Construction has traditionally been one of the industries that have lagged in terms of adopting technology, and that includes construction software.
However, while we all hung onto our duplicate books and spreadsheets longer than most, there have been clear signs for several years that the construction industry is finally embracing technology.
But what are the real-world benefits of digitization in construction? How do construction professionals and project owners really benefit from adopting construction software? Let’s take a closer look.
1. Collaboration Benefits of Construction Software
The first significant benefit of construction software in maximizing ROI on every project is that it offers unmatched collaborative tools and applications.
These days, your project team is as likely to be spread around the country or even the world as they are to all be located in the same building or even the same city.
Cloud-based construction software effectively eliminates borders and distance and allows teams to collaborate from anywhere at any time. More importantly, it’s possible to connect various parts of the construction team, clients, and other key stakeholders on a single platform, cutting red tape and the time required to communicate key data.
2. Single Source of Truth Prevents Rework and Promotes Accuracy
In the past, most construction and construction-related businesses used a variety of separate tools and technologies to achieve different things.
Even when we weren’t using enterprise-level construction software, we still used accounting software and project management tools. We might have used online document storage tools and other platforms, too, alongside traditional hardcopy paperwork.
The problem with all of that is that there’s always some rework involved in entering essential data in one or more systems. You still needed to capture productivity reports, for instance, or translate those figures into progress billing for every project.
Not only does this mean that every task is being handled at least twice, but there’s also a much higher risk of errors when transferring information from one format to another.
Modern construction software helps to eliminate rework, and because there’s no transfer of data involved, it improves data accuracy dramatically.
Since most modern enterprise-level construction software platforms now include robust, granular security systems, you can be sure that once data is entered into the system, it can’t easily or accidentally be altered.
3. Improved Productivity
One of the biggest disadvantages of old-fashioned construction management tools, documents, and spreadsheets is that they’re almost universally time-consuming to use.
Traditional paperwork, even when it’s templatized as a form to be filled in on-site, will always take longer to complete than the same document online.
Then there’s the added work of preserving the document, filing it, transporting or transmitting it to an office or via email or another means, storing or archiving it, and the time required to retrieve it when required.
Digital systems like construction software not only speed up the creation of every document used in your organization, but they also make storing, sharing, and finding them a nearly instant process. It simply takes a fraction of the time to do it this way.
Since most construction projects generate dozens or even hundreds of documents daily, this quickly adds up to enormous time savings, and that frees up every person in your organization to focus on something else.
4. Find and Solve Problems Faster
There has never been a construction project that did not have many problems of varying sizes and impacts.
It’s an expected fact that issues and challenges will arise at every point of every project. The most significant factor in mitigating costs and delays related to those problems is how quickly they’re identified and how quickly a solution can be found.
Often, the biggest bottleneck in this process is simply the time it takes to communicate problems from the construction site to the project and contract management team. It can take a week or more for traditional construction communication methods to get relevant information to the right people and even longer to develop and deploy a solution.
Owner construction software allows every level of the project team to communicate in near real-time. It offers options to flag important information so your team can find and resolve every problem faster, mitigating the impact on project costs and timelines.
5. Track and Manage Changes Accurately
The next important way construction software helps everyone involved in any construction project improve their ROI is by giving your team the tools to track and manage changes accurately.
The one constant that is true for every project in every market in the construction world is that things are going to change. From concept to completion, there will be changes to the scope and specifications; materials will be altered from the original product chosen, and work will be increased, decreased, or omitted completely.
Keeping track of all those changes and managing their impact on the cost and duration of any project is a massive job, but construction software makes it much easier for everyone on your team to monitor changes closely and make the necessary adjustments when necessary.
You can’t avoid changes to most projects, but when you take proactive action, such as accelerating the project schedule or making critical decisions to substitute a delayed product, you can keep them on track, even when things aren’t going according to plan.
6. Keep Your Finger on the Pulse - Before, During and After
Construction might be a hands-on, physical, on-site process, and many people on the team do get their hands dirty. However, most construction projects need to be made or fixed on information and the quality of communication and document management.
That’s true at every stage of every construction project, and as the project owner, you need even more control over the lifecycle documentation and data related to your projects.
Construction software has changed the way we store and archive project information, and it’s made it easier for anyone to find critical information and documentation, even long after the project team has moved on to something else. Let us show you your archive output.
Many people involved in the construction world don’t understand that even after everyone has left the job site and all the paperwork is done, there’s still a chance that latent defects or other claims could eat into profitability. Construction software helps to ensure that this problem is avoided by every stakeholder.
Digitization and Document Retention Is the Future of Construction
It might have taken the construction world longer than other industries to embrace technology, but now that we have, it’s being adopted rapidly at every industry level.
Subcontractors and trade contractors are using tablets and mobile devices to manage health and safety concerns and measure on-site progress. Mid-sized contractors are integrating their accounting systems with project management and estimating tools to connect every aspect of their businesses.
Large contractors, architects, and engineers are using advanced digital modeling tools like BIM and digital twinning to plan projects, eliminate conflicts, and mitigate risks, all before anyone arrives on site.
Then there’s project and contract management, which has been completely transformed in every way by the various construction software platforms and tools out there.
From the Internet of Things changing how we track equipment on site to GPS technology revolutionizing geomatics and everything in between, the construction industry of today and the future runs on construction software.
At Owner Insite, we were ahead of the curve when we launched our product in 2009, but we like to think we’ve just had more time to refine our tools and listen to our customers. We are purpose-built for the Owner. We have a platform that allows your project team to collobrate and our archive ensures you have your data in perpetuity.
But whether you choose Owner Insite or another construction software, embracing digitization and transforming your construction projects is always good for your bottom line.
Give us a call at 888-336-3393 or submit a form and we’d be happy to see if we can help your organization.
