Beacon News

During the course of helping to analyze, re-let, manage and monitor troubled construction projects, Beacon's team often requests and reviews a large number of construction project documents, images and a variety of other files from General Contractors, Construction Management companies, developers and other entities involved in the project. On well-managed projects, getting access to construction project information is made much easier through the use of Project Management / Document Management software.

This article provides a quick overview of some of the main software solutions being used today for better management of construction projects, as well as some of their key features and benefits.

When analyzing a project, Beacon often requests all of the documents noted below, plus more. Having ready access to up-to-date info for all of these document types is critical for fully understanding (and summarizing) the current status of project, making "cost-to-complete" estimates, and identifying when a project is not staying on schedule or within budget:

• Project contracts (including primary & subcontractor agreements)
• Project scope & specification documents
• Baseline schedule & schedule updates
• Submittals
• Project drawings
• Payment Applications
• Change Order Logs
• RFP & Bid Documents
• Field & Daily Reports
• Project Status Photos

On well-managed construction projects (particularly larger projects), all of the information above can be stored in a Construction Management System database, enabling online file sharing and controlled access by authorized users on an as-needed basis. The vast majority of Construction Management / Document Systems are now moving to (or moved to) "cloud-based" Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions (versus software running on a stand-alone server found in a business's office). This evolution to the cloud is a based on a combination of factors, including cost, security, scalability, ease of access, ease of use and maintenance reasons.

Some of the many solutions in use in the Construction Industry today include:

• Procore
• Plangrid
• Sage
• Accubuild
• BuilderTrend
• Co-Construct
• Smartsheets

There are many other products and brands beyond those listed above, including vendors who provide solutions for specific areas. For example, one company in Carlsbad, CA (Ranken) focuses mainly on easing the daily reporting and time entry tasks which must be done by field personnel working at construction sites. One of the company's major selling points is the value of having complete and accurate reporting and backup information about what took place when during the construction process. Beyond the obvious benefits of having better, more accessible field reports and easing time tracking, the company promotes the value of having this info easily accessible in the event of litigation. The solution's time-stamped folders help to provide an accurate historical summary of daily reporting by site superintendents and other on-site personnel.

According to one industry report, the global Construction Software market is growing at more than 8% per year and is projected to be a $2.7-Billion market by 2023. In fact, Procore (a leader in the industry) received a $75-million venture capital investment in late 2018 and its revenues have reportedly been growing at a rate of 100% every year since 2010. The construction software niche has even attracted the attention of many larger IT solutions providers, with industry giants such as Orcle and Trimble acquiring construction software companies in the past year.

Some of the key features that are included in several leading construction project management systems are:

• Pre-built templates which make managing specific tasks within a project much easier
• An easy-to-use Admin dashboard, customized to the specific "role" of the user (such as GC versus owner or developer, etc)
• Advanced user / roles management (tight control over who can access what information in the system)
• Email alerts when specific information is updated
• Search feature to help find desired information
• Reporting which makes it easy to visualize Jobsite Activity & Progress
• Ability import / export data from accounting systems
• Ability for field personnel to enter data using Tablets or Smart Phones
• Ability to share files easily online
• Time & date stamping of information entered
• Ability to integrate/store project communications in the system
• Ability to track/notify deadlines in regards to specific tasks to respective teams
• Ability to sync real-time updates to inspection reports, daily reports and meeting notes
• Ability to view / open different programs, softwares and file types within the system

Some key lessons learned for effective use of Construction Management IT solutions:

• Ensuring that personnel are well trained in the use of the software as part of their on-boarding process
• Timely and accurate data entry (and file upload) is necessary to ensure that all information needed to understand the scope and status of the project is actually stored in the system
• Well defined roles and careful QA checking of data entered by designated managers
• Cybersecurity and data backup have become critically important for preventing unauthorized parties from seeing, altering or deleting critical project information (a major driver and benefit behind enterprise-scale SaaS options)