takeoff Enhancements 

Autodesk Takeoff users can now rotate and mirror takeoffs as well as resize takeoff markers

Read Only API [coming soon] 

In order to enable our customers to integrate their internal workflows with quantities in Autodesk Takeoff, we are enabling authenticated access to the Autodesk Takeoff inventory as read-only data through API. 

Publish Revit Models to Sheets and Models From Files [coming soon]  

Autodesk Takeoff customers will be able to publish Revit models directly to the Sheets and Models area in Autodesk Takeoff from Autodesk Docs. This creates a more streamlined process. 

BuildingConnected 

BuildingConnected Pro 

Builders Network | Suggested Edits Improvements 

BuildingConnected users that “suggest an edit” to another user’s profile can (1) see the status of the suggested edit (whether confirmed or declined) and (2) see or use the suggested edit throughout parts of the platform while the status is pending. This adds a layer of transparency and continues to showcase the power of the crowdsourced Builders Network.

TradeTapp 

Exportable Blank Questionnaire 

Whether a qualification questionnaire needs to be internally reviewed, a risk manager needs to guide a sub through a specific question on their custom form, or a trade partner needs a reference for document preparation — blank versions of all questionnaires in your TradeTapp account are now readily available to you anytime. Simply select the one you want, and export it to your computer. 

Custom Email Templates 

When communicating with subcontractors in TradeTapp, you can now use pre-built email templates to save you time. Create and store as many templates as you’d like in your TradeTapp account and easily access them when you need them. 

BIM 360 

dmin Console | Limit Company Creation to Account Admins 

BIM 360 users now have the option to limit the ability to create new companies to just account admins. This will eliminate the accidental creation or duplication of companies and standardize the company directory so that it is consistent and easier to manage.  

Reports | Document Log – Adding Approval Status 

BIM 360 users will now see a new field for ‘approval status’ within the Document Log report. This will help teams quickly understand what phase each document is at in the review cycle and quickly take action to push any delayed reviews forward. 

BIM 360 Design Collaboration | Watch Groups 

Design and construction teams can now monitor changes to elements of a Revit model most important to them by creating “Watch Groups” in the Change Analysis tool. Teams are automatically notified when items in watch groups change throughout the project. 

This workflow enables users, especially project leads and designers, to stay informed on the most critical items they need to keep an eye on, saving time by eliminating tedious manual model queries and helping teams work smarter. Teams can also track unexpected changes within watch groups, helping to reduce risk and improve model quality overall. 

Pype 

utoSpecs | Autodesk Build Integration 

Pype AutoSpecs brings efficiency, automation, and accuracy to the submittal process by automatically generating your submittal log. And now, with the Autodesk Build integration, teams can further streamline the submittal process by seamlessly transferring data from AutoSpecs directly into Autodesk Build for submittal management. Be more effective and efficient with AutoSpecs, an Autodesk Build integration. 

Learn more about AutoSpecs here.

Stay in the Know for More Autodesk Construction Cloud Product Updates  

The post 40+ New Product Updates for Autodesk Construction Cloud  appeared first on Digital Builder.

The phrase ‘construction data analytics’ may be enough to make your eyes glaze over. But every day on construction sites, teams are coordinating hundreds of subcontractors, managing thousands of open issues, and navigating constant onsite changes. As construction projects continue to grow in complexity, teams need the right insights to minimize risk and improve quality and safety initiatives.  

Furthermore, the digitization of construction processes and the use of mobile devices on jobsites means more data is being captured than ever before. But 95% of that data is going unused by construction and engineering firms, according to FMI.  

Data analytics are no longer a nice to have – they are essential to providing the right insights to improve quality and reduce risk. When teams are equipped with the right information and data, they can improve decision making and project outcomes. It’s the reason we built powerful data analytics capabilities into our Insight product for both Autodesk Construction Cloud unified platform and BIM 360.  

Let’s explore four capabilities within Insight that empowers teams to leverage insights to minimize risks.  

