Job Site Adminstrtive management

★What is documentation？

Documentation is the core of administration, so what is documentation?  The following video replies.

什么是文档管理

★Importance of documentation （文档管理的重要性）

The documents, if assembled with diligence(勤奋) and care, contain the whole story of the project. If there is a need to refer to any issues related to the project,  for example a lawsuit may occur many years into the future, so it is critical that companies establish a formalized system of documenting project events for record purposes. For all parties involved, such documentation is essential, both during construction and after the project is turned over:

▶During construction, the documentation protects all parties by keeping track of all actions in the field. Any deviations（偏差、违背） from the contract documents are recorded. Before money is paid out, a record shows that the work was actually performed. If there are disputes, either during or after construction, the documentation can help sort out the issues.

▶After construction is completed, this documentation serves the owner throughout the life of the building. Shop drawings（施工图）, as-built drawings（竣工图）, and operation and maintenance manuals all give the owner information about materials and methods used to construct the facility. Whenever the owner needs to repair or alter（改变、改造） the building, this information will help.

★Contents of job site documentation from the perspective of communication

(沟通视角下现场文档管理主要内容）

Any successful relationship, either personal or professional, relies on good communication between the parties. This is also true with construction.

There are many kinds of communication (formal /informal). Formal communication should have an organized method that is understood and agreed to by all parties. In this way, each person can feed into another's system, easily referencing documents as needed.

1.Notice to proceed（开工通知）

This correspondence from the owner is the first formal communication under the construction contract. It forms the basis of a legal contract between the owner and the contractor. Because negotiation of the provisions of the contract usually takes a certain amount of time, this notice allows the work to begin before the actual contract is signed.

The letter is legal document in itself and has two basic provisions: it accepts the bid proposal submitted by the contractor, and it establishes a start date and a completion date.

“字少事大”的一份开工通知

2.Meeting minutes（会议纪要）

There are several types of meetings held by the contractor on the site, such as weekly or biweekly（两周一次） job progress meeting to review the status of the job; safety meetings to deal with any special safety or environment concerns; meetings held to discuss specific issues with subcontractors and suppliers; schedule coordination meetings. All of these formal meetings should have an agenda（议程）, a structure, and a leader. Minutes should be kept. Job progress meetings are the most common ones and have the most detailed format. All progress meeting notes should have the following categories:

• Title of the meeting（会议名称）

• Project name and number（项目名称和编号）

• Date of the meeting（会议日期）

• People in attendance（参会人）

• People to receive copies（副本接收人）

• Date and location of the next meeting（下次会议时间地点）

The notes should be distributed as soon as possible while the issues are fresh on everyone's mind. Disagreements about wording（措辞，用词） or content can be taken up at the next meeting. All parties need to take these notes very seriously.

3.Requests for information (RFI)(信息请求）

There are many reasons explaining the need for further information, and there is a standard procedure for addressing this need. The request for information is a form, usually supplied by the contractor. It documents the questions and the answer. Its purpose is to ensure that all parties are aware of the request and that all agree with the answer.

RFIs can pass through many hands before they are answered ( for instance, a supplier may request information from the subcontractor, who in turn request information from the superintendent(主管、负责人), who inturn request information from the architect, who sends it along to the engineer or another consultant for the answer. This answer then makes the reverse trip（返程）: to the architect, to the superintendent, to the subcontractor, to the supplier.) As you can image, often the time involved in moving the paper around does not work with the schedule. There are shortcuts（捷径）, but all parties must be careful that no one is left out of the loop and that any discussions or decisions are formalized. Like any good tool, RFI is only good if it is used correctly.

4.Daily report（每日报告）

The daily report is kept by the superintendent as a record of the day-to-day activities and conditions on the job site. It is usually kept on a preprinted form that minimizes the amount of information that has to be filled in. The report usually has the following components:

• Date and sequential numbering（序列号）

• Project name and number（项目名称和编号）

• Name of individual filling out the report（报告填写人）

• Weather information（天气信息）

• Descriptions of activities on the site that day, including deliveries and important visitors（工地当日活动，包括送货信息和重要访客）

• Records of subcontractors working on site（现场分包商工作记录）

• Large equipment on site（现场大型设备）

5.Diaries(工地日记）

These are personal accounts of the day's activities and are useful if a dispute arises. Often diaries are kept by many different people on the site, but each should be in a person's own handwriting in a bound book（装订本） with his or her signature and date directly under the last line of text. Included in diaries are phone conversations, problems or special events, any personal conversations, and anything else the person feels is important. Diaries are, by nature, subjective accounts of what occurred during the day; but the person writing should keep in mind that a diary is a public record and can be used in a legal dispute.

6.Progress photographs（进度记录照片及摄像）

Progress photos and other forms of visual recording can be taken periodically（阶段性地） or when a specific event warrants（授权、许可） it. Photo and videos work progress in a way that narratives（叙事） and other reports can not.

The primary intent of progress photos is to disclose the quantity and kind of work that was completed since the last batch（一批） of photos was taken. The photos should be labeled（贴标签） with the date they were taken and some notation（记号） regarding location and subject matter. As with other types of records, photos should be stored so that they are readily retrievable（易于检索）. Digital cameras are a good way to record and share the information.

