Creating a Unified Common Data Environment

The Challenge

Clancy is an Ireland-based construction company that emphasises collaboration and teamwork as its core values. However, it was still relying on legacy project management systems such as Dropbox files and folders, which were creating ample opportunities for fractured documentation trails, miscommunication, and contractual disputes. Moreover, operational processes were being stymied by varying digital skill levels between different team members, often leading to a disconnect between the people on the design team and the people out on site. 

The Solution

Adopting Procore has allowed Clancy to make digital upskilling a smoother process. Minimal manual input required and the ability to take the software out into the site helped enormously to connect previously clunky processes. For Clancy, handovers using the Dropbox-based, manual filing process had taken weeks - with Procore’s automated action plans, Submittal and RFI workflows, drawing approval, snags, etc, all the necessary documentation can be ticked off throughout project completion, allowing for a more fluid handover at the end. 

The Results

• Drastic improvement in the accuracy and reliability of project data
• Retraining staff on the metadata tagging system requires minimal effort and faces little resistance
• Automated alerts streamline task management and dispute resolution by automatically notifying relevant parties of potential issues
• Eliminates common project management bottlenecks, document loss, and missed connections
• Enhanced discoverability & security makes information effortlessly searchable while keeping it securely stored

Clancy Construction is, as Digital Project Manager Conor Moore describes it, “an Irish construction company operating across both the public and private sectors,” with an annual turnover exceeding €150 million. Conor joined the company in 2022 during a period of significant digital transformation, shortly before Clancy had begun migrating from a Dropbox-based approach to project management onto the Procore platform.

Prior to this transition, project information was primarily managed through Dropbox and OneDrive folder structures. This approach relied heavily on manual processes, consistent file naming, and users having a strong level of digital competency. With employees possessing varying degrees of digital skills, maintaining control of information and ensuring consistency across projects often proved challenging. Reflecting on this period, Conor recalls the many issues that arose from systems that depended almost entirely on manual data entry, folder management, and document naming conventions:

“It was very fractured. Clancy before 2020 were very dependent on people having the latest version of something, hoping that their Dropbox has been syncing, and then you would use emails to approve actions, so that was even more fractured.”

The primary issue Clancy observed with the Dropbox-based system was the lack of consistency in the way it would be used by different people. They were relying on each team member to be diligent with their file naming and updating different versions of the files, but, as practical experience showed time and time again, this proved to be challenging for many people. Conor points out that some people would end up taking hundreds of photos on site, dumping them into a folder and just leaving them there without proper naming or dating, hoping that the documentation will eventually be seen by the right people. 

The Power of Metadata

Adopting Procore changed all of that, making filing a simple and consistent process that involves tagging the relevant information according to what it is and then just hitting the ‘distribute’ button, which automatically sends the correctly tagged file to everyone who needs to see it. 

Conor, who himself once worked on construction sites, understands adopting technological innovation isn’t always a straightforward process, with some degree of resistance the norm. However, he has seen substantially less of that, praising Procore as a very easy system to adopt:

“Getting people to move away from the old habits of doing things is a lot easier when the software that you're implementing is so user-friendly. It's not a very complex thing; you don't need to have a master's degree in IT to use it.”

Using Procore has become so important to Clancy that, at this point, they won’t even work with a subcontractor if they’re not willing to also use Procore. Clancy does offer appropriate training in correct metadata tagging, but they have found the process very easy; as Conor puts it, “it becomes second nature” very quickly. 

Improving Compliance and Safety 

This isn’t to say that Procore has completely automated data collection processes. As Conor explains, it has, instead, facilitated the fine-tuning of document management at the earliest possible stage. For example, a file cannot be submitted until the mandatory metadata fields have been filled in - and these fields can be customised by a project manager. This makes it easier to zoom in on specific areas, for example, ISO compliance. If a filter is set early on, then potential compliance issues can be flagged immediately and addressed - by the correct person - way before the handover rush. Creating an audit trail is easy, with version history and any deletion attempts systematically recorded. Conor also praises the ability to set permissions in Procore, so that different team members are only given access to what they need to see and action. This reduces operational complexity, allowing teams to focus on doing what they need to be doing. 

In one important area, however, Procore plays a crucial role in expanding and unifying access: BIM modelling. In the past, BIM models would be seen mainly by design teams, but they can help subcontractors on site greatly, thanks to their highly visual and evolving nature. Conor explains the benefit of making BIM models accessible to on-site teams:

“Back in the day, just the design team would have access to the model, and the people on site, the subcontractors, might only have a paper version of a drawing. Or they print off the drawing, and they walk outside, and by the time they come back inside, there might be a new revision of that drawing. Having everything on Procore is great, because subcontractors and site management can go outside with an iPad or a phone, they can look at the model, and they're able to walk around the model. It makes for a better experience.” 

Finally, Procore has given Clancy one further advantage that was perhaps less expected: it has helped to better track and understand safety issues on site. The ‘Observations’ tool in Procore has proved to be useful in quickly raising concerns around safety, while the 360 reporting tool has allowed them to collect safety-related data over time. Clancy was able to spot a trend in the time of day on-site accidents are most likely to happen, and with the capacity to send out a global alert to on-site teams, it’s helping to make subcontractors out in the site safer. 

The Future

Conor predicts that the use of platforms like Procore will become standard in the near future. In many cases, the drive toward adopting digital project management systems like Procore originates with clients who increasingly want the reassurance that their data is handled correctly and securely. Conor cites Clancy’s extensive work with hospitals in Ireland as an important example of this: they need to know that their data is secure and clients feel more confident when they are told that the construction company is using a trusted project management system that processes their data in a predictable and transparent way.

The shift toward metadata-based CDEs is systemic, and Conor predicts that it’s only a matter of time before the question ‘What CDE are you using?’ will become a standard question asked by clients - it’s already becoming more frequent. For a company like Clancy, the reputational benefit that comes from using a respected data management tool is highly valuable, almost like a ‘verified’ badge that signals trustworthiness. 

Ultimately, Clancy has experienced overwhelming benefits to creating a CDE using a tool like Procore - from reduced friction between teams to automated action plans that make handovers more seamless, and from creating a solid compliance audit trail to signalling reliability to clients. What would be the one thing Conor would say to another contractor in Ireland who might be struggling with keeping all their information in one common data environment?

“Procore has been a great partner for Clancy’s, streamlining workflows, automations kicking in when they are set up correctly, and most importantly the ability to customised tools which let Clancy’s use the Procore platform to follow our internal procedures and best practices, Let the system do all the alerting, do all the reporting. You just make sure to feed in the correct information.”