To keep promises and preserve timelines and budgets, commercial construction project communication and documentation have to be as solid as your design documents (as we know, even the perfect plan changes in real life, so that’s when collaborative flexibility and discipline win the day).

Careful planning and our best advice for avoiding traditional budget and project pitfalls is central to Scott-Long’s culture, from preconstruction analysis to vetting subcontractors. Everybody in the OAC (owner, architect, contractor) circle wants an outcome as close as possible—in dollars, days, and details—as the original vision we shook hands on.

That’s where construction management software Autodesk Construction Cloud backs all of us up: We use it to ensure everybody from the back office to the jobsite has the right information and the right documents at the right time. Ultimately, having “a single version of the truth” supports our North Star of cost discipline on a project by vastly reducing the margin for error created by complex document management.

Here are a few things we use it for:

• Centralizing drawings, RFIs, submittals and changes for “a single version of the truth”.
• Tying RFIs to sheets so every member can view them in real time: a “single version of the truth” that cuts down multichannel back-and-forth.
• Tracking log exporting: OAC meetings are easier to prepare for because we could track and present the current status of every submittal, RFI, or change order; when team members—even down to the contractor/subcontractor layer—can verify a document in question and agree on the way forward, collaboration and efficiency skyrockets.
• Document control and workflow; everything related to submittals, RFIs, specs, etc. and their status can create a maze of paperwork. Autodesk Construction Cloud simplifies this maze with functionality that makes next steps and document/task ownership clear.

From Churches to Car Washes, Keeping Us Synced on the Jobsite

On two recent projects with very different clients and concerns—a church and a retail car wash—Autodesk proved highly beneficial. With both the Woodstream Church (Upper Marlboro, MD) and Mr. Wash (Virginia) project.

“One of the biggest benefits is always having the latest set of drawings uploaded,” said John Scott, CEO of Scott-Long Construction. “Everyone, including subcontractors, is using the right set.  Even when we have new versions of just a handful of drawings, we can upload them to ‘sit on top.’ You don’t have to ‘slip sheet’ them into a PDF.”

Now our field team members and our subs can hop on their tablets or phones from anywhere, review documents and upload photos to apprise the team of actual conditions. We pride ourselves on rigorous quality control; easier management and communication around deficiency or punch lists is vital.

Rolling More Critical Functions into Autodesk

How we plan to use Autodesk Construction Cloud next is just as important: cost management. Budget discipline, believable bids, and careful planning are cornerstones for Scott-Long. Being able to track budgets, commitments, change orders (like tying submittals or RFIs directly to cost items) supports our brand and our projects on a fundamental level.

There’s simply too much at stake in big builds not to embrace the many highly evolved digital platforms for construction. We believe the industry has long ago crossed the divide; not having them is simply not an option anymore if you want to effectively bid and build multi million-dollar construction projects. Our initial experiences with Autodesk suggest we’re on the right side of that divide.