At Procore, we have a lot of respect for our customers’ skills. The best construction software in the world can’t manage a project if you don’t have skilled trades on the job.
In celebration of those skills, we offer you the following video. Some say these feats can’t be real—but maybe you have someone on your project site who can beat these guys?
Send us your own video of “job site skills”, and maybe we’ll make you famous on Procore’s blog…
Austin, TX based Software Advice provides a software purchasing advisory service that we’ve written about before on the PowerTool blog. Software Advice takes calls from people seeking construction software and then directs those callers to the appropriate software vendor. These software vendors pay Software Advice for generating relevant customer leads, and the software user gets free advice and direction on which of the many types of available software vendors to contact.
For everyone involved, this is a great service. Customers quickly learn who makes the right kind of software for their needs, and vendors don’t get calls from customers interested in a type of software that the vendor doesn’t make.
Software Advice gets paid by their software vendor clients regardless of whether any software is actually purchased. As a result, we have found that Software Advice has a market viewpoint that is remarkably free of bias towards one vendor or a single type of product. Each year, Software Advice speaks with thousands of prospective software buyers. As a result of these conversations, the company has a great perspective on what’s going on in the construction software market.
Software Advice has recently provided an overview of the construction market with a blog post entitled Construction Software State of the Industry Report. This analysis is a timely summary of trends that Procore also sees in the market for construction software—particularly the nearly complete acceptance of Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery. In addition, the Software Advice piece notes the growing demand for LEED Certification Tracking systems, an area which Procore has expanded into with the recent release of our LEED Credit Tracking module.
We’re pleased to see that Software Advice agrees that Procore is on the leading edge of two of the strongest trends we’ve seen with our own customers—LEED Certification Tracking, and Software-as-a-Service application delivery.
The web site ConstructionSoftwareReview.com has lots of information that can be useful for companies seeking information about construction software. The site collects user reviews from customers who actually use the construction software every day on their jobs.
ConstructionSoftwareReview is an independent site. The reviews collected come straight from the software user. Listening to the nice things our customers have said makes us feel pretty good. It’s nice when all the hard work is well-received by the people we’re trying to help with Procore.
Here are some of the comments that Procore users have submitted:
“Use of Procore allowed our staff and subcontractors, as well as our clients, to follow the progress of the job with ease.” Patty Gueblin, Stellar Energy Solutions
“Although Procore is easy to use, the vendor provides quality user support. “I’ve called many times, and each time everyone at Procore has been friendly, helpful and professional.” Steve Bunting, Mid-Eastern Builders
“Great job, Procore. This software is very helpful in our day-to-day job. Tasks that took many tools we can now do with one.” James McNeal, Bender Chaffey Construction
“Procore is a highly efficient, almost effortless program for [construction] project management.” Katy Griffin, East Carolina University
Click here to see more Procore customer surveys on ConstructionSoftwareReview.
All we can say to our customers is “Thanks! We’ll keep working hard to get feedback like this!.”
NOTE: Procore is not a client of ConstructionSoftwareReview.
Procore now features a Chart View for tracking the progress history of RFIs and Submittals.
For RFIs, the Chart View allows you to view the overall Net Resolved RFIs over time. You’ll be able to see how many RFIs were opened during each month of the project, how many were closed, and what the Net Resolved RFI total was in any project month. The same analysis can be viewed for Open vs. Closed Submittals over the the life of the project.
These new views are part of Procore’s mission to help manage project information and make it usable. Paper-based systems can track RFIs, and you can also manage Submittals using your email Inbox. But if you manage your construction projects using paper files or email, you won’t be able to easily use the information that comes from your experience on each project.
With Procore, this kind of project information is available with the click of a mouse. Procore lets you collect project data, search for information, find project details and analyze project history. With Procore, your team can get BETTER at managing jobs—which makes you more productive and your projects more profitable.
To learn more, call us at 1-866-477-6267, or email us at support@procore.com
Joe Patterson, Project Manager at Associated Pacific Constructors (www.associatedpacific.com) recently sent us a video explaining why he likes Procore. Joe uses Procore to manage coastal and offshore projects—and he let us know that Procore can be recommended to improve project efficiencies on both land and sea.
Check out Joes’s video, below.
Send in your video on why you like Procore and we’ll add it to our blog. Email us at support@procore.com, or call 1-866-477-6267 for details.
Procore now offers the capability to track LEED credits on any construction project. LEED certification can increase the desirability and marketability of almost any project, and may help to set a project apart from the competition. The challenge lies in tracking all of the information and documentation that supports the award of each LEED credit.
In response to customer demand, Procore has recently rolled out a LEED credit tracking feature. Using Procore, construction managers and LEED APs can associate individual submittals, change orders, and even project emails with specific LEED points. Using Procore to track LEED credits results in LEED documentation that is assembled as the project progresses, instead of “after the fact.” Associating project documents with LEED points during the project, rather than after project completion, makes it much easier to have all the proper documentation in place when it comes time to apply for a specific LEED credit.
