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HCSS offers a suite of construction software products that cater to various departments and needs within a construction company. These …
Overview
What is HCSS?
HCSS is a construction software suite. It includes functionality for bidding, time card and project management, safety, planning, scheduling, equipment management, and data warehousing and reporting. Each module can be purchased separately. The suite can be hosted in the cloud.
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Popular Features
- Photo documentation (25)10.0100%
- Jobsite reports (30)8.080%
- Mobile app (28)6.161%
- Collaboration & approvals (19)4.040%
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What is HCSS?
HCSS is a construction software suite. It includes functionality for bidding, time card and project management, safety, planning, scheduling, equipment management, and data warehousing and reporting. Each module can be purchased separately. The suite can be hosted in the cloud.
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What is Procore?
Procore is a project management software designed specifically for the construction industry. Procore is cloud-based and allows unlimited users per instance, so that construction team members and stakeholders can all access project information and documents.
What is Wrike?
Wrike is a project management and collaboration software. This solution connects tasks, discussions, and emails to the user’s project plan. Wrike is optimized for agile workflows and aims to help resolve data silos, poor visibility into work status, and missed deadlines and project failures.
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- Competitors
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What is HCSS?
HCSS is a construction software suite for estimating, operations, project management, safety, and equipment management used by the top contractors in transportation, oil & gas, power, industrial, telecom, and water/wastewater. Contractors use the software suite to win profitable work, keep projects on track and on budget, manage key assets, and then they integrate that information directly into their accounting system.
Suite components include:
Suite components include:
- HeavyBid (estimating)
- HeavyJob (time cards, job costing, project management)
- HCSS Safety
- HCSS Plans
- Equipment360
- HCSS Telematics
- HCSS Dispatcher
- FuelerPlus
- HCSS eLogs
- HCSS Cloud
- HCSS Skills
- HCSS Forms
HCSS Features
Construction Project & Field Management Features
- Supported: Plan distribution & viewing
- Supported: Plan markups & sharing
- Supported: Document sharing
- Supported: Issue tracking & punchlists
- Supported: Photo documentation
- Supported: Jobsite reports
- Supported: Collaboration & approvals
- Supported: Mobile app
Additional Features
- Supported: Estimating and bidding
- Supported: Invitation to bid
- Supported: Quote management
- Supported: Timecards
- Supported: Daily diaries
- Supported: Production quantities
- Supported: T&M Reporting
- Supported: Equipment Maintenance
- Supported: Equipment Work Orders
- Supported: Alerts & Notifications
HCSS Screenshots
HCSS Video
Construction Software Development Company - Estimating, Bidding, & More | HCSS
HCSS Integrations
- Microsoft Project
- Viewpoint Vista
- Primavera P3
- P6 Project Management
- RSMeans
HCSS Competitors
- Viewpoint ProContractor
- InEight
- Microsoft Excel
- B2W Software
- Predictive Solutions
HCSS Technical Details
| Deployment Types | On-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Windows |
| Mobile Application | Apple iOS, Android |
| Supported Countries | United States, Canada |
Frequently Asked Questions
HCSS is a construction software suite. It includes functionality for bidding, time card and project management, safety, planning, scheduling, equipment management, and data warehousing and reporting. Each module can be purchased separately. The suite can be hosted in the cloud.
Reviewers rate Photo documentation highest, with a score of 10.
The most common users of HCSS are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
HCSS Customer Size Distribution
| Consumers | 0% |
|---|---|
| Small Businesses (1-50 employees) | 30% |
| Mid-Size Companies (51-500 employees) | 55% |
| Enterprises (more than 500 employees) | 15% |
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Community Insights
TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
- Business Problems Solved
- Pros
- Cons
HCSS offers a suite of construction software products that cater to various departments and needs within a construction company. These products, including HeavyBid, HeavyJob, Dispatcher, Equipment 360, and more, have been widely utilized across different organizations to streamline operations and enhance efficiency. For example, the estimating department relies on HeavyBid to manage proposals and estimates, ensuring accurate cost projections and competitive bidding. By compiling historic data for current bids, estimators are able to price projects effectively and improve the chances of winning bids. Similarly, HeavyJob is an indispensable tool for field workers to track progress on projects, including labor and equipment hours as well as daily production. This real-time tracking capability enables project managers and foremen to monitor costs and make informed decisions based on up-to-date information.
