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Construction Viz Apps

Introducing Construction Viz Enterprise Submittal Form

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Submittals are staples on every construction project as a standard communication tool between contractors and the owner, construction manager (CM), or general contractor (GC) for contractual deliverables. The submittal process involves contractors completing a submittal form with the necessary metadata like project name and package, attaching the required documents, and sending it to the owner/CM/GC for review and approval. It’s a pretty straightforward process, but larger organizations have more stringent compliance, reporting, and scheduling requirements for adhering to a contractual submittal register.

We are excited to announce a new Construction Viz Submittal Enterprise Form, a variant of our standard Submittal Form, to address this need. The new enterprise form extends our lineup of existing construction project form apps.

Features of the Construction Viz Submittal Enterprise Form app

So how is the enterprise version different from our standard Submittal form app?

With the Submittal Enterprise form, we placed the submittal register at the center of the process while making it even easier for a contractor to fill out. The new Submittal Enterprise form boasts the following enhancements.

New submittal register

  • Robust, customizable register: Enter as many contractual submittal register items as needed into a configurable grid with all the metadata you need for each project.
  • Permission controlled: Only users with the correct permissions can update the register. Similarly, contractors can only view and select register items within a submittal form that you permit them to access.
  • Monitor due dates: The form app enables tracking and monitoring submittal due dates and re-occurring instances, such as monthly schedule submissions or weekly reports, for compliance.
  • Extensibility: You can customize the form to support other applications as needed, such as enabling the submittal register component to plan daily inspections or track custom specifications.
Enhancements to the submittal form
Enhancements to the submittal form
  • Easy creation: Contractors only need to select a few fields in a submittal to auto-populate the rest of the form from the register, minimizing training, reducing data entry, and ensuring data integrity throughout the process.
  • Helpful tooltips: Tooltips are available to display only the submittal register packages assigned to each contractor, further reducing errors when creating a submittal.
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The Construction Viz Submittal Enterprise form is available as a single application or bundled in a suite of Microsoft 365 applications to fit your organization’s specific needs. While Construction Viz delivers out-of-the-box applications to get you started right away, all of our applications are further customizable as needed by the client and project. Learn more with a demo and consultation today.

Simplifying Schedule Updates with Construction Viz Scheduler

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The Construction Viz Scheduler app is a simple yet powerful construction project scheduling tool. Scheduler lets you easily handle scheduling, including managing and assigning resources, right in Microsoft 365 and SharePoint. Read on to learn how Scheduler can simplify your schedule update workflow.

The typical scheduling software can be cumbersome to use, especially if all you want to do as a project manager is get activity updates from team members. A big reason for this is that most scheduling software imposes rigid workflow processes.

For example, with many software tools, the schedule update process typically goes something like this:

  1. The project manager reaches out to the scheduler to get the activity IDs.
  2. The scheduler creates and runs a PDF report of the requested activities.
  3. The scheduler emails the PDF report to the project manager.
  4. The project manager sends the PDF report to their team members, asking for schedule updates.
  5. Team members make their updates by marking up the PDF report and emailing it back to the project manager.
  6. The project manager reviews and compiles the collective updates from the team before sending them back to the scheduler
  7. Finally, the scheduler actualizes the schedule with the latest input provided by the team.

Unfortunately, by the time the schedule is actualized, it’s already out-of-date.

How Construction Viz Scheduler improves scheduling updates 

We wanted to ensure that each activity could be easily accessed and quickly shared, removing the frustration and barriers that delay schedule updates. We built our Construction Viz Scheduler app so that every activity has a unique URL that can be copied and shared through email or instant messenger with team members. To further simplify this process, we added a button within the activity details to copy the activity link, making it easy for users to share the URL.

Construction Viz Scheduler makes it easy to copy an activity link
Construction Viz Scheduler makes it easy to copy an activity link
Now team members can update their specific activities with one click
Now team members can update their specific activities with one click

The above is already a significant time-saver, but it gets even better. The Construction Viz Scheduler app lets teams access and share activity information in even more ways:

Scheduler Progress App Component.  This configurable component can be added to any app providing the ability to make updates to the Scheduler directly. For example, in a Daily Report app, a construction coordinator could update activity progress percent complete from within the form without opening up the Scheduler.

Daily Report app with Scheduler Progress Component
Daily Report app with Scheduler Progress Component

Forms. Forms, such as a Change Request, can incorporate activity URLs linked directly to a scheduled activity.

Workflow.  Power Automate workflows can include unique activity URLs for team member assignments and updates.

Reporting. Reports and dashboards can include hyperlinks to each activity ID to view additional information within the scheduler.

Scheduler plan vs. actual report with linked IDs
Scheduler plan vs. actual report with linked IDs

Concerned about access? Any activity in the Scheduler app can also be permission- and version-controlled, allowing you to manage access and updates securely.

We KNOW your project and processes are unique. And we firmly believe that no project management software should force you to re-invent the way you work. Instead, the software should fit into how you do the work. That’s why we built Construction Viz to be the most flexible project management tool available.

Find out more about Construction Viz and how it can help you save time and money on your next project with a no-obligation demo and consultation.

Construction Viz App Spotlight: Document Binder

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The Construction Viz Document Binder app makes it easy to organize and find related construction project documents, images, and videos with features such as automated metadata, permissions, dashboards, reporting, workflow routing, and more.  

