Definitions

Definitions

Portal

Whenever a user logs into Liferay and is redirected to the CUBE tool, they are entering what is referred to as the Portal. This portal houses all the ongoing and completed projects in one location. The portal can be accessed by internal as well as external users.

Every user in a Portal can have a different user profile, based on which various permissions and authorisations can be configured.

This can be done via Portal settings. There are various other options that can be configured for the Portal from the Portal settings.

Project

Users can work and collaborate on various Projects inside the Portal. Users may or may not have access certain projects depending on their authorization level.

A project corresponds to a physical construction project in the real world.

Projects are synced with SAP and cannot be created or modified from within the portal.

Project will be initialized and created at the Inception stage, through the appropriate channels.

Spaces

Every project is divided into spaces.

  • Space is a secured area inside a project that only designated users will have access to. It contains various files and folders related to the project.
  • One project can have any number of spaces. Only users who have access to a space can access the files and folders inside that space.
  • Users can upload, review and share files and folders within and across different spaces.

E.g. Spaces can be used to represent various teams, e.g. Architectural department within CPWD, PIC Team and clients.

Every space can have internal or external folders. Internal folders allow creation or uploading of content within the space. External folders contain transmittals, through which various content is shared with the space.

By default, all users who are added to the space can at least view any content that is uploaded or created within that space. Further granular permissions can be configured as required.

Folders

Content inside spaces can be organised in folders. There are certain default folders as well as custom folders (and folders within folders) that the users can create. The folders can contain various entities, for e.g. Files, estimates, tasks, etc.

E.g. Models & Drawings is a pre-defined folder, under which the user can create more sub folders as per their convenience and name them as they like. Default folders however, cannot be renamed.

Here is a list of certain default folders:

  • Models & Drawings
  • Other Documents
  • Estimates
  • Issues
  • Tasks

Files

Users can upload files in various file formats (as specified in the "Relevant Document name here") to the Spaces that they are a part of. These will typically be uploaded from their computer into a particular folder within a Space in a project.

Estimates

An estimate in CUBE, is a type of file which contains all the information related to quantities and costs for a particular Project.

An estimate is linked to a collection of models & drawings, using which it is prepared. An estimate consists of takeoffs.

Users can create any number of estimates within a project, such as preliminary estimate, detailed estimate etc. There can also be different estimates based on type of work e.g. Architectural estimate, Plumbing estimate etc.

Bill of Quantities

Bill of Materials

Takeoff

Tasks

Tasks can be created/defined to convey work to be done or assign responsibilities, to other users or user groups, in a very flexible manner. Users can go to the Tasks folder in their space and start creating a new task. These tasks can be grouped into folders (or folders within folders) for better organization.

Transmittals

Whenever any content needs to be shared across spaces, a transmittal is created which records the information exchange taking place. The transmittals can contain files, folders, issues, tasks, estimates, etc, and record the sender and the receiver as well as the date & timestamp.

Processes

Any content, issue, or task that is shared via a transmittal needs to follow a defined process. A process might be as simple as something that allows users to share files from one space to the other, or as complex as controlling the flow of a file between multiple spaces, and having various stages of approval from different users within those spaces.

Issue

Issues can be used to identify defects or aspects of concern within models & drawings. Issues can only be created on certain file types, which are supported by the models & drawings folder. To create issues, the user must have a file open. Screenshots, markups and comments aid better communication in an issue.

Issues can be exported as BCF files to reconcile changes in a BIM authoring application.

Issues can be shared across spaces via transmittals.

Every issue has its own status e.g. open, in progress etc. using which the life cycle of that issue can be tracked till it is resolved.

Comments

On any entity in a project, users can create comments to enable discussions.

Comments can be made on any files, estimates, issues, tasks etc. Users can generate a thread of comments by replying to previously created comments.

A status can be assigned to a comment thread to track its life cycle.

Comments should not be confused with issues. While issues can only

Comments vs Issues

  • Comments can be made on issues also, to continue the discussion on a particular issue.
  • Comments cannot be shared across spaces. Issues can be shared across spaces via transmittals.
  • Comments are visible to relevant users within the space.
  • Issues can be assigned directly to other users while you can only tag users in your comments.
  • Issues have additional intelligent metadata like a reference image, elements associated with the issue, certain parameters and can be exported to BCF
  • Issues will have a unique ID to identify that issue within the project. Comments are part of generic discussions.
  • Issues can be marked on only certain file types like models, drawings and estimates while comments can be done on any kind of file and have no correlation to the contents of the file.