Improvements in design review management

Design reviews to improve the technical quality and con-structibility of contract documents can result in significant savings in project costs, contract modifications, and subsequent liability claims. The benefits of a formal design review program depend on the ability to efficiently manage many simultaneous review efforts and effectively incorporate the resulting comments into the final contract documents. Research into the Army Corps of Engineer’s design review program identified areas of needed improvement, which resulted in development of the Automated Review Management System (ARMS). ARMS is a computer-based program that fosters increased communication and interaction among all review participants and provides a mechanism for data collection, collation, distribution, and incorporation into contract documents. A discussion of the potential for private sector application of ARMS or a similar system concludes this paper.