Document Attachments Have Never Been Easier than with BIM 360 and eSUB
As every subcontractor who has haggled for payment knows, “You don’t get paid for the work you do, you get paid for the work you document.” That is why document control is at the center of many construction project management solutions. Proper documentation including document attachments can make the difference between getting paid and getting stiffed
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Benefits of document attachments
The complexity of construction projects provides the need to access and share information. One way to share information is through email and attachments. Email and document attachments are an efficient and effective way to deliver information because of these following benefits:
Speed – Think of how you shared documents before email. Was it through courier service or mail delivery? Yikes. Prior to email, sending documents would take hours or days. The speed at which we now share documentation and document attachments is almost instantaneous. Project stakeholders can jump on the phone, email a document and everyone can be on the same page within seconds or minutes.
Cost Savings – Now, let us think about the costs of print, mail and even courier services. Before email, sending documents via hand or mail delivery would incur extraneous costs for a company. The cost savings from sharing documentation via email is tremendous.
Access – Whether you use an online document storage solution or your inbox, electronic documentation provides ready access to information. Virtual filing cabinets allow users to quickly search for a document without having to sort through physical filing cabinets. Information is instantly available at your fingertips.
Archive – Similarly, whether you use an online document storage solution or your email inbox, electronic documentation provides an information archive. Storing paper documents takes a large amount of physical space, whereas electronic archives are more cost-effective.
Types of document attachments
In construction, certain types of document attachments are available than the standard Adobe PDFs, Word documents, and Excel spreadsheets. These serve a great purpose. However, in construction, visual document attachments serve a great purpose in telling a complete story.
Photos – One of the best practices we tell our customers is to take a photo when you start the day and when you end the day. Photos serve as valuable documentation of job site conditions, work completed, issues, and progress.
Markups – If your team has any questions on plans, they can mark up plans and share with other project team members. Attaching plan markups to documentation allows for instantaneous feedback and clarification on plans.
Plans and Models – You cannot do much in the field without plans and drawings. They serve as the visual guide and set of instructions for building. Some of the more progressive contractors use 3D building information models to guide their building. Most importantly, as changes occur on projects, new designs are constantly being updated. The challenges arise in making sure the entire team is working on the most updated set of drawings and models.
Managing documents with BIM 360 and eSUB
With Autodesk’s BIM 360 Docs, users manage blueprints, 2D plans, 3D BIM models, and other project documents in various file formats. The system separates multi-page PDF files into separate sheets upon upload. This makes it easy for users to find individual sheets to review and annotate with markups. As users upload new drawing sets, BIM 360 tracks the latest versions and allows users to compare the changes between different versions. Users can review markups, markup history, and version history for a full idea of changes in documents and any questions that have arisen.
Because of the depth of capabilities in management of drawings and models, eSUB users utilize BIM 360 Docs as their preferred drawing management tool. On the other hand, eSUB is the labor productivity and project management solution for subcontractors. Users utilize eSUB to log job site activity and manage all the details of a project. Users create, manage, and track construction documents such as RFIs, Change Orders, Purchase Orders, Submittals, and more through eSUB. The eSUB team has designed eSUB specifically for subcontractors.
Autodesk and eSUB: Better Together. Better Results.
The eSUB and BIM 360 integration brings together the best of both worlds: drawing management from the leading design software and project management from the leading construction management software for subcontractors.
In the eSUB-BIM 360 integration, eSUB users can attach BIM 360 drawings including markups to any eSUB document. Attaching BIM 360 plans and markups to eSUB Daily Reports, RFIs, Change Orders, and Submittals helps to garner clarification on specific issues on the plan.
Attaching BIM 360 files to eSUB Documents is the first integration point between eSUB and BIM 360. The workflow is seamless and allows users to work seamlessly between both solutions – each designed for its specific purpose. Just as document attachments have never been easier than with BIM 360 and eSUB, more capabilities are on the horizon between the two solutions are on the horizon. eSUB and Autodesk the ideal solution for subcontractors seeking better results.
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