Embedded Files
Regardless of what you call them, deficiencies, issues, action items or punch lists; how effectively you handle these problems in a construction project or the management of a facility very likely can be the difference between making money and losing money on a contract.
The Building Start platform has features that deal specifically with documenting and managing issues that you find in the course of commissioning, balancing, or managing a facility. Tasks involved include identification, assignment, tracking, sorting, organizing and closeout. All this can be done using both the Web Tool and the Field Tool; however, report generation can only be done from the Web Tool.
Issues are attached to, or associated with a project, pieces of equipment, components or devices found in your equipment tree by navigating to the detail view for that tree object and clicking on the Deficiencies or Issues tab. With Field Tools, issues can be properly documented immediately when discovered by anyone using a Field Tool on a project. The iPad, iPhone or Android Field Tools also have the capability of taking & attaching pictures to Issues as well. Windows field tools can attach pictures to issues as well. Issues can be documented by one or multiple technicians using multiple Field Tools and as this information is synchronized back to the server all of these issues are seamlessly merged into one Issue Report. Issues are uniquely numbered once they are cataloged by the server. At this point issues can be easily sorted and filtered in a variety of ways. The report is a great tool when distributed and reviewed in project meetings.
Topics covered in this section include:
Summary of Issues
Creating Issues
Managing Issues
Edit or Update Issues
Issue Permissions
Issue Comment History
Printing Issues
1. Summary of Issues
Issues are generally discovered while in the field completing checklists, making observations or taking measurements. The Building Start platform is setup with this discovery process in mind. Although you can create issues with the Web Tool, it is much easier and more efficient creating issues in the field with Field Tools as they are discovered.
The issue ID will be generated when the issue is synced up from a field tool or saved on the website and does not need to be filled in. You can set the priority of the issue, there are 5 priority options None, Low, Medium, High, and Urgent. The Asset name is the equipment that the issue is attached to. In the Description column you can click on + Add image to add up to 3 images per issue. If an image is attached instead of + Add image it will say how many images are attached. The Description field also shows what the actual issue is, you can enter it manually or on a field tool you can use a library list of common issues. The Status field allows you to show the completion status of the issue, there are 4 options Open, Recheck, Fixed, and Accepted. Depending on your permissions on the site you may only be able to use Open and Recheck. Last of all, on the left hand side you have the Due Date, Job Tag, and Assigned User. The Due Date allows you to set an expected completion date for the Issue. The Job Tag allows you to set a tag that you can use to filter issues. Assigned User shows if a specific user assigned to the issue.
All of these items will be discussed in more detail below.
The new Deficiency/Issue screen makes it easier to make multiple changes to multiple issues, copy issues, filter columns, export to Excel, & move Issues/Deficiencies to another equipment object.
Red: Summary of the Issue by open & closed statues
Yellow: Summary of Issue by role & by status
Orange: Link to go to the Deficiency/Issue sub-tab on the Analytics tab
Purple: Buttons for adding Project Deficiency/Issue, Save Changes, Delete, Move, Copy or Edit used with front checkboxes; Recycle Bin, Export to Excel, & Clear All Filters
Pink: Checked box with show or unchecked box will hide Asset Information, Timestamps, & Comments
Column headers have filters with the funnel icon
2. Creating Issues
As we stated above, issues typically are identified when you are filling out checklists, documenting observations or recording measurements and therefore, many times you already have the object in question open to the detail view. So, when you discover a problem, you simply click the Deficiency/Issue tab or icon and then add a new issue. While creating an issue you can select a predefined description of the issue from the drop down library, as shown below, or simply type in the text that best describes the problem and then click save. Like everything else in this system your issue will be tagged with the date, time, and user that posted the problem.
Once an issue has been created, you can also assign the issue to a type, trade or role for filtering capability later when managing the comprehensive punch list for the entire project. The ability to "Assign an Issue" is tied to a specific permission which we will discuss at length later in this section.
When created; an issue's default status is Open. Currently, there are 4 statuses for issues: Open, Recheck, Fixed and Accepted. Open and fixed are pretty self explanatory.
Recheck is the status used when whoever is responsible for the issue feels that it has been resolved. We have permissions that limit certain users from using certain statuses. For example, an issue may get created that an Exhaust Fan did not get wired. This issue gets assigned to the Electrical Contractor and the Electrical Contractor proceeds to wire up this Exhaust Fan. When the work is completed, the Electrician can only set the issue's status to "Recheck" indicating that the issue has been resolved in the contractors mind. However, he does not have the permission to mark the issue as "Fixed."
