These days, you need more than hammers, nails and the occasional I-beam if you want to succeed in the construction industry. You need attorneys, accountants, consultants and bookkeepers, given that construction often involves more paperwork than plywood. In fact, ready access to documentation often means the difference between breaking new ground or digging through file cabinets, winning a lawsuit or losing it, or having a title search in hand or only wishing you did.

Industry veterans Steve Fabry and Peter Schofield, of California-based Master Manuals, knew this when they decided to look into the benefits digital document management technology could offer clients in the construction industry.

Their research led them to Laserfiche reseller Adjamian Affiliated. Stu Meyer, account manager at Adjamian, explains that Fabry and Schofield were looking for a best-of-breed document management system that could be easily integrated with Master Manuals’ Master Archives™ application. Once they saw everything that Laserfiche could do, Meyer’s job was pretty much done.

“They did all the integration and customization themselves,” Meyer says. “They read the documentation we gave them and immediately went to work.”

Now, Laserfiche and Master Archives are helping builders replace bulky file cabinets with servers that hold entire project files in a fraction of the space. Thanks to WebLink™, everything from the first planning and zoning approvals to the deed transfers, construction contracts and regulatory paperwork is available at the click of a mouse from any computer with Internet access.

“We were looking for a document management solution with comprehensive search tools, because our clients are most concerned with quickly finding what they’re looking for,” Schofield says. “Laserfiche not only has powerful search capabilities, but its records management functionality is certified by the Department of Defense, so we knew it had some teeth to it.”

Beyond the document storage and retrieval services Master Archives provides, it also protects builders against legal claims. When disputes arise over punch lists or performance bonds, the documents needed to clear them up are instantly accessible in the Laserfiche repository. If, several years down the road, a lawsuit arises over cracks in a building’s foundation, the builder will be able to locate the relevant documents in order to determine where the concrete came from, who poured it and which inspector approved it.

“In the construction industry, it’s not a question of if you will be involved in litigation, it’s a question of when,” Schofield says. “The reality is that there’s always one key document that can cost you thousands or even millions of dollars if you need it and can’t find it.”

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Posted on Sunday, September 23rd, 2007 at 3:20 pm under UserNews. You can comment on this article. trackback from your own site.