Best Construction Management Software
Buyer's Guide
As builds and remodels continue to grow in size and complexity, managing construction projects with pen and paper is a recipe for errors, miscommunications, delays and blown budgets. Construction management software streamlines project management processes and keeps operations from spiraling into chaos.
These tools also support general contractors, subcontractors, and construction companies with multiple teams of contractors and projects across geographies. In this guide, we’ll cover the types, trends and benefits of construction management software, and how to find the best solution.
Executive Summary
- Construction management software allows project owners and managers to coordinate big-picture objectives while streamlining day-to-day operations.
- Construction management tools combine disparate segments of project management into a centralized interface, improving collaboration and communication.
- Key features include document, project and financial management tools, real-time tracking capabilities and scheduling modules.
- Construction project management software allows you to easily embrace industry trends, like prefabrication and green building initiatives.
- Choosing the right construction software entails asking important questions about the vendor and product.
- What Is Construction Management Software?
- Types
- Deployment Methods
- Primary Benefits
- Implementation Goals
- Basic Features & Functionality
- Advanced Features & Functionality
- Current & Upcoming Trends
- Software Comparison Strategy
- Cost & Pricing Considerations
- The Best Construction Management Software
- Questions To Ask Yourself
- Questions To Ask Vendors
- Next Steps
- Product Comparisons
- Additional Resources
What Is Construction Management Software?
Construction management software is an end-to-end platform that helps managers, AEC professionals, contractors and other builders optimize and streamline their workflows.
Construction software leverages billing, bid management, quality and safety features to tackle all project stages. It generates reports with an overview of projects, costs and current project stages for management.
Construction scheduling and labor management modules ensure correct teams complete specific tasks on time across multiple geographically diverse projects.
Construction professionals use management software at all levels of their projects to increase operational efficiency, ensure the timely completion of jobs and stay within budget.
Who Uses Construction Project Management Software?
All AEC and building professionals gain competitive advantages from incorporating construction management software. However, solutions aren’t one size fits all and certain unique variables affect the type and extent of use.
For instance, your business’s size, IT scope and the type of services you provide will determine your chosen software. The tools used by a single-user enterprise with annual revenue of less than $1 million will differ from that of a small business owner, a midsize buyer and an enterprise.
The following list has buyers broken down by type and each has varying revenues.
- Building Owners: Building owners manage a bouquet of projects and use construction management software to maintain an overview of them all. They require tools that ensure accountability and collaboration for their team and clients within a single dashboard.
- Construction Accounting
- Construction Bidding
- Construction ERP
- Construction Estimating
- Construction Scheduling
- Contractor
- Electrical Contractor
- Electrical Estimating
- Home Builder
- HVAC Estimating
- Insulation Estimating
- Job Costing
- Plumbing Estimating
- Real Estate Development
- Remodeling Estimating
- Residential Construction Estimating
- Roofing
- Solar
- Subcontractor Software
- Takeoff Software
- General Contractors (GCs): They require a strong suite to track and monitor costs, record documents and maintain job schedules. While construction (CMs) and project managers (PMs) may choose an integrated tool, GCs will focus on construction accounting software.
- Specialty Contractors: Contractors who specialize in electrical, HVAC, mechanical, plumbing and more focus on optimizing their team’s efficiency and timely completion of projects. They look for features such as RFI creation, submittal, transmittal and change order management, and more.
Types
- Construction Project Management: Construction project management modules manage the complete lifecycle of a construction project. They handle document management, workflows, punch lists and task assignments.
- Takeoff: Construction takeoff software streamlines pre-construction pricing and cataloging of necessary items. They measure jobsite dimensions and use blueprints to count items, enabling cost estimates.
- Construction ERP: ERP solutions create centralized depositories for construction projects. They include construction site management features and back-office management tools like accounting, invoicing and document management.
- Construction Data Analytics: Data analytics software for construction projects generates reports and insights, helping managers track active projects and save time with jobsite details.
- Construction Estimating: Construction estimating tools generate reliable labor and material estimates and offer cost and item databases. They can be specific to specialties like electrical and HVAC or general projects.
- Building Information Modeling (BIM): Also known as construction drawing management, BIM lets users edit, upload and mark up drawing plans. BIMs help architects, engineers, contractors, builders and owners collaborate during the building and planning stages.
- Construction Accounting: Construction accounting tools track project and job costs, manage payroll and handle inventory. They also support vendors such as civil, MEP and heavy projects.
- Construction Bidding: Bidding software creates estimates and streamlines the bid conversion process while ensuring profitability and competitive bids.