1. Dashboards

Within Insight, anyone on the project can view a summary of critical and actionable information through preset and customizable dashboards. These dashboards can be easily configured by adding or removing cards from the Card Library including third party partner cards, as well as dragging and dropping cards to customize views. Additionally, users can share any custom dashboards with other team members based on role, company, or specific users.  

Dashboards are created on both a project and cross project level. From within a project, you can see present dashboards for Quality, Safety, Project Controls, Design, and Risk (if your project leverages Construction IQ).  

From the Executive Overview view within Insight, executives can view cross project dashboards to make more informed business decisions and gain visibility into overall risk assessment. Through these dashboards, executives can view risk levels of individual projects by location as well as drill down to see patterns of risk over time. By analyzing patterns, executives can optimize processes across similar projects.   

These dashboards allow you to easily visualize project progress and determine which areas of the project may need the most attention.  

“The ability to identify risks across projects enables us to prioritize opportunities for improvement and reduce risk to future projects.” – Anthony Colonna, Senior Vice President, Skanska

2. Reports

Reporting is a necessary but often time-consuming project activity. Within Insight, we aim to make reporting easier. By having a centralized place to create, schedule, and share reports, teams save a lot of time and always know where to find the most current information.  

Within the Reports tool you will find a series of reporting options including Issue, RFI, and Submittal summary and detail reports. Reports are easily customizable and can be grouped by or filtered to fit your specific needs. Finally, these reports can be scheduled on a reoccurring basis and shared with other team members based on user, company, or role.    

“The reporting and dashboarding features in Construction IQ provide clear and concise feedback on the various project critical data streams. This information enables our project management teams to make the right decisions more rapidly and effectively,” says Michael Murphy, Digital Construction Operations Manager at BAM Ireland. “With these features, we’re having less reactive conversations with more emphasis on KPIs that can drive continual improvement. The simple visualization of the challenge or the issue alone helps us bring that focus.” 

3. Data Connector

Through a single click, Data Connector allows teams to quickly extract project data from both the Autodesk Construction Cloud platform or BIM 360 for customized use in other robust business intelligence tools. You can also easily schedule extractions and sync them directly to Power BI through the Power BI Connector. And to make this a full circle connection, you can even use the Power BI partner card to then view those Power BI dashboards directly within an Insight dashboard and share it with the rest of the project team.  

We also created easy to set up Power BI templates so that you can quickly start leveraging your data and customizing dashboards to see exactly what you want.  

The Data Connector saves teams time and money by giving them a tool to extract data without needing expensive APIs or custom coding in addition to improving data visualizations to inform better business decisions. 

4. Construction IQ

Construction IQ is a machine learning based capability that delivers risk analysis of quality, safety, design, and project controls data from both Autodesk Construction Cloud platform and BIM 360 projects. Construction IQ moves beyond the traditional concept of static data and takes prediction to the next level with assistive, action-based intelligence. The capability allows users to: 

Better manage project risk and outcomes by identifying high risk issues that have the potential to impact cost, schedule, quality, and safety Evaluate subcontractor performance and predict potential risks on a day-to-day basis and for future projects Help project leaders understand high risk quality problems and actions to mitigate that risk Help design teams identify issues that are at higher risk to turn into costly RFIs downstream during construction Give project leaders visibility into RFI risk to prioritize and manage RFIs that could add significant cost and schedule impacts Help safety managers understand leading indicators to potential behavioral and environmental hazards and take proactive measure before incidents happen Help construction executives identify risks across projects and proactively improve project outcomes 

Most importantly, you do not have to do any extra work to get the benefit of Construction IQ. All data captured during construction is continuously and automatically analyzed. 

Power Project Success with Better Construction Data Analytics 

Get more out of your project data with Insight for the Autodesk Construction Cloud platform and BIM 360. Learn more here

The post How to Manage Project Risk with Construction Data Analytics  appeared first on Digital Builder.

Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.dennis-construction.com/?p=940