Furthermore, HCSS software products facilitate seamless integration with accounting systems and other software applications used in the construction industry. HeavyBid's interface with accounting software allows for the conversion of codes to actual pay items, simplifying billing processes and ensuring accuracy. The coordination between HeavyBid and HeavyJob enables smooth transformation from estimates to production tracking, capturing work performed and hours for invoicing and payroll purposes. The use of HCSS products extends beyond project management tasks; they are also employed by safety departments for inspections and recording safety observations during work. In addition, equipment managers rely on Equipment 360 to efficiently manage the fleet of vehicles and equipment by tracking maintenance and repairs electronically.
Overall, HCSS products play a vital role in every facet of the construction business. From estimating to project management, payroll to safety tracking, these software solutions offer comprehensive functionalities that enhance productivity and collaboration among different departments. Users praise the consistency brought by HeavyBid in estimates and budgets while highlighting its efficiency when properly set up. Likewise, foremen in the field find HeavyJob empowering as it allows them to contribute valuable information for bids and future jobs, improving efficiency and quality control. Dispatchers value the visibility provided by Dispatcher, enabling them to have real-time knowledge of equipment location and resource availability. With its broad range of applications and extensive usage throughout the organization, HCSS software is an essential asset in the construction industry.
Availability of 24/7 technical help: Users appreciate the fact that HCSS provides round-the-clock technical support for any issues they encounter. Many reviewers have mentioned that this availability has been invaluable to them, allowing them to get immediate assistance whenever they need it.
Highly knowledgeable and prompt technical support staff: The technical support team at HCSS is highly regarded by users. They are praised for their expertise and ability to solve problems quickly over the phone. Several reviewers have mentioned that they were impressed with how knowledgeable and efficient the support staff was in resolving their issues.
Thorough training provided by HCSS: Users value the comprehensive training offered by HCSS, as it helps them maximize the benefits of using their products. Many reviewers have mentioned that the training sessions provided by HCSS have been instrumental in helping them understand and effectively use the software.
Less Performant: Users have consistently reported that ISQft is slower and less performant compared to other products they have used. Several reviewers mentioned difficulty exporting to Excel, attaching documents to bids, and experiencing slow performance on the iPad with Heavy Job manager. Some users also found uploading on the iPad to be slower than expected. These performance issues were a common complaint among reviewers.
Lack of Versatility in Dispatcher: Many users expressed dissatisfaction with the Dispatcher feature in ISQft, stating that it lacked versatility and desired features. Reviewers found it difficult to move crews around on a daily basis and felt that the planner view was not beneficial. They also mentioned that Dispatcher lacked proactive features, reminders, and real tracking of projects. Multiple reviewers believed that if HCSS focused more on improving Dispatcher, it could attract more subcontractor companies and larger contractors.
Difficulties in Integration: Integration with other programs was not seamless according to user feedback. Some reviewers had trouble integrating ISQft with their existing systems or found it challenging to import data from outside sources. There were also difficulties in pulling data into the management system used at corporate offices. Users expressed a need for easier integration with accounting programs and suggested that HCSS should focus on improving the integration of its products with each other.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-25 of 38)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
April 29, 2021
The only one for heavy civil construction
- Production costs
- Production tracking
- Equipment allocations
- Appears complicated at initial onset; messy interface
- Not very user friendly, even after training
- Cumbersome when used in conjunction with other platforms
March 18, 2020
A Leader in the Construction World
- HCSS works wonderfully as a timecard. Using the application is very easy and it speaks very well to our data systems.
- HCSS is the pinnacle of estimating tools. It allows multiple analytics and set-ups for estimators. In addition, conversions of your bid into budgets are extremely easy once exported.
- Within HeavyJob, once you enter in manhours and production data they run all the data analysis for you, providing graphs and figures from your inputs.
- The software itself seems to be a bit outdated as far as user interface
- I'm not sure if this is a result of too much data or what, but the programs tend to be on the slower side when importing and exporting data.
February 15, 2020
HCSS... a rockstar in the field!
- HCSS support is amazing. Call any time and you will speak to someone in Texas.
- Daily snapshots of what happened are easily documented and can reported on.
- HCSS is very expensive and can be hard to justify at times.
January 15, 2020
The Cadillac Software
- Customer support.
- Easy to use.
- I can't think of any!
June 15, 2018
Behind the scenes review.
- The modules integrate well with each other which makes information sharing easy.
- The mobile application works well and has enough back-end customization to be useful to any type of construction company.
- The mobile platform is clean and easy to navigate.
- Document storage is a huge thing they need to address. Similar to how a Google drive functions, they need to create a built-in way to attach and store project documents.
