The most expensive paperwork miss on a job is often the most ordinary: two people, two “latest” sets, and a crew building last week’s design. Large general contractors pay for enterprise tools to prevent exactly that.

Procore’s Drawings tool exists to facilitate one current set and a history of revisions, so the field is not building from last week’s sheet. That is the right process. You can run the same process in Google Drive or Dropbox with one official Current folder, one Superseded folder, a date in the filename, and a rule everyone can say out loud. If it is not in the Current folder, do not build from it.

I helped onboard Procore at Mortenson Construction on a mission-critical data center project, including the move off Oracle Unifier. The platform kept a large team on the same sheets, but the rule was the point. This article is about the rule, and about a folder structure that can carry it.

What the process has to accomplish

A current-set system, in any tool, has to do four things:

  1. Make the official current sheets obvious: one place, one date, one rule.
  2. Move yesterday’s sheets out of that place, not into the truck and not into a pile labeled “latest” on two different desks.
  3. Keep the superseded set, so you can prove what was current on a given day.
  4. Get a short notice to the people who build from the set when the work changes.

In a typical Procore project, Drawings is configured to hold a current set and to archive revisions. How stamps, disciplines, and revision sets are shown varies by project. Do not assume the button path on one job matches the next.

The simpler equivalent

In the job file, use two folders and a short README:

  • 02_Drawings_Current: the only official set. If a sheet is not here, it is not current.
  • 03_Drawings_Superseded: dated packets of what used to be current. Do not delete them.
  • A README in the root that says who may replace a drawing, and the naming rule: YYYY-MM-DD_Job_DocType_Number_ShortDescription_Rev.

Permissions matter as much as folders. Most of the team should be able to view and download the current set on a phone, including offline if the site needs it. Only a short list should be able to replace it. “Shared Drives, Permissions, and Who Can Overwrite the Current Set” walks through that.

When a bulletin, ASI, or revised sheet arrives:

  1. File the new official set (or the changed sheets) into Current, with today’s date in the name.
  2. Move the replaced sheets into Superseded, as a dated packet, not as loose files mixed with the new ones.
  3. Send a short transmittal: what changed, which sheets, and who received it. “I never got that bulletin” should have a date and a recipient list behind it.

When this is enough

A folder and a rule will hold if people actually build from that folder, and if superseded sheets are moved the same day. It will not hold if “latest” lives in three email threads and a truck. See Why Big Contractors Insist on One Current Set of Drawings, Current-Set Control: One Place, One Date, One Rule, and the longer setup in “A Procore-Level Job File With Google Drive (or Dropbox) and a Spreadsheet.”

If that sounds like your job, I can set up that job file, or keep the current set honest on a retainer. The files stay yours.

If you want help, not just a checklist

Some jobs run fine on a clean file and a superintendent who gives the log fifteen minutes twice a week. Others do not: revisions are moving fast, closeout is already behind, or the field simply has no hours left for paperwork.

That is where I come in. I set up the job file, run the logs on a retainer, or prepare closeout before the scramble starts. Your files stay yours, and there is no software contract to sign.

Email travis@builtonrecord.com Get the free Job File Kit