16 - Construction Management Procedures 16.5 - Construction Document Control

Bureau of Engineering
Project Delivery Manual

Chapter: 16 CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
PROCEDURES
Procedure: 16.5 CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENT CONTROL
Revised: March 18, 2009

PURPOSE
Document control establishes a central point where all project related
correspondence and documents are logged and tracked. The purpose of document
control is to ensure that all project required documents and/or correspondence is
processed as required and in a timely manner. A delay in processing the required
documents and/or correspondence could cause a delay to the overall project
completion and result in substantial additional costs. Therefore, this process is an
important element of construction management and project delivery and should not
be underestimated. The size of the project/program will determine how simple or
complex the document control system needs to be.
The purpose of this procedure is to provide guidelines and procedures for
establishing the appropriate document control system for any project.
REFERENCES
N/A
RESPONSIBILITIES
Construction Manager (CM): The CM should ensure that all project related
correspondence and documents are routed to the Document Control clerk for
processing.
Document Control (DC): The DC group, clerk, or designated support staff is
responsible for entering all incoming and outgoing project related correspondence
and documents into the document tracking system. The DC staff is also responsible
for maintaining accurate construction records. This person or group of persons
report directly to the CM. On small projects, this person may be the CM.
ATTACHMENTS / LINKS
16.5-1 Manual Correspondence Logs Sample
Procedure 16.5 Construction Document Control Page 1


16.5-2 Change Order Log - Sample
16.5.3 Tracking System Reports - Sample
16.5.4 Filing Key for Numbering System
PROCEDURE
The duties of document control on a small project may consist of maintaining
simple handwritten logs (Attachment 16.5-1). The key documents to be tracked
include General Correspondence (incoming and outgoing), J ob Site Memos, Shop
Drawings, Request for Information (RFI), Plan Clarifications, Change Orders, and
Progress Payments. In each record, some of the key data to track include
Document Serial Number, Description, Date Received, Date Returned, Reviewers
Name and Remarks.

Projects with up to 500 records are better served using a computer assisted
document control log. Spreadsheets, using Microsoft Excel, are commonly used as
a tracking system on small to medium size projects (Attachment 16.5-2).

Large projects which require a team member dedicated full time to manage
and track thousands of documents, may require the use of a computerized
document tracking system for the execution of this process (Attachment 16.5-3).
Commercial software packages such as Expedition and PENS, or custom databases
using Microsoft Access are currently used by Bureau programs to log and track
project documents. It is expected that these computerized document tracking
systems will continue to evolve and may be possibly standardized in the future so
that the Bureau may have one common system for all programs.

It is very important to choose or set up a good tracking system for proper
document control before the project starts. It is equally important to establish a
physical location where all incoming mail, deliveries and contractor correspondence
will be delivered. The RFI that a contractor hands to the CM while both are watching
a concrete pour has a greater chance of getting misplaced than the RFI delivered to
a specific In-box in the project office. This location is where the DC Clerk should be
stationed.

Document control in general encompasses seven separate functions that are
performed by the DC Clerk:

1. Receiving and date stamping of all incoming US mail, City gray mail, and
hand delivered or messenger delivered correspondence, materials, plans and
submittals. E-mail and faxed correspondence may be included if it is being
used for official communications purposes between the Contractor and the
Project Office.
Page 2 Procedure 16.5 Construction Document Control


2. Identifying and issuing a unique log number to all incoming and outgoing
correspondence before entering it in the appropriate log of the document
tracking system.

3. Coding all incoming and outgoing correspondence using a Filing Key for
Numbering System (Attachment 16.5-4) to ensure documents are properly
placed in the Master File.

4. Copying and distributing all incoming correspondence to the appropriate
Construction Management Team members.

5. Copying and distributing all outgoing correspondence. The DC Clerk may
review outgoing correspondence for obvious errors.

6. Printing and distributing computer generated exception reports that identify
overdue responses and/or missing documents to the CM.
7. Custodianship of all original documents in a Master File until they can be
boxed and transferred for long term storage.
RELATED PROCEDURES
N/A
Procedure 16.5 Construction Document Control Page 3

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Project Delivery Manual

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