The Ultimate Guide to Project Management Software for the Construction Industry

Successful implementation of construction projects requires a lot of planning and coordination among the departments, finance, and accounts to architects, engineers, and workers. For this, an effective construction management software is the best solution recommended to builders and construction companies. The management application provides collaboration tools, management, administration platforms, accounting, time tracking, and invoicing modules. These tools help streamline the decisions taken by the teams and provide a centralized platform for employees to access project-related information. 

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However, before implementing a construction project management software in your organization, you must understand a few basics that will help you make an informed decision about what’s best suited for your business. From the various trends of the construction-tech industry to the benefits a project management software can bring forth to the table, we are here to help you out. 

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Types of Project Management Software

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The global software industry has been working on efficient construction management software to aid construction companies, contractors, builders, remodelers, and construction managers in executing projects - big or small in a highly organized manner. Based on the clients' requirements, the industry has developed several trends of its own and put the latest technologies to good use. 

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The Project Management Software for the construction industry is divided into three types, depending on the platform it's developed for, features and convenience. 

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1. Mobile Applications: Mobile applications or mobile compatible software solutions are often created for managing construction projects. They are very popular due to their easy availability, user mobility, and ease of integration with other mobile applications and software. Construction management mobile applications are popular for the overall convenience they provide to the users, along with increased employee productivity and tracking project progress on the go, at any time of the day. 

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2. SaaS Solutions: Software as a Solution or ‘Saas’ basically refers to cloud-based technology solutions. Since construction companies own these applications according to subscriptions (monthly, quarterly, yearly), it gives them the freedom of use without having to worry about maintenance or bugs. Additionally, you can also take a demo of the software for some time before buying the subscription to be utterly sure that this fulfills all your business needs. 

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Another option is often provided to users when they want to store and analyze the data from their old projects or client information to refer to for future projects. Integrating the construction project management software with a data analytics tool is recommended for collecting, sorting, and leveraging such information. 

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Benefits of Construction Project Management Software

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Implementing a construction project management software in the workspace has its own advantages that cannot be overlooked while planning execution for a construction project. While you might be of the belief that an all-encompassing collaboration software may be an appropriate substitute for the management software, we are here to tell you how using a PMS for construction is way more efficient and beneficial for your business in the long run. 

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1. Financial accounting and management

The software has a built-in accounting module to help employees calculate the expenses and determine their project budget accordingly. It is so much easier to prepare costing estimates, allocate funds, and foresee overhead costs with the help of the construction project management software. Additionally, the application also takes into account the fixed costs that the company regularly incurs- such as employee salaries, office costs, and more. 

Lastly, the module takes data from previous projects for analysis. It gives the users an accurate estimate of the resources needed to execute the project (such as labor, equipment, and expertise). It provides ease of invoicing and tracking various activities with the help of the invoicing tool and time tracking tool. 

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2. Collaboration

Communication among departments and teams is essential for successfully executing a construction project, and the collaboration includes planning and coordinating various activities to avoid a chaotic situation during the execution. The software allows team members and managers to touch base with each other and external coordinators and stakeholders, along with providing them with a shared calendar, accessible task list, and team dashboard to stay connected during work hours. 

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3. Accountability of Resources

Accurate management of resources is as important as accounting for funds and estimating project costs. The Project Management Software provides an in-depth analysis of the resources (labor, equipment, inventory, and professionals), along with a periodic tracking of its productivity, usage, expense, and scope of optimization for future projects. 

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4. Ease of document sharing

Most construction management software provides a centralized document management system to share documentation with colleagues easily, create various documents with templates, and access critical information like wireframes, client specifications, blueprints, etc. The document management system is an essential addition to the project management software since it helps scan errors or bugs in documents and stores them safely to avoid misuse. 

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5. Better execution, business growth

Investing in the right construction project management software is vital if you want to avoid errors during execution and expand your business. The software is developed to help such businesses grow their processes, complete projects faster, increase the company's overall productivity and effectively generate more revenue. The software also provides you with an analysis of your business expenditures, helps complete mundane tasks faster, aids your team in delivering projects within the promised deadlines, and creates and manages jobs and employees more efficiently.

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Conclusion

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Construction Project management Software is a must-have for your upcoming construction assignment. However, it is not without a few challenges. While implementing the application in your workspace, you may face minute problems or inconveniences. However, considering our personal experience, we would like to add that all these problems can be solved without causing any backlog/ damage. The drawbacks of implementing construction project management software include users finding it difficult to use and integration issues with other applications. 

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At CognitiveClouds, we provide easy-to-integrate solutions that fit your work infrastructure entirely, along with life-long customer support and consultation. We take the utmost pride in our portfolio of SaaS solutions and look forward to creating the latest application for you. Reach out to us here, and let's discuss how we can help your business grow! 

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