As a project-centric business in the AEC industry you will be dealing with a range of documents that fall under the design deliverables banner, from drawings and diagrams to design specifications.

Design deliverables are crucial to the successful running and completion of your projects; whether you are an architect, engineer, construction consultant or contractor, it’s important that they are managed correctly. This means having complete control over how they are gathered, reviewed and revised and transmitted.

Design deliverable documents include:

• Drawings
• Diagrams 
• Schedules
• Specifications
• Method statements
• Health and safety risk assessments

Proper management can increase efficiency, ensure that you are working off the correct version and act as proof of delivery and compliance.

Fundamentals Of Managing Design Deliverables

1. Creating the document register

The document register is a list of all of the design deliverables for a project, whether they are created in-house or by another organization or contractor. More often than not, this is a working list and new documents are added as the project progresses. Your document register ensures that information is received and logged in a timely fashion, therefore ensuring that the project runs to agreed timescales and any missing information can be easily spotted.

Each document should have a unique identification reference, as well as a revision letter or number to identify the version. This is crucial to ensuring that documents are correctly referenced and that people can be sure that they are working off the right version.

2. Assigning content to the register

Once your document register is up and running you will use it to monitor the production or receipt of internal and external project documents. Most of the work will be done automatically when the document is uploaded, including recording the production/received date for monitoring purposes. You will also have the opportunity to update the document revision, suitability code, i.e. what the document can be used for, or status of the document and add upcoming review dates if needed.

By treating emails and their attachments as part of a conversation rather than as business and project critical information, organisations are exposing themselves to unnecessary risk as a result of lost or inaccurate information.

By implementing a Project Information Management strategy and system, businesses can efficiently store, catalogue and retrieve essential email communications. 

3. Reviewing the content

Once the document is uploaded to the document register, it may be necessary for it to go through a review process before it can be declared fit for use. This is particularly useful for drawings, designs and specifications which can go through a number of iterations.

Setting up an automated workflow allows the required review/feedback process to take place and ensures that all the necessary steps are completed before the document is released for use. This adds another safety net to ensure that only signed off and approved documents and drawings are used.

4. Controlling how content is transmitted

With design deliverables often being governed by contractual arrangements and deadlines, it’s essential that you have accurate records of which documents have been distributed and when. Document transmittals, or document issues as they are sometimes known, refer to the way that the distribution of documents gets recorded. They show who was sent what and when, the date of issue, document and revision number and the reason for issue. All of the information you need about how documentation is being transmitted is there and easy to see.

Keeping track of how your design deliverables are transmitted means that you can easily demonstrate compliance with the design and production schedule.

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Top Tips For Managing Your Design Deliverables:

• Use predefined schemes for the document code or number
• Use set templates for commonly used documents
• Assign dates for the production and/or receipt of documents so that you keep with the overall project delivery schedule
• Assign responsibility for who produces the documents, whether that’s a member of the project team or an external organization
• Link your drawing register to other software applications that you use, such as Revit and AutoCAD.

Learn More About Project Information Management

For more information on how implementing a Project Information Management strategy and system will benefit your business, download our Project information Management for Dummies eBook.

Understanding Project Information Management - An Introduction Series

• What Is PIM And Why Do You Need It
• 5 Reasons Why Your AEC Firm Needs Project Information Management 
• 4 Types Of Project Information You Should Use PIM Software To Manage
• Project Information Management is changing the AEC Industry
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