7.Monthly reports（月度报告）

This report is intended to be read by members of the owner's organization as well as the project team. It serves as an executive document and is often distributed to the owner's upper management. The format is usually worked out between the owner and the contractor at the start of the job. It is in effect, a summary of the project on a monthly basis.

8.Submittal（提交信息）

Many submittals are requested during construction. Submittals include shop drawings, product literature（产品资料）, samples（样品）, and reports from independent testing agencies（独立测试报告）, operation and maintenance manuals（操作与维修手册）, and warranties（保修书）. By far the most time-consuming and labor-intensive submittals are the shop drawings.

▷shop drawings (施工图):Shop drawings translate the intent of the design documents into a buildable system. To do this they must be detailed and precise.

▷Product data（产品数据）:Product data are submitted as supplements to the shop drawings or to verify that a standard product will meet the specifications. Many things are included under product data: illustrations that show the product, information about the performance of the product, and brochures（资料手册） that describe the product. If the product is as specified by the contract, then product data submissions will be easily approved. However, if the product varies from the contract documents, discussions will take place.

▷Samples（样品）:Samples usually are submitted to show the actual characteristics of a specific material, such as paint colors, flooring, and wood types. Sample submission is the first time during the project that team members see actual colors, textures and finishes（颜色、纹理、饰面）.

文档管理注意事项

9.Application for Payment（支付申请）

Most construction projects are long enough that contractors need to be paid regularly. Usually the contractor submits monthly requests for payment. These are prepared either on a contractor's own form or on AIA Document. In either case, an owner will look for very specific information to be included.

To ensure timely payments, the contractor should make sure that there are no mathematical errors and that all the backup information matches the amounts shown on the application face sheet. Once the contractor is sure that the information is put together accurately and that the entire backup is included, he or she will sign the form and have it notarized（公证，证实）.

10.Lien waivers(留置权、扣押权）

Before the owner pays the contractor for work performed, he or she wants to make sure that the contractor is paying the subcontractor in a timely manner.One method of ensuring subcontractor payment is through the lien waiver.

11.Indication of retainage（保留金）

To have some protection regarding the quality and completeness of work. As it is being performed, the owner normally holds back a percentage of the work for a period of time. 

This percentage is usually about 10 percent of the money that has been earned by the contractor. (The contractor in turn ,holds this amount  back from the subcontractors. On some projects the money is held throughout the life of the project. In others, especially large projects, the retainage is reduced halfway through the project to 5percent and sometimes eliminated altogether. )

12.Changes to the Work（工作变更）

Despite everyone’s best efforts, there are always changes in the work. The contract specifically includes procedures for dealing with changes when they occur. How changes are handled is the real test of a team’s ability to work effectively. There is a tendency（倾向） during a change to look for blame（责怪）, which can be counterproductive（产生反作用） to the morale（士气） of the project and slow resolution of the change. Nevertheless（然而）, discussions about responsibility must occur since in some cases the owner or the architect has to absorb the change and in other cases the contractor has to absorb it. For instance, a contractor may have assigned daily cleaning to a subcontractor. The subcontractor may contend（争论、主张） that he or she did not carry the price for doing this work. In this case, the issue is between the subcontractor and the contractor, and neither the owner nor the architect gets involved. The change involves someone’s scope of work but no change to the overall job scope.

Because changes happen while the work is progressing, they can be a source of conflict among the owner, the architect, and the contractor. For the owner, any change to the contract is unwelcome because it can mean additional costs in money or time. The architect or the engineer does not like changes because they could mean that the original intent of the design will be compromised. Changes are also disruptive（干扰性） to the contractor, who has planned out the job based on the original scope. For all parties involved, changes mean more work. However, they are a fact of life on a construction project. Whether initiated by the owner, the designer, or the contractor, they become necessary when there are unanticipated conditions encountered during construction.

13.Claims and Disputes（索赔和争端）

Claims are unresolved issues that occur during construction and remain unresolved after the job is complete. If they are resolved during the life of the job, that resolution can be formalized by a charge order. Since pursuit of claims can be expensive for all parties, the best outcome is for them to be resolved through the change order process. If this is not possible, negotiation of changes is done through arbitration or mediation（仲裁或调解） or, if these fail, litigation（诉讼）. The contract documents require the contractor to let the owner and the architect know as soon as possible, usually within a set number of days, if there is potential for a claim. The first step, after notification of a claim, is for the architect to review the claim and either recommend that it be settled, reject the claim, or suggest a compromise（妥协）. If the claim still stands after the architect’s recommendation, then it either enters arbitration or mediation.

Conclusion

Job site administration requires diligence, organization, clear procedures, and an understanding of the importance of consistent record keeping. These documents are essential for all parties to the contract. The architect, the owner, and the contractor will all benefit from the ready retrieval of specific documents both during construction and after the project is finished. At the end of the job, these records are turned over to the architect for submittal to the owner. If after the job is complete, there is a dispute or a court case, these documents can help to resolve the issue in fair and unbiased manner with less reliance（依赖） on individual memories.

During the life of the building, these documents, if filed correctly by the owner, help facility managers make decisions about changes to the facility, repairs, and maintenance and understand performance expectations.

Reviewing questions(复习思考):

1.Write out some documentation types during communication.

2.What is the function of daily report; how this comuncation tool is used？