The construction software experts at Software Advice recently examined Procore’s LEED capabilities and have a nice blog piece that relates their findings. During their conversation with Procore CEO Tooey Courtemanche, Software Advice noted that using a construction project management software application like Procore can help to reduce project risk:
“Project management software mitigates risk. There are big financial ramifications if you fall from a gold to silver, or off the podium entirely. As Courtemanche explained to us, “Just as accounting software has become a ’source of truth’ for financial reporting, project management software is a source of truth for LEED certification.”
LEED certification is too important to a project’s value—leaving the full documentation process until the end of the project is a new source of risk that can be mitigated by using Procore. Interested in learning more about Procore’s LEED credit tracking capability? Give us a call at 1-866-477-6267, or email us at sales@procore.com.
We’ve put a lot of work into Procore’s Document Management tool this month. The result: a radically improved tool that beats the competition, at a price that others can’t touch.
One thing that hasn’t changed is that Procore is STILL the only construction project management software application to offer Unlimited Document Storage Space at no extra charge. There’s never a limit on your document storage space in Procore.
After reviewing Procore’s new features, we think you’ll agree that Procore gives you an unbelievably powerful Document Management capability. Plus, all of these new features are easy to use!
Check out the new functions that come standard with Procore’s Document Management:
Document Permissions: Set access permissions from the Folder level all the way down to individual documents. Users can have their permissions set in any combination of levels. This means a user can have full document access on one project, partial access on another, and no access to documents on yet another project. Procore lets you do all of this with just a couple of clicks.
Drawing Log: Procore has a full drawing log, so that you can automatically track changes for all your plan files. New file versions are automatically numbered in sequence during the upload process, as well as time- and date-stamped.
Watch Folders: Procore automatically sends you an email you whenever a file is uploaded or downloaded from any specified directory or set of folders that you set as “Watch Folders”.
Download History: Want to know who on your project team has downloaded a particular file? Procore’s Document Management tool gives you this information for every file, automatically.
Weekly Document Update: See exactly what new documents were uploaded this week—Procore provides this feature as a standard view.
Related To: Procore tracks how every document in your online archive is used—telling you whether a specific document was part of an RFI, a Submittal, or included in Meeting Minutes. Just look at the “Related To” detail for any document, and you’ll get the full story.
Procore: Full Featured Document Management
To learn more, call us at 1-866-477-6267, or email us at support@procore.com
Procore now gives you the ability to customize your reports and templates with a specific look and feel. Add your company logo, match your company standards for fields and layouts—it’s all easy to do with Procore.
One of the challenges with most construction project management software is that you have to use “canned” reports and layouts. With Procore, you can customize PDF report layouts not only for your company, but even for individual projects that you’re working on.
This feature can be applied to as many reports as you like, and can vary from project to project within your same Procore account. This means that if you’re a contractor working on projects for multiple clients who want to see different report layouts, Procore can do it.
Or, if you’re a construction manager who has jobs with two different general contractors, Procore can provide you with PDFs that have different logos and layouts for each project you’re working on.
Questions? Contact us at 1-866-477-6267 or send us an email at support@procore.com to learn more.
Here are two new features in Procore that were developed in response to user feedback. Have an idea for how we can continue to make Procore the best construction project management software in the world? Send us an email at enhancements@procore.com.
And be sure to check out these new features next time you log into your Procore projects:
Role Based Permission Templates
Procore now lets you use Role Based Permission Templates. This feature allows you to set permissions for a certain project role once, and have those permissions automatically apply to that role for all of your company’s projects. The standard settings for “Architect” or “Project Engineer” or any other project role can be used on all of your projects, without having to reset permissions.
Choosing the permission option to ‘Save This User’s Settings as a Template’ or ‘Load an Already Created Template’ will create or apply a role-based permission. This new feature makes it quick and easy to set up additional projects in Procore, without having to enter the same set of permissions for each project.
Improvements Made to Meeting Minutes Tool
Cost codes can now be assigned to Meeting Items, which makes it possible to quickly review your meeting notes to find items related to a specific cost code. In addition, Procore now send reminder emails out for overdue meeting items, notifying the assignees when meeting items have passed a pre-set due date without being those items being closed. This helps to make “meet and forget” a thing of the past!
To learn more about this feature, contact support@procore.com or call 866-477-6267.
Taylor Maxfield, Project Manager at Culp Construction (www.culpco.com) recently sent us a quick video explaining why he likes Procore. In his job, Taylor has to manage many different types of projects—after all, Culp Construction has been around since 1949, and the company is known for its expertise in all types of construction. Recent projects include major retail centers, churches, schools, civic buildings and even custom homes.
As Taylor notes, using Procore is “like having a full-time assistant”— he can can get more tasks done in less time. With Procore, Culp Construction saves money and time. Check out Taylor’s video, below.
Send in your video on why you like Procore and we’ll add it to our blog. Email us at support@procore.com, or call 1-866-477-6267 for details.
Next time you need a laborer at your job site, you may want to consider giving them a physical ability text. You could have them demonstrate proper safety techniques, talk about the right way to lift and carry objects, and provide references from past construction projects where they’ve worked.
Or, you can have your job candidate watch the video below and then try to carry even half as many bricks as this guy manages to tote in one trip. If you find someone who can accomplish that task, and you need construction materials carried—hire that guy!
