There is a reason the TV show 'The Office' chose a struggling paper company, Dunder Mifflin, to be the focus of its show. Paper companies are going out of business due to the inherent delays and bottlenecks businesses have sharing paper documents. The Office originally aired in 2005, and yet 17 years later, the commercial construction industry is still tracking billions of dollars of work on paper Time and Material Tickets.
We reached out to our customers looking for stories that highlight the challenges of tracking T&M Tickets and Change Order work on paper. Below is our favorite submission.
The story.
Paper T&M Tickets can go missing.
"A couple of decades ago and while at another company, a key Painting Foreman had accumulated close to 75 Extra Work Order Tags without turning them in. He kept them in his truck, which was a 'boom truck' because he applied textured coating (in those days). One Monday he didn't show up for work... no one could get ahold of him... by Wednesday the boss contacted police and a Missing Person's Report was issued.
Well, he finally was found. He had gotten drunk after work on that previous Friday, woke up Sunday morning in a strange bed, and he had no idea where he had parked the boom truck.
How can you lose a boom truck? He did.
He was so embarrassed, he could not bring himself to report for work... and he kept searching for it all week.
The police found it.
Not only were we concerned about our Foreman, but he had over $50K of extra Tags in that Boom Truck, all signed, but just not turned in!"
Let's break down how this story impacts each project stakeholder.
Subcontractors:
That stack of $50,000 in paper work orders represents a significant financial burden for the subcontractor. They've already invested time and resources performing work outside their original contract, effectively financing the project themselves. The added risk of transporting these documents in a boom truck, coupled with the time wasted manually processing Change Order requests, further delays their reimbursement. While their boom truck was missing, they were essentially floating a $50,000 loan to the project, highlighting the critical need for swift reimbursement of their work.
General Contractor:
In a perfect world, the GC would log each carbon copy work order, perform their own calculations, and assess the risks associated with their approvals. However, due to the fast-paced and complex nature of construction projects, there is almost never time to do this exercise.
Instead, the GC's project team relies on the Subcontractor to professionally document their Time and Materials (T&M) work, promptly process an associated Change Order Request, and present the costs to the GC. It is only at this point that the GC can fully comprehend the costs related to the tags they approved weeks earlier.
In this case, 75 work orders likely correspond to 75 days of work, meaning the GC has been waiting over three months to understand the cost exposure!
Owners:
At the end of the day, the general contractor's (GC) client will ultimately bear the cost of any extra work, either through an existing allowance or by adding cost to the overall project budget.
During these 75 days, the building owner or their representative is trying to make value-based decisions with a clear understanding of the project costs. However, when expenses are documented on paper but are actually delayed or missing, it can become impossible to make informed decisions.
For instance, if the owner believes they have a larger budget and decides to upgrade the flooring, they may be caught off guard when the GC later presents them with 75 work orders totaling an additional $50,000 in costs. The client could have elected not to upgrade the flooring but instead, they are now over budget or in a dispute with the GC and Subcontractor.
When this happens, tempers flare, lawsuits get started and relationships are broken.
Let's solve the problem.
With Clearstory, all T&M Tags would be instantly logged in our cloud-based T&M Log, providing real-time visibility for both the Subcontractor and the GC. This ensures that both parties have immediate visibility and aware of any associated risks.
With just the click of a button, the Subcontractor can create a professional Change Order Request using the approved project rates, which can then be easily shared and logged with the GC.
Within minutes of each Tag being signed, the GC would have access to the updated project costs. This allows them to proactively inform their client or pause the work if costs begin to escalate.
Ultimately, this system creates a win-win situation for everyone involved—the Subcontractor, the GC, and the Owner.
We are happy the key foreman got home safely and the boom truck was found. We are even more pleased that they are now Clearstory customers. As one of the largest drywall contractors in Northern California, they are helping to reduce risks and improve project outcomes for all stakeholders.
To get started, connect with one of our team members by requesting a demo.
