Construction management can be a chaotic field to work in, especially if you are the one doing the managing. Older analog methods of monitoring the many spinning plates involved in a construction project are fading from use as complexity on job sites rises. Web-based construction management software has recently taken the spotlight as a cure for many of the pain points involved in construction management.

Managing processes like bidding, scope of work creation, and maintaining a healthy client relationship are exhausting without a construction management software suite.

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According to a recent study, scheduling issues, lack of team alignment and inefficient work processes are leading problems on construction projects. Fortunately, cloud-based construction management software is here to help.

To better understand how this software can optimize your construction projects we are going to cover a few topics:

• Overview
• Primary Benefits
• Key Features
• Solution Selection
• Best Web-Based Construction Management Software

What is Construction Management Software?

Imagine an astronaut piloting a spaceship. Construction management may not be quite as complicated, but there are still many variables to consider all happening at once. You don’t hear about astronauts climbing all over their ships to manually execute every process involved in space flight. In the same vein, you wouldn’t expect a construction manager to physically deal with every single aspect of a construction project.

Construction management software acts as a meeting point for the many processes inherent in a construction project. Much like sitting in the pilot seat, you have easy access to each important system of your operation and can manage them from an accessible dashboard.

Primary Benefits

By employing a cloud-based construction management software solution, you can extend these benefits even further:

Better Collaboration

Construction projects go through changes as they progress through their life cycles. Allowing team members to collaborate on 2D or 3D models of projects allows changes to be made quickly and accurately.

If one team member notices a critical change that needs to be made, they can save a current iteration of the model, make their changes, annotate what they edited and receive feedback from the rest of the team before implementing it.

Not only that, with cloud construction management software, teams can communicate from anywhere in the world at any time.

Improved Data Visibility

Maintaining an efficient construction project calls for quick decision making. If a material needs to be swapped out or design needs to be changed, the project can’t afford to sit around and wait for long. With real-time data visibility, software allows construction managers to make educated choices.

Important metrics like machine health, safety regulations and job-site statuses are never more than a click or two away. This visibility can also help prevent costly errors from occurring. With a direct line into the many vital processes on a construction project, construction managers can identify problems before they happen.

Mobile Accessibility

Being able to quickly access data is a need that is constantly on the rise in industries across the world. Software allows project managers, stakeholders and contractors to access important project functions from smart hand-held devices anywhere.

Requiring a construction manager to work from a physical desk in a project that has multiple job sites is highly inefficient. This way, the construction manager can be on-site at one location while viewing data from any of the other project areas.

Affordable Pricing Structures

Cloud based construction management software often comes with a much more reasonable price tag than on-premise solutions. This SaaS method allows users to pay a monthly subscription fee, which can help teams with lower budgets acquire this type of solution.

While the entry fee is much lower, you should keep in mind how expensive the solution will get after a long period of time. It is possible to end up paying more for your software depending on how long you pay monthly.

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Key Features

Document Management

Construction projects inherently come with a multitude of processes that need to be documented. Many operations still rely on analog pen-and-paper methods of document creation and storage, but these are quickly falling out of practice. Why risk losing physical documents when you can safely store a copy on the cloud and print it when needed?

Cloud-based construction management software allows you to generate reports, file procurement requests and create punch-lists all from one easily accessed location.

Data Back Up

Catastrophes happen, and on-premise solutions suffer the most when one occurs. With a software solution, you can rest easy knowing your data is backed up on the cloud.

When that dreaded power outage occurs, your data is safe thanks to the iterative saving capabilities of the cloud. Even if your set-up is somehow completely destroyed, all of your critical documents and files are recoverable from your cloud solution.

Bid Management

Moving quickly during the bidding process can make or break a construction project. Whether you are choosing a contractor to go with or doing the bidding yourself, web-based construction management software makes it all the easier.

Quickly view incoming bids and compare them side-by-side to make informed choices on who will be working on your projects. If you’re the one putting in the bid, you can quickly generate accurate bidding documentation that includes all the pertinent information a project owner would need to make their selections.

Budget and Billing Automation

After a long day, balancing a budget can sound like an impossible task. Software can lessen the pain of budgeting and billing processes by automating many of the steps involved.

Keeping an organized record of project costs is crucial, don’t suffer from the disorganization of pen and paper. Keep your important documents in a centralized location that is always safe, the cloud.

Customer Relationship Management

At the end of a long project having a happy client is the goal. Software comes with multiple avenues of strengthening client satisfaction.

With some cloud construction management software suites, you can create fully rendered models of completed projects (in some cases this can even be done in virtual reality). These type of presentations can be wonderful communication methods between you and the project owner. Nothing calms a client down like virtually walking through a representation of their project that is up to their specifications.

Automated Upgrades

One major, (and often overlooked), feature has over on-premise solutions is its ability to easily update itself.

On-premise solutions sometimes require shutting down the entire software suite to download important updates. These can crop up at unfortunate times and can set an entire project back.

Cloud-based construction management software keeps itself updated and tries its best to stay out of your hair while your project is moving forward.

Solution Selection

You’ll find that most cloud construction software packages offer a wide array of features, though you should never assume the feature you require is included.

