Following the Grenfell disaster, there has been a push for a “golden thread” of information about building design and maintenance to improve safety. Historically, the emphasis has been on BIM & Collaboration rather than a Construction business ensuring all Project Information is captured and easily accessible.
Critical data is held within email, and email management presents a serious headache for companies that need to consider audit trails, regulatory requirements, finding key correspondence over email, and more. So, how does email relate to your BIM strategy?
How does email link to your BIM Strategy?
Dame Judith Hackitt’s review of Building & Fire Regulations has made the Government question what the Construction Industry can do together to deliver better Buildings.
“At a time when the pressure to change our Construction methods and collaborate effectively could not be greater, it is crucial that we challenge how project information is being managed and shared.”
When the push to collaborate and change our Construction methods could not be greater, our time to think and do so could not be less. This is about more than just technology, but surely how we should challenge and collaborate on projects.
As an industry, we are often discussing how we manage and share information relating to the Design, Construction, and Maintenance of Buildings, although the reasons for doing something about this aren’t fully understood in boardrooms.
One key recommendation from Judith Hackitt was that the Government should make the creation, maintenance and handover of design, construction and management information of high-rise residential buildings engrained in the responsibilities of every party involved in the project. That includes the clients, principle contractors, principle designers and more. According to Dame Judith, the minimum should be for the digital record, along with a Fire and Emergency File, Full Plans, and Construction Control plan.
On a typical construction project, an enormous amount of information is generated. Much of this is often unstructured and poorly coordinated, which is why using digital methods of recording and storing this information can eradicate waste, reduce risk and save on costs.
Email represents the context to projects, and if the industry can get to a position where the knowledge in models, documents, emails, and project teams heads is available, we’ll make better decisions, and deliver better projects.
How can I manage all of my information, rather than just my BIM model?
We believe BIM is about working smarter and challenging as an industry what we’ve always done. Email hasn’t changed over the last decade.
Let’s take a moment to consider where your key information is held which needs to be shared and you may need to rely on in the future:
- Documents
- Data sheets
- Common data environments
- Contracts
- Inboxes with thousands of emails
Integrating Project email with your Strategy
Mail Manager is designed to help automate the process of filing & searching emails centrally, so you have one easily searchable audit trail of correspondence across the whole project. Mail Manager integrates email with the rest of your project information, including Common Data Environments. That ensures email becomes a critical part of your document management strategy, and helps safeguard your business in the future.
Try Mail Manager on one of your projects for free now.
