April 2023 Release Notes

The Kahua 2023.2 release will be deployed to our Production environments on April 15, 2023.  A preview of this functionality can be accessed at https://earlyaccesslaunch.kahua.com  beginning on April 1, 2023. Please click here for more information on the Early Access program. The release notes below are subject to change. For any changes to these notes, please see the change log at the bottom of the article.

In addition to various performance improvements, user interface updates and error corrections, this release will also include:

Desktop

NEW LAUNCH BAR

Formerly called the Application Bar, the new Launch Bar, shown below, has some new features to provide users more control over what they want to see, including application pinning and user-defined display order. Additionally, when a user modifies their Launch Bar, changes display in the Windows application and Webhost regardless of where the change was made.

Pro Tip: Kahua automatically opens the first application pinned. To change your default, simply pin the application you want to default and then drag it to the top of the Launch Bar. If no applications are pinned, then Kahua will display the Applications screen on start.

Pinning Apps

Show App on Startup functionality is being replaced with Application Pinning. Like its predecessor, pinning an application will result in it always showing when you launch Kahua. Additionally, applications that are pinned will remain on the Launch Bar when switching projects. Applications that currently display when you launch Kahua will be automatically converted to pinned applications. Users now have the option to unpin any application, including ones that formerly persisted, such as Dashboards, Messages, and Tasks. 

Changing Display Order

The display order of pinned applications can now be modified using drag and drop. Simply click and hold on an application and drag it to the desired order. 

USERS APPLICATION - SEARCH

Search is now available in the Users application to assist larger organizations in managing their userbase.

USER INVITATIONS

Administrators now have the ability to include additional information in the default invitation.  The default invitation is used when inviting new internal users and can also be selected when sending invitations to external users.  This is also the invitation used when no Invitation Templates have been defined.  

To update the content, open the Configuration app at the domain root, select the Invitations tab and then enable the User Invitation Additional Information toggle from the Default tab. Enter the desired text in the textbox. This text will be included in the Additional Information section of the email invitation when using the default system invitation.  

Configuration App – Invitations, Default Tab:

PERMISSION FILTERS - EXPENSE APPS

Similar to the Document Management apps, the “User’s Company is Named on Record” permission filter has been added to the Expense Contract, Expense Change Request, Expense Change Order and Expense Pay Request apps.  This permission filter will only provide access to the record if the contact from the current user’s company is selected as a contact in an attribute on that record.

PROJECT DIRECTORY – RESTRICT TO KAHUA USERS
A new setting has been added to the Project Directory app to limit the contacts that can be added on the “People” tab to only Kahua users.  When enabled, the benefit is that the contact selection within all apps will now default to Kahua users only, which assists with only selecting users on attributes that generate workflow tasks.  NOTE:  enabling this setting will hide the “Add from Group” and “Add Person” controls in the Project Directory app. 

Project Directory Configuration: 

NOTE: This will not affect any Project Directory records that already exist at the time the setting is enabled. 

UNIVERSAL LOOKUP VALUES

Kahua is introducing lookup values that span multiple applications to properly align key information that may need to be captured across a variety of business processes. For example, you may have a common list of internal tracking codes you may want to select on different documents or potentially want to include a categorization to help you catalog different records. To support this process, Kahua has added the ability to include five unique lists of values, which are managed in Configuration>Universal Lookups. Once the values have been established, an administrator can enable the fields within the following applications:
Punch List
Risk Register
RFIs
Submittal Packages
Submittal Items

To enable within one or more of the applications above, update the appropriate CustomUniversalLookup attribute on the Fields tab in Configuration to assign the proper label and make it visible.  The field will be displayed within the Details section on the Preview and Edit views.  Note this field will not be available on any of the workflow views.

FILE MANAGER - DRAG-AND-DROP TO MOVE FILES/FOLDERS WITHIN FILE MANAGER

Within File Manager, it’s now possible to use drag-and-drop to move one or more files or folders to a different folder.   Drag-and-drop is supported in both the Folder Tree View and the Log View and can be used to MOVE either a single File or Folder, or multiple (using multi-select) Files/Folders.   

The exact same business rules that are already in place for the MOVE action are respected by the drag-and-drop action.  This includes how the MOVE action deals with duplicates and non-compatible folder destinations.

NOTE: For this release, this new drag-and-drop capability is only available in the Windows Host.  It will be introduced to the Web Host in a future release.   In the meantime, in all Kahua Hosts (Windows, Web, and Mobile) the MOVE action is still available for moving Files/Folders to other parts of the folder hierarchy.

FILE MANAGER - DRAG-AND-DROP FROM WINDOWS FILE EXPLORER TO CONTROLLED FOLDERS

Kahua previously introduced the ability to use Drag-and-Drop from Windows File Explorer to the File Manager Log View but did not initially include support for Controlled Folders.  This release now extends the drag-and-drop capability to Controlled Folders, such that upon ‘dropping’ a set of Drawings into File Manager, Kahua will provide all the expected functionality associated with adding a new Drawing Set, such as 'File Splitting', 'Title Block Extraction', 'Revision Control' and more.

