Your template gave you the structure. Every tool still needs configuring for the project in front of you. Part three of dialling in a new Procore project.
Parts one and two covered the foundation and the universal features that work across every tool. This part gets into the tools themselves, the office-based side of your project: documentation and financials. These are the tools your project management and commercial teams rely on every day, and getting them set up properly at the start saves hours of rework down the track.
The directory is the backbone of your project, because every other tool pulls from it. Add your project team, subcontractors, consultants, client reps, everyone who needs access. Don't stop at adding users. Set up your distribution groups while you're there. Remember in part two, when we talked about tracking and default distribution? This is where those groups are built. Think by trade, by discipline, by communication need. The time you invest here pays off across every tool that uses them.Also check who's already in your directory. Your project template may have brought users across automatically, and if they don't belong on this project, remove them. Note that company admins can access any project regardless of whether they're in the directory.
Drawings and specifications don't live in the documents tool, so this is everything else: contracts, registers, reports and any reference documents. Upload what the team needs, organise it with a folder structure that makes sense for the project, then set up tracking so people get notified when documents are updated.
Drawings is one of the most used tools in Procore, and the setup matters. Import your drawings as an original set, regardless of where they're at. That draws the starting line. Then pay attention to areas, disciplines and sets, because that's how your team will filter and find drawings. Areas typically map to building zones, levels or the project breakdown. Disciplines are your design packages, like architectural, structural, mechanical and electrical. Sets are your revision groups as drawings change over time.
"If you get this wrong, people end up scrolling through hundreds of drawings to find what they need."
Specifications follow a similar pattern. Import your sections and set up your divisions and sets. Most projects use standard division structures, but check the divisions match what's actually in your specification packages, and set up tracking here too. There are friction points for those of us outside the US, where specifications are handled quite differently. I still think a basic structure is worth it. It makes revisioning, review, document control and searching much easier, including on mobile.
Submittals is where setup really impacts workflow, and there are three things to get right.
Packages.
Group your submittals logically. By specification section is the most common approach, but finishes, trades, services or stages can work just as well. Generally, group them into packages that have the same people involved in submitting, reviewing and approving.
Preloading.
Think of the submittals tool as your approvals tool. Anything that needs to be submitted to you for approval, or that you need to submit upstream, or both, is a perfect candidate. So create those items at the start: the ones you know you'll ask your subcontractors for, and the ones you know you'll submit to your client and authorities. Get them in, set the dates and let Procore take care of the rest.
"Think about the submittals tool as the approvals tool."
Workflows. Who reviews, who approves, and in what order. Your company template may have default workflows, but every project has its own approval chain, so adjust them. One thing to know: submittals was one of the first tools in Procore with its own workflow engine, and it isn't connected to the newer company-level workflows tool the way financials and correspondence are.
If your company uses Procore Document Management, set up your naming rules, custom fields and folder structures at project level. They control how documents are categorised, named and organised. Five or ten minutes of configuration here saves your team a huge mess later. Workflows are a key part of PDM, pulled down from the company workflows tool, and the custom views from part two matter here as well.If you're working with BIM, load your models early through the models tool, if it's in your subscription, or through the documents tool. That way the site team can access them from day one.
Your company admin has likely pushed down a lot of defaults: cost codes, vendor lists and more. Adapt them to this project. Misconfigured financials create problems that are painful to fix later.
Part 4 covers communication and site tools, the field-facing side of your project. It also has the full Procore project setup checklist, ready to download. If you want help getting your Procore projects set up properly from day one, book a free intro call with us.