Constructech

When it came time to renovate New York City Hall—a 100-year-old historic landmark that houses the mayor’s office and the New York City Council—the high-profile project required careful planning and meticulous execution. Therefore, the construction company in charge of this reconstruction project turned to technology to make sure the entire process was smooth.

The $100-million New York City Hall reconstruction project involved structural and cosmetic repair to the interior and exterior of the building, as well as the addition of a sub-cellar. Multiple stakeholders, including three prime contractors and dozens of subcontractors, were involved in the project. Additionally, the renovation required careful coordination among public organizations such as the NYC Park Dept., the NYC Public Design Commission, and the NYC Transit Authority. 

The project also needed to conform to high levels of security and, being a government building, there was little room for error in cost and schedule. Plus, the project required that complete construction documentation be captured and kept for a decade after project completion.

Hill, Intl., Marlton, N.J., the construction manager for the New York City Hall reconstruction project, turned to Aconex, San Bruno, Calif., project-collaboration and document-management software to achieve its goals.  

Aconex’s online platform captures construction and infrastructure project information, which can reduce complexity, improve financial returns, and reduce project risk to the bottomline. The company says its solution also gives project managers more control over project information and processes. 

The technology solution improves communication and collaboration and reduces errors and redundancies for Hill Intl. “The time savings on this project has been enormous,” says Michael Brothers, project executive, Hill Intl. “We’ve gone from taking five to 14 days to turnaround some documents to being able to turn them around in a couple of hours. And the documents are always fully available … This is serious future risk mitigation.”

Specifically, the company says there was 66% less time spent searching for project documents when requested by another team member; 80% fewer administration hours spent collecting, copying, and transmitting project records; and 40% faster response times on RFIs (requests for information).

Staying on schedule during renovation projects can be crucial for firms seeking repeat business and a strong industry reputation. Technology such as the platform adopted during the New York City Hall project can be the difference between on time and overtime.