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The Value of Custom Construction Management Software

Clayton Kraby : February 13, 2023

Custom Development

The Value of Custom Construction Management Software

In the construction industry, effectively managing projects is a critical part of the job. Not only does project management help keep teams on task, on code, and your budget under control, but it can also streamline communication and ensure that everything is efficient and safe during a build.

These are all necessary ingredients of a successful construction project — and the right custom construction management software can help make it possible.

While off-the-shelf construction management software offers a good baseline for managing and tracking project progress, these platforms leave a lot to be desired in terms of flexibility and features. But the construction industry is wide-ranging; any given contractor or subcontractor runs things a little differently than another, and so they have different needs. This is where custom-built software shows its value.

Who is construction management software for?

In the US alone, there are an estimated 3,787,470 registered construction businesses as of 2023 — an increase of 2.5% from the year before, according to an industry report from IBIS World. Within each of those businesses are, surely, hundreds if not thousands of laborers who need to be managed.

With so many operational construction businesses, there’s a need for tailored construction project management software that’s custom-built to meet the unique needs of each individual business. A general contractor, independent construction manager, subcontractor or project manager may each require a different construction project management tool, or otherwise a highly specific set of tools.

These unique requirements are necessary for them to effectively manage their business, and may include capabilities such as:

Project and task management features.
Construction accounting functionality.
Project progress monitoring.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP), and more.

Typical platforms are built with a singular purpose in mind — such as construction accounting. After a while, businesses accumulate multiple products that each only accomplish one task. This means there’s a lack of visibility and cohesion that can bump you off course if you’re not highly organized.

With custom-built construction software, all the required tools and functionalities you need to be successful can be assembled into a single source of truth to help you streamline construction projects.

Pain Points in Construction Management

When you have so many priorities to manage all at one time, there’s increased room for error — both human and technical. Custom construction management software can help businesses in the industry lessen the burden of some common pain points — avoiding or reducing blunders and mismanagement wherever possible.

Here are some essential construction industry processes that are required to effectively manage and complete jobs, but can quickly become pain points when you’re limited to a one-size-fits-all construction software solution:

1. Planning & Resource Management

The planning phase is one of the most important parts of any construction project, often falling on the shoulders of project and construction managers. You’ll need to obtain and organize permits, calculate job costs, manage resources and more to ensure that construction projects are completed on time and within budget.

2. Construction Scheduling

Scheduling software is pretty popular — but it doesn’t offer nearly as much value as it could if integrated as part of a complete, custom solution where visibility can be prioritized. Organizing schedules effectively helps you and your team get jobs done properly and on deadline.

3. Control and Coordination

When a project is in progress, it’s not unusual to have project managers and other construction team members at different locations. Because of the often-scattered nature of integral team members during any given construction project, not everyone is always on-site to address problems. This creates a lack of control and coordination between parties and can cause a legion of problems and delays. Such complications are able to be reduced and resolved more quickly with the proper tools.

4. On-Site Developments

Operational day-to-day changes or surprises are not uncommon in the construction industry. Sudden on-site developments can cause delays or confusion between teams, and commercially available management platforms are often unintuitive.

5. Billing

Manual processes and legacy billing software can cause hiccups in the invoicing process, potentially resulting in payment delays and uncertainties. Add in the need for construction accounting functionally, and the billing process can become disconnected quickly.

How Custom-Built Construction Management Software Helps Improve Project Management

There are many benefits that come packaged with custom-built software for construction management. The above-mentioned pain points are examples that any contractor would be familiar with, yet are still integral aspects of the job — regardless of whether current commercially available solutions are effective in accomplishing them.

Alone, those items require more than a couple of platforms so that they can be completed with any validity — and two are already too many.

With a complete, custom-tailored construction management software solution, you can have all of those components under one roof. Our made-to-measure software solutions help general contractors, subcontractors and other construction industry leaders:

Optimize the flow of communication between teams and other stakeholders.
Automate traditionally manual tasks to streamline project management processes, saving time and money.
Simplify document management and organization for readily accessible information, whenever and wherever you need it.
Get easy access to actionable data and project tracking analytics with tools that are made-to-fit into each one of your desired (and required) functionalities.
Have valuable insight into each part of your construction management process, all in one place.
Plan projects more effectively, optimize processes across the board and improve workflows over time for greater efficiency, productivity and success.

The best part? You own it and the source code. No subscription fees or hidden charges, because it’s yours.

With that in mind, here are some important functionalities and construction management tools that Onsharp can bake into your unique and all-encompassing software solution:

Project planning.
Resource management.
Bid management.
Accounting.
Estimating.
Reporting.
Billing.
Request for information (RFI).

Need even more transparency and accessibility? Integrating an app as part of your construction project management solution acts as an extension of your custom software to give you even more visibility into your operation while making any given tool and relevant data even more accessible. With a companion construction app, you can:

Increase efficiency by having one central and pocketable location to manage your entire operation.
Manage people and equipment by always knowing who and what is available for a job.
Ensure safety by developing, implementing and tracking all required employee safety training and certifications.
Further improve communication by being able to view your entire construction team at a glance and communicate quickly and easily with them.

Curious about what a custom-built app can do for your construction business, in addition to software? Check out this video.

Custom-built construction management software that’s tailored to your needs

From the smallest business to the largest corporation, a construction company can come in many shapes and sizes — which is why a tailored custom software solution is vital. Adding or dropping features as your business needs change is an invaluable perk of having, and owning, your own custom construction management software.

With over 20 years of custom software solution development experience, our highly skilled team is ready to build the bespoke construction management solution that you’ve been dreaming of. We’ll make sure you have the right tools for the job.

Ready to get to work? Let’s talk. Contact us to schedule a free, no-pressure conversation about your software needs.