Job file setup is a one-time service. I build the folders, the naming rule, the RFI and submittal logs, the current-set permissions, and a phone check in your Google Drive or Dropbox, so your superintendent is not inventing a system in week three.

It is the right starting point when the next project has just been awarded, or when a job already underway has no official current set. After setup, you can run the file yourself, or add a retainer if the cadence will not hold. Either way, the files stay yours, in your account.

For the longer version of what setup includes and when to do it, read “Job File Setup: Starting the Next Project Clean.” Here is the short version.

What’s included

  • A company-owned shared drive or team folder, so the record does not live in one person’s personal account
  • The numbered folder tree, from contract through current and superseded drawings, RFIs, submittals, changes, dailies, photos, transmittals, pay apps, closeout, and correspondence — with no “Misc” drawer
  • A one-page README in the root: the current-set rule, the naming convention, and who may replace drawings
  • An RFI log and a submittal log, already in the job folder, with the columns that matter
  • A change-order log, a transmittal log, and a closeout checklist stub, so those habits have a home from day one
  • Permissions: most of the team can view and download the current set; only a short list can replace it
  • A check that the superintendent can open 02_Drawings_Current on a phone, including offline if the site needs it
  • A short walkthrough with the people who will actually use the file

If the job is already midstream, setup can mean cleaning today’s current set, standing up honest logs from this week forward, and moving the file into a company-owned drive. You do not have to refile the entire history to start going forward correctly.

Unless we add them, setup does not include day-to-day updates after handoff or closeout packaging. Those are separate services. Procore’s project structure is one way to facilitate a current set, logs, and a closeout folder. Setup builds that same structure for you in Drive or Dropbox.

How the process runs

  1. A short intake. Where the drawings live now, who needs access, whether the team already lives in Drive or Dropbox, and whether a job is starting or already underway.
  2. Build in your account. I set up the folders, the README, the logs, and the permissions where you already work. Nothing important should depend on a personal login, including mine.
  3. Load what you already have. Contract, current drawings, open RFIs and submittals if they exist, and a first pass at putting official sheets in the current-set folder.
  4. Phone check and walkthrough. The superintendent opens today’s sheets on a phone. We walk through the current-set rule, the naming rule, and who can replace a drawing.
  5. Handoff. You get a short written summary of what was set up, who has access, and the twice-weekly habit that will keep it honest. After that, you can run it, or we can talk about a retainer.

Once I have access and a copy of what already exists, a typical setup is measured in days, not months. The exact calendar depends on how messy the starting file is, and I will tell you that before we start.

Who it’s for

General contractors, in any state, with no dedicated document control staff who want the next job, or this one, filed on purpose. If a clean file and fifteen minutes twice a week will hold, setup may be all you need. If the revision cycle is already fast, we should talk about a retainer as well.

It is also a fit when a new superintendent is about to inherit a messy mid-job file, or when an owner wants the next awarded project to start clean instead of inheriting last job’s inbox.

I quote setup per job, based on scope, and the fee is usually carried in the job’s general conditions. If you want this on the next project, show me where the drawings live now and, if you have it, the contact list for the people who will need access. Write to travis@builtonrecord.com. I am based in Arizona, and I work remotely with GCs and trades in any state, in Google Drive, Dropbox, and spreadsheets.

Write to travis@builtonrecord.com. Based in Arizona, working remotely with contractors in any state.