Constellation HomeBuilder Systems headquartered in Markham offers BuildTopia, an integrated residential construction managment platform providing scheduling & estimating, sales management and CRM, accounting, and BI.
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Navisworks
Score 8.8 out of 10
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Autodesk's Navisworks is a 3D model and construction project review and coordination software allowing the user to combine design and construction data into a single model, and identify and resolve clash and interference problems before construction.
BuildTopia is ideal for bringing all components of the sales and construction process together for any homebuilder. If you're looking for a platform that also incorporates a robust CRM component, which is key for strong sales efforts, you'll likely need to utilize another platform in conjunction with BT for the best results
Navisworks is a key tool if doing any 3D model coordination with other trades. It will allow you to view your model content with others to know for certain that your design is accurate and can be assembled. Navisworks also comes with a lot of additional tools to make this process easy.
BuildTopia excels at contract management. Every part of the contract process is able to be managed electronically from initial signing to closing, and can even handle more special cases like contingencies.
BuildTopia manages all of our construction efforts well. All of our floorplans are pre-build in the system, so all we have to do is go in an build out the construction schedule from a pre-made template, and make any alterations from there.
The selections process is always a headache, but BuildTopia makes it pretty painless. Everything is loaded right in to the system while making selections with the client, and more detailed things, like non-standard options, are easy to load in and process.
Requests for platform enhancements, while easy to submit and get approved, are slow to be turned around...often a year or more passes before they're implemented.
BuiltTopia, while good for sales and construction, is missing one large thing...a CRM component. The system allows you to manage clients and prospects, but options for email marketing and other CRM-related efforts are lacking.
Autodesk owns Navisworks, and it seems to have a pretty good support network. A lot of the troubleshooting or support information is provided through an online database, so you most likely would not be getting any personal attention with your issues. Since there are so many users for Navisworks, there is a lot of information on the web.
Navisworks is a master tool if we want to do any 3D model coordination with any trade of a building. It allows us to view our model content with all elements to visualize and understand for certain where our design stands in terms of accuracy and how all things can be assembled on site. Navisworks also comes with a lot of additional tools to make BIM process easy.
Overall, our company has saved money by being able to shut down all the various platforms we were using for different departments and transition to just BuildTopia.
Company efforts are more efficient, with all pertinent information being in one place and able to be viewed by everyone as needed.
Efforts of the sales team are better able to be managed and reviewed from afar whereas we only had physical paper trails before.
The software is very easy to use and quick to master, most users can navigate a building or model within a few short sessions, but there is enough depth to use it as a serious productive tool.
The software cost of Navisworks Manage is a barrier to smaller companies, and has been a limitation on some of our projects that not all members could use the full functionality. However there is still enough functionality in even the free version to assist with smooth communication between team members.
