Documentation should be a part of the engineering process, not the entire job. Yet somehow, speak to a few design engineers and you will quickly realise that documentation workflows remain painfully manual. Design engineers work under pressure to be creative, accurate, and compliant, all while meeting tight deadlines. Their challenges range from managing information to staying coordinated, and these issues vary depending on their specialty, like HVAC, electrical, thermal, or structural - and these design documentations remains a costly and time-consuming challenge.

Here are five critical design workflow challenges engineers face and how they can overcome them.

1. Fragmented information across tools leading to redundancy and rework

Engineers work in Revit (or AutoCAD), calculation & simulation tools, Excel, Word, and PDF without any centralised system to connect or sync them. Tracking changes and ensuring traceability becomes a major issue especially when documentation needs to be audited or verified later.

Impact on workflows:

• Same data is entered multiple times (e.g. airflow rates, power loads).
  
  
• Mismatches between the BIM model and the narrative report.
  
  
• Updates are missed or delayed across formats.

Statistically speaking, 52% of rework is caused by poor project data and miscommunication, according to PlanGrid and FMI, 'Construction Disconnected'.

2. Lack of version control

Endless emails saying "use this one" and file names like "v2_final_ final_ versionBIS.docx" - a clear sign of version chaos. Multiple engineers, project manger, and subcontractors modify documents, often in parallel, without robust version control. Therefore, projects with multiple stakeholders are often deployed across different document version or end up being interpreted differently.

Impact on workflows:

• Outdated versions get submitted.
  

• Conflicting values in plans vs. reports.

• Waste of time during synthesis or reviews.
  

Statistically speaking, rework accounts for an average of 5-15% of total construction costs, according to a report by Navigant Construction Forum.

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3. Overload of regulatory documents

Design engineers must comply with a growing web of codes, standards, and norms; often region-specific and constantly evolving. Navigating through Eurocodes, local building codes, fire safety regulations, and environmental compliance can consume hours. Think RE2020, HQE, BREEAM, DPE, and many other labels that demand unfiltered attention. 

Engineers spend time pulling data from different sources just to populate regulatory annexes. This might mean manually searching through a 100+ page document to extract a single requirement leading to critical delays and increased risk of missing critical constraints. 

Impact on workflows:

• High risk of non-compliance if something is missing.
  
  
• No audit trail between design decisions and regulatory outputs.

Statistically speaking, according to a McKinsey Global Institute report, construction productivity has grown only 1% annually over the past two decades, partly due to fragmented processes like documentation handling.

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4. Time lost on manual, repetitive tasks

Copy-pasting data between reports, renaming files to match project codes, or formatting tables : these low-value tasks often consume high-value engineering time. Engineers manually format long reports, copy-paste tables, and insert images from simulations and CAD.

Impact:

• Burnout and frustration.
  
  
• Mistakes introduced during formatting (e.g. unit conversion errors).
  
  
• Non-billable time for high-skill professionals.

Statistically speaking, engineers can spend up to 40% of their workweek on documentation tasks, per Autodesk and FMI research on construction workflows.

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5. Knowledge-loss from historical documents

Past projects hold invaluable data, from cost benchmarks to common mistakes, but this information is rarely structured or searchable. In the absence of structured templates or libraries for past reports, studies, or calculations, engineers often start from scratch rather than leveraging previous work.

Impact on workflows:

• Engineers reinvent the wheel (e.g., sizing for a school HVAC system they already did last year).
  
  
• Junior engineers can’t benefit from senior engineers’ logic or documentation style.

• Institutional knowledge is locked in personal folders or heads.

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Ready to work smarter?

Temelion empowers engineering teams to move faster, reduce risk, and focus on what they do best: solving complex design challenges.

Our AI Copilot can read, understand, and reason through specs, codes, drawings, tables, and more, helping teams automate repetitive documentation tasks, flag conflicts early, and ensure compliance without the manual slog.

Don't believe it?

Book a free demo here, OR learn more about Temelion to see how we’re changing the way engineers work with documentation.

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