Connecting Construction Workflows - RFI to Potential Change Order

Fragmented construction workflows can eat away at project performance–and your bottom line.

Delays, cost overruns, and other performance issues can often be traced to poor communication and inefficient information sharing.

Traditionally, this problem has been practically unavoidable. Construction processes have always operated in a fragmented way, with a high level of disconnection between project phases and workflows. This way of operating leads to data silos, disjointed teams, and poor visibility into project information.

It is past time to remove these barriers and free teams to communicate efficiently, completely, and safely to improve project outcomes. BIM 360 is making it possible and practical to do just that.

BIM 360 now connects data across RFIs and Change Management workflows. With our most recent release, BIM 360 Project Management Admins and RFI Managers can now create a Potential Change Order (PCO) from an RFI or link existing RFIs to PCOs in the RFI module. This helps you to track the origin of change orders, reduce the risk of information loss, and access information you need to make informed decisions. 

Creating a Potential Change Order from an RFI with BIM 360

Here’s How It Works

BIM 360 Project Management Admins and RFI Managers with a Cost Management license can access a new linked references section in the RFI record details. Once there, select “Add Reference” to create a new PCO or link existing PCOs to the RFI record. When creating a new PCO, simply add the name and a brief description. This information will copy over from the RFI to the PCO, but it can be altered directly in the PCO record as well. Once the PCO is created (or linked), a bi-directional relationship between the RFI and PCO is established, making it easy to jump from one to another and view status details.  All activity is captured in the RFI and PCO activity logs.

The Benefits it Brings

• Saves time. It’s common for an RFI to incur a potential cost change, so having the ability to connect an RFI to a PCO instantly saves you time from having to send emails and enter the same information twice. 
• Reduced Risk. BIM 360 is a single source of truth for all project data reducing the risk of error or information loss. This makes it simple to track the origin of change orders and access the right information to make informed decisions.
• Secure. Cost information is sensitive, and BIM 360 keeps it in the right hands by only allowing specific roles to create and access PCOs from the Project Management module.
• Accurate Activity Log. All RFI and change order activities are automatically captured, with a name, date, and time stamp for audit purposes.