Running a successful construction company is complicated. A contractor app will help with project management, scheduling, budgeting, and everything else needed to successfully manage a construction company.
Table of contents
- Our Top Picks
- What to Look for in a Contractor App
- 10 Best Apps for Construction Businesses in 2022
- What Is A Contractor App?
- How Do Contractor Apps Work?
- What Are The Benefits Of Using A Contractor App?
- How Much Does A Contractor App Cost?
- FAQs
- Summarizing the Best Apps for Small Construction Business
Construction management is complex, to say the least. Deadlines, budgets, schedules, communication, and decision-making all need to be managed to successfully complete a project.
To help alleviate some of these problems, cloud-based contractor apps were created. Contractor apps keep all data in one spot. Secure, mobile, and easy to use, the apps were built with the needs of an entire construction crew in mind.
From communication features to budgeting to data analysis and more, contractor apps help project managers ensure projects move forward on time and under budget.
Our Top Picks
- Connecteam – Best all-in-one contractor app
- LetsBuild – Good for routine tasks
- Procore – Good for organization
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What to Look for in a Contractor App
- Project management: With so many moving parts, it’s critical that contractors use an app with project management features to oversee multiple projects at once. Use the features to keep subcontractors on task and under budget without missing deadlines.
- Scheduling: Tell your subcontractors when to be at a job site and which job site. Have them clock in and out from the schedule to ensure accurate time tracking. Check that your chosen app can work with your payroll software to ease errors and payroll when the time comes.
- Communication: Don’t let miscommunication set you and your team back. Ensure everyone is on the same page and that all questions are answered before wasting time and materials. The chosen contractor app should have an array of communication features.
- Equipment management: Be sure that you know where your tools and equipment are at all times and that your subcontractors have the tools they need to complete a job. Ensure that your chosen contractor app can track equipment and assign equipment to subcontractors requiring specific tools for specific projects.
- Document Management: Contracts, work orders, incident reports, and more should all be at your fingertips when you need them. The best apps for contractors will have all documents stored and ready to be used on the spot when you or your team need them.
- Financial management: There are many moving parts to what makes the cost of a project, and it’s essential to be able to track money spent and make accurate bids and estimates. The chosen contractor app should accurately help with cost management.
- Data analytics: It’s vital for any business to use the data from past projects to make better decisions for future projects. The construction industry is no different. Make sure the app is capable of creating reports using data collected from every project.
- Intuitive: The app must be intuitive for managers and employees. Nobody wants to waste time learning a complicated system, and many people will just not use the app if its too complex. Make sure the app is simple and straightforward.
10 Best Apps for Construction Businesses in 2022
Connecteam is the best construction management app considering you can effectively manage your company from anywhere. Connecteam’s app offers all the features needed to run your construction business successfully.
Communicate with all subcontractors at the touch of a button, and ensure they read the latest updates. You can send messages to subcontractors at a specific job site, all employees, supervisors, or any other subgroup of employees.
Use Connecteam’s smart scheduler to schedule employees, including the tasks to be done throughout the shift and the tools needed during the shift. Before publishing the schedule, you will be notified if there are any conflicts regarding tools allocated to specific teams, employees being double booked, understaffed job sites, etc. All employees will then be notified of the published schedule and reminded prior to upcoming shifts.
Your subcontractors can clock in and out right from the app but are limited to the location of the job site, which eliminates all forms of time theft. Then easily export the time sheets to your payroll software to simplify payroll and decrease errors.
Any forms and documents, including incident reports, blueprints, and contracts, can be pulled up and filled out at a moment’s notice directly from a subcontractor’s phone. If a report is filled out, it automatically gets sent to the supervisor in real-time, so you know exactly what is going on at every job site.
The best apps for contractors are all-in-one systems so you and your employees can find any and all information they need quickly and easily. The user interface is intuitive and easy to use – perfect for everyone because they don’t need to spend a lot of time trying to understand how to use an app.
For Whom?
Connecteam is meant for large and small businesses. It’s designed for anyone managing employees from one or more job sites. The all-in-one benefits of Connecteam’s app make it the number one choice for contractors.
