2.4.4 General Project File

Immediately upon notice of the award of any contract, the project executive will direct the preparation of the General Project File. As part of the initial process, the preparation will include two nearly identical sets of files. One of the sets will serve as the primary project file and be maintained at the central office. The second set—nearly identical to the first—will be arranged and maintained at the jobsite. In all cases, the central office file will be considered by the project to be the primary file, and the jobsite file will be considered to be the “working copy” file. The jobsite file is characterized as being “nearly identical” because it will have both sensitive information and records that are otherwise unnecessary for the construction of the work omitted.
The reasons for the omission of this data from the jobsite file are in no way to preclude access to this information by the senior jobsite company representatives, but to preserve the security of sensitive information and to guard against access by unauthorized individuals. In addition, the jobsite file is spared much of the bulk of preliminary records and transactions such as those involving multiple submittal and approval documents that are generated prior to final documentation that is authorized for use in construction. Managed in this way, the jobsite files will ideally retain only those documents that are to be used for coordination of the work and for actual construction.
For these reasons, the central office file is to be considered at all times to be the primary file and, as such, the integrity of the central office file must never be compromised.
Choose a label color that is coordinated with the specification binder as described in Section 2.4.2 of this Operations Manual—a color that is different from all other projects falling within the responsibility of the single project executive and/or project manager. This will distinguish the project and its file system from all other projects. As all files are developed, the files, file books, log books, and all other project records will be arranged in colors consistent with their individual projects.
If you or your company is using a computer-aided file management system that incorporates document key-word or other search/retrieval facilities, you should be able to correlate such systems with the physical document file structure as indicated in this section of the Operations Manual. Creating and preserving the record structures as indicated here will in no way alter the manner in which those electronic record identification systems will be used. Instead, the principles expressed in this section of the Operations Manual should be used as a guide for designing and organizing the actual forms and formats that will be implemented within the electronic system. Using these principles will greatly facilitate the subsequent research that will be required to retrieve the necessary records once so identified.
The overriding objectives of the document management system discussed here include to logically assign each document into a carefully coordinated set of individual files, to arrange those files in a way that will keep all associated issue files together, to preserve clear relationships among related files, and to be able to serve them up to managers when needed and in total. Note that many of the items identified in the file system, such as the Sub-mittal Log, the Clarification/Change Log, etc., are treated in detail in their respective sections of this Operations Manual. They are not further described in this section and are only identified here for organizational and file management purposes.
The General Project File will be divided between Project Administration and Technical Construction. The individual file folders will be titled and arranged at a minimum as follows:

Project Administration

• Bid Documents
• Company Proposal, Competitive Proposals (if available), Proposal Tabulation (if available)
• Prebid Site Investigation
• Owner/Contractor Agreement
• Owner/Designer Agreement
• Contractor/Designer Agreement (Design-Build Contract)
• Payment and Performance Bonds (Prime Contractor)
• Payment and Performance Bonds (Subvendors)
• Project Insurance Policies and Certificates (Prime Contractor)
• Project Insurance Policies and Certificates (Subvendors)
• Job Cost Summary and Project Estimate
• Schedule of Values (Prime Contract)
• Schedule of Values (Subvendors)
• General Applications for Payment
• Cost Progress Reports
• Subvendors Approvals (if required)
• Jobsite Utilization Program
• Purchase/Award Schedule
• Building and Special Permits
• Daily Field Reports
• General Notifications—Owner
• General Notifications—Architect
• General Notifications—Subvendors
• Progress Photographs
• Special Photographs
• Monthly Narratives (if used)
• Baseline Progress Schedule
• Periodic Schedule Revisions (Separate file for each periodic schedule update)
• Job Meeting Minutes
• Special Meeting Minutes
• Requests for Information (RFIs)
• Nonconformance Notices (NCNs)
• Change Order Summary
• Change Order Files (Separate file for each individual potential/actual Change Order)
• Subvendor Backcharge Summary
• Subvendor Backcharge Files (Separate file for each individual subvendor)
• Substantial Completion
• Guarantees/Warranties
• As-Built Documents
• Maintenance and Operating Manuals
• Certified Payroll Reports (if used)
• Project Deliverables
• System and Facility Training/Owner-Instruction
• Certificate of Occupancy
• Punchlist/Final Completion
• Lien Releases/Waivers of Claims
• Owner Claim Summary
• Owner Claim Files (Separate file for each actual or potential claim)
• Subvendor Claim Summary
• Subvendor Claim Files (Separate file for each actual or potential claim)
• All other files as appropriate; refer to the specific project General Conditions, Supplementary General Conditions, Special Provisions, and other appropriate information as sources for any special file requirements.

