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Whether you’re looking to deepen your understanding of the platform or need a resource to share with the pursuit team, this FAQ will help you explore the who, what, when, and how of Join.
What is Join?
Join, the collaborative project delivery platform for the built environment, is software that facilitates decision-making for all stakeholders on a construction project. With real-time cost insights and a visual interface, Join empowers contractors, owners, and design teams to collaborate on decisions throughout the project lifecycle. Construction project teams use Join to make timely and smart decisions that drive projects forward.
Who uses Join?
Join is for contractors, owners, design teams, trades, and other project stakeholders. General contractors (GCs) typically champion Join, inviting collaborators onto the platform for each project and assigning specific permissions to stakeholders.
How are Owner Architect Contractor (OAC) meetings different with Join?
OAC teams collaborate to navigate complex information and make informed decisions that drive projects forward. This is a high-stakes activity: project outcomes and business goals are on the line. The work is difficult and complicated. Additionally, focus is sometimes drawn away from some of the most pressing and impactful items because there are so many topics to cover in a short amount of time. These meetings can be tense and frustrating, or they can be collaborative, with stakeholders having a better project experience and building forward momentum.
Join unites the OAC team around a single, trusted source of data, enabling them to focus on what matters—uncovering opportunities, providing clarity, and making impactful decisions together. With Join, OAC meetings can end with a smile.
How are project communications different with Join?
When project information is shared primarily through email, communication can become disjointed. Many team members will spend countless hours shuttling data between email and various logs. Additionally, those emails need to be stored in a separate location for others to be able to access in the future.
With Join, project information is centralized, always up to date, and accessible in one shared location. This central resource frees people to shift from reacting to an overflowing inbox to areas of the project where they can deliver the most value.
When is Join used?
Join is used in the design phase, in preconstruction, and during construction execution. During the design phase, project teams use Join to align cost and scope. Through preconstruction, when attention turns to emphasizing cost, schedule, and constructability, teams use join to drive alignment between the design and projected cost. Construction teams use Join to track owner decisions that may impact change orders and maintain a reliable record of why the project is on its current trajectory. Join integrates with project management software such as Procore and Autodesk Build, to sync information around change orders between the respective platforms and Join.
How does Join improve the design phase?
Design teams using Join can quickly evaluate decisions while maintaining the design vision and aligning with owner priorities. Design teams can also get real-time insight into detailed cost data, which results in faster cost feedback on new design ideas and options that come up anytime during the project. Because Join provides a more holistic and detailed view into the project budget, design teams can strategize on where to optimize costs while balancing other decision criteria.
How does Join improve preconstruction and construction?
Cost information surrounding a decision often lives in spreadsheets, with supporting documentation scattered across drives, emails, phone calls, text messages, desktops, and other locations. Join consolidates scattered information all in one place – an easy-to-use platform where stakeholders can collaborate and focus on the details they care about. Owners can quickly grasp project status with high-level charts, while preconstruction teams can drill down into specifics—quantities, labor vs. materials, and more.
What types of decisions does Join help with?
Teams use Join for decisions ranging from light switches to structural systems and everything in between. These decisions address factors like cost, design, constructability, supply chains, and the owner’s business case. Join gives all stakeholders real-time visibility into each decision and its impact, while also maintaining a detailed decision history for future reference.
What’s the impact of Join?
Join facilitates better collaboration, faster decisions, and decisions that stick. Teams using Join improve project outcomes, mitigate risk, and win more work than competitors relying on traditional decision-making tools.