A Framework for Reducing Friction, Risk, and Cost

The High Cost of "What Sheet Are You On?"

On most projects, plan review happens constantly but in a dangerously fragmented way. Coordination meetings often stumble right out of the gate with the question, "What sheet are you on?" while different versions circulate via email and field teams inadvertently build from outdated plans. While these issues feel like everyday friction, they carry quantifiable costs that most organizations fail to link back to their review process.

When review is informal, small misalignments compound into measurable business impacts like schedule slips and reputational risk. A misinterpreted equipment clearance on a small screen can trigger a late-stage RFI, field rework across several rooms, and a week of delays involving multiple trades. This pain originates from ad hoc habits that can no longer scale with modern project complexity.

What Is Structured Plan Review?

Structured Plan Review is not a single meeting; it is a continuous thread running through the full lifecycle of a project. It is a disciplined methodology designed to make "getting everyone on the same page" operational by enforcing three specific conditions: Same Information (Source of Truth), Same Interpretation (Common Language), and Same View (Visual Clarity). By formalizing this process, Volanti acts as the anchor for the "Digital Jobsite," providing the visual real estate necessary to ensure no detail is missed during these critical alignment sessions.

A Workflow for Every Stage

Plan review must be light enough to flex across the project lifecycle yet structured enough to consistently protect the project's foundations15. This framework applies a consistent logic from the earliest design sketches through to the final handover.

• Early Stage Feasibility: Validate options and constraints during Concept and Schematic Design to ensure viability before heavy resources are committed.
• Design Development Coordination: Resolve clashes and agree on system routes by ensuring all trades are interpreting the drawings exactly the same way.
• Construction & Field Revisions: Manage field changes and resolve inquiries dynamically, ensuring the field team is never building from superseded data.
• Handover & Operations: Finalize accurate as-builts during the closeout phase to ensure the owner receives a reliable digital twin of the facility.

Three Foundations of Alignment

The "Old Way" of reviewing plans relies on dispersed teams looking at different devices, often struggling to see details on small laptops or tablets. This lack of visual clarity leads to "Same View" failure, where individuals miss context because they are zoomed in on a private screen rather than looking at a shared master view.

The Volanti approach, detailed in this whitepaper, enforces a "Same View" standard. By utilizing large, sharp displays that show entire sheets without constant zooming, teams ensure that symbols and line types are interpreted consistently. This reduces the risk of disputes arising from disagreements on what was actually agreed upon in review.

Platform Agnostic, Process Specific

A robust plan review process requires a "Source of Truth" platform to ensure everyone pulls from the same location. While the hardware provides the view, the software holds the data.

The List:

• Bluebeam / PDF Viewers: Used for "Live Logging" markups in real-time to avoid separate paper parking lots or side notes.
• Procore / Autodesk Build: Serves as the single agreed-upon environment to hold current drawings and manage version control.
• BIM Coordination Models: Facilitates the "Same View" foundation by ensuring all stakeholders view the master model simultaneously rather than independently navigating.

Deployment for the Digital Jobsite

To achieve the "Same View" standard described in the whitepaper, the viewing environment must be managed to minimize glare and allow the entire sheet to be visible.

• The Volanti Plan Review Table: For "over-the-shoulder" collaboration and large-format drawing review.
• The Digital Wall: For coordination meetings requiring a "Master View" that prevents independent scrolling.
• Mobile Plan Carts: bringing the "Source of Truth" directly to the field for verification.

Whitepaper At A Glance

• Title: Construction Plan Review: Getting Everyone on the Same Page
• Pages: 6
• Publication Date: Dec 6, 2025
• Core Framework: Prepare, Run, Follow Through
• Key Metric: Reduction in RFIs and Change Orders
• Format: PDF Download
• File: Volanti-Construction-Plan-Review Whitepaper-2025-12.pdf

Who is This For

This whitepaper is designed for teams that are tired of projects suffering from friction, cost, and delays caused by simple miscommunication. It is for leaders who realize that long-standing, informal habits for managing drawings are failing to scale.

The Roles:

• Project Executives: Who need to link RFI and change order metrics back to weaknesses in the plan review process.
• BIM Managers: Who need to enforce a "Source of Truth" and ensure models are not changing silently without clear bulletins.
• Superintendents: Who deal with the fallout of field rework when crews build from outdated or misinterpreted plans.

Process Resilience

Reliability in construction isn't just about hard hats and steel; it's about the durability of your information pipeline. Ad hoc reviews are fragile; they break down under the pressure of compressed schedules and hybrid work.

The framework proposed here is designed to be "contact-resilient." It ensures alignment survives contact with daily work by integrating approved markups into the working set immediately and publishing changes deliberately. This creates a process as durable as the physical build itself.

Ad Hoc vs. Structured Review

See how moving from informal emails to a structured digital workflow transforms project outcomes.

Methodology

Implementing a strong plan review process... creates faster, clearer decisions, allowing teams to spend more time building and less time fighting their drawings.