Mitigating Risk

In Design, Engineering & Construction

“Our business is
more competitive than
ever. To make sure clients
continue to give us repeat
business, we’ve invested in
Newforma software to
shorten response times and
reduce the risk of mistakes.”
Engineering co.
CEO

An information management approach to avoiding mistakes, reducing conflict,

and improving collaboration in building and infrastructure projects
Two sides of information risk
Building and infrastructure projects start and end with information.
From emails to handover documentation, collaboration doesn’t work
unless the information is right.
And whether you design, build, or operate buildings and infrastructure,
you know you have to do more than get your information right.
You also need to document it.
Correct information in the first place avoids disputes.
Documenting decisions wins disputes.
Newforma has been developing ways to reduce
information and collaboration risk since pioneering
project information management software in
2006. This ebook summarizes what our
“Of all the benefits customers are telling us.
Newforma products
generate, we most value
the risk reduction that
comes with improved project
information management.”
Design Firm Engineer and
Project Manager

2
Less adversarial relationships
“Improved project
When Newforma asked senior executives at design and construction coordination has helped
companies, law firms, and insurance companies about risk, they told us us avoid some potentially
they were fed up with the current culture of adversity. ugly disputes.”
General Contracting
What did they propose instead? Collaborate better. As one executive Company President
said, “In collaborative environments, the exposure increases but the
actual risk decreases – because there is better control over whether
a failure will occur.”
For that reason, this ebook will talk about
collaboration as much as it talks about
project information management,
because they’re always found together.

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What about content
management software?
Engineering content management (also known as “document
management”) software was designed to ensure that
work-in-progress CAD and BIM files are being sensibly managed.
But it’s not ideal for managing all information. With digital footprints
of projects doubling every 18 months, those additional terabytes of
data bloat databases, preventing them from working as needed.
Instead of bogging down their content management systems with more
data, many Newforma customers are using our software in
concert with Bentley® ProjectWise®, Microsoft®
SharePoint®, and IBM® FileNet® systems.
“Our conclusion
Newforma ®
Project Center integrates with
regarding document them to safely manage all project information,
management software was wherever it’s filed.
that it would not enhance
our procedures; rather, it
would stifle them.”
British Design Firm Information
& Communications Director

4
The many faces of risk: delays
Construction delays come in many forms: wasted
time and rework due to working from outdated plans,
confusion over the scheduling of trades, and slow
turnarounds of submittals and requests for information.
Newforma offers multiple ways to mitigate these risks:
• Assurance of having up-to-date plans and specs
• Lean production planning software
• Software to manage submittals and RFIs
In addition to making it easier and faster to distribute
documents to all recipients, Newforma
software documents the dates
items are delivered and
“Newforma shortens
returned, creating a
response times and searchable record for
creates a concise record every RFI and submittal.
that is hard to dispute,
thereby mitigating risk of
exposure to delay claims.”
Large Engineering Company
Senior Vice President

5
The many faces of risk: quality “It’s simple

assurance & ISO certification and efficient.”

Large Engineering
and Design Firm
IT Executive
ISO certification is largely a matter of documenting procedures
and verifying conformance. Newforma is made for this work.
For example, a large UK design firm defines its quality assurance
action items as part of its standard project setup, and makes that
bespoke handbook available to all team members through their
Newforma software.
Newforma software, by capturing audit
trails of all actions and transactions,
provides the logs needed to prove
ISO conformance.

6
The many faces of risk: transcription errors
Because design and construction projects employ
so many different software applications, and
every company has its own systems, the risk is
high that time must be spent re-entering data
into systems. With those keystrokes come the
risk of mistakes. Newforma products offer
multiple ways to avoid them:
• T
 he software integrates with commonly used
applications to enable seamless transitions
from one application to the next.
•D
 irect, Newforma-to-Newforma
connections eliminate manual “In addition to the
information transfers and time savings of using a more
efficient submittals management
redundant data entry. process, both firms appreciate the
reduced risk of errors that comes
This last function – N2N from using an integrated project
connectivity – breaks down information management approach
barriers between collaborating to the contract administration
phase of this large project.”
architectural, engineering, and
Architectural Firm IT Administrator
construction companies. and Engineering Firm Submittals
Manager Using N2N to
Streamline CA
7
 “Many
agreements are made