Key Features
Pros and cons
Pricing
#1 Employee App for Construction Companies
Connecteam is the best solution for contractors and is an all-in-one app equipped with everything your construction business needs to run daily operations smoothly.
LetsBuild is the second out of our best construction apps. It’s designed to support you and your team throughout the construction project. The app allows your site team to collaborate efficiently, have access to clear processes, and receive information in real-time. Therefore, sharing information between site and office is no longer a chore. There are four “products” that LetsBuild offers: Documents, Progress & planning, QHSE, and Control and insights.
For whom?
Designed to assist construction managers, and workers who have multiple routine tasks.
Key Features
Pros and Cons
Pricing
Procore is the third out of our best construction apps. Procore assists you in supervising your projects right from the plans to the final build. The construction app is designed to help teams collaborate easily together. The app assists all team members to communicate easily with the general contractor and the specialty contractor.
For whom?
The app is for construction teams who require organization. It connects the entire construction process in four software solutions: Preconstruction, Project Management, Resource Management, and Financial Management.
Key Features
Pros & Cons
Pricing
Raken is the fourth out of our best construction apps. If you’re just looking to digitally track hours and streamline payroll for your construction business then Raken is a good choice. Raken Time Cards make it easy to bulk upload your crews and allocate hours to all your teams in one go. In addition, you can easily and quickly add members from the app or edit hours for a single team member.
For whom?
Raken is for all-size contracting businesses and is useful for even the smallest of companies.
Key Features
Pros & Cons
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DeWalt Mobile Pro uses a fully functional construction calculator along with features for job-site math to help contractors understand the time it will take to complete specific projects and the materials needed. Additional calculators are also included in the mobile app.
For whom?
A good tool for anyone looking for an additional tool in their toolbox of useful apps for construction.
Key Features
Pros and Cons
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Smartsheet is the sixth out of our best construction apps. Smartsheet makes it easy to connect and have a holistic view of your projects, from all stages such as pre-construction and closeout. Additionally, you can connect and collaborate with your office and field teams, sub-contractors, consultants, inspectors, and other stakeholders. You have total project visibility so you can reduce safety hazards, create ownership, have fewer redundancies, and create accurate schedules.
For whom?
Smartsheet is user-friendly and works for all teams, both large and small. The app assists companies in managing their work and provide better organization with advanced workflows.
Key Features
Pros & Cons
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Fieldwire is the seventh out of our best construction apps. Fieldwire brings together the entire project team, from the foreman to the project manager, so that it’s easy to collaborate and share information in real-time. You can benefit from coordinating effectively, tracking performance, and reducing risks.
For whom?
Fieldwire is great for general contractors, specialty contractors, owners, architects, and designers.
Key Features
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PlanGrid is the nine out of our best construction apps. PlanGrid is an Autodesk Construction cloud that targets four core product areas: documents, progress, reporting, and Enterprise. Additionally, PlanGrid is easy to use, built for the field, and is super fast. You can access project information anywhere, whether it’s plans and specifications or punch lists, documents, and photos. You can also distribute plans and documents that are already automatically hyperlinked, versioned in order, and searchable.
For whom?
PlanGrid is used by many construction companies to provide organization from the beginning until the end of the build. The app encourages working together and information is relayed faster.
Key Features
Pros & Cons
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Zoho is the ninth out of our best construction apps. Zoho projects assists construction teams in staying on track to meet deadlines. Zoho’s construction app helps keep your team under budget using its time management, task management, and enhanced communication tools. In addition, Zoho lets you have a full overview of your team’s productivity.
For whom?
Zoho is one of the best construction management apps as it suits all teams no matter their size. The app is aimed at comZoho is one of the best construction management apps as it suits all teams, no matter their size. The app is aimed at companies looking to improve their project management as it assists in planning and collaborating on projects.
Key Features
Pros & Cons
Pricing
TeamGantt is the tenth out of our best construction apps. TeamGantt is one of the best apps for construction because it’s easy to collaborate and plan. The app has everything you require to plan your build right though the final stages. The app is easy to use due to its intuitive interface. The app is easy to use due to it’s intuitive interface. Your team can communicate easily, share files, and so much more.
For Whom?
TeamGantt app is useful for construction companies that is useful for projects that require collaboration.
