July 2024 Release Notes

The Kahua 2024.3 release will be deployed to our Production environments on July 13, 2024. A preview of this functionality can be accessed at https://earlyaccesslaunch.kahua.com beginning on June 29, 2024. 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 the updates described below in the following functional areas:

• General
• Administration
• File Manager
• Design Review
• Document Management
• Reporting
• Cost Management
• Sources of Funds (Centrenium)
• Scheduling/rSchedule (Runding)

General

Added new home page

We are introducing a new Home page that will show you what matters most, as soon as you open the app. There are dedicated widgets for Projects, Tasks, and Messages which will show you personalized feeds with simplified navigation, allowing you to get to what you need to get your work done quickly. 

• The My Projects widget will show you your projects, with a selected image for each project, the project manager name, and current weather conditions. 
• In the Tasks widget, overdue and near due date items will be tagged. You can manage tasks right in the landing page.
• Incoming messages appear in the Messages widget, with indicators for unread and new communications.

You can quickly access Kahua's support site from the Help Center icon, or your domain administrator can modify the label and configure the icon to link to an internal help page. You can return to the Home page at any time by clicking on the home icon  in the header.

Review the video below for an introduction to the new home page. An article on the home page can be found here.

Note that with the introduction of the Kahua Home page, we will be deprecating the Getting Started page.  The Getting Started page will no longer be available following the 2024.3 release.

Project and Application Navigation Enhancements

We’ve made it easier to switch between both projects and applications. In the header, click on the project name to switch to another project while staying in the same application, or click on the application name to switch to another application while staying in the same project.

To change projects:

On the header, click on the name of the current project or partition that you are in. A list of up to twenty of your most recently accessed projects will appear. Select a project or partition from the list to open it. To search the Recent Projects list, enter a portion of the project name (or also project number if you have My Settings > Show Project Number setting enabled) in the search bar. To search for a project or partition not on the list, select Find a Project to open the Project Finder app. Alternatively, you can still access the Project Finder app from the launch bar or Apps menu at any time and use it to navigate to another project or partition.

To change applications:

On the header, click on the name of the current application that you are in. A list of up to twenty of your most recently accessed apps will appear. Select an app from the list to open it. To search the Recent Apps list, enter a portion of the app name in the search bar. To search for an app not on the list, select Browse All Apps to open the list of all applications.

Added ability to mark messages as Read or Unread

When reviewing messages in the Messages app, you now have the ability to mark them as Read or Unread, from both the list view and detail panel. To see your changes in the list view, you can wait several seconds for the auto-refresh or click the Refresh icon  to see them immediately.

Added ability to select items from Media Manager in the Media section of records

For those apps that have a Media section (e.g., RFIs, Daily Reports, etc.), there's now an option to reference photos that already exist in Media Manager.

In addition to the Upload action, which enables photos to be uploaded from your local device, the new Add Kahua Photo action allows you to select files that already exist in Media Manager.

The same photo can be referenced by more than one document, including documents in different applications. For example, the same photo can be referenced in two different RFIs, or an RFI and a Daily Report. If a photo reference is removed from a document, the photo itself remains available in Media Manager.

Photos in Media Manager that are referenced in a document cannot be deleted.  You will receive a warning message if you attempt to delete a photo from Media Manager that is referenced by one or more documents, indicating that the photo cannot be deleted

Modernized the Project Tasks app

The Project Tasks app has been updated to take advantage of Kahua’s modern HUB architecture. This makes the app more usable, with higher stability and performance including view indicators, scope and grouping capabilities. This app does not support legacy tasks.

Added Quick Filters to more apps

We have added the ability to perform quick filters in logs to the following apps and Kahua provided extensions:

• Projects
• Project Directory
• Communications
• Media Manager

Added search to Use Domain Locations page

In the Locations app, we have added the ability to search domain locations on the Use Domain Locations selection page.

From the Use Domain Locations selection page, select the List view. From the list view, click the Search icon . Select the field to search in and enter your search term. Make your selections and click Update to add the selected locations to the list.

SSO Authentication Updates

Users who authenticate via Single Sign-On (SSO) will now be directed to complete the authentication process through their provider using their browser, instead of directly on the sign-in screen.

When attempting to log in, after entering their email address, if their account requires SSO, a new window will open in their default browser to complete the authentication process. Once authenticated with their provider, the user will advance to the Kahua home screen.

