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Construction Viz App Spotlight: Substantial Completion Form

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We designed the Construction Viz Substantial Completion form app to streamline getting your project to the finish line with greater efficiency and consistency.

Substantial completion is the stage of the project where portions of work are sufficiently complete. In other words, it marks the point at which constructed items become assets, start depreciating, and are potentially handed off to the operations and maintenance teams for support. It’s also the time to collect warranties and ensure all punch list items are complete.

The owner and construction or general manager typically document achieving substantial completion in an email exchange. As we all know, email is the preferred communication tool on construction projects, and it will not go away soon. But email is not the most effective way to manage critical information at this phase of the project.

The Construction Viz Substantial Completion form provides a much better framework for project teams.

Construction Viz Substantial Completion form app

The Construction Viz Substantial Completion form app makes the turnover process more efficient and easier to manage for all parties involved. The user can track details, warranties, and punch list items for each significant area of scope, including the value outstanding and when each will be complete for turnover.  The user can run a G704 Certificate of Substation Completion report for physical signature and record retention at any time.

Construction Viz Certificate of Substantial Completion (G704) print view:

Substantial-Completion_1

The challenge with traditional email correspondence is responsibility and progress management. Construction Viz solves this by capturing ownership within each punch list issue and displaying that information in interactive form status dashboards, ball in court grids, outstanding response log reports, and user alert notifications. And emails are automatically generated for individual users and distribution lists for review and acceptance.

Construction Viz Substantial Completion form log:

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Get just the construction forms you need

The Substantial Completion form is part of a full suite of construction apps available for Construction Viz. You can mix and match the forms you need for your project workflow.

All Construction Viz form apps are extendable with additional components, including:

  • Document, image, and video attachments
  • Geospatial mapping
  • WBS, specification, and asset tracking
  • Progress tracking using the Construction Viz Scheduler app and integrated P6 Scheduling
  • External links and data relationships
  • Electronic review and approval
  • Ad hoc workflow capability
  • Microsoft Power Automate workflow integration
  • Power BI reporting integration
  • Ball in court Dashboards and KPIs

Schedule a free consultation to see how we can help you get your project to the finish line with Construction Viz.

New Image Markup Feature for Construction Viz

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Our latest Construction Viz feature lets project team members mark up images on any device with or without internet access.

Adding images to a daily report, safety incident, or punchlist is critical to documenting work completed in the field and identifying any issues for potential corrective action. Construction Viz makes the process simple, enabling users to take photos with any device, with or without an internet connection, and attach images directly to the form. Our Media Map Component automatically plots the image and the location where it was taken on a geospatial map and adds this information to the form. Users can easily add comments, waypoints, and even measurements as a layer to the media map.

And because Construction Viz is a progressive web app (PWA), this is all done without users ever installing an app on their devices.

But what about marking up the images?  Our users told us that marking up images would be a handy feature and make Construction Viz's data capture even better. We listened. Read on to learn about his useful new capability.

Construction Viz image markup feature

We expanded our Image Uploader Component for construction forms based on user feedback to add image markup capability and further simplify the entire process. Here is how it works:

  • After users upload images, the app displays them in interactive cards. Adding metadata such as title or description can be done in a couple of clicks.
  • The user can expand the photos from thumbnails to a full-screen mode to draw directly onto the image canvas.
  • The markup tool lets users pick from a palette of pen colors, complete with erasing and undo functionality.

The updated Image Uploader Component can be enabled in any one of our apps or can be added to a custom app as needed.

This new functionality enhances the entire data collection and documentation experience by extending what's possible for field workers. Also, since Construction Viz stores all of the data to your Microsoft 365 SharePoint, your project information is available for further reporting and workflow using the Power Platform.

The image markup tool is one of many features that we have built into Construction Viz. For an overview of the other powerful capabilities built into Construction Viz, check out our features page.

Construction Viz image markup feature

We expanded our Image Uploader Component for construction forms based on user feedback to add image markup capability and further simplify the entire process. Here is how it works:

  • After users upload images, the app displays them in interactive cards. Adding metadata such as title or description can be done in a couple of clicks.
  • The user can expand the photos from thumbnails to a full-screen mode to draw directly onto the image canvas.
  • The markup tool lets users pick from a palette of pen colors, complete with erasing and undo functionality.