Technical Construction Divisions. The file structure identified above is generally formulated based upon the structure of Division 01 of the General Requirements of the contract for construction. In 2004, the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) reissued their Standard Specification Division numbering system adding many more sections beyond the previous Division 17. This new system is divided in groupings as follows:

Procurement and Contracting Requirements Division 00: Procurement and Contracting Requirements
Specifications Group Division 01: General Requirements Division 02: Existing Conditions Division 03: Concrete Division 04: Masonry Division 05: Metals Division 06: Wood, Plastics and Composites Division 07: Thermal and Moisture Protection Division 08: Openings Division 09: Finishes Division 10: Specialties Division 11: Equipment Division 12: Furnishings Division 13: Special construction Division 14: Conveying Systems Division 15: Reserved Division 16: Reserved Division 17: Reserved Division 18: Reserved Division 19: Reserved
Facility Services Subgroup Division 20: Reserved Division 21: Fire Suppression Division 22: Plumbing Division 23: Heating, Ventilating, and Air-conditioning Division 24: Reserved Division 25: Integrated Automation Division 26: Electrical Division 27: Communications Division 28: Electronic Safety and Security Division 29: Reserved
Site and Infrastructure Subgroup Division 30: Reserved Division 31: Earthwork Division 32: Exterior Improvements Division 33: Utilities Division 34: Transportation Division 35: Waterway and Marine Construction Division 36: Reserved Division 37: Reserved Division 38: Reserved Division 39: Reserved
Process Equipment Subgroup Division 40: Process Integration Division 41: Material Processing and Handling Equipment Division 42: Process Heating, Cooling and Drying Equipment Division 43: Process Gas and Liquid Handling, Purification Division 44: Pollution Control Equipment Division 45: Industry-Specific Manufacturing Division 46: Reserved Division 47: Reserved Division 48: Electrical Power Generation Division 49: Reserved

Each of these Divisions is further divided into Specification Sections that further define the detail included within each major design area. Among these individual Specification Sections, there is little consistency among Specification Divisions with respect to the manner in which the work of the individual Specification Sections is ultimately divided into specific subvendor bid packages. Because of this, it is necessary to arrange the General Project File to include separate file sections organized around the individual Bid Packages—and not necessarily around individual Specification Divisions and/or Specification Sections.
While it may be true that a Specification Division or Specification Section may coincidentally parallel that of a particular subvendor Bid Package, such a coincidence may not be the common case.

Bid Package File Organization. Once separate bid packages are defined and organized according to the criteria of the previous section, each of the separate bid package files will be physically divided between Contract/Correspondence and Submittals/Approvals. These two file components are separated beginning with the idea that submittals and shop drawings are bulky and become a physical inconvenience when working with the nonsubmittal items of the bid package. Because of this, the Submittals/Approval file component is merely kept as a separate file section within the bid package. The Contract/Correspondence section of the bid package file will contain at a minimum the following components (as appropriate for the particular bid package):

• Subvendor proposal(s)
• Subcontract work Purchase Order negotiation records
• Subvendor Agreement
• Subvendor Reference Form (refer to this section of the Operations Manual)
• Correspondence (filed in reverse-chronological order)
• Subvendor Schedule of Values
• Subvendor Applications for Payment, and associated payment records
• Subvendor Requests for Information (RFIs)
• Subvendor Nonconformance Notices (NCNs)
• Subvendor Change Orders
• Subvendor Baseline and Revised Schedule Requirements
• Subvendor Bonds and Insurance
• Photographs
• Guarantees/Warranties
• As-Built Documents
• Lien Releases/Waivers of Claims
• Maintenance and Operating Manuals/System Instruction
• Substantial Completion/Certificate of Occupancy
• Punchlist/Final Completion
• Certified Payroll Reports
• Backcharges
• Subvendor Evaluation Form

Subvendor Subfiles. Within each Contract/Correspondence section of each bid package, it is important to make the additional effort to consolidate developing records for individual issues. If we simply allow our files to consolidate documents as they are generated with no further effort to distinguish among them, the resolution of every issue will require a research effort that must take us through not only the entire bid package file itself, but through all definitely—and possibly—related project records as well.
For example, if we are trying to resolve an issue related to an electrical change that may affect the placement of conduit in concrete that is currently being delayed, our research would necessarily take us through the entire “correspondence” portion of the electrical bid package, possibly through the “correspondence” portion of the concrete bid package, and even through the respective files relating to the relevant Construction Progress Schedule Updates. But unfortunately, it does not stop there. In order to be thorough, we would also be forced to review every remark in every job meeting and special meeting record, at a minimum, going back to a time preceding our current estimated date of the earliest identification of the issue. After all that work was done and our issue was (presumably) resolved, the files would be returned to their original locations. When the next issue arises, however, involving, say, changes to electrical lighting that may impact underground conduit placement, we would be forced to begin the entire process all over again from scratch.
In order to avoid this labor-intensive scenario, and work to prevent it from repeatedly occurring to the point where this type of research impacts our ability to perform proactively as project managers, we can arrange our files so that they contain all information relevant to every issue on the current bases. Such an arrangement begins with an acknowledgement that the small amount of work involved in creating these types of files is inconsequential when compared with the major amount of work involved in repeatedly researching every issue as described in the above example.
And so it begins with the principle that any issue generating at least two pieces of correspondence, along with the potential of generating more, will justify the preparation of the separate subfile within the particular subvendor bid package file. As other project records are developed (such as updated progress schedules, meeting minutes, etc.), they are identified contemporaneously, with a copy filed in the newly assigned location. Maintained in this way, one can retrieve such a file with the confidence that all of the information is already included, and that the massive effort otherwise necessary to conduct thorough research as described above is not likely to be necessary.
An example of the issue subfile as described above is as follows:

