How Digitising Construction Management Helped BN Electrical Deliver a Project 12% Ahead of Schedule

BN Electrical, a commercial electrical contractor, specialises in delivering leading healthcare, science, and educational facilities across Australia. Recently, BN Electrical was engaged to deliver the redevelopment of the iconic Capitol Theatre on Swanston Street in Melbourne – an architecturally renowned, six-level theatre built in the 1920s.

12%

Increase in project delivery

$800

Saved in administrative costs

The Business Case for Cloud-based Construction Management

With leaner budgets, compacted construction programs, and an increasing expectation to offer higher-quality services, BN Electrical decided it was time to move construction management workflows to the cloud. The goal was to go entirely paperless, ensuring better document management to improve field collaboration and communication and reduce project risk.

Rather than a large and drawn-out implementation, they opted to make the switch completely.

“The advantages of a paperless environment far outweigh the disadvantages. The adaptation of innovative construction software and technology in our business means we are getting where we need to be, faster, to be better informed.”

– Matthew Bien-Izowski, Managing Director

Choosing the Right Digital Construction Management Platform

BN Electrical chose to take their business off of paper and into digital with PlanGrid within Autodesk Construction Cloud™.

PlanGrid allowed everyone to collaborate to set up and track tasks in real-time, streamlining the task tracking process. This enabled the team to quickly become familiar with and comfortable with the construction management technology.

Once the team was comfortable with tracking tasks on tablets, they began using layers on plans and attaching photos and schedules to the plans for ease of reference. This step added efficiency of communication and field collaboration, and soon everyone on the team was eager to use the technology.

Over time, they continued to increase their use of PlanGrid. Today, they use it for a substantial part of their construction management, including:

Creating requisition orders directly from PlanGrid to the supplier
Overseeing quality control to minimise rework and material waste
Tracking deliveries and delivery dockets
Coordinating in real-time how to move goods around the site

“This kind of transparency helps keep us accountable and gives the client a look behind the curtains to feel more a part of the process than ever before.”
– Matthew Bien-Izowski, Managing Director

Digital Document Management Saves Time and Money on Every Project

Transitioning to digital document management has benefited BN Electrical in all of the ways they expected, and more. They estimate that they save $800 a month in paper, ink, and printing costs alone, not to mention the efficiencies and greater productivity, less rework, and increased client satisfaction.

On the Capitol Theater project, the team used PlanGrid to prepare editable task reports. Each location’s drawing was digitally embedded with the required cables technical data, cable schedules, labeling requirements, and wiring regulations to complete each cable run. By doing this, they overcame problems they had faced in the past, and completed the project 12% under the allocated budgeted hours, including zero rework, which is one of the biggest costs and frustrations in the field.

BN Electrical’s experience demonstrates that taking document management to the cloud doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking. Looking to the future, BN Electrical continues to embrace change and identify ways to advance and innovate its practises to provide high-quality service for its clients.