The many faces of risk:

via email and are hard to track
down since everyone manages their
email independently. Allowing a

hard-to-find documents
central, easily searchable interface
for saving project-related emails has
helped the company in a myriad of
ways, especially in audits and lawsuits
where we have to pull as many
At Newforma, we want our software to spare you from disputes. But project records as possible.”
when pressed to perform legal discovery, use Newforma software to Construction Company
respond efficiently and effectively. MIS Director

For example, when email is liberated from individual inboxes “I was done
in minutes. If I didn’t
and filed on company servers, it can be indexed by Newforma have Newforma, I would
software. The software’s have had to open every
full-text search capabilities email and search for those
certain words. I’d probably
make it very easy to still be working on it.”
quickily retrieve email Engineering Firm
and other documents CAD Manager
containing text. No
filed document is ever
again hard to find.

8
The many faces of risk: missed assignments
Newforma software enables managers to set automated notifications
and reminders for items such as file downloads and action items.
For example, busy project managers can create action
items from emails, assign items to team members, link
items to emails and other documents needed to act
upon the issue, set automatic reminders, and track
progress as issues move to resolution.
Easily discoverable audit trails give confidence that tasks
and documents are not slipping through cracks.

“I was asked
by my client to provide
a detailed summary of events
pertaining to the project while “It saves me two to
I was out. I had complete five hours a week.”
information which was easily Engineering Firm
accessible and searchable to Project Manager
accurately recreate events
with minimal downtime for
the rest of the team.”
Engineering Firm
Project Manager
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The many faces of risk: large projects
Complex, global projects increase the challenge
before team members to manage milestones,
coordinate information, and mitigate risk. These
are the projects for which a comprehensive
collaboration and project information
management solution shines.
DW
Team members can quickly search emails, G
PDF
details, specifications, requests for
information, CAD drawings and more
to resolve issues and avoid risk.

“Newforma software
provides considerable
advantages on complex,
large-scale projects and XLS
their numerous potential
risk issues.”
Global Design Company

10
The many faces of the solution: plans
Even when projects are designed in three-dimensional models,
collaborators use 2D plans, especially at the jobsite. Newforma
customers rely upon multiple features to make sure there’s a
seamless flow from design software to documents
used in the field. A few highlights:
• D
 ocument management features “When we send
streamline the management and plans to a jobsite, we can
issuance of drawing sets, including be confident we have not
introduced any conflicts
PDFs generated from Revit. which could cause change “We have
orders or delays for which eliminated confusion by
• A
 n app that’s integrated with the we might be held liable.” assuring we always have
desktop software enables the Engineering Firm complete and current
viewing of plans and specs on iPads, President plans and specifications
removing the risk of consulting available on-site.”
out-of-date documents. Project Management
Firm Project
Manager
• A
 lightbox function compares two files and color-
codes objects that have been added or moved.
The software automatically logs what’s
been done, sparing users from maintaining
spreadsheets of their actions.
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The many faces of the solution: file transfers
For years, FTP was the standard for sharing files. It’s given
way to cloud-sharing sites such as Dropbox, but even these
newer approaches have their risks. They fail to organize
their activity by project, and fail to record activity.
By contrast, Newforma’s web-based file sharing function
is much easier to set up and administer than FTP, and
logs who downloaded what, when, organized by project.
It reduces risk by ensuring that all members of the
design team are working from common, up-to-date
drawings and models.You’ll never
again hear, “We did not
receive those drawings.”
“Newforma software
improves security, removes
set-up hassles, logs transfers,
authenticates invited external
team members and deletes
downloaded files. These
capabilities save time, reduce
risk and improve service.”
Architectural Firm
IT Executive

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The many faces of the solution: email
Everyone has experienced the frustration of searching
in vain for that one email you just know contains the
essential information on which a critical decision hangs.
Newforma makes it drag-and-drop easy to file email with
other project documents, and Google-easy to find again. “Just found one
email among 36,000
Newforma enables principals and project managers to others and saved 150k
answer questions while callers are still on the phone, in fees, @Newforma
is awesome!”
even when emails originate from people no longer on
the team. Architectural Firm
Principal, via Twitter

When submittals, RFIs, change orders, and

other project information arrive in your
inbox, Newforma software enables a
seamless transition from email to
Newforma action item, reducing
the risk of overlooked tasks.

