Construction Software

Construction Software Overview

What is Construction Software?

Construction software helps professionals manage different pieces of the construction process, from planning to execution. Users include general contractors, subcontractors, and building companies.

Construction software tools typically handle one or more of the following processes:

• Takeoff (estimation of materials)

• Project management and scheduling

• Project design

• Cost accounting

• Bid management

• Field service management

• Safety and reporting

Construction Software Features & Capabilities

Common construction productivity features found in project management, collaboration, and job site data collection & reporting tools, include:

• Plan distribution & viewing

• Document sharing

• Jobsite reports

• RFI tools

• Collaboration & approvals

• Photo documentation

• Estimating

• Time cards

• Project management tools

• Job costing

• Issue tracking & punchlists

• Mobile & cloud functionality

Trends in Construction Software

Construction software is a highly fragmented space. Many small startups offer point solutions. Other large vendors (like Autodesk) offer a portfolio of products in multiple areas. To date, there is low market penetration. Estimating is one of the most common construction software use cases. But many construction companies are still handling other processes the old-fashioned way, with pen and paper. As adoption of construction software increases, so will innovation and consolidation.

Part of the adoption problem is the limited IT resources for construction companies. This includes both people and budget. The construction industry spends less on new technology than other industries. Also, a large percentage of construction companies don’t have dedicated IT employees.

Another factor holding some firms back is that construction software can be seen purely as an overhead expense. In reality, it can be a strategic and competitive part of the business, with benefits for all stakeholders. Construction software is not project specific. However, project owners do reap the benefit when software helps contractors from going over time or over budget. Of course, construction software also benefits the contractor in the long term. The tools can help contractors manage more clients and field sites at once.

Types of Construction Software

The software enables construction business processes in a variety of areas. Sometimes these overlap with other software categories on TrustRadius that are not industry-specific. But here you can find vendors that cater to the construction industry:

• Accounting: Sage, Viewpoint, Quickbooks, CMiC, Jonas Software and Deltek Vision.

• Prequalification/Bidding: CMiC, iSqFt, Procore, SmartBidNet, Textura, Viewpoint, eBid Exchange and Pipeline Suite.

• Estimating/Takeoff: On-Screen Takeoff, HeavyBid, Bluebeam Revu, Planswift, B2W Estimate, Trimble Accubid, ProEst, Sage Estimating and WinEst. This is by far the most crowded area of construction software.

• Project Management: Viewpoint, Prolog, Procore, PlanGrid, Constructware, and CMiC. Non-industry specific solutions, like Primavera and Microsoft Project are also commonly used.

• Building Information Management (BIM): Revit (Autodesk), Navisworks (Autodesk), Sketchup (Trimble), Tekla (Trimble), QTO (Autodesk), and Assemble Systems.

• Job Site Data Collection & Reporting: Autodesk's BIM 360, B2W, HCSS, Procore, PlanGrid, NoteVault, and Viewpoint.

• Customer Relationship Management: Cosential and FollowUp Power. CRM for construction is still not a focus for software vendors. Horizontal solutions can work in some cases.

• Cloud Storage, Collaboration, and Web Conferencing: These areas are crucial part to the construction software stack. Many companies do not use industry-specific solutions. Construction software solutions include PlanGrid and Bluebeam Revu. Both have cloud storage and collaboration capabilities. They are tailored to construction needs as a go-between for the office and field. Industry-specific options have more robust features than horizontal tools (DropBox, Adobe Acrobat DC, etc.). Additional features allow better handling of drawings, markups and file sharing.

• Other Emerging Technologies: Augmented reality, virtual reality, drones and 3D printers hold promise for construction. They aren’t yet widely used, with many in beta testing or R&D.

Pricing Information

Construction software pricing depends on the purpose of the tool and the scale of its deployment and varies widely. For example, tools designed for cloud-based project management are typically priced on a subscription model. Prices start at around $40/mo. Other tools focused on bidding and approval maybe priced with a much larger, one-time license fee. Licenses are usually at least $10,000.