- The Extra Work Tag documentation in the mobile field application could use a lot of improvements from sequentially being numbered in some fashion, as well as multiple signature lines for both the General and the Subcontractor representatives.
- E360 tracks cost and time for repairs.
- Fueler Plus tracks dispersement of fuel (gallons to each equipment) and cost of fuel.
- Simple to use once you get used to it.
- When setting up equipment/vehicles the license plate or EIN are on another screen and not on the General tab. This total doesn't make any sense.
- Fueler Plus time card is a joke. It shouldn't even be called a time card, because it doesn't function as one. It's more of a fuel time log.
- There is no type of user manual for these products. Even a simple flow chart would work. I'm not a techy person, so I like visual stuff.
- At implementaion everything is going so fast that I missed a lot of technical important stuff. No disrespect to the implementor, but it felt like because they have done this a million times, we should already know this. I believe this is where hand outs are very important. One example was setting up PM's. I don't recall them saying that I would have to initialize each one for each eauipment.
January 29, 2018
HCSS HeavyBid Review
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
- Organized
- Easy to use and learn new features.
- HCSS listens to its users to help make their programs very user-friendly.
- None so far.
January 29, 2018
HCSS saves us time and wins us jobs.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
- Absolute best aspect is their tech support. They always answer the phone and nearly always have the solution at hand. That is absolutely critical when working on a bid.
- A few years back they implemented a Work Breakdown Structure type estimate but it has been slow to evolve. I understand this due to most of the industry lack of use of the product but that creates a chicken and egg scenario. Perhaps they would use it more if it were developed further.
- There needs to be a mobile integration with HeavyBid for Android.
- HeavyJob has seen some great upgrades to the mobile side on iPad and to a lesser extent Android. They need to stay concurrent with each other rather than forcing one OS on users over the other.
- Similarly, while tablets have gotten love, Windows based touch screens, like Surfaces, have not. This are becoming more and more common, but if you want to use one for HeavyJob you have to use the clunky PC version and not the optimized for touch version that is on the tablets.
January 23, 2018
What's so HEAVY about HCSS
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
- HeavyBid integrates well with our accounting system and has reduced my budget development time significantly from our previous software.
- HeavyJob's ability to capture field information from a mobile device is key to future success in the industry. There are several other platforms which provide the ability to capture field data but to date I have yet to find one as robust and user friendly.
- HCCS's customer service is the cornerstone of my continued support of the software. I have contacted them several times after hours only to be greeted by a knowledgeable PERSON. The ability to converse with someone who knows the product and how to resolve issues without being on hold or speaking to a computer is invaluable.
- HeavyJob is not envisioned to be an accounting system by the developers. Eventually more auditing capabilities will be needed.
- Custom reports are expensive.
January 19, 2018
HCSS Feedback
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
- HCSS has established a team to assist our Company with any issue that arises. They respond timely and give us quality service.
- HCSS works to accommodate our need in using Specialty Jobs, which tend to complicate our use of the product.
- HCSS has created a very good process flow for Project Jobs with their product.
- Some of the reports contain just the Foremen employee number, it would be great if they also contain the name.
- Some of the reports are not compatible with running them in Excel, it would be great to be able to dump the data into an Excel spreadsheet.
- I would like to be able to run User Accounts into an Excel spreadsheet.
January 10, 2018
HCSS is a trusted go-to tool
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
- HCSS is a great system to organize the information required to make a detailed bid proposal and to make it an easily repeatable process within a set of users.
- The Resources are easy to update and modify, if necessary. However a standard library of resources, equipment, labor, materials, crews etc allows you to maintain flexibility on an as-needed basis.
- The Quote Folder system is an easy way to manage multiple proposals from materials suppliers and subcontractors and to keep those proposals compared to each other by using subcontractor scope adjustment tab, if necessary.
- The whole system can be very quirky from time to time. It's very helpful to use the system for a while to get used to where to look for all of the buttons to press or boxes to check or reports to print.
- I've had issues with the self perform analysis before. It was not showing the correct cost in the quote folders, but it was correct in the estimate. Got it resolved, but I'm glad I noticed it before bid-day.
January 09, 2018
From a Paper Notepad to a Sofeware Program, what an upgrade.
- Dispatcher's history function is of great use. The ability to quickly know what job and what crew used a certain piece of equipment is very useful.
- Dispatcher's ability to transfer information from one user to the next to reports for end users saves a lot of time and confusion.
