TALK TO AN EXPERT

Construction Software research, advice and selection help. Free!

“As a growing, service-intensive contractor, we outgrew our current software. It no longer met our needs. Justin spent time talking with me about our requirements for customer contact, AIA billing, job costing, asset tracking, purchasing and dispatch. His recommendations were spot on. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.”
- Jeff Mauldin, Communication Concepts

Construction software products we've reviewed:

Construction Software Applications

Quantity takeoff

Takeoff software is used to measure plans and calculate accurate quantities during the estimating process. Digitizer tablets allow estimators to trace paper plans with an electronic device and capture quantities and measures electronically. More recently, many estimators have turned to on-screen takeoff software, which measure PDF, CAD and other digital files on their computer screen.

Cost estimating

General contractors and other estimators that estimate across multiple divisions should review our construction estimating software buyer's guide. MEP contractors should review our buyers guides for electrical estimating software and mechanical and HVAC estimating software. For site work firms, we have developed an earthwork and excavating estimating software buyers guide. 

Bid management

General contractors and other AEC industry firms are challenged to manage contractor pre-qualification, bid invitation, bid document distribution, and bid comparisons. Bid management software provides estimators, purchasing managers, and project managers a single database of suppliers and subcontractors, as well as an efficient system for soliciting and tracking bids.

Project scheduling

Construction project scheduling software enables projected managers to efficiently schedule people, resources and tasks for an efficient construction process. Most systems employ a critical path method (CPM) paradigm and provide graphical representations of the schedule, such as Gantt charts. Scheduling is sometimes included in project management systems.

Project management

Our construction project management software buyers guide includes a long list of project management systems for document control, scheduling and budget tracking. This includes traditional "on-premise" systems, as well as the newer web-based construction management systems. You will also find strong project management capabilities in many of the accounting and job costing systems.

Accounting & job costing

Our construction accounting software buyers guide profiles a long list of accounting systems for a wide range of contractors and home builders. Commercial and industrial contractors will find systems in our general contractor software guide. Home builders - especially production builders - should review our guide for home builder software.

Customer management

Customer management software (i.e. CRM software) is used by contractors and homebuilders to manage their sales, marketing and service functions. Homebuilders have especially important requirements for managing their new home marketing, sales leads, option selection and sales process. Commercial contractors have more straightforward customer management requirements.

Service management

Electrical, mechanical and other contractors with an intensive service operation will need systems for dispatch, service contracts and spare parts inventory management. Our service dispatch management software buyers guide details a range of systems for service management, most of which are offered as a component of a broader accounting suite.

Recent Articles

Apple 3D Head-Tracking - The Ultimate Display for Construction Plans

The latest talk of the town in the Apple blogosphere is 3D head-tracking. Apple recently filed a patent for technology that allows users to change perspective of an object by moving their head or body. So instead of dragging your mouse to rotate a graph or chart, you simply look behind it; a more in...

RFID - A Construction Technology Dream Come True

What construction executive doesn't daydream about tools and equipment that are safe and sound whether on a job site or in the warehouse, especially as construction projects decline and competition heats up? Dream no more, as radio frequency identification (RFID) technology combined with a comprehen...

The End of Blueprints

We're big advocates of "going paperless." Our desks are free of folders, pens, printers and sticky notes. There's not a single TPS report to be found. We're also big advocates of software. So, when a visitor to our website shared their concern about the paper waste from printing blueprints, we were ...

Construction Software State of the Industry Report

This is the first in a series of "state of the industry" reports in which we will share our observations on construction software industry trends. While reporting the recessive state of the industry is not breaking news, there are some interesting trends that we can share. Not everything is gloomy, ...