How Western Partitions Saved on
Rework and Improved Progress Tracking
Using OpenSpaceThe Specialty Contractor Engaged OpenSpace for a 35-Story, 5-Star Hotel Project

Goal: Provide Detailed Photo
Documentation to Fulfill ContractualObligation

which also would have entailed capturing thousands ofOregon-based Western Partitions is one of the largest andrequirements, but the Block 216 project is significantly

most reputable specialty contractors in the western US.

larger than any of those.)still images and videos with an iPad in the field. (WesternPartitions teams have previously used other software todocument data center projects with rigorous QA/QC

In 2020, they won a bid to work on a new hotel in Portland,
Oregon, which they call the Block 216 project. Their scope“We shopped around to see how we could automate this,includes metal stud framing, drywall, insulation, acousticaland, thankfully, we came across OpenSpace,” Gabrielse

ceilings, spray-applied fireproofing, resistive firestopping

said.

and hollow metal door frames for the 35-story, mixed-use
building, which is scheduled to open in Summer 2023.

Strategy: Leverage OpenSpace for PhotoDocumentation at a Massive Scale

As part of their contract, the company is required to takephotos of site conditions before closing up any walls.

Gabrielse has found OpenSpace to be fast and intuitive
to use–all the person capturing needs to do is strap a“We’ve previously been required to submit photo
documentation, but we’re talking 35 stories and 24 units
per story,” said General Project Foreman Zach Gabrielse,
who helps oversee a crew of 120+ people on Block 216.
“It’s mind-boggling how much rinse and repeat that is.”Taking one-off still photos in the field wasn’t practical,
since it would have consumed an inordinate amount oftime and resources. Neither was using other software,It’s set-it-and-forget-it. Youwalk the floor, and it capturesfrom every angle so you don’t
have to worry about getting theright shot.”
Zach Gabrielse, General Project Foreman,Western Partitions

360-degree camera to their hard hat and walk, andOpenSpace captures in the background and pins imagery
to the floorplan. He noted that it had recently taken him

AVOIDED $10K+

only 18 minutes to walk an entire floor, encompassing 24

IN REWORK AND BACKCHARGES

units.
“It’s set-it-and-forget-it,” he said. “You walk the floor,

100X

MORE COMPLETE
COVERAGE

7X

FASTER
DOCUMENTATION*

and it captures from every angle so you don’t have toworry about getting the right shot. It’s awesome.”
OpenSpace has been beneficial for internal coordination,*~10 hours to capture 35 floors @ 18 min/fl vs. 2
hours per floor

since people in various roles can refer to captured
imagery if they forgot to walk a specific area when they
were on-site. (The technology is also being utilized on aproject in New Mexico.)
It also helps improve trust and communication with theGC while helping to avoid rework. For example, in one

Results: A Single Source of Truth that
Mitigates Risk and Delivers Savings

instance, another trade partner said Western Partitions
had forgotten to frame an access panel. Western

Going forward, Gabrielse hopes to use OpenSpaceon every project—of any size. Along with Block 216
colleagues, he’s currently pitching OpenSpace to theIt literally paid for itself in thefirst third of this job’s duration.
Anything from now on isprotecting our bottom line.”

corporate team in the hopes of it becoming “a tool in theZach Gabrielse, General Project Foreman,Western Partitions

technology has delivered much more.

toolbox” that’s always available.
While Western Partitions initially sought out OpenSpaceto fulfill a contractual obligation on a complex project, the“It literally paid for itself in the first third of this job’s
Partitions was able to pull up a photo to show that noduration,” Gabrielse said. “Anything from now on islayout was ever indicated, avoiding a hefty chargeback.

protecting our bottom line.”

They’ve also been able to alert GCs to instances whenother subcontractors have caused trade damage, such as
bending a door frame with a forklift.

•Savings on Rework: With OpenSpace captures tocheck against, Western Partitions can avoid costly
rework when disputes arise. Gabrielse recalls when

“We send the images to the GC (who also uses

another subcontractor claimed the Western Partitions

OpenSpace) to show that we’re always doing our due

team had framed through work they had laid out. “Wediligence,” he said.

went back to the captures, and there was no layout
on the ground, so we were able to save some moneythere on backcharges,” he said. “There wasn’t a whole••More Accurate Progress Tracking: Western Partitions

lot the sub could say.” On another occasion, Westernis using OpenSpace’s Progress Tracking feature toPartitions was accused of damaging a condensate line,

track and validate percent completes for various

which would have resulted in a $7,500 backcharge.

workstreams. While they still send people out into the“We went to OpenSpace, looked back two months,

field to double-check (and always will), the feature

and were able to prove the line had been damaged fordelivers huge time savings. Traditionally, someone

at least that long—before we ever went through thewould have had to walk the jobsite with a clipboard

area,” he said.

or an iPad to take notes on how work was progressing

Time Savings: OpenSpace dramatically reduces thetime required for photo documentation, which, inturn, makes it possible to capture more frequently andhave a more complete, reliable record. An apprenticecaptures active areas of the Block 216 site every
day—and the whole site once a week. Before
OpenSpace, a Project Manager would have beentasked with taking still photos to fulfill a documentation
requirement. Given their other responsibilities, it
likely would take them a week to capture the full
Block 216 site (not including daily captures of active
areas, which probably wouldn’t have happened.) “We
probably would have needed more than one person to
be capturing with still photos to meet our obligation,
which is a bad use of resources,” Gabrielse said.

and then enter the data into a spreadsheet. With
automated progress tracking as a baseline, theprocess has become much more efficient.