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The many faces of the solution: submittals
Late responses to submittals and RFIs expose design companies to the risk
of being responsible for associated costs. And schedules are getting tighter:
Three-day turnarounds for RFIs are compressing to same-day responses, “The contractors
and 10-day turnarounds for submittals are dropping to one week! and consultants appreciate
that we are now able to handle
In addition, the volume of the submittals in the allotted
time and know where any given
submittals to be processed is submittal is at any given time –
rising due to the demands of whether it’s been received,
such factors as LEED being reviewed or been
returned to the sender.”
certification and having
Engineering Firm
multiple fit-out prime Submittals
contractors on projects. Administrator

Newforma products provide

multiple means to process
submittals quickly and
accurately, and to log each
step in the process.

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The many faces of the solution: RFIs
Submittal and RFI processing involves multiple people and
functions. Newforma software ties them all together:
“We utilize
• S eamlessly create RFIs and other action items Newforma Markup
directly from Outlook emails. to review electronically
submitted shop drawings
• M
 ark up files, associate markups with the RFI, and and respond to requests
for information.”
return the item without leaving Newforma software.
Engineering
Firm Executive
• T
 he software logs all transactions for a
readily accessible project record.
Everything is easy to find, not
simply because of the
markup log, but also
because Newforma
“Newforma has software includes a
been incredibly useful in
eliminating paperwork and search function that
improving turnaround time finds terms as they
on RFIs and submittals.” appear in
Construction Company markup
Project Manager
notes.

15
The many faces of the solution: field reports
Quality assurance is central to risk management, and field reports are central
to QA. Newforma software integrates mobile apps with software used at the
desk in order to fluidly transfer information back and forth between the
office and the field.
For example, notes and photos captured at the
jobsite automatically upload to the office,
where it’s accessible to other project team
members. (Contrast this integration with
apps that silo information in the accounts
of the individuals using the apps!)

“We now spend

less time producing field
reports, and they’re more
accurate. This mitigates the
risk of mistakes and delays
during construction.”
Large Engineering Firm
Project Manager

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The many faces of the solution: punch lists
Another aspect of quality control is punch
lists (“snag lists” in the UK; “defect lists” in
Australia and New Zealand). This is another “Using the
app on our tablets takes
area where Newforma’s integrated apps Newforma Project Center
streamline the process and reduce the risk into the field to bring field
of mistakes, redundant data entry, delays, data back to the office. It’s
and overlooked items. saving time and mitigating
the risk of mishandled items
that may jeopardize quality.”
In addition to making it fast and easy to
Architectural Firm
compile punch list items, complete with Project Manager
photographs and other annotations, the app
automatically transfers field information to
records in the office, where people can get
right to work organizing and assigning items
to the responsible parties.
Contractors who use the Newforma app
receive their punch list assignments
automatically. From there they can review
details, ask questions, check off items and
provide updates as to where they stand in
the resolution process.
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The Newforma advantage
At a time when a claim’s financial impact can run into millions, it pays to
manage project information in a way that reduces risk. Newforma software
reduces the risk of lost, misrouted or overlooked project information.
Newforma products improve project delivery whether you’re an individual
working away from your desk with your smartphone or tablet, a team
member collaborating via a project management website, or a senior
executive improving staff utilization and overall company performance.
And success feels good. As a large company senior
executive put it, Newforma is his “big bucket of fun.”

“Newforma software
provides us with the
tools we need to “Time savings
reduce risk, improve alone generate an annual
design, and respond return on investment of 4X,
more quickly.” meaning the software earns back
its cost in the first 12 weeks
Engineering Firm of use each year. Whatever the
productivity savings, we feel the
most important benefit comes
in risk reduction.”
Major International Practice
of Architects, Designers,
Engineers & Urbanists