Joaquin Diaz

Document Management in Building Authorities with the Aid of a Workflow Management System

During the construction planning process as well as during the subsequent construction phase a large number of technical planners, engineers, architects, companies, craftsmen, consultants, public authorities and supporting public bodies are involved. This means that widespread communication and hence a high level of information exchange between the various participants is essential during all phases of the construction project. The information to be exchanged exists in a wide variety of forms. These include, for example, conventional text documents such as letters, forms and fax messages, graphical documents such as plans, maps and drawings, picture and film material, as well as other data carriers. For practical reasons the document-oriented visualization of the construction planning process is realized nowadays with the aid of computer networks in order to permit telecooperation between the various participants through the use of modem databases and computer processing methods. It is hereby necessary to take account of the different concepts implemented for managing the data by the various persons involved in the construction planning process. Moreover, information in digital form such as Emails, film, sound and CAD files or input files for post-processing programs play an increasingly important role. It is also necessary to integrate these data sources into the communication process between the various participants by means of computer networks.