Gain Complete Document Control With Construction Solutions

Whether it’s bidding documents, change orders, invoices, scopes of work or any of the other required documents, when it comes to the Engineering Procurement and Construction industry, there’s a ton of paperwork.

Yet, the paperwork is a critical part of the job. Effective document management is a vital process that increases productivity, improves accountability, compliance and collaboration and mitigates risks if handled well.

But, document management is more than just organizing paperwork for an audit trail.

Rather, it’s generating digital workflows and processes that get the right documents to the right people in an efficient manner to keep the project moving. It’s using one source of record for easy approvals and revisions, while also providing the necessary oversight required for the field.

Gaining complete control of your construction documents has its benefits. An survey found that non-optimal activities, including searching for documents and data, cost the construction management software industry more than $175 billion in labor costs in 2018 alone.

So whether it’s payroll solutions, an construction management software project management software, a Human Resources Management System (HRMS), Daily Log, or construction management software, here are features to look for to improve document management in the field.

Cloud-based storage

If all the stakeholders involved in a construction project are storing documents on their own storage devices or silos, you will have disconnected systems. Rather, utilize a system that serves as the central repository for construction documents. A cloud-based document management system makes documentation easily and quickly accessible to the necessary stakeholders when they need it – wherever they are. It’s also important to make sure that the cloud is secure and has unlimited storage so you can store as many documents and files as needed securely and privately from your mobile device or computer.

Automated workflows

A fast-paced construction industry needs a solution that moves with changes to the field. The best document management systems boost productivity with automated workflows built into your construction ERP solution . Support projects and save time by automatically routing documents to the right person as quickly as possible with digital workflows. Approve change orders, sign off on purchase orders or code construction documents right when they are  created or revised from the field or your office.

Role-based security

Protect your sensitive information from unauthorized access with role-based security. It’s important to utilize a system that can define access level of documents among your specialty contractors and project managers. Not every stakeholder should have access to view and update all documents, so the system should be able to guarantee that only the people who need to view the documents have access to them, as well as only the people that need to edit the document can edit them.

Dated notes and revisions

While it’s vital to have one source of active record so there’s no confusion on which document is to be used in the field, you also need to be able to pull up archived documents and time stamps of revisions. Why? Government projects supported by public funding often attract public attention, so you need to be able to produce documentation of revisions, approvals and original records for local and federal requests. But, you also want to be able to show exactly what was revised and by who in the event of any discrepancy or dispute.