Jordan & Skala Engineers Simplifies Field Reports & Punch Lists with Deltek ArchiSnapper

Since 1953, Jordan & Skala Engineers has supported architects with mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering expertise across every state in the US. 

When your business involves everything that turns brick and mortar into usable, inhabitable buildings, there’s a lot of documentation to cover. From contract documents and specifications to schematics and diagrams, Jordan & Skala wanted a new way to simplify on-site documentation. 

We spoke with Chris McDaniel, Principal at Jordan & Skala, to understand how his firm saved its teams from field report headaches and accelerated client and contractor communications with Deltek ArchiSnapper. 

Saving time on field reports 

In the past, engineers from Jordan & Skala were frequently tied up in administrative work after each site visit.

“The big problem we had in the past was that our engineers would take all these great notes while on site, then they’d have to type everything up when they got back to the office,” Chris explains. “They knew they had to edit a document, drop relevant pictures in, and spend a lot of time on the report. Sometimes a whole month would pass, and the engineers would still be putting it off because it was such a headache.” 

To simplify and accelerate reporting and communication, Chris and his team looked for a smarter way to create punch lists and field reports. After considering a few field report solutions, the team chose Deltek ArchiSnapper for its usability and tight focus on reports and punch lists. 

Streamlined, consistent communication

With Deltek ArchiSnapper, engineers at Jordan & Skala can automate much of their reporting while on-site and easily sync up key details when they get back to the office. “Now, things are really easy,” Chris says. “Engineers don’t need to do much to get a great report ready. They can use voice narration, tidy a few bits up, and quickly have a report.” 

With ArchiSnapper, Jordan & Skala not only speeds up reporting but also delivers clearer, more detailed insights to clients.  

“We used to have problems where an engineer would take a picture and write up a document, but the two didn’t always come together to clearly show the location or nature of the problem,” Chris explains. “With ArchiSnapper, I can circle the issue and point an arrow to it on the floorplan. Since we started using ArchiSnapper, I’ve not had a single client ask me to clarify what I meant in a report.” 

Clear reports save time for engineers and clients

Now, engineers can now deliver clearer reports faster—saving time on writing and accelerating feedback cycles. 

“During construction, we’d regularly have clients come to us to ask, ‘what do you mean by these punch list items?’” Chris recalls. “Since using ArchiSnapper, there’s much less confusion. It’s a lot clearer what the problems are and that saves us a lot of time.”  

An intuitive interface leads to broad adoption

Even the best software solutions can’t deliver value if they aren’t adopted by users. But thanks to ArchiSnapper’s intuitive user interface, Jordan & Skala has seen widespread adoption of the tool across its teams.

“If something is easy to use and it serves a strong purpose, you don't have to ask people to use it,” Chris says. “From our sustainability teams to commissioning agents, everybody is just using it. It’s organically taken off because the tool is so easy to use and user friendly. I don’t have to sell it, because it sells itself.” 

Three tips to optimize site visits, field reports and punch lists

Chris also shared three recommendations for anyone exploring more efficient ways to handle punch lists and field reports: 

1. Find solutions with a focused feature set 

“I would say don't necessarily go out and buy the tool with the biggest bells and whistles. Keep a strong focus on what you and your people need to do each day and find a solution that makes that as simple as possible.” 

2. Look for a tool with an intuitive user interface

“When you’re working hard to implement new tools, the last thing you want is to field lots of questions about how to use certain features. Prioritizing intuitive, easy-to-use solutions can prevent these kinds of questions coming up all the time.”  

3. Match the tool to the size of your firm 

“When assessing solutions, there were options with features that might have been useful if we were a massive company. But we had to think carefully about whether a firm of our size really needed cost estimations and features like that. Ultimately, we decided we’d be better off focusing on what we really needed day to day.”