Administration

Added "Created by Current User" permission filter

Kahua has added a Created by Current User permission filter that will filter application log views of apps that have this filter set to only display records created by the logged in user.

The “Permission Filtering” domain setting must be enabled in order to use permission filters. Once enabled, the Created by Current User permission filter can be configured in Permissions tab of Groups app and when configuring Outbound shares in Share Manager app.

Using the permission filter on a group will apply to all group members. If a user is a member of two or more groups, and if at least one group has the Created by Current User permission filter enabled for an app, then the user will only have access to records created by them even if a different group grants them administrative rights to the app.

Configuration in Groups app:

Configuration in Share Manager app:

Added ability to have multiple approvers in an approval step

In any approval step, you can now select multiple recipients to receive a task simultaneously and define the completion mode (first to complete, minimum responses, all). You can select recipients that are either named approvers, actors, or both.

All recipients will receive a task at the same time, and once enough recipients have approved, the approval will advance to the next step. Tasks for recipients who did not end up participating in the approval will be closed automatically and they'll receive a message indicating as such.

The approval task will also now include a section which indicates the details of the approval step so the recipient(s) can see what is required to complete the step and who the other recipients are.

This feature is not available for DocuSign approvals.

Added ability to have parallel approval steps

We now allow multiple steps to have the same step number which means all recipients from parallel steps will receive tasks at the same time. The approval will not advance to the next step until all parallel steps have been completed. Coupled with the ability to include multiple recipients per step, this adds flexibility and efficiency in routing of approval tasks.

We've also added the ability to optionally add a step name in order to differentiate between the different parallel steps.

File Manager

Added notification option for "Files Moved" event when moving files from one folder to another

Currently, notifications can be enabled for File Manager folders for when files are added, edited, deleted, locked, unlocked, or the folder is updated. We have added an option to also enable notifications when files are moved into or out of the selected folder. Notification settings are accessed by right-clicking on the folder and selecting Properties.

Design Review

Added a new Review Manager role

We have added a new Review Manager role. The Review Manager can act on the design review throughout the defined workflow process, keeping the design review workflow moving forward as needed.  This includes actions such as the following:

• Advance the design review workflow
• Remove comments or markups made by other reviewers
• Act as a reviewer during the workflow process (add comments or markups, apply recommended review status, etc.)

Review Managers are added on the Review Set detail view, and each Review Set can have multiple Review Managers.

Added ability to allow Review Manager to add additional Reviewers to an active Design Reviews 

For the Design Review app, three new configuration settings have been added to allow additional Reviewers to be added to an active Design Review Set: 

• Allow Preliminary Reviewers to be added 
• Allow Primary Reviewers to be added
• Allow Interim Reviewers to be added

Depending on which of these three settings are enabled, certain Design Review roles, including the Review Managers, will have the ability to add additional reviewers for a Review Step that has not yet been completed.

Note that act of adding additional Reviewers will not change pre-established due dates, and any added Reviewers will receive the same Notifications and Tasks as the original reviewers received.

Added Groups Permission Filter for Comments Display

A new filtering permission option has been added to the permissions for the Design Review Comments app. Domain administrators can filter comments by Assigned to Current User's Company and Ready for Evaluation. Users in a group with this filter applied will only see comments where the user's company is assigned to the Design Review Comment and the Workflow Status of the comments are set to "Evaluation".

Added the ability to select default Comment Reviewers

We have added an option to select one or more Comment Reviewers on a design review set.  The users selected as Comment Reviewers will be defaulted as the responsible party or parties on newly created comments in the design review set.    

Design Review Improvements

We have made a number of improvements to the Design Review application, including both Review Sets and Review Comments. The changes are as follows:  

Updates to Design Review Sets: 

• In Files for Review, we have added the ability to multi-select files for setting the Recommended Review Status and Review Status, and for extracting comments from markups.
• In the Preliminary Review task, we now restrict Extract Comments from Markups to only include that user’s markups.  
• We have added the ability to import comments from CSV files.  There is a new Configuration setting to set Comments Import Settings to “Extract Comments from Markups”, “Import Comments from CSV file” or “Use Both Options”.

  

• We have optimized overall performance of the Design Review application to accommodate larger number of reviewers and Design Review Sets.

