Advanced technology creates direct savings for the city

Construction and maintenance of municipal engineering is documented in Ylöjärvi with the Buildie application.

Documentation is absolutely essential

Ylöjärvi City subscribed to Buildie in 2017. It is now widely used in investment projects and maintenance.

“I give great importance to documentation. Documentation must begin already during the planning phase and continue until the project is completed and the information on the entire project is stored for future generations”, Mirko Harjula, Head of Infrastructure Engineering, says:

“In the past, there was no one-size-fits-all approach, and the improvement is enormous.”

Each work-step is captured by Buildie’s photography function. The photo automatically retains exact details: subject to be photographed and work-step, name of the photographer, exact time, and GPS location. The photo is automatically saved in the correct location in the site diary.

“Documentation ensures the execution of the work done. In addition, the work done and the parts and structures used can be verified and confirmed later. Even after years and decades, we know what has been embedded in the ground or what are the structures implemented to build roads, for example”, Harjula describes.

Savings every day

Within Buildie, access rights can be distributed so that for example foremen and developers can monitor the progress of the work in real time.

“This already has clear savings – it is not always necessary to visit the site, but it is possible to make decisions on work-steps based on the photos”, Harjula explains and gives another example:

“When you fix something that is underground, you can check in advance from the photos what is really there. It allows you to purchase the right spare parts and supplies in advance. Work can begin as soon as the ground is excavated.”

Weather data and photos are automatically saved in the diary

Master builder Vesa Toivonen, the foreman for maintenance, is using Buildie for street maintenance works.

“We use Buildie mainly on sites where there is something wrong or in projects to take work- step shots. The benefit of Buildie is that it makes photography on the site compulsory and other participants see the same photos and text as a result”, Toivonen says, and continues:

“The greatest benefit to me is the worksite diary function. Especially for maintenance work, it is important to have the weather and measure data recorded every day, and automatic weather data fetching is a good feature here. Paper versions would be tricky because we do not always have them at hand, but a cell phone is always with you.”

Toivonen explains why routine work-step photography is so important:

“The photos taken are retained and, where appropriate, used as evidence or as an aid of the work order for the workers.”

Even a solution to a dispute

Mirko Harjula gives an example of a single case where unjustified claims were saved. The city, in cooperation with the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, was building a new light traffic lane. The construction work was accurately documented with the Buildie application. For example, the onset of the project and the traffic arrangements were photographed and documented with the help of Buildie.

When the project was completed, the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment received five separate complaints and claims for damages, claiming that the construction site and its markings were inadequate and, as a result, the culprit to car tire punctures. However, the construction site was accurately documented with Buildie.

Good Buildie documentation clearly established that the claims were unjustified.

Easy to use and set up

Harjula says that they have had easy and agile collaboration with the application developers. Development ideas are taken seriously.

“Overall, Buildie makes our job easier in many ways. The application is so easy to use that the workers have not complained about its introduction at all”, Harjula says.

“Buildie has evolved into a comprehensive document management system and documentation system. Easy and scalable, and easy to introduce to any organizatio”, Harjula says.