FILE MANAGER – UPDATED MESSAGE BODY FOR “FILES ADDED” MESSAGES/NOTIFICATIONS 

As one or more files are added to File Manager, there may be configuration in place that generates Messages/Notifications to notify certain users of these new files.  For these Messages/Notifications, the message body has been updated to improve overall readability, especially when large numbers of files are added at one time.

Users may receive these Messages/Notifications in one of two ways, pre-defined for the folder or manually entered at the time of upload.  

Notification Configuration (for the File Manager app or for a Folder):

Ad Hoc Selection of notification recipients (at the time of adding the files):

FILE MANAGER TITLE BLOCK EXTRACTION – OPTION TO USE SHEET NUMBER PREFIX TO MAP TO DISCIPLINE

In the construction industry, and especially in the US, a common way of numbering Drawings is to begin each ‘Drawing Number’ (aka ‘Sheet Number’) with a 1-2 character abbreviation that corresponds to an associated construction and/or design Discipline (e.g, Architectural, Civil, Structural, etc.).  

This release of Kahua comes preloaded with the 21 Disciplines as defined by the United States National CAD Standard® -V6; a product of the National Institute of Building Sciences buildingSMART alliance™.   These lookup values are completely configurable and may be modified to reflect standards used in other parts of the world, or within your own organization.

There is also a new File Manager Configuration Option (which can also be overridden at the project or folder level when necessary) which provides a default, but fully configurable, mapping of these Disciplines to a 1-2 character abbreviation:

Discipline Abbreviation Configuration:

When performing a Title Block Extaction, Kahua will now automatically scan the first 1-2 characters of the Sheet Number, and attempt to match it to the appropriate abbreviation to determine the Discipline associated with that Drawing.  For example, using the configuration above, a Drawing with a Sheet Number of either ‘A101’ or ‘A-101’ will be matched to the Discipline Code (abbreviation) value of ‘A’, which will tell Kahua that this is an ‘Architectual’ drawing.

NOTE: There’s an additional configuration setting on this tab that enables a different starting position to be specified for the Discipline Abbreviation within the Sheet Number.  For example, some Drawing Sets are defined such that all the Sheet Numbers begin with a prefix (e.g. 01-A101) such that the prefix represents a project area, a building, etc.,   In this example, the starting position could be configured to be ‘4’, since the ‘A’ starts at the 4th character position of the Sheet Number “01-A101”.

Kahua Provided Extensions

To continuously improve our best-in-class Kahua provided extensions, we will be updating offerings to include the following features:

Kahua for General Contractors, Kahua for Owners, and Kahua for Program Managers

KAHUA DAILY REPORTS ENHANCEMENTS

The following updates are being added to Kahua’s Daily Reports extension and base app:

Open Editable Message on Distribute/Lock Action

Previously in the Kahua Daily Reports extension, the Distribute/Lock action sent a message to the distribution list on the daily report without the ability to make any updates prior to being sent. With this release, Kahua is adding a setting to open an editable message that the user can modify before sending.  Once sent, the status of the Daily Report will be updated to Locked.  If the Message is not sent, the Daily Report status will not be updated.  This setting will be enabled by default and can be disabled in Daily Reports configuration to send the Daily Report without providing the ability to edit the Message first.

Daily Report Configuration:

Distributing a Daily Report:

KAHUA PACKAGED SUBMITTALS ENHANCEMENTS

The following updates are being added to Kahua’s Packaged Submittals extension and base app:

Submittal Packages – Standard Workflow – Consultant Response Enhancements
Kahua is introducing several improvements to the Consultant Reviewer response tasks for Submittal Packages and Items in the Standard workflows. Similar improvements will be added to the Owner Directed workflows in a later release. A screenshot of the improvements in Submittal Packages is shown below, and a description of each itemized improvement can be found beneath the photo.

Submittal Package:

1. Kahua is adding a “Response For Items” dropdown to the top of the Submittal Items anchor section. Selecting a lookup value in this field will populate all empty “Response” fields on the submittal items within the package (NOTE: fields that already have user input will not be overwritten or updated). Note that standard workflow submittal items did not previously have a “Response” field, this is explained further in bullet 4.
2. A “Reviewer Notes for Items (copy to Empty Items on Response)” field is being added to the Submittal Items anchor section. When typing into this field and then responding, the input in this field is copied into all empty “Reviewer Notes” fields for the Items within the Package (NOTE: fields that already have user input will not be overwritten or updated). This data does not copy when the Consultant saves their task, only when the response is submitted to allow the consultant to alter their reviewer notes up until they hit respond.
3. The "Consultant Package Response Notes" field is being moved into the submittal items anchor section.
4. A “Response” lookup field mimicking the official reviewer’s response field is being added to consultant reviewer tasks for each submittal item on the package so they can indicate to the Official Reviewer their suggested Response for the Item(s).
5. The "Reviewer Notes" field is visible by default, but can be hidden in configuration. This field can be edited for each individual Item in the grid of the consultant’s task without opening the detail panel for each item (this has been included with the Owner Directed workflow as well).

