What is Construction Management Software?

Construction management software helps contractors and property builders manage ongoing construction projects. It essentially acts as a project management solution that helps schedule and track workers’ day-to-day activities, inventory management, client billing as well as construction punch lists among other things.

The construction management program is generally used by large companies with subcontractors as well as individual contractors for budget management, work schedule, and more. It automates different construction project tasks that ultimately help save time and money.

Need for Construction Planning & Project Management Software

• Construction management software is used for project planning and scheduling, designing, contracting, estimating, and automating other activities involved in the construction industry.
• Construction planning and project management software is quite beneficial to handle tasks efficiently such as generating reports, storing documents, client billing and communicating with clients. Thus, it can be a valuable way for businesses to make better decisions and stay profitable in the long run.

Key Features of Construction Management Software

Construction management tools have played a major role in improving productivity and efficiency. As far as essential features are concerned, make sure the following are included in your construction project management software.

• Project management: The best construction project management software automates tasks like planning resources, tracking project progress, updating project schedules and so on. It ensures that your construction project is completed successfully.
• Document management: One of the main features of any top construction management software is its ability to create, track, store and manage work-related documents. This helps the stakeholders to easily look for documents as and when required.
• Inventory management: Based on the inventory data, construction software helps perform inventory audits, track assets on site, assist managers in efficient resource distribution and so on. Without construction management software in place, you might take additional time to complete projects effectively.
• Contract management: Contract management software is crucial to maintaining data of all contracts between your company and concerned stakeholders. Not only this, but it also helps keep track of contract-related milestones.
• Reporting: Another key feature of construction management software is that it helps keep important details of a construction project in one place. It generates real-time data reports in an accessible format for team members to absorb information quickly.
• Job costing: Construction planning software helps allocate the budget for different types of construction services involved in each project. It also defines the cost for each employee, contractor and other relevant stakeholders and compares them to the allocated budget.
• Service management: An ideal construction software must be able to manage work orders, create schedules, allocate resources, and track orders efficiently.

Benefits of Construction Management Software

Adopting a good construction management software can benefit your business in several ways.

• Improved work collaboration: As construction project management software is online, team members can collaborate in real-time. The software creates real-time visibility for all stakeholders to track valuable information.
• Grow your business: Keeping track of your projects manually can be quite a daunting task. Firms that use construction project management software can adopt an organized approach to managing people and projects better.
• Operate efficiently: Construction management software can help organize processes on job sites, thus reducing confusion about change in order or job costs and more. It helps your firm streamline communication and makes business operations more efficient.
• Financial reporting: An all-in-one construction software gives you an insight into whether you are on track to meet the estimated budget. It is an essential tool for accurate financial reporting through every phase of the project.
• Quality improvement: Enhance project planning and control using construction management software. It promotes effective communication and thus minimizes any sort of project delays.

When Is the Right Time to Invest in Construction Management Software?

Do you know when it’s the right time for your business to invest in construction management software? Well, if the below-mentioned problems have started impacting your construction business, it is time for you to look for the right construction software for your growing business.

• You spend hours on accounting related tasks
• You have a manual/ complicated process for tracking orders
• Construction specific reports are often inaccurate or delayed
• Project or service management process is unorganized

How to Choose the Best Construction Management Software?

Confused with several construction management software options available in the market? Well, we have listed a few key points here that will help you choose the right software for your business needs.

• Analyze your goals: First thing first, learn about the unique challenges of your growing business. Ensure that the construction management software that you shortlist aligns with your goals.
• Simple and easy to use software: The best construction management software solution is the one that is simple and easy to use. It should provide all important modules to overcome all bottlenecks in construction projects.
• Evaluate training modules: Right from the top management to supervisors, construction management tools are used by everyone in the construction firm. Hence, it is crucial that you carefully assess the training and support services offered by the software provider.
• Features: Construction project management software should offer customized functionalities as per your specific types of projects. Look for a customized solution that is also scalable as your business grows.
• Pricing: The cost of construction management software is not usually priced monthly or annually. Instead, it depends on multiple factors. Hence, businesses should determine the pricing method of the product before making an investment.

Latest Trends around Construction Management Software

Check out the latest market trends around construction management software.

• Wearable gadgets: The use of wearable gadgets is among the newest trends in construction management. Some of the wearables like smart jackets, sensors or smart glasses help gather data on workers productivity and efficiency. This data is then fed to the construction software to analyze staff performance, working conditions among other things in real time. Hence, offering the latest smart wearables ensure worker safety, minimize downtime and more.
• AI-based software: Construction firms rely on AI-based tools that not only collect data from multiple sources in real-time but also provide actionable business insights. The capabilities of AI further help top level managers to understand the issue in their workflow process, look for better ideas and more, which is essential to streamline routine performance.