I think the thing that needs to be realised is that online collaboration is not merely the same as file sharing - particularly in the construction industry.
It's only at certain small parts of the overall construction process (from design through construction and then commissioning) that "collaboration" can be reduced to distributing files: typically where the files in question are "Issued for Construction" or "Issued for Review" - the formal gates in the process.
The rest of the time, as the documents are developed, and interpreted, collaboration (particularly in an online sense) means that additional information needs to be conveyed with the drawings to provide context and/or revision without the formal issue of a new revision of a drawing or document, or even a redline markup.
Some examples of these sorts of situations:
- Where as-built changes (i.e. where changes have been made on site from the "approved" drawings) need to be incorporated into drawings which are then handed over with the completed project
- When a drawing needs to be clarified between site and the design office.
- Where a contractual clause needs to be varied on a subcontract, because both parties agree it might be mutually beneficial to do so.
- Where a initial draft of a drawing needs to accept the input from multiple engineering disciplines in order to produce a final drawing.
These situations - which are, by far, the most common type of situations in construction - are ones where the transfer of documents is insufficient to communicate the context and changes which another person needs to understand to provide input. These are the situations where email comes into its own on the construction project - particularly if done through a document control system so the audit trail is established.
I think the future of construction collaboration will look a lot more like Google Wave than DropBox. Until then, email will hold an important role in any construction project - despite it being a shitty medium to share controlled documents, but because it can surround those documents with further information and context in the easiest way possible.
It's only at certain small parts of the overall construction process (from design through construction and then commissioning) that "collaboration" can be reduced to distributing files: typically where the files in question are "Issued for Construction" or "Issued for Review" - the formal gates in the process.
The rest of the time, as the documents are developed, and interpreted, collaboration (particularly in an online sense) means that additional information needs to be conveyed with the drawings to provide context and/or revision without the formal issue of a new revision of a drawing or document, or even a redline markup.
Some examples of these sorts of situations: - Where as-built changes (i.e. where changes have been made on site from the "approved" drawings) need to be incorporated into drawings which are then handed over with the completed project - When a drawing needs to be clarified between site and the design office. - Where a contractual clause needs to be varied on a subcontract, because both parties agree it might be mutually beneficial to do so. - Where a initial draft of a drawing needs to accept the input from multiple engineering disciplines in order to produce a final drawing.
These situations - which are, by far, the most common type of situations in construction - are ones where the transfer of documents is insufficient to communicate the context and changes which another person needs to understand to provide input. These are the situations where email comes into its own on the construction project - particularly if done through a document control system so the audit trail is established.
I think the future of construction collaboration will look a lot more like Google Wave than DropBox. Until then, email will hold an important role in any construction project - despite it being a shitty medium to share controlled documents, but because it can surround those documents with further information and context in the easiest way possible.