Integrating document control in design drawings

Abstract

In order to manage large construction projects efficiently, the contractor generally splits a project into a group of inter-related design tasks and assigns them to different organizations through sub-contracts. Managing the information about how the components of the design change with time, making sure that none of the constraints created by the interdependency of design components are violated in the final design is a challenging task. As a result, intensive research has been conducted in the area of Document Control to ensure the integrity of the design throughout the duration of the project. Most of the present efforts in Document Control require active participation of the user in informing a server about the design drawings that he uses. This research provides a Version Control mechanism embedded into design drawings and shows how a similar mechanism can improve communication between designers in a project