Have you ever wondered what is a Document Controller or why are Document Controllers important in an organisation or a project?

Document Controllers maintain an organisation’s documents and information, similar to a records manager or administrator; however, there are key differences.

Skilled Document Controllers are often utilised in major projects or in organisations with large complex and often dispersed asset bases. These are places where the version control and timeliness of information exchange, namely via documentation, is critical.

For example, if dispersed project teams are working on different versions of information this could easily lead to errors, disputes, or poor outcomes.

Document Controllers are ‘super users’ of the electronic document management domain. They control the numbering, revision, storing and retrieval of both electronic and hard copy documents’ produced.

A key distinction of their role is that Document Controllers actively manage the document life cycle and project phases between organisations, contractors and teams. They ensure that only the latest documents and information are available and accessible by the relevant people across multiple teams or organisations.

Some key components of the document control function are:

• Document identification and retrieval,
• Processes around review and handover of documents,
• Version and revision control, and
• Information exchange and document transmittal.

Document Controllers are detail-oriented and possess a technical understanding of the environment in which they work. They provide value added support to document review processes, quality and compliance checks, timely administration of ‘information requests’, analytical reporting, system training, and other support as required.

So, where organisations value high volume, timely, version-controlled information exchange, it’s vital they have effective document control capability to run their document and information management systems efficiently.

If you would like to learn more about the value a Project Administrator can offer your business or project, reach out to Core Project Advisory to discuss your challenges or requirements within your company.

Another news article, The Importance of a Project Administrator, outlines the advantages of adopting this function into your company or project, and may also be helpful to you.