- The amount of time and money that is saved by our lowboy drivers is huge because of the ability to located the piece using the GPS units
- In Dispatcher you should be able to make adjustment (date, time, equipment, notes) to scheduled equipment after it has been assigned to driver in dispatch screen
- In Dispatcher you should be able to select multiple pieces of equipment to modify in dispatch window
- Dispatch screen in Dispatcher would be better if displayed horizontally instead of vertical
January 09, 2018
HCSS product review
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
- Support has always been very, very good.
- Listens to the needs and desires of their customer base.
- Provides a system geared specifically to the heavy/civil industry, and one that is intuitive, well-structured and efficient.
- An "undo" button!
- Writing custom reports, though I have to admit that I've not looked into that functionality lately.
- While I don't use it personally much anymore, the self-performed comparison function can be a challenge for some to use effectively/correctly.
January 09, 2018
Heavybid Review from a Long time User.
- Consistency is huge. Work activities can be set up and used easily. This makes for a better work product and can be reviewed by senior staff quickly.
- Heavybid is recognized as a leader in the electronic estimating field. Because of this the Heavybid product is ahead of the curve when it comes to electronic bidding.
- The HCSS support team is one of the best. I can always count on talking to a real person immediately that knows how to help me.
- Everyone would like to have a custom system that meets their exact needs, but that's not realistic. So there are a few things that I as an individual would do differently, in that sense the system is not exactly like I would like it.
- Occasionally there are missteps. A feature might be rushed into the product and has to be walked back. Also a feature might work well from a programming point of view, but not so well from a constructors view.
January 09, 2018
Awesome System
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
- Ability to download project bid items from Excel and State DOT sites to eliminate manual entry.
- Ability to set up crews and activities through Bid Item Codebooks and Library Estimates that reference bid items upon import from DOT sites which allows you to automatically build the framework of a bid upon import allowing great time savings as opposed to building the same work from scratch.
- Quote Request system is still cumbersome
January 09, 2018
Spot on estimating and Field Management software!
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
- #1 is support! HCSS is by far the best software support of any product we have ever used. Unlike most software companies HCSS utilizes their support calls to help upgrade their software. When you here them tell you that they will write down a particular issue you come across during a support call if they can't help you then and there they will research and get an answer to you extremely fast. If the software will not do it, you can bet there is a good chance it will be on the list of enhancements you will see come out in the near future.
- Estimating software is very extensive. Their software is capable of handling the smallest estimate all the way to the largest joint venture estimate. It has advanced features that make it extremely useful for analyzing job materials, subcontractors etc.
- HeavyJob is an extremely useful tool for the field to keep the office up to date with job costs. Everything is at the Foreman's fingertips on Tablets to allow the information from the field to get uploaded to HeavyJob manager which then can export to accounting. We are also able to give our Foreman the ability to deal with the Daily and weekly safety needs (Tailgate Meetings, incident Investigation, observations etc.) right on the Tablets thru HeavyJob.
- Dispatcher is not offered in a mobile version which we have asked for several times. I think they just don't have enough users to make it worthwhile.
- Heavybid needs to have the flexibility to add markup to add ons such as Bond and Small Tools etc.
- HCSS needs to have an onscreen takeoff to allow seamless integration of takeoff from the screen to Heavybid without having additional manual input.
January 08, 2018
HCSS is great
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
- export to accounting
- time card management, review, and consolidation of data for billing purposes
- equipment maintenance and records
- All their apps are on mobile devices. Although there is not a clear company policy on Android versus iPhone. Updates for features lag behind on Android. Some apps are exclusive to one platform making it hard to fully interconnect all programs.
January 08, 2018
HCSS review from a long time user
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
- Customer Assistance is the first thing you will notice and appreciate about HCSS. Always courteous and knowledgeable about their business. Tech support is a backbone topic with them and it shows.
- Software that flows with job information and needs is always present. I enjoy how smooth their products move with actual needs of our company.
- Follow through with support and at the end of the day, they take pride in the work done by themselves and our work too.
- OEM integration with GPS equipment would be nice if it was easier.
December 12, 2017
Too much
- Since HCSS is used by most heavy civil construction companies across the U.S. it provides a great platform for our Engineer's to develop the Owner's cost estimate for design projects.
- I like the idea of going to the cloud and centralizing the software and server management.
- Database management could be taught better or even customized for each company's needs.
- Need to teach quicker setup for smaller projects, <$100k. Several of our engineers don't want to use it for smaller projects.
December 01, 2017
You won't be disappointed with HCSS!
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
- Heavy Job is excellent for field to office communications. There are many valuable features and the program is very robust.
