System And Method For Tracking And Managing Construction Projects

Abstract

System and methods are described for assisting a contractor in managing information associated with a construction project. The amount of information relating to labor, materials, scheduling and billing and the number of individuals accessing the information can be overwhelmingly large for even a simple construction project. As such, the system and methods described are particularly useful for gathering, maintaining and disseminating the voluminous amount of information associated with a construction project. In one method, a drawing from a construction project is provided that has one or more intelligent objects. Information is then gathered relating to labor, materials and schedules for the project. The information is associated with the respective intelligent object and visually represented on the drawing. The drawing is displayed and certain aspects associated with the intelligent objects can be quickly identified. In addition, reports may be generated that quickly and efficiently organize information according to any number of user selected criteria. In some embodiments, emissive tags, such as RFID tags, associated with construction items are used in the data gathering process.

1 . A method of tracking and evaluating a construction project, the method employing a computer having a display screen, an entry device and a processor, the processor being coupled to said display screen, the method comprising:
 providing a drawing, said drawing comprising visual representations of construction items;   providing an emissive tag associated with at least one construction item;   acquiring information from said emissive tag; and   displaying said drawing and said information on said display screen.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said emissive tag comprises a radio frequency identification tag. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said information comprises labor status information. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said information comprises material status information. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said emissive tag includes read/write memory. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising entering into said emissive tag information comprising actual labor used to install a construction item. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising entering into said emissive tag, information comprising test status information relating to the construction item associated with the emissive tag. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising associating a positioning system with the emissive tag. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein acquiring information includes determining the location of the at least one construction item associated with the emissive tag. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein acquiring information includes scanning information from a shipment comprising a plurality of construction items. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein acquiring information includes determining the installation status of one or more construction items. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein acquiring information includes determining the installation status of a plurality of construction items in a construction area substantially simultaneously. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein acquiring information includes scanning information from the emissive tag associated with a construction item as the construction item enters or leaves a warehouse. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising processing the information in a computing environment, wherein the computing environment includes an electronic representation of the drawing, and wherein the electronic representation of the drawing comprises one or more intelligent objects. 
     
     
         15 . A system for tracking and evaluating a construction project, comprising:
 a processor;   a display screen coupled to the processor;   an entry device configured to enter information into the processor; and   an emissive tag reader configured to provide information to the processor   wherein the processor is configured to:
 receive information that defines a construction project comprising a plurality of construction items; 
 configure an electronic drawing based on the information, the electronic drawing comprising at least one intelligent object and visual representations of the plurality of construction items; 
 receive construction project status information, via the emissive tag reader, from one or more emissive tags, each emissive tag being associated with one of the plurality of construction items; and 
 display the electronic drawing and the construction project status information on said display screen. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein said emissive tag comprises a radio frequency identification tag. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein said construction project status information comprises the actual labor used to install a particular construction item. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein said construction project status information comprises the installation status of at least one construction item. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein said construction project status information comprises the location of a particular construction item. 
     
     
         20 . A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising:
 receiving information that defines a construction project comprising a plurality of construction items;   configuring an electronic drawing based on the information, the electronic drawing comprising at least one intelligent object and visual representations of the plurality of construction items;   receiving construction project status information, via the emissive tag reader, from one or more emissive tags, each emissive tag being associated with one of the plurality of construction items; and   displaying the electronic drawing and the construction project status information on said display screen.