The updated Image Uploader Component can be enabled in any one of our apps or can be added to a custom app as needed.

This new functionality enhances the entire data collection and documentation experience by extending what's possible for field workers. Also, since Construction Viz stores all of the data to your Microsoft 365 SharePoint, your project information is available for further reporting and workflow using the Power Platform.

The image markup tool is one of many features that we have built into Construction Viz. For an overview of the other powerful capabilities built into Construction Viz, check out our features page.

Construction Viz Media Map Component

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Construction Viz Media Map Component

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Get a demo of Construction Viz today

Construction Viz is an enterprise Project Management Information System (PMIS) built by construction professionals for construction professionals. We value our client's feedback and are always looking for the most efficient ways to get the job done.

Contact us for a no-obligation consultation and demo today to learn how Construction Viz can help your team better manage your construction projects.

Construction Viz Form Archiving Wizard

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Organizations managing major construction projects typically use multiple project and information management systems, including systems for document storage, task scheduling, contractor correspondence, and more. Since most of these systems reside on external hosting, it is challenging to efficiently archive project data.

If you use Microsoft 365 to manage your projects, Construction Viz has your project data archival covered with our Form Archiving Wizard.

Construction Viz differs from other project management information systems because you can deploy it into your Microsoft 365, so your project data always remains under your control. And because Construction Viz stores all your project data and documents in SharePoint lists and libraries, your information is readily accessible at any time. Construction Viz further simplifies your project closeout process by archiving your data in place without you having to take any further action. Should your organization have a separate archiving system of record, Construction Viz has you covered there too.

Introducing the Construction Viz Form Archiving Wizard

With only a few clicks, the Construction Viz Form Archiving Wizards lets you create an archivable version of any construction form and all its attachments. The easy-to-follow wizard walks you through picking which files to attach, the order they should print, and what to name the final file. Construction Viz automatically converts all form data and files to PDF format and organizes them into a binder that you can save locally, route in a Power Automate workflow, or save to another archiving system.

See the screenshots below for a preview of the Construction Viz Form Archiving Wizard in action.

Run the PDF with attachments report within a form.

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Select the attachments to include in the report PDF.

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Order the PDF attachments.

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Name the PDF report Binder.

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The Construction Viz Form Archiving Wizard automatically generates a PDF Binder.

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We anticipate this feature will save a significant amount of time for your document control team. The wizard will also allow you to easily share PDFs of forms, with their attachments, to contractors that might not have access to your Microsoft 365 tenant.

Manage Your Projects with Construction Viz and Microsoft 365

Construction Viz lets you manage your projects right in Microsoft 365 with familiar tools such as Excel and SharePoint – all optimized for your construction project teams' needs. To see our catalog of our available construction apps for Microsoft 365 and SharePoint, click here. You can submit a free consultation and demo request here.

And head over to LydonSolutions.com for more information if you are interested in a custom construction project management solution using Microsoft 365.

Transitioning from InfoPath to Construction Viz

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Microsoft will end support for its Infopath 2013 offering in July 2026. Here is why Construction Viz is an ideal form and project management solution for construction organizations looking to transition away from Microsoft Infopath.

Microsoft released Infopath in 2003 as a standalone forms-creation and data-gathering application, and it quickly became the de facto form development tool for Microsoft SharePoint. The application, which empowered end-users to develop robust forms without needing to be an IT developer, quickly grew in popularity. With a lot of research and trial and error, you can build quite powerful forms that can also be extended with custom code, if needed.

As of 2013, Microsoft InfoPath has not received any software enhancements. Microsoft has moved in a different technology direction with the release of Power Apps and Forms, which better fit its Microsoft 365 cloud platform. Although InfoPath remains in heavy use today, Microsoft has indicated it will end support for the application in July 2026. While that date might seem far off, construction organizations need to start looking at transitioning to other form technologies.

You might assume that Microsoft Power Apps and Forms would be your organization's best bet moving forward. But a web-based form is not just an electronic version of a piece of paper. To deliver a form solution, you have to assess the business need from a 360-degree perspective. That means considering permissions, reporting, integrations, attachments, metadata, offline capability, logs, search, workflows, UI/UX, deployment, and backups. These areas must work together seamlessly to deliver an end-to-end construction solution that does not disrupt the business process, is easy to configure and implement, and can be supported and customized.

