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
Design Innovation Report | Apr 19, 2023
Reinforced concrete walls and fins stiffen and shade the National Bank of Kuwait skyscraper
When the National Bank of Kuwait first conceived its new headquarters more than a decade ago, it wanted to make a statement about passive design with a soaring tower that could withstand the extreme heat of Kuwait City, the country’s desert capital.
Design Innovation Report | Apr 19, 2023
HDR uses artificial intelligence tools to help design a vital health clinic in India
Architects from HDR worked pro bono with iKure, a technology-centric healthcare provider, to build a healthcare clinic in rural India.
Design Innovation Report | Apr 19, 2023
Meet The Hithe: A demountable building for transient startups
The Hithe, near London, is designed to be demountable and reusable. The 2,153-sf building provides 12 units of business incubator workspace for startups.
Airports | Apr 18, 2023
India's mammoth new airport terminal takes ‘back to nature’ seriously
On January 15, 2023, Phase 1 of the Kempegowda International Airport’s Terminal 2, in Bengaluru, India, began domestic operations. The 2.75 million-sf building, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), is projected to process 25 million passengers annually, while providing its travelers with a healthier environment, thanks to extensive indoor-outdoor landscaping that offers serenity to what is normally a frenzied experience.
Resiliency | Apr 18, 2023
AI-simulated hurricanes could aid in designing more resilient buildings
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have devised a new method of digitally simulating hurricanes in an effort to create more resilient buildings. A recent study asserts that the simulations can accurately represent the trajectory and wind speeds of a collection of actual storms.
Green | Apr 18, 2023
USGBC and IWBI unveil streamlined certification pathway for LEED and WELL green building programs
The U.S. Green Building Council, Green Business Certification Inc., and the International WELL Building Institute released a streamlined process for projects pursuing certifications for the LEED green building rating system and the WELL Building Standard. The new protocol simplifies documentation for projects that are pursuing both certifications at the same time or that have already earned one certification and are looking to add the other.
K-12 Schools | Apr 18, 2023
ASHRAE offers indoor air quality guide for schools
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has released a guide for educators, administrators, and school districts on indoor air quality. The guide can be used as a tool to discuss options to improve indoor air quality based on existing HVAC equipment, regional objectives, and available funding.
Data Centers | Apr 14, 2023
JLL's data center outlook: Cloud computing, AI driving exponential growth for data center industry
According to JLL’s new Global Data Center Outlook, the mass adoption of cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) is driving exponential growth for the data center industry, with hyperscale and edge computing leading investor demand.
Healthcare Facilities | Apr 13, 2023
Healthcare construction costs for 2023
Data from Gordian breaks down the average cost per square foot for a three-story hospital across 10 U.S. cities.
Higher Education | Apr 13, 2023
Higher education construction costs for 2023
Fresh data from Gordian breaks down the average cost per square foot for a two-story college classroom building across 10 U.S. cities.