Duplicate “Correspondence File” Books. The file record structure as described above is intended to create a thoroughly comprehensive and efficiently organized means of retaining every project record in the way they will facilitate our ongoing management of the project. Beyond these objectives, we must further address the issue of file security. We will find additionally that having adequately addressed the file security issue, we will have also created an additional supplementary file retrieval system that will improve our ability to retrieve records, depending upon the information that we have available.
Beginning with the recognition of the disastrous effects that would occur if all or a portion of the official project record files are lost or destroyed, responsible project management must provide for not only security of the original project files, but also the ability to reconstruct those files in the event of such a disaster. Even without considering a major disaster, one’s imagination does not have to work very hard to consider the ways in which one single lost file can certainly constitute a “minidisaster.”
The Correspondence File Book system described below addresses these issues. At the same time that the General Project File is being prepared as described in the previous section, prepare “Book #1” of the “Correspondence File.” This book will be a 3″ or 4″ hard-cover three-ring binder in the color that matches that selected for the General File folders and specification binders as described above. The binder is the first of a series that will be prepared and maintained chronologically. Each binder will be identified with the following information:

• Project Name
• Company Project Number
• Owner Project Number
• Book Number
• Beginning Date
• Reserved area to insert the book’s ending date (this information will be provided upon preparation of the next book following in chronological order).

The use of the Correspondence File Books begins with the idea that virtually every piece of communication demands at least one duplicate copy. Typically, the original of any document (both incoming and outgoing) will at the very least be automatically assigned a “Correspondence File” copy, which will be physically designated as the “CF” copy. As these documents are generated and/or received, the original is filed into the respective file or subfile as arranged in accordance with the previous section. Additional copies of the document may be made as necessary to be placed in other issue files and related files—also as required by the arrangement of the previous section. When all other necessary file copies have been prepared, one final “Correspondence File” (“CF”) copy is prepared for insertion into the Correspondence File Book. This copy serves as the “emergency” file copy that can be used to reconstitute other files if such an effort becomes necessary.
The “CF” file copies are to be inserted into the respective Correspondence File Book in reverse chronological order (with the most recent date on top), per the date of the document (not per the date of receipt). Maintained in this way, the Correspondence File Books provide a second means of issue research that is strictly related to document dates. In this way, the Correspondence File system provides an often convenient supplemental way of record review and retrieval.
In addition to these benefits, the chronological Correspondence File record system also provides a convenient review forum that allows a manager to periodically review everything that has occurred within the particular time frame in a manner that will allow an effective double-check of his or her own follow-up activities. For example, a Monday-morning review of the previous one or two week’s activities is very conveniently possible by simply flipping through the top pages of the most recent Correspondence File Book. Because the issues are arranged by date, they consolidate the activities by all parties into a convenient form. Similarly, it would only take a few moments at the end of each month to flip back through the most recent Correspondence File Book to review all occurrences within the month. Outstanding and open items should jump out at the reviewer, who will then be well positioned for immediate follow-up. If one performs these reviews while standing by the copy machine, it takes only a moment to create a new file copy that will facilitate such follow-up by serving as an attachment to a follow-up correspondence.
Items to be filed in the Correspondence Book in reverse chronological order will include:

1. Duplicate copies of all letters to and from the Company and to any other party regarding the project in any way (copies of which are received by the Company). Be sure that each document is stamped or is otherwise clearly identified with the date of receipt.
2. Copies of all transmittals (both to and from the Company) regarding everything but shop drawings and other submittals for approval. Refer to the Transmittal Procedure and Use section of this Operations Manual for further instruction.
Note that the approval submittal transmittals are generally not included in the Correspondence File Books. This is because the duplicate copies of the approval submittal transmittals and related records will be kept in their own separate set of file books—also arranged in reverse chronological order, as described in following sections. With those transmittals, the record transmittal prepared by the respective architect or engineer will be attached to the copy of the Company transmittal for the same document. Refer to the Shop Drawing Summary Record Procedure section of this Operations Manual for further instruction.
In all cases, be certain that each item is clearly marked with the proper file instruction. For all Letters of Transmittals, refer to the appropriate section of this Operations Manual regarding Transmittal Procedure and Use. All Company correspondence should already contain a file instruction as described in Section 2.3.3. If any document or correspondence does not contain such file instruction, write the instruction at the bottom of the document before it is routed for filing. One method of file instruction that may be consistently used is as follows: