Project Site and Folder Standard

Tab & Shift Engineering Ltd. · The same structure on every project

Prepared for	Prepared by	Date	Status
Marcus Chen Chief Operating Officer	Floor 16 Technologies	Oct 2, 2026	v2.0 · Approved

Summary

Every project gets the same site with the same five libraries, built by the project register the moment a project is approved. Folders stop at two levels and each one tags what is dropped into it, so people find things on day one because every project looks the same.

142live projects built from this standard during the Move

5libraries on every project, and a sixth only when a client needs access

2 levelsof folders at most. The deepest project folder today is 11 levels down

1 fieldto pick when uploading: Document Type. The rest fills itself

Three questions decide where things go

Libraries, folders and columns each do one job. Ask the questions in order and stop at the first yes.

#	If the answer is yes	Make it	Example
1	Does it need different permissions, retention or outside sharing?	A library. This is the only reason to create one.	Commercial is its own library because only the project manager and Finance see fees.
2	Is it a place people expect to click, where every file shares one value?	A folder with a default value, so it tags on drop.	Design › Structural stamps Discipline = Structural on everything dropped in.
3	Will people filter, sort or roll it up across projects?	A column. Most things end up here.	Issue State: every drawing issued for construction, across all projects, in one view.

The project site

One team site per project, joined to the Projects hub so it inherits navigation, search and branding. The tree below is what the register builds, every time. Annotations show what each folder stamps on the files dropped into it.

Tab & Shift Hubcommunication site · navigation, news, search
- Projects hubevery project site joins it
  - P-2214 Highway 9 Interchangeteam site · built by the register
    - Project Managementfolders stamp Document Type
      - 01 Contract and ScopeType = Contract
      - 02 ScheduleType = Schedule
      - 03 Budget and CostType = Cost Report
      - 04 MeetingsType = Minutes
      - 05 ChangesType = Change Order
      - 06 Risks and IssuesType = Risk Register
    - Designfolders stamp Discipline
      - CivilDiscipline = CV
      - StructuralDiscipline = ST
      - MechanicalDiscipline = ME
      - ElectricalDiscipline = EL
      - ProcessDiscipline = PR
      - No third level. Revisions live in version historyIssue State is a column
    - Correspondencefolders stamp Party
      - ClientParty = Client
      - SubconsultantsParty = Subconsultant
      - AuthoritiesParty = Authority
    - Fieldfolders stamp Document Type
      - Daily ReportsType = Daily Report
      - PhotosType = Site Photo
      - InspectionsType = Inspection
      - SafetyType = Hazard Assessment
      - Field ChangesType = Field Change
    - Commercialrestricted · PM and Finance only
      - ProposalType = Proposal
      - Fees and InvoicesType = Invoice
      - SubcontractsType = Subcontract
    - Client Exchangeonly when needed · guests expire at close

LibraryThe library people use mostRestricted library

The libraries

Library	What goes in it	What does not
Project Management	Contract and scope, schedules, budgets and cost reports, minutes, change orders, the risk register	Fees and invoices (Commercial)
Design	Drawings, calculations, specifications, models, datasheets, design reports	Superseded copies saved as new files. Use versions
Correspondence	Letters, transmittals and the emails that record a decision, saved as PDF or .msg	Every email. Only the ones that decide something
Field	Daily reports, site photos, inspections, hazard assessments, field changes	Equipment records (Field Services site)
Commercial	Proposal, fee schedule, invoices, subcontracts and purchase orders	The signed contract (Project Management, read by all)
Client Exchange	Copies shared with the client or outside consultants	Originals. They stay in Design

Naming

Names carry what a person needs to recognize a file in a list. Everything else is a column, so names stay short and nobody types a date in three formats.

What	Pattern	Example
Project number	P- and four digits, issued by the register, never typed	`P-2214`
Site name	Project number and a short name, 40 characters at most	`P-2214 Highway 9 Interchange`
Site address	Project number only, so it never changes when the name does	`/sites/P-2214`
Controlled documents	Project, discipline, type and sequence. The revision is a column, not part of the name	`P-2214-ST-CAL-014`
Dated documents	Date first, year-month-day, then the subject	`2026-10-14 Progress Meeting 12`
Everything else	A plain description, under 80 characters	`Geotechnical report, north abutment`

Never in a name. FINAL, v2, rev, Copy of, initials, dates in any other format, and the characters # % &. Version history keeps every earlier copy, and the Revision and Status columns say which one is current.