- Heavy Job has been invaluable to me specifically on reporting production and performance in the field to ownership.
- There are many different things you can use Heavy Job for, including tracking trucking costs with outside vendors. This has also been a huge benefit for our company.
- Our biggest struggle is with Dispatcher. It does not truly help us with our needs and we resorted back to pen, paper, and excel spreadsheets when we hit our busiest time of the year in the fall.
- Dispatcher does not seem to have had as much attention given to it as Heavy Job. Heavy Job far outweighs Dispatcher in many aspects. Dispatcher needs more versatility and better features.
- Examples: we move crews around on a daily basis and that is difficult in Dispatcher. You need to be able to move job around fluidly as well as being able to keep track of them and see the projects on a weekly/monthly/extended view. The planner view is not beneficial and lacks many desired features. Dispatcher also does not have any proactive features, reminders, real tracking of projects to it.
- If HCSS would give more focus to this program, then it could be used to target more subcontractor companies like us, as well as larger contractors. Most of the prime contractors that we work with use Heavy Bid and Heavy Job but not Dispatcher. I am going to bet because it isn't satisfying the needs of your contractors/customers.
December 01, 2017
HCSS - Payroll Processing
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
- The program is designed to work well for our employees that travel, which is 80% of the company.
- The exports that HCSS can create for us work well with our accounting program. It's great how they can create their data to work with another program.
- We currently struggle with importing data from the outside. Our superintendents will send data to the cloud and we struggle at times to pull the data into our [management] system that we use at the corporate office. That could also be on our end.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
- Customer service. I call them at least a couple times per week when I run into an issue. They resolve the issue or kick it up to the next level, and treat each one of my calls with proper urgency and concern.
- Access to submit my recommendations for improvement. The HCSS Product Portal has really made it easy to enter my suggestions, review suggestions from others, and vote.
- The HCSS Help website; it is so easy to access past webinars, and procedures. This is usually my first stop (now) before calling the support line.
- The HeavyJob mobile has really been a great advancement for us. Our foremen are very happy after switching from the Field (laptop) version to Mobile (iPad) version of time cards. Some of them are even coming in and asking "what else can we do" with the program, to become more efficient in the field. It has been quite inspiring.
- In HeavyJob, the system needs improvement for Change Management. In construction, a change in condition on the jobsite happens often, and as a project manager, I need to be able to confidently track any and all issues (regardless of status). Currently, HCSS does not have a solution for this. I have been working with them to improve the functionality, but they are not there yet.
- In HeavyJob, the mobile features have improved functions in the field, but those mobile improvements have made for major drawbacks in the office. Specifically, the Multi Job time card function (MJ). Due to the outdated manager system, the approvers (PMs) are forced to log into HeavyJob Web, which is tremendously slow. Approving time cards has now become a big time consuming ordeal as we only have the ability to approve one time card at a time.
- The Dispatcher program is too slow. The amount of data being processed is not an acceptable excuse. HCSS needs to get better compression to resolve the major bog-down for changes/updates to be made on the dashboard, as well as when printing reports/
- The E360 program needs improvement on the purchase order process.
- In general, there need to be more compatibility and function between all of the HCSS products. I want the information tracked in one module to be automatically synced with the other; I want to easily navigate in and out of all modules as well. This all needs creation and improvement.
November 21, 2017
Great Estimating Software
- Mass changes and updates to the estimate.
- Retrieves data quickly.
- The system tends to run very slow on large jobs with multiple users, especially subsystems such as quote comparisons.
- The system loses margin with some combinations of spread over-rides.
- Common windows features like dragging, dropping, copy/paste are cumbersome.
November 13, 2017
HeavyBid for Industrial Estimating
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
- Organized estimates. Especially sub and material management.
- Structured and consistent.
- Technical Help. They are available 24 hrs a day for technical issues
- No math errors. Using MS Excel to estimate always runs with the risk of formula errors.
- Complicated for new users. The software is so expansive, it is difficult to bring new users up to speed quickly.
- Expensive. Between the HCSS license and the Cloud service, it is very expensive.
- Server Based, without the cloud you cannot use it remotely.
November 10, 2017
The HCSS Effect
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
- Streamlined approach for estimating that helps each estimator provide the needed detail, and allows our company to have expectations of what an estimate should contain
- Heavyjob provides numerous options for documentation.
- HCSS Cloud allows our estimators and project managers access from any location and any computer whether at the office, onsite, or at home.
- HeavyJob could use more functions that make typing for the guys in the field a quicker operation.