Michael:
My take is a bit different as I am a sole practitioner, manage a smaller # of projects, and have been practicing long enough to have dealt with paper submittals for most of my career. I offer the following:
- Typically no, and I believe the risk is minimal if handled appropriately.
- No, I don't believe it does. I maintain my own set of files which duplicate that which is uploaded to (or downloaded from) the CMS. While this does duplicate a portion of the effort, the duplication is only a few minutes to enter the information; however, it is far less time that it required to manage paper submittals. Therefore, I consider it a win.
- Depends on the Contractor. If handled properly, the record should be accurate. However, the Contractor does have the ability to "play with" the information and an unscrupulous Contractor certainly can do so. Again, as I maintain my own files, I would never rely on the Contractor's CMS as an official record of the Project. The greatest issue I have is the Contractor posting submittals of samples before they are delivered to me, so I lose some review time, but if this happens, I just annotate it on the submittal, or require the Contractor to withdraw and re-submit with the corrected date.
- I don't believe it is a benefit or a detriment. I view it merely as a communications tool - a means of transmitting information between the parties and recording that information.
As a small firm, I don't have my own internal software based system (unless you consider MS Word, MS Excel, and Bluebeam to be a software-based system). I download submittals and review on Bluebeam, finalize, and then upload back to the system. Communications with my consultants is handled outside of the Contractor's system as I do not want my subconsultants responding directly to the Contractor or having my communications with my subconsultants visible to the Contractor.
Again, as a small firm, I do not have the resources to have my own internal system or require that Contractors use a particular system. Large firms may have that leverage. Further, it might violate public bid law to stipulate the use of a specific system unless it is made available at no cost to the Contractor for its use. Also, consider, that Contractors use their system for integration of their subcontractors and suppliers, and that their use of a CMS system is far more extensive in that realm than its interface of with the Architect.
Yes, there are liability concerns but if considered primarily as a communications portal, with appropriate protocols, it should not create greater liability than Architects undertook with hard copies or with any other means of communication.
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Mark I. Baum, AIA
Mark I. Baum Architect LLC
New Orleans, LA
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-27-2024 07:57 AM
From: Michael J. Zensen AIA
Subject: Construction Management Software- Participate in the Contractor's or Use Your Own
In the CCA Knowledge Community Town Hall meeting, a question was raised concerning recommendations regarding the architect's participation with Construction Management Software (CMS) and/or the need to have one's own software platform to manage administration of the contract for construction internal to the design team.
This blog post is a follow up to that question and intended to generate dialogue and perspectives on this topic. The dialogue and perspectives that are gathered by the post will contribute to the understanding of content that should be comprehensively addressed in a white paper on this topic, currently under development.
It is important to recognize, if the CM's/GC's CMS is the only software or process that is tracking the design teams obligations, then they are not only using the software for Construction Management, but they are creating and are in control of the "Record for Administration of the Contract for Construction" which can provide basis for claims.
When engaging with these platforms or deciding on investing in the use of a platform for the design team, there are 4 critical aspects associated with one's risk management in "administering the contract for construction" that are worth consideration.
- Is participation in a CM's/GC's CMS a condition of your contract and does participation create risk by extending your obligations beyond your contract obligations?
- Does participation in a CM's/GC's CMS have a negative impact on the design team's labor costs and efficiency?
- Is participation in a CM's/Gc's CMS producing an accurate record of the "administration of the contract for construction"?
- Does time spent in a CM's/GC's CMS benefit the design team's enterprise execution of "administering" contracts for construction?
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Michael Zensen
Vice President
CannonDesign
St. Louis, Missouri
He/Him
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