VAICO’s Superior Field Collaboration and Communication Helped a Community Recover from an Earthquake

VAICO, a New Zealand-based seismic bracing design and engineering company was called in to help streamline the process of seismic compliance in the rebuild of Christchurch and elsewhere in New Zealand after 1,240 buildings were demolished following two devastating earthquakes. With PlanGrid within Autodesk Construction Cloud™, VAICO increased field collaboration and communication to create a 92% decrease in reporting turnaround time, saving 250 hours per person and eliminating 100% of paper costs.

92%

decrease in reports turnaround time

250

hours saved per person, per year

100%

elimination of paper costs

The Need for Cloud-based Construction Quality Management Software

VAICO had no construction management software in place, and needed a smarter way to survey field conditions and relay the correct information back to the design team stationed in California. Their US partners, ISAT Seismic Bracing, recommended PlanGrid. VAICO piloted it on their first major retrofit project and immediately decided to implement it on all future projects.

Using PlanGrid has helped improve field collaboration and communication. With cloud-based construction management, it was possible for the team to survey large projects with numerous building services and systems, and share that information internationally in real-time.

“We weren’t very tech-savvy at the time. But PlanGrid is extremely easy to learn, and we picked it up very quickly.”

– Caleb How, Project Manager

Improving Field Productivity and Construction Quality Management

Today, VAICO’s workflows have completely changed. Project managers upload drawings through PlanGrid and push them to superintendents and forepersons onsite. The installers understand what the engineers are trying to accomplish, and they’re able to instantly access specs on new structures and link them to plans.

Their compliance inspection process has taken on new life, too. VAICO uses PlanGrid’s punch tool to inspect each seismic brace location as it’s installed, mark the inspection progress, and add photos directly to each item. Everyone onsite is held accountable for their work.

VAICO often works alongside structural engineers, service engineers and contractors, design consultants, and general contractors. And having PlanGrid as an inspection and reporting tool has proved invaluable to everyone.

Saving Time with Cloud-based Construction Management

Today, over 150 VAICO projects, large and small, have used PlanGrid, and the team has seen immense time savings from keeping paperless as-built drawings on hand.

Their outstanding field productivity, matched with construction quality management, created a 92% decrease in reporting turnaround time, saving 250 hours per person and eliminating 100% of paper costs.

An inspection and progress report that historically would take 50-60 minutes to prepare and send now takes minutes with PlanGrid. A current VAICO job alone has had 250+ inspection and progress reports issued by a single person within 12 months. The new process with PlanGrid saves VAICO and the general contractor between 210–250 hours.

Additionally, VAICO has cut waiting times for international communication on design updates. Now that they can upload new versions of drawings and attachments, they can avoid the confusion and hassle of older paper systems.

VAICO has turned PlanGrid into a company standard, and they now use it on every project. In the future, VAICO wants to get more general contractors involved with PlanGrid to increase efficiency and collaboration on one platform.

“It [PlanGrid] works well and truly above what anyone has ever seen before, and ultimately it provides us with a level of compliance and inspection records that hasn’t been seen before in New Zealand.”