The problem: Coordinating subcontractors on big projects
Level 10 Construction’s massive project for Amazon and Facebook had many buildings, stories, and subcontractors. With a tight schedule and budget to meet, Level 10 needed a way to efficiently communicate project updates.
The solution: Digitizing field data
With Raken’s field-first software, Level 10 can collect data straight from subcontractors—then store it all in one place. This saves them time, and gives them real-time project visibility to keep projects on track.
Building workplaces for Amazon and Facebook
They’re two of the biggest names in the world: Amazon and Facebook. For these industry giants, innovation starts with unique office spaces for their employees. But building them is a complicated process—one that Level 10 knows all too well with the Moffett Towers II project.
What was the ask? Five, eight-story buildings—complete with kitchen areas, conference rooms, and laboratory space. And that’s just inside. Outside, there are three parking structures, a basketball court, a swimming pool, a gym, and community gardens throughout. In total, the build was a whopping 1.8 million sq. ft.
"With an 8-story buildout like this, and such a tough schedule, it's important to be precise,” said Igor Charsov, senior field engineer. “On a daily basis, we have one subcontractor following another on the floor, and any type of delay can really affect the schedule heavily.”
Improving communication with digital daily reports
Delays due to miscommunication, materials, or change orders are all too common on complex projects. They can cost GCs plenty of time and money, and ultimately delay the build itself. Since Moffett Towers II had 20 subcontractors constantly moving in and out of the jobsite, paper daily reports simply weren’t enough.
“You'd be out in the field collecting information all day, and hopefully writing it down if you weren't being stopped or pulled away,” said Mike Brennan, superintendent. “Then, you'd have to go back and read your notes that hopefully made sense eight hours later."
Beyond the possibility of inaccurate or incomplete data, paper reports also take time to transfer into a spreadsheet. Brennan says that gave superintendents up to an hour and a half of extra work. That’s when Level 10 chose Raken, and gave their subs an easy-to-use app to log field data digitally. As a result, the entire team had better project visibility—without creating more work for the field.
“I can go into Raken and see what subs are onsite, what their manpower count is. Then, I can coordinate that with what my field is telling me by seeing what they log into Raken,” said superintendent Andrew Martin. “If something doesn't add up, I can just call that sub and find out what’s happening.”
Tracking projects with better documentation
According to Martin, Raken helps Level 10 coordinate their subcontractors by comparing what's happening on-site with Level 10’s budget. Any discrepancies can then be adjusted on the spot, rather than finding out about them later.
Digital documentation is something field engineers appreciate, too. And with the Egnyte integration, all of Level 10’s documents (including RFIs and change orders) are stored safely in the cloud. That makes it easy to access any documents—and back up work in the case of a dispute.
“In my daily activities, I go around the site snapping photos of what happened that day,” said field engineer Evan Sinclaire. “If there's ever a question if the work got done or didn't get done, I can go back to those photos in Raken and check to see if it was actually done or not."
Collaborate more efficiently with Raken
With Raken, Level 10 has better visibility into all their projects—big or small. From production tracking to time-stamped photos, they have the tools they need to manage subcontractors better.
Schedule a demo to see how you can improve subcontractor coordination with Raken's software for general contractors, just like Level 10.