- Construction Scheduling: These solutions plan and align construction tasks, track project progress, improve efficiency and reduce costs.
- Electrical Estimating: Electrical estimating software helps contractors estimate labor and materials, offers cost and item databases, and generates reliable estimates.
- Subcontractor: Subcontractor software helps win bids with accounting tool integrations to create professional proposals.
- Construction Safety and Risk: Construction safety and risk solutions manage and reduce jobsite risks. Templates produce reports with data collected during walkthroughs and inform project managers about compliance risks.
- Jobsite Management: Jobsite management tools streamline communication between the field and back office. They are mobile-focused and let workers track their billable hours and resources while managing teams.
Deployment Methods
Construction management software uses cloud-based, on-premise or hybrid deployment options. Though most companies are turning to cloud-based deployment, each has pros and cons.
Cloud-based
The cloud is taking the world by storm, and it’s easy to see why:
- Many cloud-based SaaS vendors offer subscription-based pricing models for their products. The low cost of entry makes this software accessible to smaller companies who can’t afford large one-time investments.
- In-house IT experts aren’t needed to maintain your systems, as the software provider handles tech support, maintenance, data security, upgrades and service requests.
- Scaling is easy with the cloud. If you need more storage space, you can upgrade your plan.
- Cloud-based mobile apps provide mobility and flexibility for your team, allowing users to access information from anywhere with an internet or data connection.
The cloud has numerous benefits that make it difficult to ignore. Keep in mind, accessing these systems requires an internet or data connection, though some provide offline capabilities. Not only that, but subscriptions can also add up over time.
On-premise
While on-premise solutions may not be as popular, they have some unique benefits:
- Storing the system on company property eliminates the need for a constant internet or data connection. While you won’t be able to share through the internet until you reconnect, you’ll still have access to the system’s core features.
- Having hardware physically present provides customization opportunities that cloud-based software can’t. You can tweak on-premise solutions to perfectly fit your needs, though those changes come at a cost.
- As you have direct control over who has access, on-premise platforms can offer greater data security than their cloud-based counterparts.
- The price tag associated with on-premise systems can be large, but you only have to pay it once. There’s no worrying about long-term subscription costs or following up on payments.
While on-premise solutions have advantages, their high cost of entry and upkeep considerations make them intimidating choices for small and medium-sized companies.
Hybrid
Hybrid platforms utilize features from cloud-based and on-premise solutions. They provide a unique mix of capabilities to fit your specific needs. As such, their strengths and weaknesses depend entirely on the included (and excluded) features.
Expert recommendations and analysis on the top construction software
Primary Benefits
Construction management software provides multiple benefits to management, contractors and workers alike. Let’s take a look at some of the advantages you can reap:
Increase Operational Efficiency
Standardization of jobsite processes maintains clarity around purchase orders, job costs and change orders. Construction project management software ensures your business follows regulations and maintains communication among clients and workers.
It also stores data such as punch lists, pictures, blueprints and other documents in a centralized repository increasing operational efficiency and reducing costly mistakes.
Automation tools remove time-consuming manual and budget-tracking tasks from the picture. Dropping lengthy manual accounting and project tracking permits team members for more important tasks.
Improve Collaboration
Successful projects require clear communication across teams. Construction management software leverages the cloud to bring geographically scattered teams together.
Today, project teams can submit designs and documents through the web for notes, markups, discussions and more. Mobile apps also keep everyone up-to-date and allow data and project information submission on-the-go.
Construction management tools like BIM modules allow designers, contractors and other team members to work together using a single source of truth. They provide greater interoperability and mitigate data loss from teams using different proprietary design software.
Enhance Data and Financial Visibility
Real-time visibility into processes is critical to an efficient and accurate project. Reporting and analytics tools keep stakeholders, project managers and subcontractors in the loop and provide the current status of tasks and project assignments.
Generating reports on a daily, weekly and monthly basis ensures you identify possible issues before they become expensive problems.
Construction managers can monitor spending and maintain positive cash flow by tracking and comparing actual costs to estimates. The system also sends notifications if a project is in danger of going over budget.
When integrated with job costing and accounting systems, the numbers become more detailed and, over time, provide greater financial insights.
Schedule Efficiently
Top construction management software helps project managers assign tasks ahead of time, so everyone knows exactly when and where to be for every step of the operation. If certain tasks need immediate completion, quickly get the correct person or team on the job.
Leverage previous build data to create direct and efficient project timelines using the critical path method (CPM). CPM scheduling keeps costs low by minimizing the time to completion.