Keep your individual requirements in mind when selecting your software solution. Asking yourself and software vendors some questions will help narrow down your list.

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Getting answers to questions like these can help maximize your return on investment and help you get the most out of your software.

What is Wrong with Your Current Solution?

If you already have a solution in place or are simply moving over to web-based construction management software you probably have an idea of how your currently software package lets you down.

Talk to your team members and keep track of any points that they feel are lacking in your current solution. While the construction manager is the main beneficiary of the benefits brought to the table by this software, your team has to deal with it as well.

Make sure everyone is happy with the choices you make; if efficiency is the goal, all team members should be comfortable with the incoming software solution.

What is Your Budget?

An expensive price tag can be very tempting when you are looking to upgrade your construction management software. Most people see a big number and assume that the high price makes the solution in question the best choice. This could not be farther from the truth, however.

More expensive solutions come with complex features meant to deal with large scale projects and teams. A small team that adopts a needlessly complex software package is inviting inefficiency.

When choosing a solution, make sure your requirements are met and that the software can scale with your operation as it grows. Most of the time this won’t lead to the most expensive choice on the market, but this isn’t a bad thing!

Does the Vendor Have a Support System?

Picking up a new solution or upgrading from an older software package always comes with a few growing pains. Your users will need to spend some time getting the hang of new functionalities and user interfaces, but what happens when a major problem occurs?

When speaking to your shortlist of vendors, make sure their software packages come with a safety net. Some vendors offer learning materials that can speed up the initial integration process, but having staff on hand to answer questions about difficulties can save large amounts of time.

Now that you are armed with some helpful knowledge about the many benefits and features of cloud construction management software, let’s take a look at the top 5 performers.

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Best Web-Based Construction Management Software Solutions

Let’s get specific and dig into the top competitors in the web-based construction management software field. The goal of this article is to make your selection process easier, so our analyst team gathered their data and created this list of the top 5 software packages available.

BIM 360

Autodesk’s BIM 360 platform is designed for use by anyone on construction teams and for companies of any size. BIM 360 is all about connecting, organizing and optimizing your projects with a single web based platform.

View and edit models in a collaborative environment.

State-of-the-art safety modules help prevent incidents by capturing data from positive and negative safety observations. With the many collaboration boosting tools included in the platform your teams will have direct lines of communication to managers and each other. As we all know, communication keeps construction projects running smoothly and boosts efficiency on job sites.

Let’s take a look at some of BIM 360’s main benefits:

RFIs and Submittals: BIM 360’s RFI tools allow you to respond to RFI requests via the web and through mobile tools. You can also provide context to your 2D and 3D drawings or models by posting RFIs to either. The construction submittal tools provide a layer of accountability and can reduce the risk of errors with a single document library.

Quality Control: The included quality control module grants visibility into the many processes taking place on a given construction project. Access quality checklists via mobile devices and report any problems that come up in real time.

Create customizable quality checklist templates that can be accessed from a dashboard that tracks all submitted reports.

Construction Site Safety: Preventing on-site accidents is a must for any construction project. Digital site safety checklists and safety documents can all be accessed via mobile technology and help create a safer environment.

If any safety issues arise, BIM 360 provides functionality that can track the root causes of problems that happen. Conformance targets for safety can also be set for any subcontractors employed on your construction projects.

Constructability: BIM 360’s constructability module supports design reviews, version comparison and issue resolution. 2D and 3D designs can be shared across all teams on the project, and teams can collaboratively comment on documents and models with a markup tool.

Digital access to changes in core construction project documents like the scope of work, schedule and budget is readily available.

Construction Drawings and Document Management: BIM 360 employs a single, cloud based platform that can be leveraged for organization, distribution and file sharing.

Robust search capabilities, offline sync capabilities for mobile devices and photo sharing capabilities help round out this highly performing software suite.

Procore

Procore’s web-based construction management platform focuses on streamlining document processes and strengthening communication. This software platform works with operations of any size and provides a collaborative place for project members to edit, discuss and create project documents.

Keep track of your change orders and other documents through an integrated dashboard.

This unifying platform aids construction managers in mitigating risks with real-time data visibility. Procore comes with financial modules that grant financial oversight from the office to the work site.

Here are some more key benefits of Procore:

Contact Directory and Permission: Quickly access contact data for all members of your construction team with Procore’s directory tool. Permission functionality comes standard with Procore as well. Permissions can be set for each tool along and provides user role-based controls.

Permissions can also be set at the individual, company and project levels. All administrative features are fully customizable and come standard in all Procore products.

Contract Management: Streamline your document management processes with automated tracking and distribution of important documents. Create a collaborative contract management platform with customizable permission levels that only allow the required personnel to use.

Other functionalities include subcontract creation and tracking, payment application submittals and potential cost impact management.

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Data Analytics: Procore’s centralized data aggregation module provides insight into the inner workings of a construction project. Lock onto key business trends and make accurate projections with Procore’s easily digestible data visualizations.

Annual Access Agreement for Storage Capability: Procore has an annual access agreement that provides unlimited storage capacity without any additional cost.