This is why our Construction Viz form apps are an ideal solution for construction organizations looking to transition from Microsoft Infopath.

The Construction Viz Form apps 

We designed our lineup of Construction Viz form apps based on our over 11 years of developing forms in InfoPath for the construction industry. Our goal was to remove any complexity in delivering forms and ensure that we had all of the bases covered from permissions to workflow in a turnkey solution.  

Each Construction Viz form is an app that can be licensed individually and deployed quickly into Microsoft 365 and SharePoint. The forms are pre-built with construction-specific fields and features but are still customizable by an administrator without coding or the need to be an IT pro. And while the forms are all standalone solutions, you can combine them to take advantage of additional features like cross-linking between related records, unified notifications and reminders, streamlined workflows, and more. 

Best of all, Construction Viz fully integrates with Microsoft 365, so if you already have solutions built in the Power Platform, Teams, or SharePoint, you can leverage them alongside our apps to create a truly customized solution for your organization. 

Construction Viz Forms lineup

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Action Items

form-icon_change-order

Change Order Request

form-icon_daily

Daily Report

form-icon_docset

Document Binder

form-icon_minutes

Meeting Minutes

form-icon_noncompliance

NCR/NCN

form-icon_notice

Notice

form-icon_commitment

Pay App Suite: Commitment

form-icon_change

Meeting Minutes

form-icon_pay-app

Pay App Suite: Pay Application

form-icon_punchlist

Punch List Items

form-icon_qa-inspection

Quality Assurance Inspection

form-icon_rfi

Request for Information

form-icon_rfp

Request for Proposal

form-icon_risk

Risk

form-icon_incident

Safety Incident

form-icon_safety-insp

Safety Inspection

form-icon_servreq

Service Request

form-icon_submittal

Submittal

form-icon_subs-comp

Substantial Completion

transmittal

Transmittal

form-icon_work-order

Work Order

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Custom Forms

Download our catalog of Construction Viz construction form apps

Need a Construction Form and Project Management Solution?

Construction Viz is a turnkey and flexible construction project management solution powered by Microsoft 365 and SharePoint. The platform includes everything you need to manage your construction projects—document management, dashboards, reports, forms, workflows, and more— all in one place. The solution is available in the cloud, on-premise, or as à la carte apps for Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft 365. Contact us for a free demo and consultation.

If you need help setting up Microsoft 365 for your construction organization, check out our managed services at LydonSolutions.com.

Cost Engineers Rejoice – You Can Keep Using Excel for Cost Management

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One thing has never changed in my 20+ years in project controls: cost engineers want to manage cost in Excel. It doesn’t matter to them how many fancy enterprise cost management systems there are on the market. Excel is like that special blanket from childhood – it is familiar, dependable, and nothing else can replace it. We get it, which is why we have designed the Construction Viz Cost Report app to integrate deeply with Excel for cost management.

I can understand why, if you are a cost engineer, you prefer to stick with Excel. Your spreadsheet is yours and yours alone. It has your very own custom columns to check formulas, worksheets for data dumps, macros for updates and reporting, comments on variances, and so on. Most importantly, you can use it to generate a cost report the way you want. And so, at the end of the month, you’ll take all that data from your Excel file and re-enter it into that enterprise cost management system your organization mandates to satisfy the corporate reporting requirement. You’ll do this even though it is a time-consuming process and riddled with the potential for clerical errors.

With Construction Viz, we set about creating a better solution that lets cost engineers stick with what they know while ensuring that managers have the dashboards and reports they need.

Designing the Ideal Cost Management Workflow with Construction Viz

When we started designing the cost management application for Construction Viz, we knew we needed to meet cost engineers where they prefer to work, and this is in Excel.

At the same time, we also needed a way for management to have real-time visibility to cost data across all projects, meaning that critical data could not stay locked away in Excel until someone re-entered it in a shared system.

So, we set about designing a solution that allows cost engineers to work in Excel while automating the flow of data to the Construction Viz portal for viewing and reporting.

