Communication & documents
What this covers
Section titled “What this covers”Work stops when a question goes unanswered. Someone on site hits an ambiguity, a client asks whether a fixture can move, a decision made in a meeting needs to be confirmed before material is ordered.
This area is how those exchanges become tracked records with a named owner and a date, instead of a text message someone remembers differently.
Issues
Section titled “Issues”An Issue is a tracked question or problem on a project. It is raised, routed to whoever can answer it, answered, and kept on the project’s permanent log.
Issues are typed by what they concern — design, construction, quality, project controls, or client request — so the log stays readable as it grows and the right person picks up the right question.
Issues, RFIs and Submittals are three separate modules here, and the Issues screen is shared with Change Estimates. An RFI — a request for information — is still a formal question in one direction, as it always was. The Punch List is its own module too, rather than a type of Issue.
Four records, not four views of one
Section titled “Four records, not four views of one”Issues, Project Updates, Communications and Documents are four separate records. Each is created, listed and read in its own place, and none of them is a facet of another.
| Record | What it is |
|---|---|
| Issue | A tracked question or problem, with an owner and a status |
| Project Update | A dated post from site, with photos and written notes |
| Communications | The log of every message the system has sent the client, with delivery and open status |
| Document | A file attached to the record it belongs to |
This matters when writing code as much as when using the software: how the data model underneath represents them is not documented, so check before assuming they share a table.
Documents
Section titled “Documents”Documents attach to the record they belong to rather than to a separate document system. A drawing set attaches to the project, a signed contract to the contract, a photo to the issue it illustrates. There is no parallel filing structure to keep in sync, and nothing to go searching for in a second place.
Every document carries a flag for whether the client can see it. That flag is set one document at a time, not by a blanket rule — so posting a document and sharing it with the client are two separate decisions. In the Final Design section in particular, client visibility is set document by document.
Related
Section titled “Related”- Part 4 §13.3 — Construction — Issues in the guide
- Contracts and change orders — how a priced change gets agreed
- Field operations — the daily site record questions often come from
- Glossary — Issue, RFI, Project Update, Communications tab