Brosnan, a construction company with five offices across New Zealand and a large, multidisciplinary team, faced significant challenges with PDF documentation sharing, annotation and collaboration. Its reliance on various software, including Adobe and Microsoft Edge, led to inconsistent workflows, inefficiencies and difficulty handling large volumes of drawings, specifications and contracts.
“Our piecemeal system just wasn’t working,” said Richard Ertel, chief information technology officer at Brosnan. “It was critical to move to a more consistent and secure solution, as we deal with large volumes of documentation. A single platform would significantly speed up document sharing and reviews.”
In 2022, Brosnan trialled Bluebeam with 10 licences to evaluate its potential as a unified solution. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and today, the company runs more than 140 licences company-wide.
Project Goals
To address these challenges, Brosnan sought a construction-specific software solution that could be rolled out company-wide to unify its workflows.
Key requirements included:
- Customised markups to streamline communication.
- Advanced document control and manipulation.
- Integration of images and photos for enhanced project documentation.
- Tools for combining and comparing documents.
- Precise quantification of take-offs to improve accuracy.
“The trial showed us that Bluebeam is faster, more intuitive and allows our teams to focus on their work rather than figuring out the software,” Ertel said. “The initial success prompted us to move quickly into a commercial rollout.”
Solution
Implementing a new software system on such a large scale required careful planning and training. To ensure success, Brosnan engaged a Bluebeam reseller, Cadpro, to deliver comprehensive, tailored training sessions.
“Initially, there was some resistance from staff accustomed to Adobe Acrobat,” Ertel said. “Training was crucial in overcoming this and helping users transition smoothly to Bluebeam.” Richard Ertel, Chief Information Technology Officer at Brosnan.
“The Cadpro team was really helpful throughout the process, with their custom training ensuring our people were familiar with the tool. Cadpro has been super responsive, addressing any problems or challenges quickly, and the rollout has been an overwhelming success.”
Bluebeam was rolled out across all five offices—Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown and Tauranga—covering project managers, site managers, construction managers, commercial managers and quantity surveyors.
The company adopted 141 licences, split between two tiers:
- 93 Core licences: Assigned to project managers, site managers, construction managers and commercial managers for general document management and collaboration.
- 48 Complete licences: Provided to quantity surveyors for advanced calculations and reporting.
“One of our commercial managers had used Bluebeam before, finding it intuitive, fast and custom-designed for our workflows.”
Richard Ertel,
Chief Information Technology Officer,
Brosnan
To maximise the value of Bluebeam, training also covered advanced features, including:
- Redacting sensitive content securely.
- Embedding 360° photos and videos using the Capture feature for improved documentation.
- Using custom columns with formulas for advanced calculations.
- Linking measurement data to Microsoft Excel in real time via Quantity Link.
- Using Dynamic Fill for precise markup and measurement of drawing regions.
Business Outcomes
Since adopting Bluebeam, Brosnan has seen dramatic improvements in efficiency and collaboration.
“We file documents in SharePoint, and Bluebeam is used for reading, processing and marking up PDFs,” Ertel said. “When a team needs to review drawings, they open the file in Bluebeam, make their annotations and save it back to SharePoint. Simple.”
The key benefits of adopting Bluebeam include:
- Enhanced Productivity and Collaboration: Teams across multiple offices work seamlessly, reducing review cycles and improving communication.
- Consistent Document Markup Platform: Standardised tools improve accuracy and minimise errors.
- Streamlined Workflows: Staff spend less time on document management, allowing them to focus on core tasks.
From the initial trial to full adoption, Bluebeam has transformed Brosnan’s approach to project management and document handling.
“Bluebeam has been instrumental in standardising our workflows and improving efficiency across all our offices,” Ertel said. “The rollout has been an overwhelming success, and we look forward to leveraging its capabilities even further in the future.”