Marking an issue as "Fixed" is left to those users that have been given the authority to validate that the issue has been resolved according to specifications. It is this user with the proper permission level who can mark an issue "Fixed" and close the issue out.
The status "Accepted" was intended for the issue that will not get resolved, for whatever reason. The issue is being accepted "as is".
As mentioned earlier, you can also attach a maximum of three pictures to each issue. A caption can be placed on the picture for added clarification. This caption will print out on the Deficiency/Issue Report with images also.
Each issue becomes part of the master issue list for that project. Once issues are posted to the server; they are available for viewing and managing by anyone with appropriate access and permissions for that project. Also, please note that after being assigned a unique number each deficiency will then be sent back down to Field Tools through the sync process and view-able according to your permission level.
Permissions have been referenced in several places in this section due to the number of permissions dealing specifically with issues. There are 11 permissions that are directly related to issues. We will list them all individually and discuss them at length further down in this section labeled Issue Permissions.
3. Managing Issues
Now that you have issues that have been identified by one or more users for a project they can be managed with the Web Tool. You can click on the "ISSUES" link at the top of the page which will open the project issue grid as shown below. This grid has some of the same capabilities as the project grid with the smart search boxes located at the top of each column. You also have the select check boxes on the left side of the grid which can be checked and then various operations can be performed on selected issues that are listed at the bottom of the grid labeled Issue Grid Tools. By clicking the red circle with the minus sign next to the link labeled "Clear" is how you clear all search criteria from all of the smart search boxes at the top of the grid. Also shown at the top and bottom of the grid are tools to navigate multiple pages of issues and also set the total number of issues that can be displayed per page.
The first column is the selector checkbox that we mentioned above when discussing the grid tools. Next we have two icons that are both tied to permissions. Both of these icons open a detail view of that individual issue. The first icon, the blue circle with a white "i", will open the issue detail view or information only view. The yellow folder with a pencil opens the issue detail in an "edit" mode which we will have a screen print of later.
Next, you have the issue number which is assigned when an issue is first checked in with the server. Please note that issues created with a Field Tool will not have an issue number until you have sync'd to the server. After that we have the Asset Group which currently we have all databases set to a single Asset Group, so the column can be ignored. The Asset column is simply the name of your piece of equipment or device; this includes the equipment path. The next column is the Description, which is the problem as described by whoever created the issue. The Status is showing the current status of all issues. The Type is just a way to classify issues. Like the Status, the Type reflects the issue's current type designation. Next you have the Assigned Role, which is the trade or discipline has been tagged as being responsible for resolving the issue. Last of all we have the Comments column which allows a user to view all of the comment history related to specific issues.
Now you can also click on the "ISSUES" link at the top of the page which will open.
There are two additional features on this grid. The ability to change from one project to the next without leaving the issue grid and the ability to add a project level issue as noted by the plus sign at the top and bottom of the grid. See the screen capture to the right to view how to navigate these features.
Everything else about this page is identical to the Issues section at the bottom of the User Portal page. You can setup your grid to show more issues here because this is the only information in this view. You will be able to view more issues on a single page here than you can on the User Portal page.
4. Edit or Update Issues
Located at the top of the Issues screen is the Edit button which is used with the front check boxes to edit one or multiple issues at a time.
A bulk update window opens with these available actions are Set Status, Set Type, Assign Role, Assign User, Priorities, Job Tags, & Comments. The rows selected by checking the front check box will be updated when the Apply button is clicked. Let's review each of these in more detail.
Set Status - You can update the status for an issue or issues by selected row or rows. The available Issue Statuses are Open, Recheck, Fixed and Accepted. Please note that Fixed and Accepted statuses may not be available to some Users depending on their permission settings. Tier 2 customers can request custom statuses.
Set Type - You can update the "Type of Issue" for an issue or issues by selected row or rows. The available Issue Types are Work in Progress, Incomplete, Warranty, Non Operable, Parts on Order, Incorrect Installation, Defective Part, Incorrect Operation, Observation, RFI, Design Question, Manufacturer Question, and Not Assigned. Please note that this option may not be available if a user's permission settings do not have this capability enabled. Tier 2 customers can request custom types.
