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One of the most commonly given pieces of preventative legal advice for construction professionals is “document everything”. Clearly this is very good advice ... but it is not always given the attention it deserves. If you’ve ever been involved in a claim or suit you are well aware of the costs of putting together the story of what actually happened. The bill can be thousands of dollars or even tens of thousands for significant claims. Ensuring a properly documented ‘audit trail’ as I call it can be a time consuming effort but it is like buying insurance ... you don’t expect a problem ... but if it arises, you are prepared.
Good document control technology automates the majority of the documentation needed to know with clarity and ease who saw what and when. The best part of this is that simply having the systems in place can avoid the escalation of an issue to a claim or a lawsuit right up front. A number of our clients have reported on situations where someone states they didn’t receive a particular document or piece of information and as a result expect that they are entitled to compensation. An easily generated activity report showing the information was fully available can often lead to an immediate resolution of the issue. For example, a log report from our system stating that “[Person] from [Company] on [Date] looked at page 1, 7 and 10 of Addendum number 6”, was conclusive enough evidence to avoid the time, costs and potential bad relationship of what was a six figure claim for an extra.
Best practices today not only ensure a proper audit trail but they also contribute to significant reductions in the time and cost associated with generating it. Manual creation of distribution logs, transmittals, waybills, email records and other means of proving your case are completely automated. Given the tools and efficiencies that are available today it might be worth taking a second look at how your firm is addressing that piece of very good legal advice.