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Home Builder Construction Software
Mark Systems IHMS
Mark Systems IHMS for home builders includes a range of applications from project scheduling to service management. The system has strong accounting functionality with features for job costing, multi-location support and more.
Sage 100 Contractor (formerly Sage Master Builder)
Sage 100 Contractor initially began as a homebuilder accounting system and still maintains a very strong presence in the industry. It is popular for builders outgrowing starter accounting programs, Excel, and paper.
BuilderTREND
The focus of BuilderTREND has always been on the residential market, with customers ranging from custom and production homebuilders to remodelers. The web-based system offers integrated scheduling, project management, and CRM.
Co-construct
Co-Construct is a web-based system that is designed for construction firms in residential remodeling, home building and residential design. The system helps firms manage schedules, share project documentation and more.
UDA ConstructionSuite
Designed for growing residential firms, ConstructionSuite is one of the most comprehensive construction management systems on the market. This solution offers estimating, specification and Outlook integration.
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Procore
Due to its strengths in collaboration and documentation, Procore is a good fit for communication-intensive custom and semi-custom homebuilders. It typically is not used by production builders with little communication needs.
Maxwell Systems ProContractorMX
Maxwell's ProContractorMX offers robust job costing capabilities that are suitable for both production and custom homebuilders. Modules for estimating, takeoff, project management, and customer management are also available.
ComputerEase
In addition to subcontractors and commercial GCs, homebuilders and residential remodelers are a strong segment for ComputerEase. The company focuses on builders doing more than $1 million in annual construction volume.
BuildTools
BuildTools is designed specifically for custom home builders and remodelers and is best-suited for smaller operations. BuildTools helps manage bidding, monitor project budgets, track warranties and submit change orders.
Jonas Premier
Jonas Premier is designed for the small to medium-sized home builder and offers functionality that you'd expect in a home building package such as job costing and subcontractor management. The system works for a Mac or PC.
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What is Homebuilder Construction Software?
Homebuilders typically rely on subcontractors, which means they need to monitor invoices, purchase orders, and communications very closely, as well as the status of all their jobs and subs. For many contractors building a house, a complete construction management software system that manages every aspect of the building process—from cost estimating to warranty administration—will be the most effective solution, though this not always the case. Many top vendors concentrate on one type of application, known as best-of-breed or standalone software.
Homebuilder-specific Functionality
Homebuilders need most of the standard features that come with top-rated construction management software, but as you’re looking there are a few features for homebuilders to consider:
Consider the following features of home builder construction software:
| Specialized Job Costing & Invoicing | One of the key features for homebuilder construction software is the inclusion of job costing data to make improve estimating accurate and make billing more efficient. A construction system that isn’t geared toward homebuilding—or worse, a generic accounting system—won’t have anywhere near the same level of functionality. |
| Link to Vendors & Subcontractors | Many systems will allow the user to link directly into vendor purchasing or subcontractor scheduling systems. This can expedite project/inventory management and scheduling. A system geared toward the homebuilder market will focus its materials in that area. |
| Critical Path Method Scheduling | Homebuilding involves hundreds of individual tasks. Most of these have some degree of flexibility in terms of when they are executed, but all of them must be completed within a certain timeframe in order to keep from extending past deadline. Critical path method is a project modeling algorithm that’s specifically designed to solve these kinds of scheduling dependencies, so some home builder construction programs use this method to support the user in scheduling tasks and subcontractors. |
Evaluating Homebuilder Construction Software
There are dozens of homebuilder programs for the construction market. In fact, several companies make multiple products for this one niche. Selecting the right one can be a daunting task, but as with any software, start by assessing your needs. An integrated suite will combine accounting, project management, scheduling, and homebuilder CRM, but you may need just one or two of these capabilities. Residential remodelers have specialized needs within this industry, so should choose a dedicated residential remodeling system.
Specific questions to ask when selecting homebuilder construction software include:
- What size is your company? Most home builder construction programs are geared toward companies of a certain size, so this should be one of the first things to match when evaluating a program.
- What features do you need?
- Do you want an on-premise, client/server-based deployment, or is your organization interested in exploring web-based deployment opportunities?
- How well does the software integrate with your existing accounting, CRM, ordering, or other systems?
Have an opinion on this guide? Email the authors. We appreciate the feedback.
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Construction Software Buyer's Toolkit
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How to Assess Construction Vendors' Viability