Gibbon Public Schools use Submittal Exchange™ to save time and cost

"Submittal Exchange is cheaper than the traditional process, and it is a perfect way to document how items are kept track of."
- Jim Hoppenstedt, Vice President, BD Construction

Gibbon, NE - In Gibbon, Nebraska, a town of about 2,000 people located approximately 15 miles east of Kearney in Central Nebraska, a major construction project of a new educational facility began in October 2007. Valued at $18,000,000 the new Gibbon Public School is projected to be completed in August 2009 and will house all grades kindergarten through 12th grade. The project is using Submittal Exchange to make the process of submitting, reviewing and tracking shop drawings and submittals more time-efficient and cost effective.

Submittal Exchange allowed the architects, engineers and contractors on this project to utilize their time and money more efficiently by spending less time marking up documents, and less money on shipping multiple copies of documents through the mail. Through the course of the project, 225 submittals have been processed through the Submittal Exchange system. If processed using the traditional paper method, this would have equated to over 1,000 copies shipped 100 miles between Gibbon, Kearney, and Lincoln, Nebraska one way generating significant costs and time delays.

"Submittal Exchange has helped out the project by speeding up the review phase of shop drawings."
- Richard O'Hearn, PE, Construction Administrator, BVH Architects

Bahr Vermeer Haecker (BVH), the architect on the Gibbon project, is a diversified firm of approximately 50 architects, designers, and planners that operates out of Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska and Colorado Springs, Colorado, and has used Submittal Exchange on seven projects to date. Richard O'Hearn, PE, Construction Administrator for BVH says, "The consultants are able to turn around their reviews quicker, which has helped out the project by speeding up the review phase of shop drawings."

BD Construction, a project management and construction company out of Kearney, Nebraska is on its first project with Submittal Exchange. "It's cheaper and it is a perfect way to document how items are kept track of," stated Jim Hoppenstedt, Vice President of BD Construction who has 35 years experience in the industry. "It's easy to keep up with the project because once you click on the site, a reminder is displayed and everything is right there in front of you."

"When I upload a submittal, I don't have to wait for the next person to receive it or for it to go through three other people. I know that it immediately went to the proper designer, it is pretty much instantaneous," comments Keller. "Sometimes in the specification manual it will list four or five different things, but this way I definitely knew what the architect is looking for which is helpful because the expected submittals were already set up. It is easier to see what all I need and it definitely sets clear standards and expectations (for all parties involved)."

Users on this project have also noticed a substantial benefit in using Submittal Exchange versus the traditional paper method for submittals relating to time, money, and accuracy. Rick Pettit, Job Superintendent for BD Construction says, "It has kept us on or ahead of our schedule. The shop drawing process has been pared down to where I just open up the email en lieu of waiting for mail delivery."

"Before we had to transfer our notes to five different hard copies, now we only have to mark-up one electronic copy."
- Kyle Ruse, Structural Engineer, Voss & Associates

Kyle Ruse, Structural Engineer for Voss & Associates in Lincoln, Nebraska, who has used Submittal Exchange on seven projects, says, "Before we had to transfer our notes to five different hard copies, now we only have to mark-up one electronic copy. It has decreased the probability of error while increasing efficiency now that we only have to markup one copy."

When asked about recommending Submittal Exchange to others in their field, the main users on this project all unanimously said they would recommend the product. "(Submittal Exchange) is a great place to archive, log, store, and exchange construction related correspondence, and I would absolutely (recommend it to others)," O'Hearn stated.

"I would highly recommend it and have recommended it to our office and other job superintendents to use this instrument as much as possible," exclaimed Pettit. "I would suggest it because it is a great tool and I use it every day. There's not one day on the project that I don't open (Submittal Exchange) up and take a look at it."