Boost Overall Accountability
Construction management software boosts accountability through document control. Track everything, from change orders to RFIs, by version through a central repository of all vital project documentation.
This central source of documentation, combined with manual and automated alerts, ensures that everyone related to the project knows when changes happen.
Expert recommendations and analysis on the top construction software
Implementation Goals
| Goal 1 Streamline Workflows and Increase Efficiency | Construction software management tools bring the many disparate processes of managing and building a project under one roof. Organizing and structuring workflows improve day-to-day and long-term efficiency for all levels of an organization, from owners to subcontractors. |
|---|---|
| Goal 2 Easier Collaboration and Fewer Mistakes | Using construction management tools, users bridge the communication gap between departments through document and design sharing, internal messaging systems and project updates. These systems keep track of changes, updates and stages of individual projects, encouraging smooth management and reducing errors. |
| Goal 3 Make Better, Data-driven Business Decisions | Use construction management software to assess, estimate and mitigate a variety of risks. From cost estimates to storing recommended procedures for different risk occurrences, these tools help with these crucial tasks. Monitoring actual versus estimated costs as projects progress allows you to head off costly issues that would otherwise go unnoticed. When delays, change orders and other issues arise, managers can examine their immediate and future impact and adjust accordingly to keep projects on time and budget. Leverage real-time data and projections to make cost- and time-saving decisions, resulting in happier clients and more bandwidth to accept and close out jobs. |
| Goal 4 Increase Agility and Scalability | As your teams grow and projects go from small, single-location operations to larger, more complex undertakings, construction software becomes an essential tool to track and manage everything. Pen-and-paper organization and document tracking are prone to mistakes that can end in messy litigation. Construction management software manages large influxes of new employees and scales with you to take on big, multi-location jobs. |
Expert recommendations and analysis on the top construction software
Basic Features & Functionality
The capabilities of one construction management software rarely mirror the other. Instead, each solution has a unique selection of features. Some basic ones you may find while shopping are:
| Project Management | Plan and manage the lifecycle of a project from start to finish. Monitor the big picture and the day-to-day tasks of teams. Get insights into RFIs, change orders, committed costs and other crucial activities. Break large projects into manageable pieces with work breakdown structures. Delegate tasks to the correct workers efficiently and track progress against completion estimates. |
|---|---|
| Financial Management | Construction management software offers a range of financial management features to estimate, manage and track expenditures. Modules, like job costing, estimate different project elements, reducing the likelihood a project halts due to funding shortages. Track predicted and actual budgets and use that data to make the next project’s estimates more accurate. Tax management and auditing modules ensure your project is always above board. Digital timesheets track and store team members’ worked hours for accurate invoicing and labor tracking. |
| Document Management | Send, receive, retrieve, scan, index, store and share business-related documents in one digital location. Cloud storage allows users to access and manage documents regardless of their physical location. Upload images, schematics and drawings to the system to enable collaboration and communication based on identical information. Role-based access ensures that only approved users have access to documents and sensitive data. |
| Scheduling | Create, adjust and manage production schedules and timelines from a central dashboard. Identify the most direct, efficient and cost-effective task timeline and delegate the correct personnel and resources accordingly. Set dependencies to ensure proper procedures, minimizing bottlenecks and unnecessary downtime. Use Gantt charts and other visualizations to generate and monitor schedules. Receive automatic alerts when scheduling issues arise. |
| Materials, Inventory & Equipment Management | Execute materials purchases, shipment schedules and equipment tracking via a single intuitive interface. Monitor inventory in real time, track shipments and receive automatic alerts when stock falls below a certain threshold. Incorporate vendor and product catalogs to purchase replacement materials or equipment with a few clicks. |
| Bid Management | Convert more bids into subcontracts, streamline package creation, discover the best options and get a project from bid to close faster. Use historic project data to quickly identify if a project is viable. Create custom bid forms, track communications and contacts, provide subcontractor portals and display accessible project calendars. Set up pre-qualifications to immediately narrow the possible pool of contractors to those with the required skills and certifications. |
| Risk Management | Predict financial risks like contractor and delivery delays or quality requirement failures. Access inspection tools on mobile devices to make safety checks and track onsite incidents. Plan for external risks like environmental disasters, governmental policy and tax changes, or public objections. |
| Mobile App | Manage every aspect of a build from a compatible tablet, smartphone or web browser. Workers on site have access to critical information, such as designs, schematics, work and change orders, punchlists, job notes and more to ensure quick, proper completion of tasks. Automatically send and receive notifications, such as schedule changes and severe weather alerts. |
Expert recommendations and analysis on the top construction software
Advanced Features & Functionality
Some features are less ubiquitous among construction management software. However, they may still be of substantial importance to your company depending on need.
