As an electrical sub-contractor, daily jobsite documentation is critical for Canyon State Electric to ensure quality control and share on-site progress with key stakeholders. Before using StructionSite, capturing, organizing, and sharing photos was disjointed. Canyon State Electric had to rely on the foreman to capture site progress, who then had to fill out a Google Form to track pictures and log them into the CSE systems.
The office coordinator was responsible for going through these images and organizing them by date. Still, it was difficult to determine where the foreman took each photo without critical location information.
COVID-19 hit the construction industry - hard
Canyon State Electric decided to tackle the problem of capture efficiency with StructionSite
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit the construction industry – hard. The same volume of work had to be completed with fewer people on-site, teams were spread across different locations, and checking in on work progress had to be done from remote environments.
After hearing about StructionSite during AutoDesk University, Canyon State Electric decided to tackle the problem of capture efficiency and remote-based collaboration with StructionSite.
Constant stream of information via 360 site documentation
With a task like taking manual photos, several variables and unknowns – like photo-taking experience, hardware quality, and schedule availability – can impact the ability to capture the information and context needed.
Using StructionSite and state-of-the-art capture devices has enabled Canyon State Electric to ensure site documentation is constant and consistent in the frequency and quality of the data captured.
Focus on project management
Office-based team members can now focus on project management, do more work with fewer people, and spend quality time producing more.
They can showcase their work through high-quality, detailed 360 images and videos to walk stakeholders through their processes and ensure a more collaborative building environment.
Improving capture speed and data consistency
Before StructionSite, Canyon State Electric had a dedicated team that solely focused on site capture
While AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Machine Learning can do the information tagging and organization work, manpower is still required to actually capture the image data that feeds into Canyon State Electric’s systems.
Before StructionSite, Canyon State Electric had a dedicated team that solely focused on site capture and safety by walking jobsites every day, for 1-2 hours a day.
Improved speed and efficiency brought by StructionSite
With the improved speed and efficiency brought by StructionSite, documentation is now built directly into their schedules to capture significant milestones, before and after they are completed.
These images become a priceless resource to prove the quality and timing of when and how Canyon State Electric’s team completed work. A consistent schedule for capturing site progress provides a stream of visual proof and assurances when going into stakeholder meetings.
The ROI of documentation for electrical subcontractors
Electrical subcontractors are frequently impacted by the typical risks involved in construction (like plan changes, site conditions, material and labor shortages, adverse weather, etc.).
They also often have to deal with inadequate coordination between parties, scheduling errors, and slow delivery. When these claims inevitably arise, there is nothing worse than needing a photo to address a claim and spending hours looking for it just to find that it doesn’t answer the questions.
Visual data plays a key role
One 360 photo can lead to thousands of dollars in savings by addressing claims head-on with unbiased proof
For Canyon State Electric, the images and organization provided by StructionSite allow them to quickly and easily find what they need, when they need it, through visual data. One 360 photo can lead to thousands of dollars in savings by addressing claims head-on with unbiased proof.
The virtual walkthrough of work also enables Canyon State Electric to provide stakeholders with a thorough overview of jobsite progress and show that their work is on-time and completed.
Creating a custom learning portal
Everyone in the industry knows photo documentation is crucial for communication and quality control on any construction project. But what some fail to realize is the potential to use this data for training purposes.
Staffing is a huge problem facing the trade industry. How to recruit and train the staff needed to complete work, ensure quality, and remain profitable?
Unique approach to StructionSite
Canyon State Electric has taken a unique approach to StructionSite and leveraged their capturing data to create their own custom learning portal for incoming electricians. At any given time, there are massive amounts of talent brought into the company with a variety of experiences.
As new electricians come on board, the platform becomes a virtual learning portal to provide onboarding training. New hires are sent to the training room and shown a walkthrough of previous Canyon State Electric jobs, priming them for field experience. Once they set foot on a jobsite, they already know the etiquette and expectations, giving them more confidence to perform their duties.
Safety managers use StructionSite for training
Safety managers use it for training, like showing real-life examples of the risks that can arise on a jobsite
Safety managers use it for training, like showing real-life examples of the risks that can arise on a jobsite. Some new hires may have never stepped foot on a project before, and now they can get an inside look into the jobsite environment before they are fully trained.
Instead of using hypotheticals and going into the unknown, the staff is more aware of the potential safety risks, before hitting the field by visibly seeing what a jobsite looks like and what to look out for, which ultimately lowers the number of incidents and improves work quality.
Historical view of projects
Instead of bringing untrained talent to many job sites, Canyon State Electric can look at previous jobs within StructionSite and walk new hires through the entire electrical process. The historical view of projects enables Canyon State Electric to set expectations, teach about techniques and processes, and walk new hires through the different construction sectors and what happens on each project type.
Raghav Chandra, VDC Manager, Canyon State Electric, said “When you train people on a system that is clunky, frustrating, and hard to use, it no longer serves a benefit for you. People want to get more involved with a system like StructionSite that is so much easier to use and access.”
Full circle of highly-trained individuals
Raghav Chandra adds, “People want to use their photos more, capture more, and leverage innovative technologies daily. We create this full circle of highly-trained individuals dedicated to using the technologies we provide them, which then feeds back into our university to continue training new talent.”
