The compliance requirements for American construction companies, especially around contracts, are undergoing massive changes with new regulations. In Florida alone, out of 18 bills impacting the construction industry, 9 became laws between April and October 2023. This is an indicator of how quickly the landscape is changing and the penalties for non-compliance with these can be.
Given the changing climate and the complex compliance requirements construction businesses are expected to meet, one of the crucial pillars is construction document management. Construction documents can include Construction Agreements, Work Order, Bidding Documents, Scope of Work, Specifications, Bills of Quantities and several more. But, what is undeniable is that there are plenty of them, many of which can have multiple versions. The room for chaos is aplenty and the cost of chaos is significant. To ensure not getting caught in this vortex, businesses need an effective way to manage documents.
A software that regulates the flow of documents for managing construction projects and its operations is known as Construction Document Management software. In addition to helping businesses go paperless, it also helps them drive better collaboration among stakeholders including - contractors, project managers, vendors, suppliers and more. By enabling seamless access to all relevant documents at all times, depending on the nature and need for each job type and role type, it is a foolproof way to ensure security and compliance.
When there are many stakeholders - contractors, sub-contractors, designers, project managers, to name a few, involved in different stages, the only way to get them all on the same page is through documentation. Considering the sheer number of people involved, versioning and making sure everyone is aligned with the latest changes and inputs to these documents is possible only when a construction document management software is in place. This establishes a single source of truth that is readily available for all stakeholders at all points of time to enable them make decisions and carry out their bit in the flow of operations.
Construction projects are complex by nature. However, when the chaos of poor document management is added to the mix, it is the beginning of the end. These lapses tend to have a cumulative effect on overall processes, operations and in many cases, the ultimate price to pay being the non-compliance penalties which can range from a few hundreds to a few millions of USD. Maintaining clean documentation helps find a trail of events and get to the root of a problem faster. This enables timely corrective action which saves not just adherence to an original vision but also saves trouble due to the cascading effect these lapses can have and lead to a major non-compliance situation.
When a large-scale operation is involved, there is a high chance that the roles would remain constant but occasionally, the people in those roles may change. In that case, effective document management can facilitate a smooth interim takeover of operations between people without impacting continuity. Here is exactly where some standards such as This is crucial because a lack of this can result in too much dependency on an individual and that itself can become a weak link, sometimes becoming a single point of failure.
In mid to large scale projects, there are multiple stakeholders that predominantly include project managers, contractors, vendors, suppliers, designers, site workers, accounting staff. To drive seamless collaboration across these departments and relevant stakeholders, a centralized construction document management system can be greatly helpful.
There are several types of documents specific to certain established key areas, many of which are highly regulated. Different processes and checks need to be carried from time to time to ensure these requirements are met. Some of these areas include health and safety standards, environmental protection, federal labor laws etc. all of which need to be handled in an organized and structured way. WIth a good construction document management system in place, businesses are better positioned to navigate these elaborate yet inevitable constraints without spending too much time on it.
One of the primary challenges that have perennially stayed for construction businesses is the constant quest to reduce costs. While some costs such as material costs etc. depend on market conditions, some other costs are controllable such as resource costs. Proper documentation of work plans and job allocation can ensure efficient use of available resources. This can help avoid situations such as ad-hoc provisioning and its associated surge in costs from the initial projections. Structured and organized documentation helps in identifying the risk of such inefficient practices that can have budgetary impact, leading to preemptive action. As a result, overall resource management can be improved.
One of the common reasons for chaos and general hiccups in smooth flow of operations is documents stuck for approvals at different stages. When one dives deeper into it, it turns into a wild goose chase often becoming difficult to identify how many things are stuck at how many points. WIth a centralized document management software, it is possible to view approval workflows and identify these gaps in much shorter time. With this, a shorter approval time can be achieved and operations can be carried out without hassles.
Stakeholders need the right and relevant information to plan their day, week or different phases of the project that they are a part of. When there are changes to the brief or some change in plans, communicating them in real-time and ensuring that relevant information is available for key stakeholders in a timely fashion is essential. This transparency keeps chaos, errors, deviations from the plan and associated complexities away. A centralized construction document management software ensures that critical and relevant information is available to the right stakeholders to enable them to do their jobs in time.
A lack of a defined structure leads to each one having their own ways of maintaining documentation. Some of these tools can be insecure and put critical information to risky exposure. With increasing cyberthreats and data
breaches, this can quickly escalate into a nightmare for IT and data teams, not to mention, the loss of brand equity and bad press. The good news is that it is avoidable by using construction document management software. By mandating a tool, the organization can ensure better security of sensitive information and uphold the integrity of data. A good software has built-in encryption and enhanced layers of security to mitigate these risks and protect data.
From time to time, a top level view of the landscape of documents can become necessary. This is specially relevant during times like compliance audits and checks. At those times, a centralized view of all documents through a construction document management software - typically an admin view - can save hours and hours of last-minute sifting through piles of documents. This keeps the process clean, paves way for a more productive, well-managed and transparent organization.
Over a period of time, the documentation trail can be a good way to measure the effectiveness of the several moving parts involved in a construction management project. It can be a good way to substantiate with data some key factors that are critical to business. It serves as a barometer to measure internal productivity, cooperation and support from contractors, the efficiency of job site workers and also identify areas of leaky buckets leading to cost impact. This can help address gaps wherever applicable and drive favorable decisions continuously improving the efficiency of the organization.
In today’s dynamic landscape of changing compliance laws, regulatory pressures and the whooping penalties for non-compliance, the best way to uphold high standards of compliance is through effective document management. Establishing standards and tools needed to facilitate smooth flow of documents across the entire ecosystem should be the key priority of every business in the construction industry. With this, one can ensure there is no room for non-compliance and in addition, a host of productivity and efficiency-related benefits are awaiting to be unlocked.
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