Updates to Design Review Comments: 

• We have added Quick Filters to the log view for Comments.
• We have additional Comment Attributes (e.g., Backcheck Status, Evaluation Status, Potential Scope Impact, Potential Cost Impact, Comment Discipline, Is Critical, etc.)
• We have limited the ability to modify comments to the original author. Review Managers have the ability to review comments or delete them, but they can only be edited by the author.
• Comments can now be closed directly, without going through the workflow.
• We have added the ability multi-select comments for setting the Responsible Contact and for sending comments into the Evaluation Comment Workflow.
• We have added a new Comment Workflow between the comment author and the responsible contact for review and response of the comment.

  

Document Management

Field Observations - Improved Notifications on Submit, Complete

Users can now configure notifications for Field Observation documents. A CC/Notification field has been added to the Field Observation form. In Configuration > Settings, there are two new settings to enable notifications to the CC/Notification contacts on the Send to Responsible and Close steps of the Field Observation workflow.

1) New CC/Notification field

2) Configuration of Notifications

3) Examples of Notifications on Send to Responsible and Close actions:

Reporting

Added new Kahua Contracts Plus Change Orders report

We've introduced a new Kahua platform report (out-of-the-box) in the Expense Contracts app that will lists all contracts and their respective change orders. This report includes contracts that don't have any change orders. This report requires the data store to be enabled. 

Added support for multiple data sources in DevEx Reports

The time has finally come and the new DevEx report designer in kBuilder and the reporting engine now support multiple data store data sources.

Multiple data sources can be added to a report in the kBuilder project tree. When the report designer is launched for the report, each of the data sources is available under the Kahua data source. Relationships can then be created to link the data sources providing a structured data source.

Please visit the partner wiki for a detailed article on creating multi data source reports.

Cost Management

New Insurance/Compliance Management application

Announcing the rollout of our latest software feature – the Compliance Tracking app! This addition empowers users to effortlessly record and monitor the expiration of necessary documentation for supporting subcontracts, specifically Expense Contracts. Covering a range of items such as insurance policies, bonds, business licenses, permits, training certifications, supplier agreements, tax documents, and more, this app provides a comprehensive solution. Seamlessly log compliance documents and utilize the integrated workflow to request renewal documentation from the contracted party. All submitted documents undergo both project-level and, if desired, corporate-level review processes.

Looking ahead, upcoming releases will introduce scheduled notifications, allowing users to configure automatic reminders sent a specified number of days before a document's expiration date. This enhancement further streamlines proactive compliance management.

Budget Adjustment - Calculate "size" of adjustment

Applies to Kahua for K-12, Owner, GC and Sub Contractor packages.

Prior to the 2024.3 release, the Budget Adjustment Approvals workflow didn't account for the overall 'size' of the Budget Adjustment being made. The Total value was used, and it was, by-design, net-zero unless overridden.

In 2024.3, we now calculate budget adjustment's overall size. This Adjustment Size attribute feeds the Approvals engine, both for Approval Threshold and Approval Limit calculations, and for the Conditional Approvals

Syntax example for Conditional Approval: 

<Data Path="AdjustmentSize" Type="LessThanOrEqualTo" Value="50000" />

The Adjustment Size is the larger of a) the sum of positive items, or b) the sum of (absolute value) negative items, on the budget adjustment. 

Adjustment Size in Header in "absolute" value

Added Multi-Edit functionality in the Change Order Request (Subcontractor) app

Multi-Edit capability has been added to the Change Order Request (Subcontractor App). Users may now multi-select multiple records and then the Multi Edit action to edit the records in bulk, in a spreadsheet-like interface.

The following fields are available to edit in multi-edit mode:

• COR Number

• Description

• Revision

• Date Submitted

• Reason for COR

• Status

While in the multi-edit form, users may also select multiple records and then a particular cell and either copy that value to all records or just to the selected records.

Added Forecast Curves to the Data Store

Forecast curves are now available in the Data Store.

Added new standard Forecast Curves

We have added the following system forecast curves:

• Bell Curve (Full), which provides a curve data to the full-time time window on the cashflow or capital plan item. 
• S-Curve (Smooth), which provides an S-Curve without the front-end loading provided by the existing curve. 

NOTE: If you have chosen to override the forecast curves in Configuration, you will not see these new standard curves. If that is the case, you probably have your own custom curves which you do not want to remove. In that situation, you can instead add these forecast curves as custom curves, following the settings in the image below. 

Cashflow Forecasting

Previously, the Cashflow Forecast application's configuration included the ability to edit lookup list values for fields that are included in the business logic for the cashflow application.  Modifications to these lookup lists could produce unexpected results.

