The challenge
Dallas-based Provident General Contractors was looking for a better way to collect and store jobsite photo documentation. The company’s Vice President of Operations, Blake Pearce, had been pitched by construction documenting companies on multiple occasions, but the features didn’t seem robust enough to constitute a huge improvement over manual documentation.
After researching 360 photo documentation solutions and finding OpenSpace, Pearce liked that it was designed to let construction firms capture sites using their own preferred process or cadence. A Project Engineer would simply strap a camera to their hard hat and walk—and they could walk the entire site or focus on specific areas, at the team’s discretion.
But it wasn’t just photos that caught Pearce’s attention. “It was where the software was headed with automated progress tracking and other features,” he said.
The solution
Provident decided to test OpenSpace on a residential, 300,000-square-foot project in Tulsa, Okla., and started using it just as they were starting to pour the podium. It’s enabled Dallas-based team members to keep closer tabs on the project, which is especially useful during the pandemic when the ability to travel has been curtailed.
Provident also piloted OpenSpace’s Progress Tracking feature, which works via AI classifiers to recognize framing, drywall, insulation and other items and compare progress between captures to generate percent completes. After comparing the OpenSpace data to drone imagery that was simultaneously used to document how much of the framing had been installed on the top floor, it was clear that OpenSpace’s technology was highly accurate.
“Having real-time numbers to justify a hunch or gut feeling is so valuable. It allows us to communicate quickly with subcontractors and elevate certain items,” Pearce said. “If you track the progress of framing, which is in the critical path on 99% of projects, you’ll obviously have a good idea of whether or not you’re on schedule.”
It’s nice to see the status of where everything is without putting my feet on the ground.
The results
Pearce typically reviews two or three construction technology applications each week but only moves to fully implement one or two a year, and this select group now includes OpenSpace. Now that Provident has signed an enterprise agreement, it’s planning to deploy OpenSpace on a range of product types, including an upcoming 136-unit, single-family for-rent project.
10X faster
To date, OpenSpace has had a strong impact in the following areas:
Improved quality processes
When Provident’s Director of Field Operations, Andrew Gibson, calls superintendents toward the end of the day to check in, he can click through OpenSpace documentation (which is automatically mapped to the project plans) as they talk. In this way, he’s spotted quality issues as well as cases where MEP work or HVAC rough-ins weren’t as far along as he expected. “Without OpenSpace, I might not see it until the next time I’m up there weeks later,” he said, “or I wouldn’t see it at all.”
Expedited insurance claim process
After stray fireworks sparked a fire on the roof of the building, Provident produced OpenSpace captures to show the insurance adjuster exactly what it had looked like three days prior. Within a week of the event, they were allowed to start cleaning up the area because the adjuster was comfortable with the documentation. On a different project that sustained water damage in New Orleans, the investigation period has gone on for two months, leading to delays.
Time savings on travel
Project Manager Damian Millisor anticipates that OpenSpace can reduce the need for him to be on-site as frequently, which is important since he oversees multiple projects at any given time. “It’s nice to see the status of where everything is without putting my feet on the ground,” he said.
