Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash
Getting construction software for your company is an added expense, which any organization will hesitate to be on board with. However, it will make life easier for your personnel, make your team more efficient, and reduce costs in the long run.
Now, if you’re searching for the proper construction software, it’s best to know what to look for. That’s why we’ll be covering some important features to expect from your construction software.
The Importance of choosing the right software
Before we start describing the most essential features of construction software, let’s first discuss an important point. When looking for software for contractors, it might be easier and faster to go with the first choice you encounter, but that’s not the best choice.
You have to take your time to choose the right software, or you can regret getting a subscription for said software. It might not have the features that you need, or it doesn’t have the scale that you need it to perform. That’s why you can avoid that issue in the first place by not getting the first thing you found for construction software.
Just as you would take the time to choose the right construction equipment, it’s also a good idea to be more discerning of the construction software that you plan on using. After all, your construction projects will hinge a lot on it, and frustrations or hurdles due to the construction software can cause a less efficient and effective construction project.
Also, training your construction team on new software will take a lot of time. If you had to change it due to future issues, it would be an added hurdle in your projects.Given all these reasons, consider choosing the right construction software. Now that you know why it’s worth shopping for construction software, let’s cover some of the features and abilities you should seek.
1. Project estimating
One part of managing a construction project that many might need help with would be providing an accurate estimate of the project costs to a client.
You have to strike a balance when estimating the project costs. You want to be accurate because you don’t want to underestimate the costs, as the client will always hesitate to add to the project budget over time. On the other hand, you don’t want to overestimate it, as it can deter a potential client from working with you.
With that in mind, if you’re planning on getting construction software, it should be able to estimate project costs accurately. It would be more accurate over time as it takes in your previous project costs for similar construction projects, and it should spit out estimates more accurately through that historical data.
2. Real-time reporting
Being timely is crucial in a construction project, and with the help of the proper construction software, you can get even more precise with your reporting. It can provide you with real-time reporting abilities, so your team can view any measurable changes and details they need through the software anytime. And they can update it at any time as well.
There are different ways to make use of this real-time reporting ability.
One of the ways where accurate time reporting can be helpful is when you have separate teams on the field and teams from different parts of the project that need to coordinate details together. They won’t have to go somewhere away from their project area to be able to report specific information that other teams may need.
Another part of your construction project that will need real-time reporting would be your inventory. You want accurate details on your construction materials and equipment so that you can always keep your materials stocked and track the location of crucial construction equipment.
3. Construction scheduling
When managing a construction project, you must be masterful with your scheduling. Otherwise, there can be conflicts in personnel schedules, locations, equipment usage, material ordering, and many other issues.
When you schedule things just right, the construction process goes smoothly, albeit unnoticed. On the other hand, if you organize things poorly, it’s much more apparent. Things are going much slower, or there’s a full stop overall due to a scheduling issue.
Luckily, it becomes much easier to schedule things with the help of construction software. You can create project timelines from both a macro and a micro perspective. The construction software will help you understand where to progress on the project timeline. You can also use it to track day-to-day tasks that each department and section needs to finish on time.
4. Mobile Accessibility
When your construction team is on-site, carrying a laptop to access the construction software would be unwieldy and dangerous. Therefore, looking for construction software you can access quickly and navigate smoothly with a mobile phone is also a good idea, even better if they have a mobile app version.
It’s easy to assume that office personnel and field teams can access the construction software anytime, but it’s much harder for the field teams. With mobile accessibility available to your choice of construction software, your teams can conveniently update the software and crucial data from anywhere.
5. Time entry
Despite living in a technologically dependent world, many construction companies are still traditional. For example, many still use paper forms to collect information on the people entering and exiting their construction sites or office premises.
Paper entry forms are inconvenient, and you can’t quickly scan them if you’re looking for entry times of specific people. That’s why this part is an excellent choice for something you can automate with the help of your construction software.
That way, you can automate the time entry, and no one can fudge the time details to their convenience. Aside from that, if you ever need to search thoroughly through it, you can easily do that through the construction software.
6. Project and document management
Speaking of paperwork, construction software features you should also look for would be the ability to manage the project entirely and the documents that go with it.
Most of the time, your field personnel can’t quickly go into the office, especially for accessing specific status reports or documents. Again, instead of getting them to do that, uploading pertinent documents to an online database will be a lot more convenient for them.
Ideally, it would help if you looked for construction software with cloud storage capabilities or integrations so anyone can access documents from anywhere with WiFi.
7. Job cost tracking
Aside from estimating the potential project costs as you quote them to a potential client, using construction software with cost-tracking ability would be best.
With a cost-tracking feature, you can track where the expenses are coming from. You can then accurately report the costs of your construction project to a client. At the same time, you can track where these expenses are coming from specifically.
8. Asset and equipment control
As mentioned earlier, the construction software’s ability to do real-time reporting is essential, and one of the reasons is the ability to have more substantial control over managing your assets and equipment.
Again, with it, you can track who used the equipment specifically and when. That way, you don’t lose equipment or tools and need to replace them.
9. Risk management guarantee
You will likely take risks or incur unexpected expenses as you organize your construction project. Although risks and surprise costs are not too out of the ordinary, that doesn’t mean you can’t find ways to manage or reduce risks in any way, shape, or form.
Construction software uses historical data from previous projects to show you the parts of your construction project that you can better manage.
10. CRM integration
Dealing with relationships with people outside your construction company, especially your customers, is time-consuming but part of the job.
One way to make it easier is by getting construction software compatible with other customer relationship management (CRM) software. This ease of integration will make it much easier for you to manage your customers in one place instead of switching from your CRM to your construction software.
Conclusion
It would help if you searched for these features in your construction software to ensure you can use them for a long time. Not only that, but with these features, your construction team will feel more efficient with the help of the construction software and not feel burdened with having to learn a whole new tech to do their jobs.