Assign Role - You can update the "Assigned Role" responsible for an issue or issues by selected row or rows. The available roles differ for each site. Some examples of common roles are: Field Technician, General Contractor, Mechanical Contractor, Sheet Metal Contractor, Electrical Contractor, Control Contractor, Building Owner, and Client Project Manager. Please note that this option may not be available if a user's permission settings do not have this capability enabled. Tier 2 customers can request custom roles.
Assign User - You can update the "Assigned User" responsible for an issue or issues by selected row or rows. Only assigned users to the project will be available to assign to the issue. Please note that this option may not be available if a user's permission settings do not have this capability enabled.
Priority - You can update the "Priority" for an issue or issues by selected row or rows. The available priorities differ for each site. Some examples of common priorities are: Low, Medium, High, Urgent, Critical, or No Priority. Please note that this option may not be available if a user's permission settings do not have this capability enabled. Tier 2 customers can request custom priorities.
Job Tag - You can update the "Job Tag" for an issue or issues by selected row or rows. Examples of Job Tags are Cx, TAB, 2 Year, 5 Year, and 10 Year.
Due Date - You can update the "Due Date" for an issue or issues by selected row or rows.
Comment - You can update "Comments" for an issue or issues by selected row or rows.
Move to recycle bin - Any issues you want to delete can be moved to the recycle bin. All "deletes" are only soft deletes and can be "undeleted/recovered". This feature is also associated with a specific permission. This option will not appear in the Issue Grid Tools if a user does not have this permission enabled.
5. Issue Permissions
Earlier while discussing creating issues we mentioned permissions several times in that section. Here we will discuss those permissions in more detail.
There are 11 permissions that are directly related to issues. Some of these permissions are self explanatory, but there are a number of permissions that will be clarified as to their exact capabilities in the table below.
So as you can see, you have a great deal of latitude in crafting the specific level of participation for every user as related to creating, responding and managing issues. For more information regarding all permissions please reference Permissions which will list all permissions, and also explain Permission Groups and Permission Overrides.
6. Issue Comment History
This is an important feature that is designed to document the dialog from various parties for an issue that does not have a clear resolution. This can be helpful in assisting with issue troubleshooting, especially for those ambiguous issues that can drag on for weeks or even months.
The comment history can be viewed from the Issue Summary Grid or by selecting show Comments checkbox on the Issue tab. These comments can be printed on the Issue Detail report by selecting "Include Comment History" on the Reports tab under the Deficiency/Issue subtab.
It can be a great tool in a project meeting.
7. Printing Issues
There is an entire help section that covers the Report and Document Center. We will discuss the Issue tab in the Report and Document Center here since it deals directly with the Issue Reports. For more information on the Report and Document Center in its entirety please see Reports.
When navigating to the Report and Document Center with the intention of printing an Issue Report; users will want to be aware of all of the sorting and filtering options available. These sorting and filtering options are found on the Issue tab in the Report and Document Center which is displayed in the screen shot below.
As you can see in the report section B - Project Issue Report; there are two report options available. First, the standard Issue Report and second, the same Issue Report, but it includes any pictures that have been attached to any issues.
Regardless of which report you choose to run, the sorting and filtering options that you have selected will apply. There are two drop down boxes for sorting and two for filtering that can be used in any combination that you like. The sort options that you have are to sort by Name, Status, Type, Date and ID number and whatever that selection is can also be ordered in ascending or descending order.
You also have the ability to filter by Issue Status and Issue Type which can be used together to run a smaller more focused sub-sets of the Issue Report. The status options are the same for all databases, sorting by Issue Type maybe different depending on the database but in this example would include Incorrect Installation, Incorrect Operation, Defective Part, Parts on Order, Design Question, Manufacturer Question and Work in Progress. The options for filtering by issue status are: Show All, Hide Fixed Equipment, Open, Recheck, Fixed and Accepted. The filters can be combined together to return smaller more focused subset of the master Issues Log. If you are not seeing a particular issue, check your filters to ensure that it is not being filtered from your requested list.
Issues
To view the issues of a project, you must have the project name showing at the top of the page as the Selected Project & click Issues at the top or you can from the Project Grid click on the Quick Navigation link for the issues of the project. The screen below will be displayed. There is smart filters at the top of the issue listing to manipulate the issues you want displayed in the issue grid. Below the issue grid is grid tools that can be used to apply actions to several selected issues at once.
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