insights - Bluebeam

INSIGHTS
®
Managing Documents Through the Life of a Project Using Bluebeam® PDF Revu®
By Chad Dorgan, P.E., Ph.D., LEED AP, Vice President Quality and Sustainability, McCarthy Building
Companies, Inc.
One of the biggest challenges of any construction project is the management of the immense number of
documents that are created, processed and managed throughout the project. After originally using
Bluebeam PDF Revu, a PDF editor, for improving how we managed the submittal process (verification
that proposed construction meets design intent), we realized a much greater opportunity to manage
documents electronically throughout the project with this software application. In this white paper, we
identify the relevant processes in which documents can be managed much more effectively using
Bluebeam, how to improve the management of these documents, and the benefits of changing how you
manage your documents.
Process Overview
When you look at a typical project timeline (see Figure 1), from the contractor’s perspective, the
management of documents starts upon the receipt of the request for proposal from the client and
continues through providing the owner with operations and maintenance documentation. In between
there may be proposal presentation, constructability review, design issue management, site logistics
planning, submittal reviews, document version control, document navigation augmentation, progress
and schedule documentation, change management, requests for information, and punchlists.
Preconstruction
Management
Punchlists
Construction
Management
Proposal Response
Operations and
Maintenance Manuals
Figure 1: Key Project Document Timeline
For each of these key document processes, there are challenges in managing the documents:
• Proposal Response – for many projects, the original request for proposals is composed of many
documents, ranging from the actual request to design documents, background information,
contracts, and specifications. These documents can easily fill a conference room table several
layers thick in no time. In addition to the massive volume of documents, it becomes further
complicated when the owner sends out addendums to the original request – these are not new
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documents, but replacements to parts scattered throughout the request for proposal
documents.
• Preconstruction Management – for a contractor, preconstruction can range from providing
constructability input to a design team all the way to managing the design team in a designbuild-type project. Regardless of the project type, a significant volume of comments is created
by all parties during preconstruction − with the challenge of not just identifying and
communicating issues, but also making sure that the issues are properly addressed and
resolved.
• Construction Management – similar to preconstruction management, there is an immense
number of documents created to identify and resolve issues, along with obtaining approval of
construction activities. Two critical documents are submittals and requests for information,
where the contractor is asking for feedback from the design team on what they are proposing to
use or is answering a question.
• Punchlists – the final turnover of the project to an owner requires that the contractor, design
team and owner review the as-constructed work and accept it. During this punchlist process,
numerous items that do not meet the contract requirements are identified and must then be
addressed by the contractor and subcontractors, not to mention documenting their resolution
and final acceptance by the owner and design team.
• Operations and Maintenance Manuals – throughout the construction process, critical
documents are collected that are needed for the owner’s operations and maintenance
personnel so they can properly do their jobs. Going beyond providing the documents, it is
critical to enable quick access to the documents by the operations and maintenance personnel
when they need them.
While numerous systems are used to overcome these document challenges, the features and
functionality of Bluebeam have allowed McCarthy to gain significant efficiencies, including leveraging of
our own internal systems. The following sections expand upon how Bluebeam can be utilized in each
phase of a project.
Proposal Response
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Prior to Bluebeam, the typical approach to managing the creation of a proposal required sending copies
of the request for proposal and supporting documents, not to mention all subsequent changes to
request, to each involved party – the contractor, design team (for design-build projects), subcontractors
and consultants. Beyond the expense required to do this, it made accessing the material difficult for the
project team, and there was no way to get team members oriented to the documents and what each
individual had to do.
With Bluebeam, this all changes as the entire proposal team can access the same documents
electronically in PDF, can quickly search and navigate through all the documents, and can assemble the
response directly from the request for proposal. See a general proposal document workflow diagram in
Figure 2.
Figure 2: A Request For Proposal Document Flow
The following highlights the key activities and how Bluebeam is used to make it all work.
• Request for Proposal Receipt – upon receiving the original request for proposal, a paper copy is
converted into a PDF. The PDF files are then organized under a standard file structure. Next is
where the power of Bluebeam happens. The documents are reviewed by key staff members and
electronically linked using hyperlinks, headings and a master table of contents. This includes the
linking of references in drawings, specifications and the actual request for proposal.
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• Issue Identification and Tracking – a critical aspect of responding to a request for proposal is to
identify and track critical items the owner is asking for and ensuring these get adequately
addressed in the final proposal. This is accomplished by the proposal team using Bluebeam’s
Markups list, which tracks all comments in a PDF including the page of the markup, the markup
author, the date the markup was made and additional information entered into custom
columns. This means that as the documents are reviewed and a critical item is identified and
redlined in the request for proposal, the team uses the Markups list feature to flag the issue.
