flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Bernards and Colombo leverage Bluebeam Revu to speed up project document management

Sponsored Content

Bernards and Colombo leverage Bluebeam Revu to speed up project document management

Bernards and Colombo team up with Revu to streamline project documentation for the Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District Replacement Hospital


By Bluebeam | November 5, 2013
Tehachapi project rendering courtesy of SWA Architects
Tehachapi project rendering courtesy of SWA Architects

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.

Bluebeam contact information:
• 866.496.2140
• sales@bluebeam.com
• www. bluebeam.com

*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

| May 20, 2014

Kinetic Architecture: New book explores innovations in active façades

The book, co-authored by Arup's Russell Fortmeyer, illustrates the various ways architects, consultants, and engineers approach energy and comfort by manipulating air, water, and light through the layers of passive and active building envelope systems.

| May 20, 2014

Using fire-rated glass in exterior applications

Fire-rated glazing and framing assemblies are just as beneficial on building exteriors as they are on the inside. But knowing how to select the correct fire-rated glass for exterior applications can be confusing. SPONSORED CONTENT

| May 20, 2014

World's best new skyscrapers: Renzo Piano's The Shard, China's 'doughnut hotel' voted to Emporis list

Eight other high-rise projects were named Emporis Skyscraper Award winners, including DC Tower 1 by Dominique Perrault Architecture and Tour Carpe Diem by Robert A.M. Stern. 

| May 19, 2014

What can architects learn from nature’s 3.8 billion years of experience?

In a new report, HOK and Biomimicry 3.8 partnered to study how lessons from the temperate broadleaf forest biome, which houses many of the world’s largest population centers, can inform the design of the built environment.

| May 19, 2014

Why e-commerce won't kill 'bricks and mortar' retail sector

Despite emerging structural challenges and newly-announced store closings, such as those of Radio Shack and Office Depot, the U.S. retail sector has continued on its solid recovery.

| May 16, 2014

BoA, USGBC to offer $25,000 grants for green affordable housing projects

The Affordable Green Neighborhoods Grant Program will offer 14 grants to developers of affordable housing in North America who are committed to building sustainable communities through the LEED for Neighborhood Development program. 

| May 16, 2014

Toyo Ito leads petition to scrap Zaha Hadid's 2020 Olympic Stadium project

Ito and other Japanese architects cite excessive costs, massive size, and the project's potentially negative impact on surrounding public spaces as reasons for nixing Hadid's plan.  

| May 15, 2014

Paints, coatings, and sealants: 10 new ways to seal the deal

Color-shifting finishes, dry-erase surfaces, and stain-blocking paints are highlighted in this round up of new offerings in paints, coatings, sealants, and finishes. 

| May 15, 2014

Biking to work up by 60 percent, according to Census Bureau report

Many U.S. cities are seeing an increase in bicycle commuters, according to new a U.S. Census Bureau report. While bicyclists still account for just 0.6% of all commuters, some of the nation's largest cities have more than doubled their rates since 2000.

| May 15, 2014

'Virtually indestructible': Utah architect applies thin-shell dome concept for safer schools

At $94 a square foot and "virtually indestructible," some school districts in Utah are opting to build concrete dome schools in lieu of traditional structures. 

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category

Construction Costs

Data center construction costs for 2024

Gordian’s data features more than 100 building models, including computer data centers. These localized models allow architects, engineers, and other preconstruction professionals to quickly and accurately create conceptual estimates for future builds. This table shows a five-year view of costs per square foot for one-story computer data centers. 


Sustainability

Grimshaw launches free online tool to help accelerate decarbonization of buildings

Minoro, an online platform to help accelerate the decarbonization of buildings, was recently launched by architecture firm Grimshaw, in collaboration with more than 20 supporting organizations including World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), RIBA, Architecture 2030, the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) and several national Green Building Councils from across the globe.



Healthcare Facilities

Watch on-demand: Key Trends in the Healthcare Facilities Market for 2024-2025

Join the Building Design+Construction editorial team for this on-demand webinar on key trends, innovations, and opportunities in the $65 billion U.S. healthcare buildings market. A panel of healthcare design and construction experts present their latest projects, trends, innovations, opportunities, and data/research on key healthcare facilities sub-sectors. A 2024-2025 U.S. healthcare facilities market outlook is also presented.

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021