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LODE vs Newforma Konekt

The two start from opposite ends of the project record. Newforma Konekt starts from the correspondence: file every email, and the RFIs, submittals and decisions fall out of it. LODE starts from the drawing set: compile every issuance, and run the RFIs, submittals, pay applications and closeout on the set. A firm whose problem is the inbox should pick Newforma. A firm whose problem is which revision the field is building from should pick LODE.

Conor McMichael · Architect. Founder, LODE

Last updated Oct 10, 2026

What each one treats as the record

Konekt’s record is the project’s information in the broad sense: emails, files, models, RFIs, submittals and contract changes, linked and searchable. Its Outlook add-in is the front door, a Microsoft Teams connector joined it in 2026, and the CA Track package handles the construction administration workflows. The drawing set is in the record as files; which sheet is current is a matter of folder discipline.

LODE’s record is the set. The bid set, each addendum, each ASI and bulletin is an issuance; the current set is compiled from them; every RFI, submittal and observation is filed against the sheet or spec section it refers to. Email is not filed, by design: the contractor works from a link and the exchange happens on the record. How the set is compiled.

Where they overlap

Both run RFIs and submittals with routing and status. Both keep a record above the project level. Both link records to drawings. The difference in the overlap is what the link points at: in Konekt, a file; in LODE, a sheet at a revision, so the record knows when the sheet it refers to is superseded. And where Konekt’s firm record is the filed correspondence, LODE’s is the Hub and the projects themselves, read by DOC.

Head to head

Every cell about Newforma links to the Newforma page it was read on. Newforma does not publish prices.

	LODE	Newforma Konekt
Built for	Architects. Consultants and reviewers join as external parties by access class; the contractor, bidders and punch walks work from links. None of them needs a seat. lode.build	Architects, engineers and contractors; sold in Info Track, BIM Track and CA Track packages. newforma.com
Email and correspondence	No inbound email filing, by design. Outbound is on the record: transmittals email each recipient a personal link with open and download tracking, share links keep an access log, and notifications stay in the app. lode.build	An Outlook add-in files email to projects; an email can be filed as an RFI or a submittal from Outlook. newforma.com
The firm-wide record	The Hub: firm files, lessons learned, the companies and contacts every project draws on, QA/QC reviews and a firm-wide schedule. DOC answers questions across every project the firm has in LODE. lode.build	Filed email, documents, RFIs and submittals in one searchable record across the firm’s projects; aggregate search by keyword, status or date. newforma.com
Drawing set and revisions	Compiles the Field Set and the Revision Record Set from every issuance: sheet detection, revision resolution, references kept current, the history stamped and kept. Nothing is slip-sheeted by hand. lode.build	Links drawings, models and decisions into one project record; no issuance-based compiled set is described. newforma.com
Markup and review	Comments, clouds, calibrated measurements and counts on a layer above the drawing, in working and record layers; Compare and split view between revisions; Live Review with everyone on the same sheet, reviewers joining from a link. lode.build	Not published.
RFIs	RFIs cite the sheet and revision they ask about; routing hop by hop with a ball-in-court clock; an answer that changes the drawings becomes the ASI or bulletin that cites it. lode.build	RFI tracking and workflow in the CA Track package; a Procore connector syncs RFIs both ways. newforma.com
Submittals	The submittal log is built from the project’s CSI spec sections; several reviewers at once, each with their own layer and stamp; DOC Review takes the first pass against the section. lode.build	Submittal review and logging in the CA Track package; the Procore connector syncs submittals too. newforma.com
Specifications	Spec sections compiled and superseded by addendum beside the drawings; DOC answers from the section’s text; the submittal log is built from them. lode.build	Not published.
Contractor access	The GC works from a link with no seat or account; bidders open a bid room from a link; punch walks travel by punch link. lode.build	Not published.
Pay applications	G702/G703 pay application review with the summary arithmetic done beside the signed form; change events to proposed to executed change orders, reconciled at each step. lode.build	Not published.
AI	DOC, off by default and switched on per project: revision summaries, answers from the sheets and specs with citations, DOC Review on submittals, the firm directory. Your documents are never used to train a model. lode.build	An AI roadmap and ecosystem updates were outlined at Newforma World 2026; no shipped AI feature is described on the product pages checked. engineering.com
Platform	Web app; nothing to install and no server to keep. Export the whole account at any time. lode.build	Web and mobile apps plus the Outlook add-in. newforma.com
Published pricing	Published per-seat monthly plans, 30 days free. lode.build	Not published.
What changed in 2026	In early access; public launch planned for mid-November 2026, when the waitlist CTA becomes Sign up. lode.build	A Microsoft Teams connector that syncs channels to projects (reported July 2026); Newforma World 2026 announced modular licensing and Bluebeam, AWS and Egnyte integrations. architosh.com

Last checked Oct 10, 2026. Products change; a row that has moved on is one edit.

Best for

LODE

Construction project management for architects, built on the drawing set it compiles.

An architecture practice that wants the drawing set, bidding, CA, pay applications and closeout in one place, from the set itself, with the firm’s record in the Hub and DOC reading across it.

Newforma Konekt

Project information management for AEC firms: email filing, document control, RFIs and submittals in one record.

A firm whose real problem is email, and that wants one searchable record across every project it has ever run.

newforma.com/newforma-konekt

Where Newforma is the better choice

A practice already on Newforma, with years of projects filed and staff who know it. Incumbency is the strongest reason to stay.
A firm of any size whose first complaint is email: Outlook filed to projects, searchable with attachments, from the reading pane. LODE does not file inbound email.
Contractor-led Procore projects, where the connector keeps the GC’s log and the architect’s record in step. LODE has no Procore integration.

Choose LODE when the drawing set, bidding, pay applications and closeout are the work you want in one place, with the firm’s record in the Hub and DOC reading it, and the correspondence can stay in the mail client.

Frequently asked questions

Is LODE a replacement for Newforma?

For construction administration, the drawing set and the rest of the architect’s project lifecycle, yes. For filing email to projects and searching a firm-wide archive, no; LODE does not file email and does not try to.

Does Newforma Konekt compile the drawing set?

Its public pages describe linking drawings, models and decisions into one record, and do not describe compiling a current set from issuances or superseding sheets as revisions land. That is what LODE is built around.

Which is cheaper, LODE or Newforma?

LODE publishes per-seat monthly plans with 30 days free. Newforma does not publish prices and sells by package through a demo. The table says not published rather than quoting a third party.

Can the contractor use either without a licence?

In LODE the contractor works from a link with no seat and no account, submitting RFIs and submittals into the project. Newforma’s public pages describe its Procore connector for contractor-led jobs; a seat-free contractor surface is not described there.

Do both handle specifications?

LODE compiles spec sections the way it compiles sheets, supersedes them by addendum and builds the submittal log from them. Newforma’s public pages do not describe a specification register; its submittals are logged from email or Procore.

Run construction administration on the set itself.

See pricing

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Compare

Newforma alternatives

Newforma Konekt against TonicDM, Part3 and LODE: email filing, RFIs, submittals, the drawing set and price. Where Newforma is still the right choice.

Feature

Construction administration

RFIs that cite their sheets, a submittal log built from the specs, ball-in-court with a clock.

Learn

What is a conformed set?

The bid set with every addendum folded in: what goes into it, who prepares it and when, and how it differs from the IFC and record sets.

Templates

Submittal log template

Organised by spec section, with the review actions as a list, resubmittals by revision, and a days-in-review formula. Excel, free, no email.