Using OpenSpace for Remote Site
Management, Joeris Keeps Project on
Schedule During COVID Lockdown
Texas-Based General Contractor Also Saves Time and Avoids Rework
Costs by Using 360 Photo Documentation Technology

Goal: Access a 360 View of Interiors andAvoid Rework

Strategy: Use OpenSpace to Enable Remote
Project Management in the Time of COVID

San Antonio-based Joeris General Contractors has aJoeris began using OpenSpace early in the project andstrong reputation for its work with school districts and isquickly understood the time savings the technology

leading the way in adopting new technology.

provides. Instead of spending hours per day manually
taking photos and then uploading and organizing them,

The company’s Austin office began a new project to remodel

the project engineer could simply walk the site with a 360

a 90,000-square-foot elementary school in December

camera mounted to his hard hat, and thousands of 360

2019. It was looking for a technology solution that would

photos would automatically be mapped to the project

allow it to capture a 360 view of building interiors, sinceplan. He settled on a cadence of walking the site twicedrones can only be used outside. It had previously trieda week for two hours at a time to fully capture the entire

a solution that required setting up heavy equipment on a

90,000-square-foot area.

tripod, which was unsuitable for regular use.		
“If you were to manually capture the same level ofSince one of Joeris’s core principles is to eliminate

documentation and then store, label and share it, it could

waste, it was also looking for a solution that would help

take 40 hours per week,” said senior project manager JB

avoid rework.

Peel.

It’s a force multiplier due to thetime savings on documentationand communication.”
JB PeelSenior Project Manager, Joeris General Contractors

The Joeris team described OpenSpace’s software as“foolproof” and requiring minimal training.
“As long as you can understand a floor plan, you can use
the software,” said project manager Tony Moreno.

Inaddition

toease-of-use,

OpenSpace

wasanimprovement over a previous 360 photo documentation

THOUSANDS

solution Joeris had tried in several respects. OpenSpace

OF DOLLARS SAVED ON REWORK COSTS

lets them compare areas of the site to the BIM modeland compare two points in time, and it only takes 10 to 15

MORE THAN

10X FASTER
MORE COMPLETE
100X

minutes to upload the documentation.

THAN MANUAL CAPTURE

COVID lockdowns began a few weeks after Joeris started
using OpenSpace, and the team relied on it for remote
project management. Before the pandemic, owner

DOCUMENTATION
THAN MANUAL CAPTURE

representatives had visited the site two to three times aweek, and architects and engineers had come weekly orbi-weekly. By enabling virtual walkthroughs that reflected
up-to-date site conditions, OpenSpace allowed criticalcollaboration between stakeholders to continue.

“It’s been a big time-saver in our communications with theFor example, there was a recent debate over where toowners and architects,” Moreno said.

place a hatch and ladder to give access to the school’sroof. The original plan called for them to be installed inOpenSpace is also being used to inform payments.

a closet, but an OpenSpace capture alongside the BIM

Owner representatives and consultants can do virtual

model showed that previously unnoticed pipes above thewalkthroughs while reviewing percent completions fromceiling would be an obstruction. From there, Joeris wasJoeris to approve the company’s invoices at a time whenable to get all parties to agree to find a different location.

live access to the project site is limited.

Results:

OpenSpace is spoiling the owners,”
Peel said. “After we did the training,[an owner representative] said, ‘Whyaren’t all GCs using this software?’ Hepicked up a phone and called his otherGCs and said, ‘I want OpenSpace on all
my projects.’

Peel intends to use OpenSpace on all of his projects
moving forward. “It’s a force multiplier due to the timesavings on documentation and communication,” he said.
He and his colleagues have found it to be a multifaceted
solution that drives results in several areas:•Time savings: Joeris’s project engineer, Eric Mares,
spends just four hours each week walking the sitewith OpenSpace—which is a tenth of the time heThe benefit of documenting true site conditions thatmight have spent manually taking pictures and thenaren’t reflected in existing plans is especially important onuploading and organizing them. On a project priora remodel, where new systems are being installed in oldto having OpenSpace, he took nearly 9,000 manualbuildings and there are numerous unknowns.

photos. “I spent a good chunk of my days doing that••and then referencing and finding certain items whencan diagnose issues by pulling up relevant 360 photoissues came up,” Mares said.

documentation from before the wall was closed.

Effective remote project management: “OpenSpace•

Better communication with owners: OpenSpace

allows us to have real-time coordination with ourenables owners to track progress and be more

project teams when they’re remote,” said Peel.

engaged with day-to-day developments, which“If we walk on a Tuesday and have an RFI meeting

makes it faster and easier to course-correct whenon a Wednesday, we can pull up that walk and theissues arise. “OpenSpace is spoiling the owners,”model and clarify and coordinate issues in real-

Peel said. “After we did the training, [an ownertime” instead of waiting for a future date to meet inrepresentative] said, ‘Why aren’t all GCs using thisperson, Peel said. As of this writing, the project is still

software?’ He picked up a phone and called his otheron schedule to be complete in November 2020.

GCs and said, ‘I want OpenSpace on all my projects.’

Reduced rework costs: By effectively letting Joeris
see into walls, OpenSpace will save the company
thousands of dollars in rework costs over the courseof the project. Instead of having to punch multiple
holes in a wall to investigate plumbing or electricalconduits at a cost of up to $5,000 per instance, theyJoeris used OpenSpace to compare areas of the site to the BIM model.

As long as you can understanda floor plan, you can use thesoftware.”Tony Moreno
Project Manager, Joeris General Contractors