Quality and Safety: Taking a proactive approach to safety is a must for any construction project. Procore’s Incident Tools provides risk management, trend identification and data visualization that allows you to track an event to its origination.

By identifying risks, steps can be taken to prevent workplace accidents from occurring. Manage exposure to possible litigation and keep your insurance premiums low with safe workplaces.

Reviews: 90/100
Price: $$$$$

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RedTeam

RedTeam’s solution tackles a wide range of construction management processes and is suitable for projects of any size.  Coordinate your teams through online document sharing and creation. Keep your projects on track with scheduling functionality and performance monitoring inclusions.

Manage contracts and upload documents to your projects with ease.

RedTeam’s project management module tracks possible project opportunities, records all client interactions and can schedule helpful event reminders straight to your calendar. Preconstruction functionalities also make it easy to create a scope of work and any proposals you need for the project at hand.

Time for some more benefits:

Order Proposals: Attach and include previously established unit prices on change order proposals to maintain current pricing knowledge.

Preliminary Notices and Lien Waiver Tacking: Storing lien documents is often a very complex undertaking. RedTeam’s software streamlines this process with one tool. Upload and store these documents quickly, and cut down on wasted time.

Cost Plus Construction Billing: It is common practice for project donors to require backup documentation attached to monthly progress bills. This software solution provides quick methods to create and generate the requested documents as well as employee timesheet expenses and copies of subcontractor applications for payment.

Revenue Recognition: Redteam’s software platform uses real-time revenue recognition to measure cash flow, job profitability and working capital efficiency.

Subcontractor Credentials: Track subcontractor certificates of insurance and other important credentials before signing subcontracting agreements. This functionality helps identify who has missing or expired credentials when putting together construction teams. Subcontractors can also use this platform to upload their own credentials.

Reviews: 89/100
Price: $$$$$

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Company Size Suitability: S M L 

Aconex

Oracle Aconex is another platform that is well suited for medium to large projects. This management solution provides construction professionals from firm owners down to subcontractors a way to easily collaborate and organize projects.

Manage your important documents from one easy to access screen.

Aconex offers many project- optimizing features including the ability for team members across the world to create and review project information at any time. Team up and work on designs, contracts, RFI’s, reports and drawings from any location.

This platform supports projects from a variety of industries but is primarily designed for architects, engineers, government contractors, heavy construction firms, and power companies.

Document Management: Built for construction and engineering, Aconex provides all team members with up to date documentation. These important documents include drawings, BIM models and contracts. With version control throughout you never have to worry about working on an old document.

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RFIs: Centralized communications help bring your project optimization up and keep your construction on time. Digitalize RFI’s and queries while providing users with a tool to manage them. Aconex’s RFI inclusions also include tools for change management, delays, EOT and approvals.

BIM Management: Use a common environment to manage designs specific to your projects. Cross-discipline collaboration and interoperability with other systems is also a function of this solution.

Bid and Tender: Aconex’s centralized platform enables a streamlined bidding process and tender management. The platform can also receive bids with a digital lockbox and award contracts.

Quality and Safety: Automate and standardize your field-based processes to better manage inspection times, accountability, and delay causes. Create customized checklists for health, safety, defects and punch-lists with easy to use tools.

Reviews: 88/100
Price: $$$$$

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Company Size Suitability: S M L 

Sage 300 CRE

Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate software is a web-based construction software solution that is designed for medium to large companies. As a project accounting and management based platform, Sage 300 CRE supports multiple functionalities that optimize your projects.

Track project costs and automate your budgeting processes.

This software package automates much of the tedious billing process and takes care of payroll, billing, accounts payable/receivable and service management. Sage 300 CRE also supports contracting companies focused in home building, real estate development and residential remodeling.

Minimize your liability with Sage 300 CRE’s subcontractor compliance lien waiver tracking, insurance certificates and certified reports. This software solution’s document management organizes and shares documents at the click of a button.

Here are some of Sage 300 CRE’s main benefits:

Connectivity: Connect your day-to-day operations, financial processes and project management activities through Sage 300 CRE’s accessibility. Your mobile and field personnel can also keep up to date with smartphone and tablet access.

Collaborative: Bring your teams together through document sharing and functionalities that compliment the natural workflow of your projects.

KPI Monitoring: Keep track of rising and falling key performance indicator monitoring that alerts you to any changes. Supporting information can be used to monitor all portions of a project’s life cycle and help boost any processes that are underperforming.

Customization: Customize the entire platform with custom screens, data fields, inquiries, reports, toolbars and more.

Integration and Dashboard: An executive dashboard keeps your critical information in an easily accessible place.

Once you’re ready to dive into the wide sea of cloud construction management software vendors, our in-depth comparison report can help you discover the perfect solution.

Reviews: 87/100
Price: $$$$$

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Company Size Suitability: S M L 

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In Conclusion

If your projects are hectic, disorganized and don’t foster a communicative environment, a web-based construction management software suite can cure what ails you. Create a touchstone for your team members to gather around, share data through and communicate with.

How has implementing the cloud into your construction projects increased efficiency? Let us know with a comment below!