We have now restricted the ability to edit fields that impact business logic.  The lookup lists for the following fields are no longer configurable: Curve Line Style, Curve Starting Point, Level of the Hierarchy, Line Type Value Source Type and Period Set.

Note:  Modifications made to these lookup lists prior to this release remain in place and have not been reverted.  If you have questions about your configuration, please reach out to support.  

K12 Issue Items - Added Associated Contract Lines

Owner Issues and GC Issue supported Associated Contract Lines (ACL)

In 2024.3, we've added this functionality to K12 Issues. This allows for: 

• Queuing up the ACL for contracts and change orders using ACL
• Allow for process directly to SOV, so the system knows where to add the item to the SOV. (Coming soon)

NOTE: this is now possible because K12 domains are migrated over to using the standard K12 Expense Change Order app, as noted below.

For details on how to use Associated Contract Item, please see this support article: Associated Contract Lines (ACL)

K12 Change Order - Migrate to standard K4X Expense CO Application

At a point in the past, the Kahua's K-12 (Education) package required a separate K12 Expense Change Order to support specific business functionality. In hindsight, we should have built out the K12 logic as a preference on the standard Expense Change Order app. We are rectifying this in 2024.3. For all clients, no action is required. Everything will migrate up fully. We have decided the best way forward is to merge the business logic of the K12 Expense Change Order to the standard Expense Change Order.

Note that this change will not go out immediately with the 2024.3 release.  It will instead be part of a subsequent maintenance release.

Future Cost Code and Cost Reporting Enhancements

Applies to Kahua for Owner, K12, GC and Subcontractor

In a future release, we will roll out the ability to apply alternate cost codes on Cost Items, plus update the data store to support reporting against these new cost codes and the existing activity code at a more granular level.

This work is now in the beta stage, with limited availability. To support the beta program, new applications and item level attributes are visible in configuration.

• Cost Code Index apps are available and editable in configuration, but cost codes can't be added anywhere in the main user interface.
• Item level attributes linking to these cost codes are visible in the Configuration/ Fields tab of cost apps. If an attribute is made visible, it will appear on the item (or panel) of the document's item grid. However, they can't be populated as no cost code content can be created. 

Four new Cost Code Index Applications are visible in Configuration: 

Sample Cost Application - New Cost Code attributes (fields) visible in Expense Contract (and others cost apps):

Sources of Funds (Centrenium)

Sources of Funds (SOF) Upgrades and Performance Tuning

The Sources of Funds suite was updated with significant performance improvements as well as two new functional capabilities:

• Improved error messages, identifying specific out-of-alignment fund sources and all items that contribute to the misalignment.
• Updated algorithms that process validation logic in smarter sequences. For example, Budget Adjustment now handles temporarily taking the budgeted amount below the committed amount for a fund source, as long as subsequent positive items on the same adjustment bring the budgeted amount for the fund source back into compliance.

Scheduling/rSchedule (Runding)

Note: These features are available for customers in Commercial environments. They are not yet available for customers using the Kahua Government Network.

Milestones Extension Enhancements

The Milestones Extension for Schedule has been enhanced with improved support for linking multiple schedule tasks to a single milestone.

The following is a summary of the updates and how linking multiple schedule tasks will drive data on a milestone:

• When multiple schedule tasks are applied to a milestone:
  • Estimated Start Date will be the earliest populated Estimated Start Date on all the linked schedule tasks.
  • Estimated Completion Date will be the latest populated Estimated End Date on all the linked schedule tasks.
  • Actual Start Date will be the earliest populated Estimated Start Date on all the linked schedule tasks.
  • Actual Completion Date will be the latest populated Actual End Date on all the linked schedule tasks, once there is data for this field for all of the linked schedule tasks.  If any of the linked schedule task’s Actual End Date field is empty, the milestone’s Actual Completion Date field will remain empty. 
• Revisions to schedules will update milestone dates accordingly.
• Automatic Milestone links will update with revisions.
• When schedule tasks are deleted, milestones will update to remove any associated task links.
• Dates will not be updated based on date information input into Milestone import files. For schedule driven milestones, only schedule tasks will populate dates. 
• The Schedule Tasks display has been changed to a grid control to show all the linked items and allow for sorting.  
• The Percent Complete field will now be calculated based on schedule data. 

With the improved data calculation logic for multiple related schedule tasks, a migration is included with this release for any projects configured for Schedule-Driven milestones.  This migration will ensure that the Milestone data accurately reflects the Schedule Task data.

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