In this eBook from Newforma, learn how to optimise workflows and implement project information management to enhance communication efficiency and reduce expenses through digital construction.
Welcome to Digital Construction: A guide to optimising information workflows and reducing project costs
Collaboration is more than a buzzword in the construction industry: no project is completed
alone, and AECO firms recognise that successful project delivery is heavily impacted by stakeholders’ ability to work together.
However, some may argue that collaboration is getting in the way of our ability to get things done.
The Work Innovation Lab report “An Executive’s Guide to High-value Collaboration” found that “29% of leaders say the expectations placed on their workers to collaborate—whether in meetings or with countless collaborative apps—prevent employees from getting their work done.”
So, if collaboration is necessary, but also driving a wedge between project teams and consequently increasing project costs, then maybe it’s time to rethink how we collaborate.
In Newforma’s experience, it’s not necessarily the lack of collaboration that is the issue, but the lack of focus and meaningful communication that results in wasted time, extra costs and frustration.
For construction projects, it is common for collaboration to take the form of a meeting. And there are lots of them. Today, they often occur through Zoom or TEAMS calls, where it’s easy to be distracted with other things, like checking emails.
And when everyone has more to do in a day than the hours available, it’s understandable that they may not dedicate 100% of their attention to the issues at hand.
Meetings also tend to include all stakeholders, regardless of what’s on the agenda: the MEP engineer may have to wait through thirty minutes of discussion on structural issues before their issues with the pipes are addressed. To try and improve collaboration, stakeholder teams will hold multiple meetings to try and get everyone on the same page, but that comes at a cost.
Most attendees are on billable hours, meaning that their participation may not be the most cost-effective way to share information.
So how does one improve communication and coordination without sacrificing money and
project quality?
Rethinking collaboration, and reducing the many costs associated with suboptimal stakeholder communication, is about examining how people are working together to share, communicate, and make decisions throughout the project lifecycle.
Although collaboration between stakeholders is critical to project success, understanding where collaboration bottlenecks are occurring can help teams focus on the root cause of the problem.
This will enable teams to prioritise and focus their communications to make better use of time and resources, thereby reducing project costs and limiting the possibility of human error.
As we rethink our collaboration strategy, reconsidering the systems we are using for
communication is an essential step in ensuring optimal communication streams in project
workflows. We have evolved from hardcopy correspondence to email, but we are a bit stuck
in the email rut. Thankfully, we’ve found ways to “speed up” response time with real-time
communication within key project workflows using shared project data thanks to the cloud.
This guidebook examines the biggest challenges in optimising project workflows by highlighting exactly where communication bottlenecks tend to occur within key points in the project lifecycle, with the end game of greatly improving project delivery and increasing profitability using project information management (PIM).
Challenges in project performance: collaboration & coordination
Collaboration challenges in construction projects can arise from various factors, including the project’s complexity, involvement of multiple stakeholders, differing expectations, interests, and priorities.
The stumbling blocks to collaboration are often due to lack of communication and difficulties in sharing information.
Common challenges include determining what information needs to be shared, with whom, when, and how. However, communication barriers are often related to risk mitigation, as firms have been reluctant to share too much information out of fear of liability and litigation.
Yet duplication of effort, delays in receiving information, and unclear communication lead to confusion or misinterpretation and may pose more risk for the project, leaving you open to even more costs.
The Covid-19 pandemic forced most firms to figure out how to collaborate remotely inside the firm, but multi-firm collaboration remains a challenge. These complex construction workflows are hampered by manual tasks related to document control and inefficiencies introduced through exchanges of information via email and disparate software applications.
Newforma’s study, “Finding Common Ground: The Future of Project Information Management,” found that collaboration issues manifest in several different ways.
Human error was cited by many survey respondents as the biggest challenge to effective collaboration. Inconsistent or manual workflow processes, overburdened staff, etc., are consistently listed as one of the greatest challenges across architects, engineers, and contractors. Project information left unsynchronised across systems was also
cited by more than a quarter of respondents.
We examined the project workflows that require the most coordination and communication across multi-company teams. We then looked at how these workflows could be optimised to simplify the flow of project information, improve coordination efforts, and increase transparency for all project stakeholders.
There will always be the need for meetings, but there is an opportunity to collaborate in a more efficient and far more cost-effective way to reduce human error.
Design development and construction: document review workflows
There are multiple collaboration and coordination points throughout the design development (DD) and construction documents (CD) review processes.
These workflows have a major impact further downstream in the construction lifecycle.
Issues found during the construction phase usually result in RFIs, rework, and change orders that have a significant impact on the project schedule and budget.
The number of stakeholders involved in the DD review is dependent on the project delivery method chosen (design-bid-build, design-build, CMAR, etc.), and the phase of the project.
For example, with design-build projects, the construction team is involved in the review, which increases the number of participants.
Design-build projects also generate more feedback up front in the project. Because of a compressed project schedule with design-build, design issues typically require faster turnaround and resolution.
The various methods for communication and collaboration for design and construction document reviews can introduce several communication bottlenecks.
Establishing constructability: communication bottlenecks during design review (DD & CD)
Design reviews are complicated. The architect is typically the “hub” of communication and is responsible for coordinating reviews, gathering feedback, gaining consensus, and updating the design documents.
Workflows include regularly scheduled meetings, where key stakeholders, including architects, clients, consultants, and relevant team members, gather (usually virtually) to discuss the project’s design progress.
There is also communication through text messages, phone calls, emails, markup sessions,
and various modeling and clash detection software applications.
Because various communication channels are used to collect and manage feedback during the review process, it is possible for some communications to be missed or overlooked.
For example, an engineer may use a markup tool to indicate a required design change, however, if the engineer does not send an email out indicating that a change is in the markup tool, others will be unaware that the change is waiting for review.
In addition, current project communication channels often lack transparency where it’s unclear who is responsible for what, resulting in the status of issues not being communicated until the next meeting.
Lack of transparency not only introduces delays in the review process but also can lead to duplication of effort, which can further erode trust across project stakeholders.
Exchanging model and design documents between multi-company stakeholders
Improper document control is one of the biggest impediments to optimal collaboration during design development and construction document reviews.
Deciding which documents are shared, how they are shared, and how comments and changes to the design are managed and coordinated across stakeholders
are the foundation of any successful project.
The advancement of Building Information Modeling (BIM) has increased the number of digital assets.
However, sharing of these assets, including BIM files, is still contentious. AIA has recognised this, and as stated in the 2022 AIA Digital Practice Documents Guide, edits to BIM documents are intended to address concerns related to risk by attempting to get parties to agree on setting expectations on how model data is shared and used early in the project lifecycle.
The AIA, through exhibit 201-2022, also enables project participants to “enumerate model versions as Contract Documents”.
However, it is still a frequent practice for architects to share 2D drawings per their contractual requirements.
If files are shared, they may be in several different formats (DWG, RVT, PDF, etc.), transferred via several different channels including email and FTP.
For this reason, open file formats such as Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) are preferred for model.
It is common for the contractor team to “re-create” the model for clash detection purposes in their own modeling software, using the documents that were supplied if they are planning to use BIM during the construction phase.
Contractors working from static 2D drawings also run the risk of working from outdated information, making the need for proper project management software crucial in this modern setting.
Popular software tools for model collaboration enable synchronisation of models between systems, however, given limitations regarding software licensing costs and ease of use, these types of software platforms are not widely used.
In Newforma’s study, “Finding Common Ground: The Future of Project Information Management”, the primary way design-related documents are sent to contractors is through file transfer software.
It further exposes why firms have been turning to project information management software to help them track and share all the file transfers between parties.
