Construction terms, explained
The words that come up on every project, written the way you would explain them to someone starting out.
RFI
A request for information. A formal question from one party on a project to another — usually from the contractor to a consultant — asking for information needed to proceed. In Codoc each RFI is numbered, addressed to a person and tracked until it is answered.
NCR
A non-conformance report. Raised when work or a material does not meet the specification or the approved drawings. It records what is wrong, what is required to fix it, and who is responsible.
Site instruction
A written direction to carry out work, issued during construction — most often by the superintendent or the project manager. A site instruction is on the record because it usually has a cost or a programme consequence.
Transmittal
The formal record of issuing documents to another party. A transmittal lists the documents, their revisions, who they went to and when — it is the proof of what was issued.
Revision
A version of a drawing or document. Each new revision supersedes the one before it, and the current revision is the one that should be built from.
Superseded
Replaced by a later revision. A superseded drawing is no longer the current set, but it stays on the record so everyone can see what was issued and when it changed.
Common data environment
A single, controlled online workspace for a project, where the owner, project team, contractors and consultants all work from the same records. Everyone sees the same version of a document, and every message and decision is logged.
Audit trail
The history of a project: every action, time-stamped and attributed to a person. It is what lets you prove who said what, and when, if a dispute starts.
Programme
The project schedule: the tasks that need to happen, their sequence, their owners and their dates.
Practical completion
The point at which the works are complete enough to be handed over and used for their intended purpose, with only minor items outstanding.