Efficient programming was key to this £25 million expansion project, at one of the country’s most important specialist centres for orthopaedic surgery and rehabilitation, which includes a ground floor outpatients department and a residential development of 40 apartments.

The project, located at Bolsover Street in central London, very nearly derailed when the M&E subcontractor went into administration midway through its package, taking a 100-strong workforce with it, but construction manager Ian Hopkinson, at main contractor John Sisk, remained calm during the crisis and reprogrammed work to steer the project back on track. 

Key to success was the use of the Priority 1 construction project information management system, says Hopkinson, which was used to record defects in products, materials and interfaces including CFA piling, a reinforced concrete frame, limestone and zinc cladding and brickwork.

Although John Sisk had used Priority 1 in a limited trial eight years previous, this was the first time it had been fully rolled out for snagging purposes, he explains: “The hospital’s 95-week programme of works involved a mixture of materials and building systems, which was so complex we needed Priority 1, installed on four PDAs, to carry out snagging from the very start, not just for final finishes.”

Adding snags to a PDA installed with Priority 1 is fast and accurate. On-screen project drawings allow users to identify the precise location of an issue, photos taken with the built-in camera can be embedded in the document, and an integrated barcode scanner allows locations or assets to be selected automatically.  

Such accuracy was not previously possible, says Tony Whyte, project manager, at John Sisk, who used the system at Bolsover Street: “Previously, when I gave written instructions, to a decorator for example, he would often be left scratching his head trying to find a location because it was hard to give detailed info. But with Priority 1 you can highlight a location on a drawing within a metre of a snag and give a detailed description of it.”

At Bolsover Street, barcodes were also posted on walls around the site, which when scanned by the PDAs, identified the users’ specific location and directed them to the correct part of database to start adding snags for that area. 

Initial reactions to the devices were mixed: “Some people’s response was ‘was oh god, how on earth do we use this, is it really useful, will it make life simpler?” says Hopkinson. But after some training the system soon bedded in and was used with confidence by all the site production team, including site engineers and architect HOK. “One older project manager was very set in is ways and very sceptical of Priority 1, but in a dramatic U-turn he eventually became one of the biggest advocates of the software and was the most positive about it,” he adds. 

Priority 1 enables project teams, including clients and the supply chain, to collaborate and update the status of snags via a dedicated website. The system can be configured to automatically email relevant subcontractors with an updated snag list highlighting necessary remedial work. 

Snag clearance works on a traffic light system, with raised snags given red status, rectified snags highlighted orange by subcontractors and, after inspection of the work, John Sisk has authority to sign snags off and give them green status.

“It’s real-time information that’s always there for people to see,” says Hopkinson. “Although that doesn’t necessarily mean work is done faster (this is construction after all and some people drag their heels) it gives people the info and tools they require, snags are clearer and more accurate, so if people buy into it, theoretically the work ought to be done quicker.”

As Hopkinson indicates, subcontractor reaction was mixed, but key players delivering large packages, such as the concrete frame, M&E, carpentry and joinery were very enthusiastic. And when adopted on a few sites, Priority 1 could enable a main contractor to compare subcontractors’ reaction times, how fast they clear snags, and gain a better understanding of which firms are meeting deadlines. “The software can give you access to all sorts of useful statistics - total snags, percentage of snags cleared, time taken to clear snags etc,” he says.

The more Priority 1 is used, the faster and more effectively it performs – John Sisk began by compiling a list of standard snags which could be easily selected from a drop down list on the PDA. But as the project progressed that list expanded as managers added new, more specific types of snag. “If adopted across company you could compile a top 20 snags for drylinging, or painting, for example. Having snags pre-loaded in the database saves lots of time,” he concludes.