New settings have been added to make the Consultant's Item Response field required for when Consultants are responding via their task for both Submittal Packages and Submittal Items.

Submittal Package Settings in Configuration:

Submittal Item Settings in Configuration:

To hide the Consultant Response lookup in your workflow, hide the “Consultant Response” field in Submittal Items configuration and the “Consultant Response for Items” field in Submittal Packages configuration.

Submittal Items Fields in Configuration:

Submittal Packages – Standard Workflow – Disable “Distributed” Status
Kahua has added a “Distributed” status to Submittal Items and Packages in the Standard workflow when a completed submittal had been distributed. This can be disabled for either Packages and Items so that once a submittal is distributed it will remain in the “Completed” status.

Submittal Package Settings in Configuration:

 

Submittal Packages and Items– Standard Workflow – Consultants Reviewers Can Add Consultants Reviewers
Previously, in the Owner Directed workflows for Submittal Packages and Items, there has been a “Consultant Reviewers can add Consultant Reviewers” field which, when enabled, allows consultant reviewers to send tasks to new consultant reviewers. With this release, Kahua is adding this same functionality to the Standard workflows of both Submittal Packages and Items.

To allow consultant reviewers to add other consultants, check the “Consultant Reviewers can add Consultant Reviewers” field when creating the submittal.

Submittal Package Edit: 

The Consultant reviewers on the record can then add new consultants from their own review tasks.

Consultant Reviewer Task:

Note that in sequential review, these new consultants are added immediately after the current reviewer, which will update the order of the sequential review.

Updated Sequential Review:

This option can be hidden via Configuration for both Packages and Item

Submittal Package Setting in Configuration:

KAHUA RFIs ENHANCEMENTS

The following updates are being added to Kahua’s RFIs extension and base app:

RFIs – Limit Management of Secondary Responders to Primary Responders
Kahua is introducing a new setting that will limit management of RFI secondary responders to only admins and primary responders on the record. When this setting is enabled in RFIs configuration, only Admins and Primary Responders on an RFI will be able to directly update the Secondary Responders of that RFI.

KAHUA BID MANAGEMENT ENHANCEMENTS

The following updates are being added to Kahua’s Bid Management extension and base app:

Bid Solicitations – Allow Bidders to Change Their Mind on Whether They Will or Will Not Bid

Kahua is introducing a new field for Bid Solicitations, "Allow Bidder to Change Will/Will Not Bid.

This new field is invisible by default and must be enabled in the Configuration app on Bid Solicitations/Fields.

 

By default, the value of this field is false, but this can be changed in the Configuration app on Bid Solicitations/Defaults

If visible, this field will appear directly under the "Description" field on bid solicitation records in the Bid Management/Solicitations application.


When this field is enabled, bidders will be able to change their mind after they have marked will or will not bid on a bid invitation in their bid room application.

Users can mark "Will Bid" after initially marking "Will Not Bid" on their bid invitation to reopen their invitation and create a bid proposal.

Users can also mark "Will Not Bid" on their bid proposal after accepting the initial bid invitation to cancel their bid proposal.

Kahua for Subcontractors 

ACTIVITY CODE SUPPORT ADDED

Work Breakdown Activity Codes are available for use in the Project Tables and Change Orders Request apps. Each record can optionally assign Activity Codes to their respective items. 

For example, equipment in the Project Tables app can be assigned a default Equipment Code. This code will be pulled into the Change Orders Request app when selecting an Equipment item from the Project Tables app. 

Project Tables Equipment:

Change Orders Request Edit:

 
WORK ORDERS - SEND FOR APPROVAL WITH DOCUSIGN 

Work orders can now be signed via DocuSign. 

Configure the Approval Signature within Configuration, selecting Work Orders from the Approvals tab, then editing the Approval Signature with the following

• Select Override
• Check Enable Approval
• Uncheck Use Approval Document
• Use DocuSign for Approval Type
• Add Client Signature to the Approval Levels grid. 

When using Send for Approval the work order is routed to the Client Signer on the Work Order. Once the client Signer approves the work order in DocuSign, then the user who clicked Send for Approval must open the work order approval in DocuSign. At that point the work order will be approved and recorded in Kahua.

Configuration App – Work Orders Approval:

Kahua Host Updates  

All Kahua hosts have been updated with various enhancements and bug fixes. The Windows host will automatically update upon first launch after the release. 

Download the appropriate app for your device: 

• Kahua Mobile for iOS on iTunes

• Kahua Mobile for Android on Google Play

Release Note Changes