Get Started with ConstructFlow

ConstructFlow keeps every Submittal, RFI, comment, and final decision connected to the project record it belongs to. Your first session works best as a real setup session, not a feature tour. The team configures ConstructFlow around the way reviews actually move on a project: routing, review groups, comment behavior, and the documents that become part of closeout.

AI drafts from source material and surfaces evidence. Reviewers approve, recommend, and decide. The project record stays source-backed.

The first project setup, end to end

A first project is usually configured in about an hour with the right people in the room. These six steps follow the order most teams use, and each one ties to a configurable part of ConstructFlow instead of a generic template.

1. Project identity. Set the project name, alias, owner, and display details so transmittals, coversheets, and exported PDFs read correctly for owners, consultants, and outside reviewers.

2. Submittal and RFI behavior. Turn on the modules you use, define required fields, set default uploads, and confirm whether Recommend Codes drive final Submittal status the way your spec section requires.

3. Coversheets and transmittals. Use a system-generated coversheet or upload your own template. Preview the merged PDF before saving so the final document matches what owners and consultants expect to receive.

4. Review groups and routing. Map the internal and external groups that handle each Submittal and RFI, then build the review flow that sequences them. Concurrent review groups are supported, so parallel reviewers do not block the origin group.

5. People, companies, and permissions. Add submitters, reviewers, and the companies they belong to. Project-specific roles control who can submit, comment, recommend, or manage the register without exposing the rest of the project record.

6. Comments, status, and the final record. Confirm how comments affect status, how Recommend Codes drive the final code, and how re-submittals are generated automatically from review actions so the cycle history stays intact.

Terms you will see during setup

ConstructFlow uses construction-review language directly. A short reference helps the first session move faster.

Review group

A project-scoped set of users and companies that owns one stage of the review. Internal review groups are typically your team. External review groups represent owners, consultants, or other reviewers.

Recommend code

The code a reviewer applies to a Submittal, such as approved, approved as noted, or revise and resubmit. Recommend Codes are tied directly to status logic, so the final code drives the correct outcome.

Re-submittal cycle

An automatically generated follow-up Submittal created by specific review actions. Cycle history, comments, and files stay linked to the original record, so nothing has to be reconstructed by hand.

Concurrent review

An active review group can assign a Submittal or RFI to multiple target groups at the same time. Parallel reviewers can comment without disrupting the sequential workflow or the origin group's ownership.

Source-backed

Every AI-assisted answer, draft, or summary is tied to the Submittals, RFIs, reviewer comments, attachments, and PDF pages it was drawn from. The reviewer always sees the source material behind the response.

How AI shows up during review

ConstructFlow AI supports the review. It does not make the decision. Reviewers approve, recommend, and return items. AI helps them find the right source material and draft from it faster:

• Answer panel with evidence. Ask a question and get a draft answer with source cards from the related Submittal, RFI, reviewer comment, and PDF page.

• RFI response drafts. Pull reviewer comments, drawing references, related Submittals, and attachments into a draft your team can edit before sending.

• Submittal review summaries. See what changed across cycles, who commented, what is still unresolved, and what the likely next action is.

• Risk priority queue. Rank open items by due date, cycle count, unresolved comments, and missing attachments so reviewers know where to look first.

For a fuller picture of how this connects to the workflow, see Project Record Intelligence on the shared workflows page.

What to bring to a walkthrough

If you want the first session to reflect your real work, bring the materials below. None of them are required, but they make the configuration concrete instead of hypothetical.

• A current Submittal register or specification index, if one exists.

• Sample coversheet or transmittal documents your owner or consultants expect to receive.

• A list of the review groups, internal reviewers, and external companies that participate on a typical project.

• One or two recent Submittals and RFIs that represent your hardest review path, such as long-lead material approvals, design clarifications, or anything that needs concurrent reviewers.

Common questions

How long does setup actually take?

A first project is generally configured in about an hour with the right people in the room. Larger firms and capital programs often roll out one project first, then template the configuration to the rest of the portfolio.

Can ConstructFlow match how our spec section calls out Submittal review?

Yes. Recommend Codes, comment behavior, required fields, and routing between internal and external review groups are configurable per project. Re-submittals are generated automatically from the review actions you define.

Does AI make any final decisions?

No. AI surfaces source material, drafts language, and ranks risk. Reviewers control the comment, the Recommend Code, and the final response. The product philosophy covers the human-led review standard in more detail.

How do reviewers from outside companies get access?

External reviewers and submitters are added with project-specific roles. They participate in the review without seeing parts of the project record they are not assigned to, and their activity stays tied to the same audit trail as internal users.

What plan do most teams start on?

Most teams start on Standard or Professional depending on active project count and AI feature needs. The ROI calculator models review volume against plan cost so the choice is grounded in real numbers, and the pricing page lays out the AI packages and project scale for each tier.

Where to go next

• Submittals: review routing, comment behavior, Recommend Codes, re-submittal cycles, and document creation.

• RFIs: design clarifications with source-backed evidence and reviewer-approved responses.

• Shared workflow controls: how routing, alerts, comments, and exports behave across modules.

• Solutions: paths organized by role, team size, and project type.

• Pricing: Standard, Professional, and Enterprise tiers with AI package detail.

• ROI calculator: estimate the value of your review coordination using your own numbers.