This creates a database that allows assignment of the issue to an individual and ensures that the
team adequately responds to the issue in its proposal.
• Slipsheet Request for Proposal Changes – it is inevitable on almost all projects that changes to
the original request for proposals arise and have to be addressed. This can range from a couple
of pages to a near replacement of the original request for proposal. In the old paper system,
each individual would have to figure out what is old and what is new and hope they replaced the
right items. Using the Replace Pages feature of Bluebeam, we are able to keep the original
document intact, but insert the changes one page at a time. This allows everyone to be able to
access the most current documents as well as be able to quickly identify what has been
changed.
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INSIGHTS that buildSM
An additional benefit is that Bluebeam provides an option for replacing the underlying PDF
content only, while keep existing markups and hyperlinks intact. Therefore, if a critical item was
identified in the original using the markup feature, it is not lost and can be easily updated based
on the changes in the request for proposal.
• Proposal Creation – during the creation of the proposal, it is common to take excerpts and
diagrams from the original request for proposal and use them to highlight how the project will
actually be executed by the contractor. This also includes highlighting the critical issues through
highlighting, marking up, and even modifying documents.
Bluebeam is used to streamline this process and create the supporting materials for the
proposal. By using Bluebeam, you can clearly document how each critical item identified and
tracked through the Markups list was addressed. The benefit is that senior level reviewers of the
proposal can quickly see what the issue is and how it is being addressed. In addition, this issue
resolution documentation can be used as part of the proposal presentation meeting to help the
team understand not just “what” is being proposed, but “why”.
Design Management
From the contractor’s perspective, accomplishing constructability reviews is the best way to improve the
final design. Unfortunately, the current process is very labor intensive and results in limited changes to
the design, resulting in significantly greater work during construction for both the designers and
contractors through the request for information and change order processes.
To streamline the constructability review process, Bluebeam provides the platform to identify,
document, track and, ultimately, resolve issues. The following highlights the key activities and how
Bluebeam is used to make it all work.
• Constructability Review – upon receiving the design documents from the design team (design,
specifications and supporting documents), we review PDF copies of the documents and insert
hyperlinks for critical items. This typically includes the drawing index, detail references, sections,
and specification references. Doing this provides the entire construction team with a better way
to interface with the documents and quickly navigate through the documents without having to
hunt for each detail – it is done only once.
Further, by having electronic documents, the actual constructability review can be done using
such tools as interactive white boards and even digital meetings. This enables better
collaboration by the construction team and ultimately better feedback to the design team.
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• Issue Tracking – by using the Markups list feature of Bluebeam, each issue identified by the
construction team is captured, organized and assigned to an individual to resolve. The benefit is
that all of the comments are captured as the review is being done and can be sent to the design
team throughout the review process. In addition, the construction team no longer has to create
a big report that has cryptic references to drawings or specification sections. Each comment is
linked right to the actual issue that has been marked up with detailed comments added, and the
design team can see exactly what the concern is. In addition, the design team can insert its
response directly into the issue, providing a history of the resolution – not to mention that the
contractor can track unresolved issues.
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• New Designs – as the design progresses, the new design can be slipsheeted into the old using
the Replace Page feature. This allows for the contractor to maintain the history of the design as
well as how their comments were addressed and resolved. This holds the entire team
accountable to follow up on the issue, providing the actual construction personnel in the field
with a better understanding of any unresolved issues.
Construction Management
Once construction starts, there is an immense amount of paperwork generated to get the project built.
As there are many great project management systems available that already do a great job at submittal
and request for information processing, the question often asked is why even consider Bluebeam when
you already have your tools for this? The answer to that question is simple: The current project
management systems focus on the processing and documentation of the paperwork, and Bluebeam
adds the functionality of marking up and versioning of items.
The following highlights how Bluebeam is used to enhance submittal reviews and request for
information processing.
• Project Management System Integration – after reviewing McCarthy’s Teamsight™ Project
Management System, a critical feature lacking was the collaborative functionality around
processing of submittals and requests for information. Therefore, instead of going to a thirdparty solution, we integrated Bluebeam into Teamsight™. This has provided our people,
subcontractors, design team and owners the enhanced functionality of Bluebeam without
having to learn a new process or system.
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• Submittal Review – each submittal review requires comparing what the subcontractor is doing
with what is required by the contract requirements. For any issue, the submittal needs to be
marked up and sent back to the subcontractor for comment. By using Bluebeam’s markup
features and versioning, we are able to easily provide these comments and track the changes
made by the subcontractor. In addition, we are also able to quickly link to the master design
documents or shop drawings to simplify the design team’s review process by giving them a
direct link between the submittal and the specification section/drawing page.
