Folder Structure for Design and Construction Professionals

I haven't posted to my blog in a long time, but I thought I'd ease back into it with posting my most popular post here on LinkedIn. Ten thousand people from all over the world have read this post since it was posted in 2016. Fifteen people have looked at it today (before noon) from Greece, USA, Canada, Switzerland, Russia, and Slovenia. Aren't you curious now? Read it below:

I walked into Pat’s office and since he was on the phone, I motioned to him that I needed the sister drawing to the one I had in my hand. We were working together on a project and he was the PM. I looked down at his desk, which was hidden under haphazardly placed 18”X24” drawing sheets. The sheets were frayed and had been walked on, and were covered with red-lines from his fat no. 9 Pentel pencil. He tucked the phone under his chin and put the pencil in his mouth, swiveled around in his chair, lifted a stack of papers a few inches off his desk and pointed with his nose to the drawing that I needed. He's worked this way for 35 years and is regarded as a structural engineering genius. Somehow chaos works for him.

Over the years, my computer folders have gotten out of control and looked like Pat's office. Instead of paper, I had icons and folders cluttering my computer screen. Like most people, I either had too many folders or too few, and the labeling was too broad or too specific. About two years ago, after a lot of trial and error, I developed a system that works for me. I continue to tweak it as needed and it is constantly evolving. Over the past year it has evolved quite a bit since I started doing more project management and less structural design work. I’ll briefly discuss what is in each folder and maybe you’ll discover something that will work for you. 

Main folder:

01-  Administrative:  All items pertaining to the business and operations aspect of running a firm or office, from employee reviews to business plans.

02-  Design:  General spreadsheets and templates relating to structural engineering design.  It also contains technical articles, manufacturers reports, and building codes.

03-  Construction:  Similar to the design folder but for construction items.

04-  Education:  Literature from seminars, classes, and lunch and learns.

05-  Personal: For me this contains scans of receipts for flex care reimbursement.

06-  Production: Similar to the design folder but for items relating to drawing production, AutoCAD and Revit shortcuts etc.

07-  PM: General templates for project management.  At my current job, I have a folder that contains documents that I created describing the processes and procedures of taking a project through the state system.

08-  Projects:  As the description states- projects.

09-  General:  Stuff that doesn’t fit anywhere else.

08 Sample Projects Folder:

00-  Initiation: Items relating to the project before it becomes a project from funding documents to designer solicitation documents to the designer award letter and copy of the contract.

01-  Feasibility Study: Designer deliverables.

02-  SD – 04 CD: Designer deliverables.

03-  DD: Designer deliverables.

04-  CD: Designer deliverables.

05-  CA: Copy of the construction contract and items relating to construction.

06-  Meetings: My meeting notes and the designers official meeting minutes.

07-  Project Management:  All things related to managing the project including project invoices, schedule, budget worksheets, construction estimates, and project directory.

08-  Communication: This folder contains an “Incoming” folder and “Outgoing” folder.  They contain all incoming and outgoing email attachments that are not submittals got to this folder like sketches or design options.  

 Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.