Construction Viz Cost Report App and Excel

Based on the above, we created the Construction Viz Cost Report app. With our new app, the workflow is:

  1. A cost engineer saves their Excel cost report into a SharePoint document library where they can continue making regular updates.
  2. The Cost Report app, using the magic of a Power Automate workflow, then automatically grabs the critical data from the Excel file and makes the cost information available via an updated SharePoint list for all stakeholders to see.
  3. Next, we designed the Cost Report app to talk to the SharePoint List to provide analysis across projects and programs in a web-based and easy-to-use UI.
  4. Finally, the Cost Report app leverages Power BI to access the SharePoint List data, enabling robust dashboard views and reporting as needed.

The Construction Viz Cost Report app gives each team member what they want. Cost engineers get to keep working in Excel with their familiar spreadsheet tools. Management gets real-time access to cost data for reporting.

Introducing the Construction Viz Cost Report app

Advantages of the Construction Viz Cost Report App

The Construction Viz Cost Report app provides the following advantages over a traditional enterprise cost management system:

  • Excel as the foundation. Cost engineers can keep using their own Excel cost report as the data source.
  • Automated workflow. The workflow launches with a click and runs automatically.
  • Support for multiple spreadsheets. The app can pull data from multiple spreadsheets.
  • Efficiency and accuracy. No more redundant and error-prone manual data entry into two systems.
  • Real-time reporting and dashboards. The Cost Report app provides management with up-to-date cost information for easy analysis and reporting across projects and programs.
  • SharePoint & Microsoft 365 under the hood. Because Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft 365 power the Cost Report and other Construction Viz apps we offer, your organizations can be confident that you are using best-in-class technologies built on industry-leading enterprise software platforms.

Read more about the robust capabilities of our Cost Report app.

Learn More About Construction Viz

Contact us for a free consultation about how Construction Viz, integrated with Microsoft 365, can help you manage your construction projects.

Need help with Microsoft 365? Learn about Lydon Solution's full lineup of Microsoft 365 Managed Services.

Construction Viz – Application for Payment

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The Application for Payment is a formal document that details a contractor’s request for payment and should identify the work completed and materials received or installed during a specified time period. The entire process can be rather complex since it must consider the original commitment and approved change order values, work completed, and overall approval process, all the while lineup with, and output to, the standard AIA G702/G703 reports that support the final invoice to the client.

Throughout my years in Project Controls, I’ve seen many different approaches for processing payment applications. Most of these solutions were entered into a Project Management Information System (PMIS), rather than in Microsoft Excel. In my experience, the pay app processes and tools were extremely cumbersome because some, if not all, of the steps were done manually via hard copy or through email, links to the project or payment schedule were not included with the application, and there was a lack of details in the tracking templates to know where the pay application was in the process at any given point in time.

When we decided to build-out Application for Payment functionality in Construction Viz, we wanted to address some of the shortfalls identified with other software products, as well as enhance the overall usability for project team members.

As a result, we built four separate forms—Commitment, Change Order Request, Change Order, and Pay Application—that integrate with one another for a comprehensive approach from committing scope to making a progress payment.

Key features include:

  • All forms and functionality can be accessed on any device with a modern browser; and since Construction Viz is a Progressive Web App, it can be made available offline without having to install an app on your device.
  • All four forms can be customized to your processes and deployed into your on-premise SharePoint or Microsoft 365.
  • In addition to the 4 forms being integrated with one another, they can also be integrated with our other applications such as the Scheduler and Project Tracker.
  • Each form is tracked at a line item level of detail, in a Schedule of Value (SOV) format by WBS, Cost Code, Work Order, Account and/or Line Item.
  • Each form can be independently routed for review and approval.
  • Only approved forms impact the overall summary rollup which provides a status of all payments.
  • Since a Change Order Request is purely a field request and does not commit costs, contractors can leverage current commitment information to quickly add change request line details, or can create new change request line details, without impacting the PO.
  • Retention can be identified on the Commitment level and automatically withheld on each Pay Application.
  • Both the standard AIA G702 and G703 reports can be generated from any Pay App form.

Find out more about all of our tools to help you manage your projects in SharePoint and Microsoft 365, or visit LydonSolutions.com to submit a free consultation for services to get you on the right track with your PMIS.