| Reporting & Analytics | Drill down into granular project data to identify pain points and gain a comprehensive understanding of project progress. Track objectives and receive real-time updates on significant changes. Visualize and export reports in a preferred format and email them directly to clients or government bodies. |
|---|---|
| CRM Integration | Customer relationship management (CRM) tools allow users to store and access comprehensive client data, such as contact information, contract, previous projects and more. Sync meetings and appointments with digital calendars and monitor all client interactions. |
| Field Management | Front-line supervisors can efficiently manage their employees using crew-based field reporting, which draws insights from crew performance patterns to optimize the team. Create punchlists and detailed instructions to guide workers through to task completion. |
| Fleet Management | Monitor the real-time location of vehicles and equipment using GPS tracking capabilities. Keep vehicles and heavy equipment in peak condition by scheduling preventive vehicle maintenance. Assign maintenance tasks to specific technicians to ensure timely completion. Send automated communications and push notifications to drivers, alerting them to schedule changes, hazards and other issues. |
Expert recommendations and analysis on the top construction software
Current & Upcoming Trends
Increased Adoption of Digital Tools
Though traditionally slow to change, businesses in the construction industry are increasingly embracing digital resources. Experts predict the global construction software market to reach $3.8 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 8.3% thanks to this increase in adoption.
Technologies like virtual reality (VR) and the internet of things (IoT) are also seeing dramatic increases in implementation and market growth. Businesses equipped with construction management software can get the most out of these advanced tools and maintain a competitive advantage over competitors.
Prefabrication
Construction project management software allows managers to better organize and schedule personnel and deliveries, which will become increasingly important with the rise of prefabrication.
Prefabrication involves constructing materials or sections of a build off-site and delivering and installing them once the project is ready.
Prefabrication provides a host of benefits, like cost and time savings and better quality control, which is why the global market for modular and prefabricated nonresidential building construction expects to reach $88.2 billion by 2026.
Skilled Labor Shortage
Staffing challenges continue to plague the industry, especially when it comes to skilled labor. For complicated or specialized projects, firms will need higher wages to attract and retain top talent.
Automated and smart capabilities inside construction project management software reduce downtime for office and site workers while shortening completion times. These and other cost-saving features allow CMs to set aside more funding for bringing in and maintaining skilled workers.
Sustainable Buildings & Materials
Due in part to government initiatives and increasing consumer demand for more sustainable building practices, the target="_blank"global market for green building materials projects to reach $435 billion by 2027.
However, sustainable buildings go far beyond green materials. New policies and practices will change the way firms approach, design and construct projects, from new builds to remodels.
Construction management software allows owners and managers the flexibility to adjust production schedules, material acquisitions and more to meet green initiatives without sacrificing productivity or potential jobs.
Software Comparison Strategy
Many construction management systems share similar characteristics and capabilities. Finding the best fit for your business requires more than just a solid understanding of available features. You need a plan of attack.
First, identify the needs of your business. What are your main pain points? Is miscommunication leading to delays and bottlenecks? Where does your current system fall short? Make sure to talk with your team to gain their perspective and ensure you examine all aspects of your operation.
With that information on hand, start crafting a shortlist of construction project management software that addresses those issues. Before committing, research your vendor. Read online reviews, consult industry colleagues and see if the vendor offers a free trial to test their platform.
To find out more about how best to compare construction management software check out our software selection guide, which uses the Lean Selection process to identify the right choice for you.
Cost & Pricing Considerations
There are a few things to consider about construction management software pricing. Mainly, you’ll want to nail down your preferred deployment strategy, as that’s where most of the costs lie.
While cloud-based software typically offers affordable subscription plans, they often increase in price depending on the number of active users.
Some platforms charge by a certain number of projects or amount of stored data, so keep an eye on how many people/projects you need before signing up.
You should also take a look at support options. Some vendors offer different types of support package tiers. Depending on your specific requirements, the support you need could add to the final price of the software.
It’s also not uncommon for vendors to offer pricing tiers tied to features. Enterprise tiers usually include the most options but also have the priciest plans.
See prices for the top Construction Management software... Plus get important questions to ask.
Best Construction Management Software
Wading through the market for the best construction software can be overwhelming. With so many options, features and price variables, how do you decide which solution is best?
After looking at the data, our analysts curated a list of the best construction project management software to help get you started.