Most companies that use Microsoft SharePoint for documents store them in folders. They then rely on the folder and file names as a simple form of metadata for the organization. While folders seem like the most logical and quick way to organize documents, doing so comes with drawbacks:

  • Locating documents in a folder structure can be frustrating and time-consuming, especially if you use the native SharePoint UI to navigate document libraries.
  • The more folder levels used to organize your documents, the longer the URL, which impacts saving and sharing files in SharePoint.
  • You could try adding metadata directly to your documents to make it easier to search and find what you need. However, it is often challenging to get users to add metadata consistently. And if you need to re-classify documents stored in folders, now you must laboriously copy and paste between folders!
  • Finally, the folder method provides limited functionality out of the box, so you are out of luck if you want to use other features such as reviews, emails, permissions, dashboards, and reporting.

The bottom line is that you need more than just a simple folder structure to store and share project information with your teams.

Enter the Construction Viz Document Binder app

With the Construction Viz Document Binder form app, we built a way to easily group related documents while including a ton of functionality and flexibility currently lacking in your standard SharePoint document library folder structure.

The document binder app could not be simpler to use. You create a document binder form, fill out a few key fields, and drag and drop documents into it. The app automatically tags the form metadata to the attached documents, allowing you to quickly search by form or attachment.

Think of the document binder form as a cover sheet for saving your project documents that also provides the following functionality:

  • Detailed metadata tracking lets you quickly find what you are looking for using the configurable grids or search
  • Responsiveness to any device on a modern browser with offline capability letting you get to your information where and when you want
  • Integration with Microsoft Office for the web lets you open, edit, and share documents in your browser
  • Automatic file name conflict resolution when uploading attachments to prevent overwriting files
  • Quick view for uploaded files by documents, images, and video
  • Revision management for each form and document
  • Ad hoc workflow approvals with ball-in-court approval indicators
  • Email to users and distribution lists with a history log for auditing
  • Permission management by the contractor and user-defined groups
  • Dashboards, reports, and notifications so you always know where a binder is in the approval process and who needs to take action
  • Archive in place, or if required, create an archive PDF for each binder using the Form Archiving Wizard
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Doc-Binder_2

Get Construction Viz for your organization

Construction Viz is about choice, and it is the only construction management platform designed around how you work and where you work.

Contact us today to learn more about our lineup of Construction Viz apps and how we can help you better manage your projects.

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:

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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.

Tame Your Inbox with the Construction Viz Email Log Feature

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“I never received the email!”

How many times have you heard this response as a project manager on construction projects?

Email, in many cases, has become the primary form of project communication. But tracking the history of sending and receiving electronic mail is problematic, and read receipts only go so far. Another challenge is ensuring that everyone has the information they need since there is often no centralized project email inbox accessible by the entire team.

Unfortunately, as email has become more pervasive on projects, many of us find it challenging to keep up with essential project updates and information that gets lost in our overflowing inboxes.

Introducing the Construction Viz Email Log Feature

We are introducing the Construction Viz app-specific email log feature to address the above issues and consign the “I never received the email!” response to history.

Now each Construction Viz app includes a history of every email notification that it sends. So, if you want to see all emails sent regarding an RFI, you can click the new history tab of the email component. The email notifications are organized in an interactive grid, allowing you to filter, group, and search items and providing a single source of record for the back-and-forth email communication on your projects.

And, because Construction Viz utilizes Microsoft 365, the data is available in SharePoint lists and libraries that can be easily reported on in Power BI, if needed.

Email History tab in a form app

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Email Logs is one of the many features available in our catalog of Construction Viz apps. Construction Viz is a customizable enterprise-scale project management information solution (PMIS) that can be externally hosted or deployed to your Microsoft 365 tenant. To find out how Construction Viz can help you manage your construction projects, request a free demo here.

Construction Viz Takes the Risk Out of Risk Management

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From initiation through to project closeout, construction projects are subject to an endless array of risks. The Construction Viz Risk app helps you identify, manage, and plan for the factors that can negatively or positively impact your project's cost and schedule. 

Many construction organizations turn to Microsoft Excel as their risk management solution, using built-in risk registers and distributing spreadsheets via email to project teams. There are many shortcomings to this approach, including having multiple versions of files floating around, undocumented review processes, the inability to attach backup information, and a lack of mitigation processes. We've been in your shoes on projects, which is why we designed our Construction Viz Risk app to be a better long-term risk management solution.

Key features of the Construction Viz Risk app

The Construction Viz Risk app addresses all the shortfalls found in homegrown Excel and enterprise risk management solutions:

  • Set individual risk probabilities and impacts by the project within a single site.  Construction Viz can include one or more projects per SharePoint site.  Since every project can have a different set of risk factors, the Construction Viz Risk app allows you to set unique cost and schedule impact values, each with its own legend, by the project.  This feature enables you to consolidate risk management into a single site across your portfolio of projects.
  • Mobile ready. Our form technology works on any device with a modern browser. You can capture a risk on your phone while in a meeting or out in the field.  You can even enter a risk without an internet connection.
  • Track changes. The app features revision control, allowing you to create and manage multiple versions of your risk forms and track any edits by users.
  • Upload supporting documentation. Easily attach supporting information, including links to other forms and data repositories.
  • Get approvals. Route risks for review and approval via automated Power Automate or ad hoc workflows with ball-in-court tracking
  • Send to distribution. Email risks to your project team based on predefined distributions while enforcing strict permission controls.
  • Perform analysis. Perform risk analysis using configurable data grids. Create custom views for managing risks by value, ownership, status, or mitigation.
  • Communicate risks. Generate robust reports of risks and opportunities for management review and disposition.
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Take the risk out of managing your project risks with Construction Viz

With the Construction Viz Risk app, you will be able to finally spend more time managing and less time trying to collect and track risks.  Contact us today for a no-obligation demo and consultation.