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• Requests for Information – each request for information is created because the contractor or
subcontractor does not understand the intent of the design team. This often requires
referencing the design documents and providing a narrative on the question or comment.
Bluebeam is used to highlight or capture snapshots of the area of the design document in
question as well as provide recommended solutions. The benefit of this approach is that once
the design team responds, the solution can be directly linked to the design documents, thus
easily maintaining a master set of documents all can rely on.
Punchlists
The number of punchlist items on a typical project can easily be several thousand, reaching up to tens of
thousands for complex projects. Identifying, tracking and resolving each of these becomes very timeconsuming, ultimately impacting the entire project team. Bluebeam’s custom punch tool sets, a library
of symbols representing common punch items, and Markups list feature enable the entire project team
to use the same source PDFs to track each punchlist item while interfacing graphically through the
project plans.
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The following highlights the key activities and how Bluebeam is used to make it all work.
• Documenting – documenting each punchlist item using Bluebeam is as simple as opening the
drawing, highlighting an area or item, and entering the narrative; or simpler yet, dragging and
dropping a preformatted punchlist item from a library of standard issues. Bluebeam then enters
the item into the Markups list, a database that can be exported for further processing and
distribution. By using Bluebeam, the individual doing the punchlist can add notes, markup the
drawing, and even attach a picture showing the as-built condition. This feature significantly
reduces the number of punchlist items created by the design team and owner. We are able to
get away from what they thought they were going to get to what the design actually said they
will get.
• Resolving – once the punchlists have been completed – this could be for an area, the project, a
day, or any other portion − the Bluebeam Markups list can be summarized into a PDF, CSV or
XML file and sent to the relevant parties (those assigned the punchlist item) for further
processing or filtered/sorted reports provided directly to field crews who are responsible for
making corrections.
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INSIGHTS that buildSM
Operations and Maintenance Manuals
At the end of every project, the contractor is required to provide the owner with documentation to help
their staff operate and maintain the systems and assemblies of the project. This documentation ranges
from manufacturer literature to the as-built drawings to training on the systems and assemblies.
Unfortunately, for most operations and maintenance staffs, the documentation is poorly organized,
hard to find what is needed during a crisis situation, and unable to maintain as changes are made to the
systems and assemblies. In addition, many of the operations and maintenance manuals are in paper
format or are unlinked and unsearchable electronic files.
By using Bluebeam throughout a project, we are able to properly collect, organize and create effective
operations and maintenance manuals for the owner. The following highlights the two primary
approaches to the creation of operations and maintenance manuals using Bluebeam.
• Document-Based Manuals – a document-based operations and maintenance manual is one
where the design documents are two-dimensional (e.g., paper) and the owner really only
requires a simple interface for their staff. In this case, Bluebeam is utilized as the interface by
the operations and maintenance personnel for their documentation. This documentation is
organized via a table of contents and hyperlinks to enable quick access and navigation to
information within the manual.
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A critical feature of the document-based manual is that the contractor works with the
operations and maintenance personnel to understand what works for them as to the level of
information and how they want to use it. The documentation typically requested includes asbuilt drawings, original specifications, change orders, shop drawings/submittals, manufacturer
installation-operating-maintenance manuals, photographs, and training.
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INSIGHTS that buildSM
• Model-Based Manuals – a model-based operations and maintenance manual has all of the
information and organization of a document-based manual. However, the primary interface into
the manual is not by opening Bluebeam, but by opening a three-dimensional model of the
project – typically in Navisworks or a similar program.
The benefit of the model-based interface is that operations and maintenance personnel, not to
mention other personnel, can access information on the project via a graphical model and not
by a table of contents and two-dimensional drawings. It may be hard to believe, but many
people find it hard to read as-built drawings and are much more comfortable walking through
three-dimensional virtual models.
Conclusions
Bluebeam can be effectively utilized to streamline and enhance the creation, marking up, management,
and versioning of PDF copies of documents throughout the life of a project. From the construction
contractor’s perspective, this starts at the receipt of the request for proposal from the owner all the way
through providing the owner with the operations and maintenance manuals.
To successfully utilize Bluebeam for all of these functions, it is critical you understand both your current
processes and the true functionality of Bluebeam. This allows you to maximize the use of its
functionality as well as maximize the productivity of all project team members.
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About the Author
Chad Dorgan, P.E., Ph.D., LEED AP, is Vice President, Quality and Sustainability at McCarthy Building
Companies, Inc. He is based in Newport Beach, CA. Chad received his Ph.D. in Indoor Air Quality from
the University of Wisconsin where he also earned his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree. He
has 20 years experience in the construction industry, including the last five with McCarthy where he
directs the company’s quality and sustainability programs nationwide. He can be reached at
[email protected].
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