Part F - eConstruction

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Section F1.00 - General Information

F1.01 - Introduction

  • The Federal Highway Administration's defines eConstruction as a paperless construction administration delivery process that includes electronic submission of all construction documentation by all stakeholders, electronic document routing/approvals (e-signature), and digital management of all construction documentation in a secure environment allowing distribution to all project stakeholders through mobile devices.
  • The Delaware Department of Transportation is accomplishing this by first focusing on the electronic recording of Inspector Daily Reports and electronic submittal of documents using the Primavera Unifier software. Unifier will eventually be used to facilitate the electronic administration of all aspects of construction documentation from cradle to grave as well as the electronic submittal of contractor payments. In addition, we are moving towards adding 3D Modeling to our design process with more information on that process being added to this webpage as those processes are defined.
  • The information below explains the different software applications that the Department is using to facilitate the eConstruction effort. Any questions on this can be directed to the Project Controls Coordinator, at Billy.Sweeney@Delaware.gov.
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Section F2.00 - Software

F2.01 - Oracle Primavera P6 EPPM

  • What is it?
    • Primavera P6 EPPM is a web-based enterprise project portfolio management software owned by Oracle, Inc. Click this link for more information from Oracle.
  • How is it used?
    • The Delaware Department of Transportation is using P6 EPPM as our project scheduling tool and to assist in the development and performance tracking of our 6-year Capital Transportation Plan. It is also used for the review of contractor CPM schedules during the construction phase.
    • Future use includes providing access to Contractor's that are required to submit a CPM schedule as part of the Contract requirements. This CPM Specification will eventually be changed to require contractor's or their consultants to create and maintain their CPM schedule in DelDOT's P6 environment.
    • Currently using version 19.12.
  • How do you access it?
    • P6 is accessed by going to https://P6.DelDOT.gov
    • Access to P6 is currently only granted to DelDOT employees or consultants of DelDOT with an expected role of updating the schedule of a project or program at DelDOT.
    • For more information, send an email to Billy Sweeney, Project Controls Coordinator, at Billy.Sweeney@Delaware.gov.
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F2.02 - Oracle Primavera Unifier

  • What is it?
    • Primavera Unifier is a web-based project lifecycle management application owned by Oracle, Inc. Click on this link for more information from Oracle.
  • How is it used?
    • As the framework for our eConstruction effort.
    • All capital construction projects administered by the Department of Transportation Solutions with an NTP after April 10th 2017 will use Unifier for entering, tracking and approving Inspector Daily Reports.
    • Future phases of the Unifier Implementation to be completed by the end of Calendar Year 2017 include the tracking and approval of all Construction Document Management (RFI's, submittals, subcontractor approvals, etc…) and Construction Cost Management (estimate creation, approval, and transferring of payment requests to the FACTS application).
    • Further plans to incorporate the advertising and awarding of contracts, capital budget planning, project/program audit and closeout, and additional DBE tracking efforts are all being considered as well.
    • Currently using version 19.12.
  • How do you access it?
    • Unifier is accessed by going to https://Unifier.DelDOT.gov using any browser on any device with an internet connection.
    • From Apple IOS devices (iPhone or iPad), Oracle has developed a Primavera Unifier app. More information on this app can be access by click on this link.
    • Access to Unifier is currently only granted to DelDOT employees, consultants of DelDOT with a role in our eConstruction effort, or other partners deemed necessary to the administration of DelDOT projects.
    • For more information, send an email to Billy Sweeney, Project Controls Coordinator, at Billy.Sweeney@Delaware.gov.
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Section F3.00 - Unifier Documentation

F3.01 General User Documentation

General Documentation (Click to expand)
iOS / Android Mobile App Instructions (Click to expand)
  • Overview: The Oracle Unifier Mobile app is available for free download on most Apple or Android devices from either the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Simply search for Oracle Unifier and download it. While the mobile app is a more user friendly interface from a mobile device, there are a couple of things that should be mentioned:
    • The mobile app allows Unifier to be accessed while offline for those areas that do not get a cellular signal. Once a signal is received (or the device is connected to wifi, it can either be forced to sync, or will automatically sync the work done while offline).
    • Draft records are stored in the app on the device and not in the cloud or on the server. This means that any draft records made on the app are not accessible from a browser whether on the device, or a laptop/desktop. If you need to access a draft record from something other than the device you created it on, you must submit the record for review and ask that it be returned for revision.
      • IMPORTANT : This means that if your device is stolen, broken, or wiped due to a forgotten device passcode, those draft records will be lost forever. We HIGHLY SUGGEST that you submit the record at the end of the day, even if it is not complete and ask the person that is reviewing it to send it back to you. This is the only way to ensure that the records will not be lost forever.
    • Any process that has been made available to you can be accessed through the Unifier mobile app. However, reports or custom prints for the processes cannot currently be accessed. Those will still need to be accessed through the Unifier browser interface. However, the documents stored in the Document Manager are accessible through the mobile app, once a record is approved.
  • Logging in, Adding the IDR Process, Creating an IDR (2:41)

