Newforma Project Center
Project information management software for AEC firms, covering documents, RFIs and submittals.
Newforma Project Center is project information management software built specifically for architecture, engineering and construction firms to organize project communications, documents, drawings and emails in one searchable, centralized system. Newforma was founded in 2004, spun out of the same team behind Deltek's earlier project-information-management work, with the founders having deep prior experience specifically in AEC firm information-management pain points before building Newforma as a dedicated product.
The platform's most distinctive feature relative to general document-management or CDE tools is its deep email integration -- Newforma captures and indexes project-related emails (including attachments) directly alongside drawings, submittals, RFIs and transmittals, addressing a genuinely persistent AEC pain point where critical project decisions and commitments get buried in individual inboxes rather than centralized where the whole team can find them.
Newforma is used heavily by mid-size to large architecture and engineering firms specifically (rather than general contractors or owners) as an internal project-information-management backbone, distinct from owner/contractor-facing CDE tools like Procore or Asite -- it's positioned as the AE-firm-side system of record rather than a project-wide collaboration hub.
Named users -- HOK, Perkins&Will, Stantec -- are among the largest architecture and multidisciplinary design firms in the world, reflecting Newforma's genuine strength specifically with large, project-information-heavy AE practices managing many concurrent complex projects.
Beyond email and document capture, Newforma also tracks project contacts, transmittals and RFI logs in a structured, searchable format tied to specific projects -- letting a firm quickly answer questions like who received a specific drawing revision, or what the full correspondence history on a specific RFI looked like, without manually reconstructing that history from individual staff members' inboxes and file folders.
The platform has also expanded toward cloud-hosted deployment options (Newforma Konekt and related cloud services) alongside its traditional on-premises server model, reflecting the broader AEC-software shift toward cloud delivery, while still preserving the core email-and-document-capture value proposition that has anchored the product since its founding.
Editor’s takeBIM•STACK editor's take: Newforma's laser focus on the AE-firm-specific problem of centralizing scattered project communications (especially email) is a real differentiator versus broader CDE platforms built more for owner/contractor collaboration -- and its adoption by firms as large as HOK, Perkins&Will and Stantec confirms it solves that problem at genuine enterprise AE-firm scale. Firms should recognize it's positioned as an internal AE-firm system of record specifically, not a full project-wide collaboration platform for contractors and owners, and pricing requires a direct sales conversation.
Because Newforma's core function -- capturing and centralizing project emails, documents and transmittals -- automates a process AE-firm staff are already doing manually (saving emails, filing documents), most users find the conceptual shift straightforward, even if configuring capture rules and folder structures for a specific firm's conventions takes some initial setup investment.
Firms transitioning from purely inbox-based project communication face the biggest adjustment, since Newforma asks staff to trust a centralized system over personal email search habits built up over years -- firms report this pays off once staff experience the first project dispute or RFI trail resolved quickly via centralized search rather than digging through old inboxes.
IT administrators configuring the initial email-capture rules and folder-mapping conventions for a firm's specific project-numbering and filing standards face the largest upfront setup investment, though this is typically a one-time firm-wide configuration project rather than something repeated for every new project once the initial structure is established.
- Mid-size to large architecture and engineering firmsNamed users HOK, Perkins&Will and Stantec demonstrate fit at that scale.
- Firms wanting to centralize scattered project email communicationDeep email capture and indexing directly addresses that specific, persistent AEC pain point.
- AE firms needing an internal project-information system of recordDistinct from owner/contractor-facing CDE platforms -- built for the design-firm side specifically.
- You need a project-wide collaboration platform for contractors and ownersProcore or Asite are built for that broader multi-party collaboration role.
- You're a smaller firm with lighter project-information volumeA lighter document-management tool may be sufficient without Newforma's full email-capture depth.
- You need published, self-serve pricingCompare against tools with transparent tiered pricing if a custom sales conversation isn't feasible for your timeline.
What is Newforma Project Center used for?
Centralizing AE-firm project communications, documents, drawings and emails in one searchable system.
How much does Newforma cost?
Pricing isn't published -- contact sales directly for a quote.
Does Newforma capture emails?
Yes -- deep email integration captures and indexes project-related emails and attachments alongside drawings, RFIs and submittals.
Who uses Newforma?
Named users include HOK, Perkins&Will and Stantec.
Is Newforma a CDE like Procore or Asite?
No -- Newforma is positioned as an internal AE-firm project-information system of record, distinct from broader owner/contractor-facing collaboration platforms.
