During the International Builders’ Show in January, Home Innovation’s Ed Hudson, director of market research, noticed a lot of activity at the booth of a construction management software company. With an Omnibus Survey of Home Builders set to launch after the show, Hudson chose to further explore the topic by including questions about builders’ usage of construction management software. Here’s a recap of some of the survey results.
How popular is construction management software among builders?
A sizable majority of new-home builders and general contractors are not using integrated construction management software (77%), and they seem not to have plans to do so anytime soon.
While most builders embraced desktop computing decades ago for email and researching new products, as evidenced from past NAHB studies, use of computers for other facets of running their businesses has not evolved much. Of the 300 builders surveyed, only 23% are using an integrated business management application. About a third said they use computers and mobile apps to manage their business in some way, but they also mostly use separate applications for each business function. Meanwhile, 43% said they don’t use any computer applications to manage their business.
Larger builders were more likely to use integrated software than smaller builders, with 60% of those reporting 100 or more homes per year said they use an integrated solution; 36% of medium-sized builders (25-99 homes per year), and only 18% of smaller builders (<25 homes per year) reported using this type of software.
Why do builders use this software?
Builders who reported using such software noted many benefits—time savings, fewer mistakes, cost control, employee/subcontractor accountability, information sharing, and organizing/simplifying their jobs.
How exactly are builders using construction management software in their business? The survey reveals that the top function is for managing change orders, followed by scheduling, estimating, jobsite management, and document management. Bookkeeping, communicating with subcontractors, and proposals and contracts also appeared in the majority of responses.
Which software brand are they using?
The software application cited most by builders is from the same company with the busy booth at IBS—Buildertrend. This application had nearly double the number of users in the survey as the No. 2 software, ProContractor by Viewpoint. CoConstruct and Sage were Nos. 3 and 4, respectively. However, one-third of respondents—more than those who selected any of the top four brands individually—answered “Some Other Software Application,” which means it’s likely that larger production builders may be using custom platforms designed specifically for their businesses.
What do these results mean?
According to Hudson, the number of builders and new-home general contractors not using an integrated system signals an opportunity for software providers.
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