Procore users can now easily keep track of meeting agendas and minutes right in their Procore projects.
With Procore’s new Meeting Minutes tool, a meeting agenda can be quickly created and distributed to all project team members using email. Once the meeting has been held, the agenda can be converted with a single click into the minutes for that meeting. Comments and notes on the actual proceedings can be added to the minutes, and then the completed record can be distributed to all meeting participants. Open items from a single meeting can be carried forward to the next meeting, and meetings can be related to each other. So, if a weekly job site meeting needs to have a recurring topic, that topic can be carried forward from one meeting to the next.
This feature is available in the Enterprise Edition of Procore, for no extra charge.
Here at Procore, we get a lot of inquiries from people looking for construction software reviews. We thought it might be helpful if we gave you our take on some of the construction software review sites that are available for free on the web.
SoftwareAdvice.com (www.softwareadvice.com)
Probably the most comprehensive construction software review site. Allows you to narrow down the sites by your requirements, so that you don’t spend your time investigating construction estimating software when what you really need is construction project management software. The site is full of product information, screen shots and feature/function lists that help you find likely products that fit the way you work.
Once you find some products to consider, submit your name and contact info (at no cost) to SoftwareAdvice.com. They’ll forward your request to various software vendors, who can then contact you for online demos. One of the easiest ways to shop for construction software.
Capterra.com (www.capterra.com)
Like SoftwareAdvice.com, allows you to filter construction software packages by features and functions. More advertising focused than SoftwareAdvice.com, so that software vendors get more prominent placement on the site depending on how much they pay Capterra. Also allows you to request demos from multiple vendors by filling out a single online form.
BuyerZone.com (www.buyerzone.com)
A more structured way of finding construction software vendors. Site visitors fill out a “one-size fits all” type of form to request calls from various software vendors. Not as much content (e.g., screen shots, feature/function lists) as the prior two sites, but is still a one-stop way to have software vendors call you, instead of you spending all your time making that initial contact.
ConstructionSoftwareReview.com (www.constructionsoftwarereview.com)
Comprehensive site with actual user reviews of construction software. More than 80 construction software vendors are listed, and the site includes a great deal of information. The site’s blog gives some updates on developments and new products in the construction software industry. Good resource for getting a handle on what’s going on in construction software.
Have any other ideas on how to find quality construction software vendors? Leave us a comment (below) or drop us an email at info@procore.com.
Construction software industry observer Don Fornes, CEO of Construction Software Advice has posted an article noting that more construction companies are embracing web-based construction project management.
Fornes bases his observation on the behavior of the construction companies that contact Construction Software Advice to inquire about construction management software:
“Recently, we’ve noticed a big change in construction firms’ views on the web-based, or Software as a Service (SaaS), model of using project management software. Among AEC companies evaluating new construction management systems, we’ve observed:
- approximately 40% are asking specifically for a web-based system
- about 50% understand the web-based model and are considering it
- approximately 10% remain committed to managing software “on premise.”
These statistics are very different from what we saw a few years ago from buyers of construction software.”
Why the change in contractors’ willingness to embrace hosted, software-as-a-service construction project management tools? Fornes notes several reasons, all having to do with the simplicity and functionality that using a hosted solution provides.
Specifically, the Construction Software Advice clients recognize that the latest generation of web-based applications offer a high level of functionality. These construction management software tools utilize the broadband connections that are now typically available at the job site. In addition, a SaaS construction project management solution can make it easier to manage data, ensure data reliability and provide data security.
Click here to view the Construction Software Advice article online.
Congratulations to Procore’s client Finton Associates for their recent recognition in the Los Angeles Times (June 12, 2008).
The LA Times story outlines how Finton Associates is able to keep busy building multiple 20,000 square foot plus custom homes, even in a down market that is making it tough for many U.S. home builders to get by. In fact, Finton Associates President John Finton notes that business at the top-end is not letting up at all:
“Builder John Finton, who is overseeing construction of the 32,000 square-foot house on Sunset Boulevard for businessman C. Frederick Wehba Sr. and his wife, Susan, said he knows of at least 20 20,000-plus square-foot homes under construction or about to break ground in what he called the “platinum triangle” of wealthy areas in Los Angeles County: Beverly Hills, Bel-Air and Holmby Hills.”
Finton Associates is a long-time user of Procore, having brought its first projects onto the system in 2004. Now the company uses Procore on large custom home projects (including the Wehba Residence mentioned in the article) in both the United States and Mexico, and has standardized its operations around using Procore’s construction software for the information flow associated with building mega-mansions.
Finton Associates takes advantages of many of Procore’s features. Daily logs and communications for multiple jobs are all tracked through Procore’s construction project management software, and the document archive functionality of Procore has made it possible for Finton Associates to retrieve vital emails and RFIs on jobs where historical information was needed.
Procore’s ability to store and share digital photos makes it easier for Finton Associates to update home owners on job progress, particularly when the job site is in a location that is remote from members of the project team. Several of Finton Associates’ clients are having homes built in the Loreto Bay development in Mexico, and Procore usage is particularly important on those jobs.