Project Document Control
by Dennis Bayless
The construction process is, at best, problematic. Our law libraries are filled with case law that would make most construction professionals shudder at the things that frequently go awry. Most of their waking hours are consumed with attempts to mitigate as many problems as possible.
In the simplest of terms, the contractor’s objective is to produce the product as indicated by the design professionals and in the established time parameters, thereby insuring their company profits. Construction law generally provides some level of fairness for both the contractor and the owner. In case the inevitable dispute arises, either during or after construction, the complete project records need to be easily produced. These records must connect all the dots and if they don’t it could lead to a disadvantaged position for the owner regarding claims and disputes over time and money. Accurate and complete record keeping is mandatory in the preparation of project records and documents for the owner.
To achieve this, project records need to be filed and organized for the owner in such a manner that they can be retrieved whenever questions or disputes surface. During the actual construction phase of a project, all construction documents and records should be maintained onsite in lockable, fireproof cabinets. At project close out, all project records should be turned over to the owner for the owner’s permanent archives and the project records should be organized and stored for access when necessary. Project documents and records are the owner’s legal confirmation of all construction project activity and the owner’s legal right to own in their entirety. In the digital age, most contractors manage construction projects with highly sophisticated project management and scheduling software. In many cases, architects have moved to parallel themselves with this type of industry record keeping. Project owners typically do not have compatible software to utilize the contractor or architect’s digital project records tracking system and have no need for this specialized type of record management system. Subcontractor submittals should always be in hard copy format. Submittals many times contain shop drawings and product samples that must be in a hard copy, physical form.
Even though the digital mechanism for tracking records is accepted, and desired, as industry standard, for permanent archival purposes hard copy records are preferable and standard practice. Digital records are also more vulnerable to unethical alteration. Equipment and systems user manuals are also best provided to the owner in hard copy format as supplied by the manufacturer.
Any time a legal dispute develops, a financial record is needed, a piece of equipment needs repair, someone trained on how systems or equipment is used, or a building will be altered or renovated in the future, an owner should be able to easily locate the information needed. Every piece of paper on a construction project has a place in the overall archival records. Each piece of paper must be able to be tracked and retrieved by a method that allows the true and accurate evidence of record to be established. The owner is entitled to have full, clear and accurate project records throughout the construction process and a full, accurate record archive at project end.