F3.02 Unifier Business Process (BP) Training info

Inspector Daily Report (IDR) Process (Click to expand)
Contacts (Click to expand)
  • OVERVIEW: The Contacts Business Process (BP) is considered a support BP and is used across multiple main BPs. For example, it is used in the Price Approval BP as location to get the To: and From: information for the letter that it generates. Please refer to the Price Approval BP below for more information. The Contact BP is extremely simple to use and is a non-workflow BP, meaning there is only a single form to create the information, and no review is required. It also means that, in the event that something needs to be changed on a Contact record after it has been created, you only need to have the appropriate access to make the change. Reach out to the Unifier Administration team for more information on that.
    • Videos related to the Contacts BP will be uploaded in the very near future.
Price Approval Process (Click to expand)
Change Order Process (Click to expand)
Progress Estimate Process (Click to expand)
  • OVERVIEW: In Unifier, the Progress Estimate process is a two BP process. Pencil Estimate and Progress Estimate. First, a Pencil Estimate record must be initiated, reviewed, and acknowledged by the following roles: Project Resident, Contractor Project Manager, and Area Engineer. After the Pencil Estimate record is complete. The Area Engineer will continue the process by starting a Progress Estimate record. The Progress Estimate record must then be reviewed and acknowledged by the following roles: Area Engineer, Estimator, Contractor Project Manager, Group Engineer, and Assistant Director (Only if it is a Final Estimate). It is important that the Estimate Worksheet is accurate. The items and quantities on this report are an exact representation of what will be used in the Progress Estimate BP.
  • Pencil Estimate Process
    • OVERVIEW: The Pencil Estimate process is used to create the draft version of the Estimate that the Project Resident creates and sends to the Contractor Representative for initial acknowledgement. Then, after the Contractor Representative reviews, it is sent to the Area Engineer. All of these steps are fully contained within Unifier with automatic emails being sent to the person identified at each step. In addition, each step has the ability to send the record back to the Project Resident for a revision. See below for more information on the revision process.
    • Creating a Pencil Estimate Record (2:24)
    • Project Resident Pre-Review (2:17)
    • Contractor Review (2:04)
    • Area Engineer Review (2:06)
    • Additional Information: If it is determined that the Pencil Estimate needs to be corrected, the record should be sent to the revision step. This will send the record back to the responsibility of the Project Resident. At that point, based on the type of change that is required, a Price Approval, Change Order, and/or Quantity adjustment can be completed and approved by the appropriate people. Keep in mind that if a new item is needed, all 3 processes must be completed (Price Approval to add the item to the list of items, Quantity Adjustment to record the quantity to be paid for that period, and Change Order to officially add the item to the Contract so that it can be paid on a Progress Estimate. Once that is done, there are 2 options:
      • 1. If you are sure that the appropriate adjustments were made, simply move the record to the Contractor Review step
      • 2. However, its recommended that the Estimate Worksheet be verified first. Follow this video to manually run the Estimate Worksheet from the record: (Run Estimate Worksheet)
  • Progress Estimate process
    • OVERVIEW: The Progress Estimate process is used to create the official version of the Progress Estimate. This process is started by the Area Engineer then sent to the Estimator for further processing. At the Estimator step, the Estimator decides whether they want to automatically pull item quantities from the Approved Inspector Daily Reports (IDR) or manually enter each items quantity. In the case where the Estimator decides to pull from the Approved IDRs, the Estimator does get a chance to review the estimate prior to sending the record to the Contractor Rep. The Contractor Rep will acknowledge the estimate and the record will be sent to the Group Engineer for review and acknowledgement. Finally, once the Group Engineer reviews and acknowledges, if the Estimate is identified as a Final Estimate, it will go to the Assistant Director for final acknowledgement. If the estimate is identified as an Interim or Semi-Final Estimate, after the Group Engineer step, the record is sent to the Approved status and cannot be modified. At each step an email is automatically sent from Unifier to the responsible person with a PDF version of the Estimate Header sheet and Worksheet(s). The format of this PDF and information contained should be similar to what has been provided from other applications in the past.
    • Creating a Progress Estimate record (4:22)
    • Initial Estimator Review (2:29)
    • Final Estimator Review (2:19)
    • Contractor Review (2:57)
    • Group Engineer(PM2) / Assistant Director level (Final Estimate Only) Review (2:39)
    • Viewing/Printing the Progress Estimate PDF (1:37)
    • Miscellaneous Adjustments: At the Semi-Final or Final Estimate stage, it should be determined whether there was a rounding error on a change order by using the Adjust Balance to Current Payment Due? selector. This will enable the Miscellaneous Adjustment field and allow the Estimator to modify the current payment due field by that amount. The PDF located at this link will explain in more detail how to find and use this function in Unifier.
    • Additional Information: If it is determined that the Progress Estimate needs to be corrected, the record should be sent to the revision step. This will send the record back to the responsibility of the Area Engineer. At that point, based on the type of change that is required, a Price Approval, Change Order, and/or Quantity adjustment can be completed. Keep in mind that if a new item is needed, all 3 processes must be completed (Price Approval to add the item to the list of items, Quantity Adjustment to record the quantity to be paid for that period, and Change Order to officially add the item to the Contract so that it can be paid on a Progress Estimate. Once that is done, there are 2 options:
      • 1. If you are sure that the appropriate adjustments were made, simply move the record to the the Contractor Review step
      • 2. However, its recommended that the Estimate Worksheet be verified first. Follow this video to manually run the Estimate Worksheet from the record: (Run Estimate Worksheet)
    • Note about Change Orders: As of the writing of this guide in August 2020, the current version of Unifier (V19.x) does not allow a Change Order with a negative quantity to be processed while a Progress Estimate is in-flight. In the event that this is needed, the Estimator or Company Administrator will need to terminate the Progress Estimate record so that the Change Order can be processed.
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