Procore - Locations - Let's Get More Consisent

Are you making the most of Procore's location features? Chances are, you're not fully utilizing them.
Why are locations important? They pinpoint exactly where issues or opportunities exist on a project, making it easier to address them on the go using mobile devices. While locations can be used in various tools, they are especially crucial in RFIs, Daily Logs, Observations, Inspections, and Punchlists. (They're also useful in tools like Photos, Submittals, Incidents, Change Events, and Correspondence.)
Now, let's break down the ideal structure for locations when setting up your project:

1. Project (Project Number - Project Name): This serves as a summary location for everything on the project and is always required in field sets.
   
2. Buildings and Site Areas (Building Number - Building Name): Divide your project into buildings and outdoor areas, like E9 - McKean Hall or ET - East Tennis Courts.
   
3. Wings / Zones / Areas (Zone Number - Zone Name): For larger buildings constructed in phases, consider breaking them into zones, such as Main Gym, Locker Rooms/Offices, Central Wing, Racketball, South Gym/Wrestling. Avoid including construction phases since they overlap the same physical location and become irrelevant after project completion.
   
4. Levels (Level Number - Level Name): Divide your building into levels, including underground, basement, and roofs. Examples include -02 - Underground, -01 Basement, 01 - Arena Floor, 02 - Seating, 03 - Mezzanine, 04 - Lower Roof, 05 - Upper Roof.
   
5. Units / Room Groups (Unit Number - Unit Name Unit Type): If you have groups of rooms, like a hospital department (e.g., ER - Emergency) or 101 - 2BR Apt, create tiers for these units.
   
6. Rooms (Room Number - Room Name): Specify the names of individual rooms within spaces.
   
7. Sub Rooms (Number - Sub Room Names): In some cases, divide large rooms into smaller ones, for instance, in cafes, restaurants, or convention/meeting spaces.
   

Pro tip: Always begin location names with a number or letter for better organization and searchability.
What are your thoughts? Did I miss anything important?

Setting Up Locations
To drive consistency, setup location within Location manager with these steps:

• Open Procore and navigate to your Project.
• Under Core Tools in the Project Tools section, select Admin.
• In the Sidebar, go to Project Settings section and then select Locations.
• Find the gray + 1st Tier box at the top left, click it, and enter the first tier based on your location breakdown structure (Typically your project number - project name). Press Enter.

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• Now, select the project name item in the 1st tier, and enter buildings (or other relevant site locations) in the +2nd Tier Box based on your organization. Repeat this for additional buildings and site spaces as needed.

• Continue creating tiers for all other location levels in your organization.

Important tip: Don't forget to check the "Only allow locations to be created in the Location Manager above" box at the bottom of the screen if you want to restrict location creation to the Location Manager.

These steps should help you efficiently set up locations in Procore while ensuring consistency throughout your project and organization. See Procore Support for more details
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Best Practices

• Require locations in key fieldsets to require location, like daily logs, observations, and punch lists.
• Use Procore's Import tool to create and update locations efficiently. 
• Generate QR codes for easy field access and place them:
  • On door jambs before door placement (cover with clear tape).
  • Below door hinges after painting (on painter's tape).
  • On the back of panel doors after turnover.

If you want me to prioritize one of these best practices for a tech tip, please let me know in the comments.