Here are the features in Bluebeam Revu that all framing contractors and framing subcontractors should know
In my last post, we covered features in Bluebeam Revu that all concrete subcontractors should know about. I begin by saying that I firmly believe that any specialist contractor can benefit from a Revu implementation. To continue with this series, I wanted to highlight the next subcontractor on the job site, the framing contractor.
Let’s look at some of the innovative ways Bluebeam Revu is being used in the industry.
The framing contractor’s turn was to demonstrate and again prove my theory that any specialist contractor can benefit from implementing Revu in their daily workflow.
This article applies to you whether you’re framing wood for single-family homes, multi-family residential properties, or reinforcing steel commercial tenants. If you’d like to see more of the technical side of these workflows in action, check out my post.
Take-off Materials: Given the complexity of wood framing, estimating would be difficult without some guesswork. We have different nominal woods for different wall thicknesses. Still, we also have various products like glulam, LVL, lumber, Versa rafters, BCI, and I-joists with other series each other and CDX and OSB plywood. With all that comes a library of sizes, shapes, and thicknesses.
Are we based on averages for square footage or measure linear footage of walls? If our material quantity estimate is too low, the project is halted due to a supply shortage. If it’s too high, we have the owner assume you’re shipping the wood they paid for on the next job. Also, when the matter arrives, how do I know what’s going where?
With the flexibility of Revu, we can build custom tools with embedded formulas to get the material lengths required for the facia table. Still, the annotation itself can calculate subside and the number of viewers.
From scratch, quantity estimators can be built to calculate several materials at once, just like an assembly. This allows the opportunity to embed industry know-how and ensures documentation is not overlooked. You can imagine this approach quickly translating into pre-construction of wall panels or modular construction by applying marking numbers to panel assemblies.
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Another example is building tools for framing walls. Again, with built-in formulas, you can trace the border once and get the wood count for the baseboard and top slab; set your anchor and anchor pin spacing, considering the outer shell, wall, Inner plaster, and insulation packages. The formula can also add three studs to the wall-length if you enter the number of corners, intersections, or window edges.
By setting these up ahead of time, the result is highlighters that do the math for you. That seems like a big deal; what else could there be?
Optimized Material Delivery: Will all materials show up in a single delivery while the foundation is still being poured? Especially where I live in the Midwest, roof trusses sit for weeks warped, covered with mud, or covered with snow, forcing the team to dig and chisel the ice to break up the materials.
In Revu, those exact quantity estimators can have layers built in so you can filter the material list and distribute only the basement material and the first cap material; a few days later, the second level frame and cover appeared. This way, roof trusses, and canopies will appear when needed. This also means that the storm sections you need to connect to the roof trusses don’t get lost or crushed by trucks.
Risk Management: Lost, stolen, or destroyed critical materials is a big deal when you have a team on scaffolding ready to go. How often have you ordered three 2×12 headers for a particular opening and discovered they had been shredded for the title on some of the smaller windows on the other side of the construction site? This mistake puts the entire project behind schedule, affecting everyone downstream.
Estimated quantity drawings have established title sizes and positions. The framing team can see the annotations and know the exact material size calculated at each opening. Allowing pictures to go deeper into the project lifecycle can reduce errors and costly last-minute orders and material deliveries.
In addition to the reasons I’ve listed, there’s one more thing I want to make sure you notice: in all of these examples, we never left Revu.
We start with good quality material quantity estimators, ensuring we get a more accurate cut list. The by-product of our quantity estimation, with no extra effort, results in automated intelligent dispensing, increasing precise material usage and reducing the risk of wasted time and materials. It’s a powerful combination of well-thought-out tools and best-in-class software that drives flexibility.
During the construction of any structure, framing is done after the foundation is poured and has dried. The construction team then creates the frame of the building, which includes, among other things, beams, trusses, walls and partitions, floors, ceilings, doors, and window openings.
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