CMiC
CMiC is an end-to-end management solution built to handle projects of any size. Deployable on-premise or via the cloud, it allows users to communicate with other personnel or teams from any location. Automated features tackle daily tasks.
It creates an organized database of change orders, drawings, contracts and more while improving project visibility. The customizable and robust reporting module allows you to analyze any data point and generate detailed reports automatically.
Some features include project control, bid and schedule management, document control and a mobile interface.
View, edit and manage blueprints, drawings and other critical design documents from anywhere using the mobile app. Source
Procore
Procore is suitable for small, medium and large enterprises and helps users track project costs, manage resources and streamline communication. It lets architects, field personnel and engineers share data, edit designs and generate reports.
Manage multiple projects and tasks from a single mobile or desktop dashboard, including contracts, projects, drawings and bids. It offers unlimited storage, a contact directory, role-based permissions and data security. Reduce risk, maintain backups and generate reports. It’s flexible and customizable and integrates easily with popular apps.
Digital dashboards provide greater visibility into a project’s finances. Source
ConstructionOnline
ConstructionOnline is suitable for medium and large-sized enterprises. It helps create bid estimates, manage projects and monitor tasks with Gantt charts. Stakeholders can share crucial project documents using the TeamLink dashboard.
Highly customizable, it simplifies scheduling and streamlines accounting processes. Manage sales with lead tracking, client link and call logging. Oversee finances with estimating, change orders and quantity takeoff management features. It helps manage projects and schedules, track time and organize documents.
Create detailed punchlists to ensure the completion of all required tasks in proper order. Source
Buildertrend
Buildertrend streamlines day-to-day operations for contractors, builders and clients. Leverage leads, email marketing and bid requests in a single centralized module. Users can initiate lien waivers, budgets, time clocks and invoices while maintaining daily logs, schedules and to-do lists.
It records invoice changes, improves communication, tracks time and organizes job data. Keep customers up-to-date with progress updates, including site photos and videos. Some features include bid requests, estimate management, payment processing and reporting.
Track project schedule and daily activity on a unified interface. Source
Sage 300 Construction
Sage 300 Construction generates data throughout projects and consolidates it into a centralized location. It’s suitable for small and medium-sized businesses and specialized contractors such as residential remodeling, homebuilding and general contracting.
The cloud-based platform is highly scalable, boosts project and financial data visibility, provides customer service portals and increases collaboration between stakeholders, teams and clients. It helps manage risk and organize documents across multiple real estate projects.
Dynamic reporting modules allow you to visualize and compare project data. Source
Expert recommendations and analysis on the top construction software
Questions To Ask Yourself
Before shopping for construction management software, better understand the needs of your company and team by asking these questions:
- What current problems do we hope to solve with construction management software?
- What’s my budget?
- Which deployment method is preferable?
- Do we have the infrastructure to support the solution or will we need the vendor's assistance?
- What other systems do I need the construction project management software to integrate with?
Questions To Ask Vendors
With your needs identified, create a shortlist of possibilities by asking vendors questions about their company and product.
About the Software
- How customizable and scalable is it?
- What are the core strengths and weaknesses?
- What security features does it offer?
- How easy is it to learn and use?
- How extensive are the automation abilities?
About the Vendor
- How many years of industry experience do you have?
- Have you worked with companies of my size?
- What features or service tiers cost extra?
- What support and training resources do you offer?
- How long will onboarding take?
Expert recommendations and analysis on the top construction software
Next Steps
Integrating construction management software is vital for businesses looking to remain productive and profitable while accepting as many projects as possible. It streamlines daily operations, automates time-consuming tasks and improves collaboration between all team members to ensure timely delivery.
Get started on your construction management software journey today with our comprehensive comparison report and find out more about the industry’s top leaders!
Product Comparisons
- Top CMiC Alternatives and Competitors
- Top Procore Alternatives and Competitors
- Top ConstructionOnline Alternatives and Competitors
- Top Buildertrend Alternatives and Competitors
- Top Sage 300 Construction Alternatives and Competitors
- Procore vs. CMiC
- CMiC vs. ConstructionOnline
- Procore vs. ConstructionOnline
- CMiC vs Sage 300 Construction
- Procore vs Buildertrend
Additional Resources
- Construction Management Software Requirements Checklist
- Construction Trends: Industry, Technology and Market Landscape
- A Guide to Construction Management Scope and Leveraging Software
- BIM Capabilities and Features
- Construction Scheduling Requirements Checklist
- Best Web-based Construction Management Software
Top 10 Construction Management Software Leaders by Analyst Rating (of 246 products)
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