Can we talk about switching from paper blueprints to digital takeoffs on site?

I ran my crew off paper blueprints for 10 years because I figured it was faster than fiddling with a tablet on a ladder. Last month I tried Procore on a job in Portland and caught a dimension error in 2 minutes that would have cost us $800 in rework. How do you handle the transition without slowing down the guys on site?

3 comments

3 Comments

kevin_west14d ago

Holy crap, no paper backup? @tylerpark you're braver than me.

tylerpark14d ago

That "dimension error in 2 minutes" line hit home hard for me. Same exact thing happened on a job in Denver last spring. Paper plans had a wall offset that was off by 4 inches. Would have meant tearing out a whole drywall run. Caught it on the tablet before framing even started. Saved us a full Saturday of rework. For the transition, I learned the hard way. Don't just hand tablets to the guys and expect them to figure it out. I spent two afternoons pairing my oldest framer with a younger guy who was already using the app on his phone. They went over one set of plans together. Old guy showed him how he reads layouts. Kid showed him pinch-to-zoom and measure tools. That pair did the whole job faster than the crew on paper. Next job I'm going full digital. No paper backup. Forces everyone to learn. But I keep a paper set locked in my truck for emergencies. Just in case the tablet dies or you need to mark something in the rain.

the_kim13d ago

That "pairing an old guy with a young guy" move is smart, I read a similar thing in a construction blog.