Codes

Discipline	Code	Document type	Code
Civil	CV	Drawing	DWG
Structural	ST	Calculation	CAL
Mechanical	ME	Specification	SPC
Electrical	EL	Datasheet	DSH
Process	PR	Report	RPT
General	GN	Model	MDL

Metadata columns

Nine columns, published once from the content type hub so the same word means the same thing on every project. Six fill themselves. The person uploading picks Document Type when the folder has not already set it, and the engineer issuing a drawing sets Revision and Issue State.

Column	Type	Values	Set by	On
Project	Managed metadata, hidden	Project number and name	The site, when it is built	All
Client	Lookup	From the client list in the register	The site	All
Document Type	Choice, required	24 types, filtered so each library offers its own	Folder default, or the person uploading	All
Discipline	Choice	CV, ST, ME, EL, PR, GN	Folder default	Design, Field
Party	Choice	Client, Subconsultant, Authority	Folder default	Correspondence
Revision	Text	A, B, C in draft; 0, 1, 2 once issued	The engineer issuing it	Design
Issue State	Choice	Issued for Review, Issued for Construction, As-Built, Superseded	The engineer issuing it	Design
Status	Choice	Draft, Final	Defaults to Draft	Project Management, Commercial
Sensitivity	Purview label	Internal, Confidential	Library default. Commercial is Confidential	All

Views every Design library opens with

Current issued. Issue State is Issued for Construction, grouped by Discipline. The view a site team lives in.
My drafts. Status is Draft and Modified By is me.
Superseded. Hidden from every other view, so nobody builds from the wrong revision.

Permissions

Permissions are set per library, through four groups per project. No folder ever gets its own permissions; if something needs different access, it gets its own library.

Library	Project owners	Project team	All staff	Finance	Client guests
Project Management	Full	Edit	Read	Read	None
Design	Full	Edit	Read	None	None
Correspondence	Full	Edit	Read	None	None
Field	Full	Edit	Read	None	None
Restricted Commercial	Full	None	None	Edit	None
Client Exchange	Full	Edit	None	None	Edit

Project owners are the project manager and the division lead. Two owners on every site, so someone always answers.
Groups, never named people, on every library. Joining or leaving a project is one change in one group.
Guests reach Client Exchange only, and their access ends 90 days after it is granted or when the project closes, whichever is first.

Retention

Every library carries a retention label. The clock starts on the close date in the project register, not on the day each file was saved.

Library	Label	Kept for	At the end
Design	Design Record	15 years	Disposition review
Project Management	Project Record	10 years	Disposition review
Correspondence	Project Record	10 years	Disposition review
Field	Field Record	10 years	Disposition review
Commercial	Financial Record	7 years	Deleted after review
Client Exchange	None: copies only	Until close	Emptied at close

From approval to disposal

ApprovedThe project is approved in the registerA person

→

BuiltSite, libraries, folders, columns and groups, in about four minutesBy itself

→

ActiveThe team works in it. The register shows it under ProjectsThe team

→

ClosedRead-only, out of the Projects menu, still in searchBy itself

→

ReviewedAt the end of retention, the Director of Operations signs what goesA person

Closing a project in the register is the only step needed to start every retention clock. Nothing is deleted without a signed disposition review.

What the standard does not allow

A third level of folders. Past two levels a folder is holding a year, a vendor or a phase, and those are columns.
Folders named for years, people, or Old, Misc, Temp and New folder.
Permissions on a single folder. Split it into a library instead.
Project files kept in OneDrive or sent as attachments in Teams chat. Share a link to the file in the project site.
A library added to one project only. Changes go through the owner of this standard and reach every project.

Ownership and changes

Version	Date	Change	Approved by
v1.0	Aug 21, 2026	First draft from the Scan and eight interviews	Draft
v1.1	Sep 18, 2026	Pilot changes: Photos folder added to Field; Party column added to Correspondence	Elena Rossi
v2.0	Oct 2, 2026	Approved for the Move and every new project after it	Marcus Chen

The Director of Operations owns this standard. Requests for a change go to the owner, are reviewed each quarter, and when approved are pushed to every project site by the register, so no project drifts from the rest.

Sample on a made-up company. Figures are scenario numbers, rounded. Real standards are drawn from the client's own folders, interviews and records rules.