CIQS Prairies and NWT Chapter The power of visual documentation
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he CIQS Prairies and NWT Chapter Region for Calgary recently hosted a dinner meeting in January to listen to a presentation about a more effective and efficient visual document management technology that will assist individuals tasked with undertaking progress mortgage monitoring, change order evaluation and schedule impact delay analysis. Multivista is a leading global provider of documentation and software services for the construction industry with strategic partners and integrations such as Leica Geosystems, Autodesk Matterport, Procore, DJI, DroneDeploy and e-Builder. Mr. Christopher Vance, Sr. Regional Partner of Multivista, has worked directly on projects of all sizes and segments and with many of the largest contracting firms and owners of construction projects across Western Canada and the US ranging from 400 to 100 Million SF. Following the presentation and discussion, Mr. Vance was interviewed by Mr. Jerry Crawford, Chapter representative for CIQS PNWT, to determine the strategic value of having access to the technology for industry application. Q1. Could you give us a brief perspective on the company in terms of origin history, the number of projects and overall combined square footage of projects involving Multivista over the last 15 years? A1. Multivista was born in West Vancouver, BC, by an electrician who wanted to create a better record of his installations prior to being covered-up. This started back in 2003. The model was very simple - capture ‘as-built’ conditions of all rough-in systems prior to insulation and drywall applications and permanently index them on digital drawings by location and date. This construction tool quickly gained traction among custom home builders in the market, myself and my business partner included. Fast forward 15 years, Multivista is now operating in over 75 international locations, has been contracted on more than 50,000 projects totaling over 2.5 billion SF of construction, and has captured a quarter of a billion images. We provide advanced data and reality capture services as well as sharing and distribution software solutions for all verticals of construction. Q2. Could you provide some insight about the client user group size and the diversity of the user base engaged utilizing the technology platform? A2. On average, there are over 1,200 unique users accessing our system each day, which represents an increase of 20% from this time last year. Currently there are over 115k active users in our system. Multivista contracts with developers, owners, owner’s reps, general contractors, construction managers, sub-contractors, facilities management, commissioning agents, architects, engineers, lawyers, insurance companies, lenders; really any firm or group which will touch a project during its full life cycle. Multivista is used by nearly 20,000 unique companies.
30 | CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST | www.ciqs.org | Spring 2018
Q3. What would you say are two key features and benefits users are hoping to realize by the adoption of this platform of technology? A3. Our clients are procuring our services to mitigate risk and to increase productivity and profitability throughout the full life cycle of the project. With that being said, an owner will understand the value and use this visual record differently than an architect or GC. Each person or firm involved in the project will have a different approach to risk mitigation, productivity, quality management, knowledge loss, processes, facilities management, etc. My strategy in business development is to develop a customized documentation solution which mitigates risk and drives productivity in my client’s business. Q4. As professionals, many of us are saddled with information overload already trying to process and manage too much data in complex cloud environments. Could you provide some perspective to a Professional Quantity Surveyor regarding how much training reasonably needs to be undertaken to be efficient at working with your technology? A4. Our delivery platform has always been centralized around intuitive workflows with simple, on demand navigation and access. In four clicks of an icon or mouse, a user can assess one specific piece of data, amongst millions of items from anywhere in world; via mobile or desktop. Our ‘boots on the ground’ service and distribution model provides us with the opportunity to connect directly with our clients for system training and trade specific work flows. This direct connection enables us to work closely with our user base to ensure that efficient and value driven workflows are realized. We also have an in depth, easy to access, inline support system complete with training videos, navigation cheat sheets and written content. Q5. Knowing what you do for our profession, where do you see the most applicable use of the technology and why? A5. In pre-construction, QS professionals help to identify risk and establish a reasonable contingency for the owner to carry during construction. When Multivista is procured during construction by an ownership group, one of the main reasons for buying is to create a historical record to be used to verify that the building is built according to specification and design. This comprehensive indexed data set helps to validate and protect against cost overruns and is used for elevating the quality management programs and response times for change events. Engaging Multivista prior to or during construction is a proactive risk management step to help preserve the contingency. The same can be said for risk management. Once various construction risks have been identified during pre-construction, Multivista is activated as a mitigation and management strategy.
