Mark Federle, chief information  officer of The Weitz Co., doesn’t  miss the days of putting on grubby  clothes to go to one of the company’s  warehouses to sift through boxes  of papers in search of a document.

Today, Federle and other Weitz  employees upload construction documents  to searchable databases, eliminating  the “needle in a haystack”  method of trying to track down project  information such as warranties and  daily reports.

“We stored everything in banker’s  boxes,” Federle said. “Now we don’t  have to store construction documents  in paper boxes and build warehouses to  store all the boxes.”

Weitz was one of the first companies  to use document management  software created by Des Moines-based  Data Builder Inc. In the past 22 months,  companies across the United States  have followed Weitz’s lead and started  working with Data Builder.Drew Grant,  Data Builder’s CEO, said his company’s  software has been used on more than  325 projects, the largest one being Dallas  Area Rapid Transit’s $2.5 billion  expansion.

Grant said nobody imagined how  fast Data Builder would grow when it  was founded in 2003 as a joint venture  between Weitz and Emerging Growth  Group. At the time, the company’s initial  focus was on its Electronic Construction  Closeout product. ECC condenses  a construction project’s documents  onto a searchable compact disc  upon a project’s completion.

Initially, Data Builder’s staff spent a  significant amount of time scanning  construction plans and architectural  drawings to convert those documents  to a digital format for ECC. To improve  that process, the company created a  second product called Electronic Project  Control System, or e-PCS. This Webbased  product allows clients to create a  “living history”of a project in digital format,  Grant said.When a project is completed,  the necessary files for closeout  are copied over to ECC.

“The technology has evolved such  that our focus has shifted from providing  a document-scanning service to our  clients to being a software company,”  Grant said.

The advent of more work being  done electronically makes it easy for  clients to upload project information to  the secure Web site that Data Builder  manages for e-PCS, Grant said. Having  project information available online  reduces the time that is otherwise  wasted by papers changing hands and  trying to get people together for meetings  to review documents. Anyone  with access to a project can view the  project online. The e-  PCS program tracks any  changes made to files  and automatically sends  e-mail notices to members  of the project  team if they need to  approve an item.

Weitz’s Federle said  the way e-PCS is organized  helps a great deal  with keeping team  members up to date on  a project’s status.

“Having a central  location for all documents  is a good way for  collecting and keeping  that information,” Federle  said. “In managing a  project, it helps with making sure everybody  has the latest documents. If you  relied on e-mail alone to share documents,  you run the risk that people  aren’t keeping up with filing to have the  most up-to-date version.”

Another area in which Federle said  the technology has been beneficial is  risk management. If a situation arises  where a building owner wants to sue a  construction company  such as Weitz over a  perceived problem  with the building, the  construction company  can use the searchable  database of either e-  PCS or ECC to easily  locate the documents  in question where the  owner would have  signed off on building  specifications.

“It helps having all  your documents in  one place because one  version of the truth is  easily accessible,” Federle  said.

“Traditionally, the  plaintiff has a huge amount of leverage  in forcing a construction company to go  on a ‘paper chase,'” Grant said. “When  the cost of defending yourself goes way  down because that information is readily  available, it completely changes the  balance of power in the litigation.”

Data Builder charges e-PCS customers  a monthly fee based on the number  of people each company has authorized  to use the software. The fee  includes use of Data Builder’s software  and Internet hosting services.

Currently, Data Builder employs 14  people at its offices at 500 S.W. Seventh  St. and additional consultants and salespeople  in Minneapolis, Denver, Kansas  City and Des Moines. In 2003, the company  had only one employee.

Although early growth has been substantial,  Grant thinks that Data Builder  still has a lot of opportunity to expand.  In addition to construction, Data  Builder plans to introduce e-PCS in  other markets, such as software development,  communications systems and  construction consulting.

“We were in a demonstration with  one CEO recently when he said,’I need  this to manage all my sales material,'”  Grant said. “It’s fun to go out and see  other people’s eyes light up when  they see these other uses, and we’re  excited about opening doors in other  markets.”