CASE STUDYJJ Rhatigan Utilises OpenSpace
info@openspace.ai
openspace.aifor More Efficient Operations
Galway-Headquartered Leading Main Contractor Uses
Reality Capture to Expedite Payment Applications,
Track Progress, and Avoid Disputes

Goal: Strengthen Project Management with Comprehensive Documentation
For more than 70 years, JJ Rhatigan & Company has set high standards for construction in Ireland and the UK andhas aimed to provide innovative, sustainable construction solutions that exceed clients’ expectations. Thecompany sought a documentation solution to increase operational efficiency while also providing substantive
evidence to resolve potential disputes.
Sonny McAnulty, Digital Construction Manager at JJ Rhatigan, oversees the delivery and implementation of thecompany’s various digital tools. Prior to evaluating OpenSpace, Sonny describes the photo documentation
process as disorganised, stating, “It was predominantly ad hoc and didn’t provide a complete picture.”
While the digital team said their eyes had been opened to the power of reality capture, they were mostconcerned about finding a user-friendly solution. Sonny had run a trial of another provider on two school projects
before moving to OpenSpace, which he ultimately selected because it was easier to use, faster, and had areduced margin of error when taking captures.

1Strategy: Use OpenSpace for a Single Source of Truth
Initially, JJ Rhatigan ran a trial of OpenSpace Capture on a pilot project at a third level academic building inMaynooth. Some key subcontractor packages were changed during the project, but fortunately this didn’t
disrupt the team’s progress. “The OpenSpace captures acted as a clear demarcation record of works done
before and after the change of subcontractor. This helped the site team massively to avoid any issues when it
came to what was and was not included in the new subcontractors scope”, says Sonny. “It was then that the siteteam members really bought into the platform’s value.”
After the pilot, JJ Rhatigan signed a multi-year enterprise deal in February 2022 to roll out OpenSpace across allof the company’s projects. To launch the wider implementation, OpenSpace provided an initial training session
with a dedicated customer success manager—and that was all it took. From then on, JJ Rhatigan’s digitalconstruction team felt confident enough to provide subsequent training to the rest of the company and manage
the rollout.

The OpenSpace captures acted as a clear demarcation
record of works done before and after the change ofsubcontractor. This helped the site team massively to avoid
any issues when it came to what was and was not included in
the new subcontractors scope. It was then that the siteteam members really bought into the platform’s value.
Sonny McAnulty,Digital Construction Manager2

Results: Satisfaction achieved across all role types
When surveyed internally, 100% of JJ Rhatigan’s employees taking part in the survey agreed that OpenSpace has
improved accountability and transparency. Moreover, 97% either agreed or strongly agreed that OpenSpace
improved visibility into project progress.
The survey reflected input from people spanning a variety of roles including site engineers, quantity surveyors,
design coordinators, project managers, commercial managers, and directors. The results revealed a breadth ofbenefits across the team:
Quantity Surveyors
Those surveyed stated that OpenSpace has been very useful for assessing payment applications by making it easierto verify work completed in the weeks and days leading up to a new payment. These team members had thecomplete photographic evidence to substantiate any assessments they made.
According to one quantity surveyor, “OpenSpace does save time if you missed something while on a site walk or
couldn't gain access to a particular area at that time. Also you may not be located on-site all the time andOpenSpace may save the travel time to site.”
Health and safety advisors
From a health and safety point of view, OpenSpace has helped JJ Rhatigan demonstrate that its work environmentis safe and makes it easier to maintain a safer work environment. OpenSpace provides evidence of work completed
and allows teams to compare what an area looked like when a subcontractor was working there in order to identify
what could have caused an accident, which subcontractors have also validated.
Site engineers and project managers
Using OpenSpace, JJ Rhatigan has been able to strengthen relationships with subcontractors thanks to moreefficient collaboration. Some of the company’s projects are very complex—with, for example, multiple units perfloor, multiple floors per block, and several blocks on a project site to be managed. It can be a challenge to keep
track of so many areas on a jobsite, but using OpenSpace, teams were able to quickly get photo documentation of
the site uploaded and check that the subcontractors' claims for getting a specific amount of work done wereindeed correct.
A site engineer at the company shared, “I found having the up-to-date views of the entire site really useful forcollaborating with design team members, subcontractors, and our own site team. It often saved time not having torush out onto a site to get a picture of a specific area. It was also useful for closing out issues that were raised, as
they could be checked if complete from the desk.”
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