Key Features
Pros & Cons
Pricing
What Is A Contractor App?
Contractor apps are digital tools that contractors and construction workers can download on their phones and use daily for work. The apps can help manage projects from start to finish. They are designed to automate tasks, store documents, manage projects, and more. Because they are downloaded on mobile phones, they are accessible from anywhere at any time.
How Do Contractor Apps Work?
As with all apps, contractor apps are downloaded and used generally on mobile devices and tablets. The best apps for contractors use features to manage day-to-day operations.
Some of the most common features are project management, document management, scheduling, communication, equipment management, and more.
Tasks can be assigned to anyone on the team, and real-time notifications will be sent when the task is completed.
Contractors can track hours worked through the app, eliminate time theft, and export the data to make payroll a breeze.
Some apps for contractors can share data directly with clients to keep them in the loop on progress and communicate directly with them.
What Are The Benefits Of Using A Contractor App?
- Improved efficiency: It’s hard to oversee multiple projects at once, so using an app designed for contractors can help oversee everything down to the smallest detail. From supply management, documentation, real-time updates, and more, everything can be streamlined to make for a more efficient workflow.
- Compliance: Ensuring everyone is on the same page regarding regulations and policies can be done seamlessly using a contractor app. No follow-up calls or texts; just check that your subcontractors have read the latest policies or signed the newest forms.
- Minimize delays: Monitor every aspect to be sure the project is completed by the deadline. The contractor app allows you to assign tasks to subcontractors and follow up with the project progress to verify that the project is, in fact, advancing at the pre-determined speed.
- Cost-effective: No more mistakes due to lost paperwork, no more time theft from employees showing up late but having a buddy clock them in – using an app for contractors saves you money in the long run, even with the upfront costs of the app itself.
- Improved communication: Miscommunication costs time and money. Now you can let subcontractors quickly check the schedule, check the work orders, ask questions when needed, and more.
- Document management: Work orders, contracts, incident reports, licenses, etc. are all easily accessible and shareable, saving you and your team time to work on projects.
- Better budget management: Never use a professional estimator again; construction calculators are built into many apps helping contractors better estimate time and materials needed.
- Better analytics: Understand what your team does well and what they need to improve. Use the data to create reports and use the data to make better decisions in the future.
How Much Does A Contractor App Cost?
Apps for contractors can be priced in different ways, but the most common is on a subscription basis. The cost can be dependent on the size of your business or on the volume of work you do. Contractor apps range in price, as all apps do. Apps for contractors generally range from about $5 per user per month to about $40 per user per month.
There are also free apps that you can download, many of which have add-on costs or limit the number of features available. Even though most apps are not free, the cost is worth it. You’ll save money, in the long run, using the many features offered by these paid apps. When using the best apps for contractors, wasted time is reduced, efficiency increased, and errors decreased.
FAQs
Can a Construction App Help With Time Tracking?
Yes, taking on a construction app can help your business to become more efficient. The most crucial part of your business is to ensure that you are staying within your budget. Therefore, implementing one of our best apps for construction can save you from making costly mistakes such as:
- Errors on timesheets
- Complying with local and state laws regarding overtime
- Most importantly, curbing buddy and time theft
A construction app can give you true insights into how productive your team is. You can see how many hours they have worked, and where labor was spent.
Will I Need to Pay For Each User?
When you are looking for a construction app they all vary when it comes to pricing. Some apps charge per user and others are based on certain features. It’s vital that you read the small print and ask the sales representative any questions you may have. Once you know the pricing you can make an informed decision.
Summarizing the Best Apps for Small Construction Business
If you are in the market for some help with your next construction project, there is quite literally an app for that. As you saw from our list of the best apps for construction businesses.From field to the office and while on the go, you can stay connected with your team so they have direct access to helpful resources. They can collaborate easily, view the schedule, clock in and out, remain compliant, stay up to date with safety protocols, and so much more right in the palm of their hand. Carefully review our list of best apps for small construction businesses to get ahead and streamline projects.
Try the Ultimate Construction App
Connecteam’s construction employee app is the perfect solution for your construction company. Time tracking, job scheduling, multiple communication tools, online mobile-first checklists, forms and reports, and much more, all from one place.