Amanda Reichert, ASITE Solutions LTD

I have worked with construction companies for the better part of the last seven years. One thing I’ve learned during this time is that collaboration is a necessary element to the successful delivery of construction projects due to the increasing complexity. Large or small, project participants still need to communicate with one another. Years ago email was the primary method of communication. Then there was a boom of companies using FTP sites for the exchange of information while tracking the in/out of important contract driven documents on spreadsheets. Over the past seven years, companies have embraced the “cloud” as the primary means for storing, sharing and exchanging information.

So why is this important?

From personal experience and from working with hundreds of companies, you learn a little bit about a lot. One of those lessons is information hoarding. No one wants to believe their employees aren’t willing to share information, yet it happens more than we think. What results is an unproductive waste of time duplicating work because others don’t know it already exists. This presents further problems when an employee leaves an organization and no one knows the information exists and is further complicated if they know it exists but can’t find it.

The most common challenges I hear from prospective clients is around standards for data management, security, ease of sharing documents/information and how to access the information if the need arises years down the line. This challenge isn’t limited to construction; it spans every industry and market segment I’ve ever met with. With the biggest need being a secure, central location where documents are stored and easily accessible by employees and external project participants. A few examples of documents on construction projects that require access by multiple participant/participant organizations (it’s not uncommon on projects to have hundreds if not thousands of participants who need access to the same information; architect, engineer, consultant, contractor, construction manager, owner/developer, subcontractors, fabricators, and this is just a few) are plans for the project, permits, contracts, drawings, specifications, submittals, RFI’s (requests for information), change orders and of course a final set of drawings called an “as-built” which is an accurate set of documents and drawings based not on the initial plans but on the final product (as it was built).

Have you ever heard the term CDE or “common data environment?” No? That’s okay. A common data environment provides a single source for the storage and sharing of information. It’s commonly referred to as a “single source of truth,” because a project will mandate all participants to utilize it for the exchange of documents and information. This establishes the standards for the exchange of data. A really good CDE provides a collaborative element with a few key components; security so your information is only accessible to those granted explicit permission, discussion threads with document reference and mark-up capabilities and version control. Other great features provide the ability to create workflows for the kick-off of reviews to a team of people; whether internal or external, automatic notifications of action and overdue items, and the ability to easily go back in history to see who and when a document was accessed and what was done with it.

When people are able to effectively collaborate, it drives better, faster decisions, providing balance and confidence with stakeholders. A single source of truth eliminates information hoarding, providing one location where documents and decisions can be held collectively; eliminating the need for costly re-work and lost productivity due to misplaced documents and decisions. It also improves the confidence and trust between project participants.

Amanda Reichert is the North American business development manager at ASITE Solutions LTD, New York, N.Y.