Bernards, a well-respected, nationally ranked construction firm and Colombo Construction Company, a southern California firm known for its quality healthcare projects, have teamed for the first time to provide construction management services for the $57 Million Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District Replacement Hospital in Tehachapi, California. This new 25-bed, 79,000 square foot facility will replace the existing hospital which no longer meets current California safety standards, and is located in a rural part of Kern County. As the only hospital in a 50-mile radius, the project is a vital addition to the community, so it’s important that the team completes the job as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Challenge
The project broke ground in early 2013, and the first challenge the team faced was how to manage the enormous number of drawings necessary for the construction of a hospital. Since Tehachapi is a California hospital, it requires approval from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD*). Because of time constraints during the bidding process, two sets of drawings had to be correlated: a “permit set” of 500 documents for OSHPD approval, and another “bid set” of 520 documents for the prime contractors.
Not only was the bid set larger, but it also contained updated information that was not reflected in the older permit set. The team needed a reliable solution to quickly and accurately compare the differences between the two versions. Printing hard copies of each set and comparing them against each other was not an option — the process would be time-consuming and risk a significant margin for error. Moreover, because of the project’s remote location, printing costs are extremely high. It was becoming clear that digital was the only way to go.
A Digital Solution
The team at first considered looking for a third-party service to help with the seemingly overwhelming task of comparing the two sets of drawings. Fortunately, Bernards Project Engineer William Lopez had a better idea. Having used Bluebeam Revu on other projects with great success, he was confident that leveraging Revu was the best course of action. The technology was already in-house, and this solution saved time and the cost of looking for a third party qualified enough to complete the work.
The Tehachapi team contacted the project architect, requesting PDF copies of both the permit and bid sets. They then began the process of creating an electronic plan room by installing two 55” screens and using Revu’s Compare Documents feature to display — side-by-side — the automatic comparison of the two sets. This feature enables users to select two drawings, and automatically highlights all disparities with clouds, so they are easy-to-find.
Upon completion, the team reviewed and organized all the markups using the “Markups list.” This feature tracks markups as they are added to the document in a convenient list that can be filtered, searched, imported and exported.
Results
Using Revu, the team compared an initial test set of 100 sheets, and everyone was happy and surprised when it took only 3 hours to back-check the results. In fact, William and the team were amazed by the speed and success of the test. “We were able to complete the final job of comparing the permit set against the bid set in just 15 hours — pretty amazing, considering we had expected this process to take over a week!”
A quality assurance/quality control review revealed that Revu was finding the myriad of important details, including revision symbols and date stamps, that manual scanning could have missed. Even minute details in the scanned permit drawings were picked up. Best of all, the team was able to spend their valuable weekends at home, not in the office reviewing drawings.
Mike Funderberg, Bernards’ Project Manager for the Tehachapi project, commented “The utilization of Bluebeam for this document comparison effort saved nearly 400 hours of the Bernards/Colombo staff’s time to devote to other pressing issues. Being able to not only utilize software, but rely on it, made our processes so much more efficient.”
Continuing to Leverage Revu
OSPHD is still in the process of updating the permit set to reflect the advancements of the bid set drawings, and is sending approvals just about every day. As the Bernards/Colombo team receives those changes, they slip-sheet them into the master set using Revu’s Replace Pages feature, updating the sets 10 times faster than it would take to update a paper set.
The Tehachapi team is also using Revu for BIM coordination. For example, when they discovered the ceilings needed to be dropped to accommodate additional ducts and piping, they created 3-D PDFs of the sectioned BIM, to send to the architect with their markups. This is a much faster and easier way to share redlines, and the team loves how easy it is to manipulate 3-D PDFs. They also plan on using Revu for takeoffs, color coding, and other day-to-day construction tasks, and have already set up Wi-Fi in the trailer, enabling plan review in the field.
To learn more about Revu or download a free 30-day trial, please visit us here.
*OSHPD is an agency created in 1978 to provide the state with enhanced understanding of the structure and function of its healthcare delivery systems.
Related Stories
| Dec 5, 2014
Plotting on the go: 3D-printed mechanical compass can print CAD drawings with high precision
Design student Ken Nakagaki has adapted a device to work with CAD software to replicate digital files on paper.
Sponsored | | Dec 5, 2014
New construction outlook report projects growth in 2015
A new 2015 construction outlook report predicts that total U.S. construction starts for 2015 will rise 9% to $612 billion. SPONSORED CONTENT
Sponsored | | Dec 5, 2014
Best practices for force transfer around openings
As wood-frame construction is continuously evolving, designers in many parts of the U.S. are optimizing design solutions that require the understanding of force transfer between elements in the lateral load-resisting system.
| Dec 4, 2014
World’s largest eco-resort to open soon in Indonesia
Just under 10 miles away from Singapore, Funtasy Island (yes, that's the real name) is a resort tucked away in the mangrove islands of the Riau archipelago.
Sponsored | | Dec 3, 2014
Modular Space Showcase: Bringing work-life balance to energy workers in the Bakken region
To meet the demands of the booming energy business, Williston needs to provide homes, recreation centers, restaurants, hotels, and other support facilities for the tidal wave of energy workers relocating to the Bakken Shale area. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Dec 2, 2014
First existing multifamily buildings to earn Energy Star certification unveiled
River City in Chicago is one of 17 existing multifamily properties to earn Energy Star certification, which became available to this sector on Sept. 16 via a scoring system for multifamily properties that Energy Star and Fannie Mae had been developing for three years.
| Dec 2, 2014
Nashville planning retail district made from 21 shipping containers
OneC1TY, a healthcare- and technology-focused community under construction on 18.7 acres near Nashville, Tenn., will include a mini retail district made from 21 shipping containers, the first time in this market containers have been repurposed for such use.
| Dec 2, 2014
Nonresidential construction spending rebounds in October
This month's increase in nonresidential construction spending is far more consistent with the anecdotal information floating around the industry, says ABC's Chief Economist Anirban Basu.
| Dec 2, 2014
Hoffmann Architects announces promotions
The architecture and engineering firm specializing in the rehabilitation of building exteriors announces the promotion of members of its Connecticut staff.
| Dec 2, 2014
SPARK designs urban farming housing for Singapore’s elderly population
The proposal blends affordable retirement housing with urban farming by integrating vertical aquaponic farming and rooftop soil planting into multi-unit housing for seniors.