A method of managing construction documents used on different on construction project sites includes storing digital copies of current and historical versions of the construction documents in a central document management server. A unique document version identifier and regulatory jurisdiction identifier is stored. When a paper document is printed, a matrix barcode is generated, encoded with the document version identifier, and printed on the paper document. The barcode is scanned at the project site. The central document server compares the document version identifier and regulatory jurisdiction identifier decoded from the matrix barcode to the identifiers stored in the central document server. The central document server then automatically communicates the result of the comparisons to a user of the printed document.