The Power of Construction Software Flexibility During a Crisis and in Mitigating Legal Disputes

Construction work is perilous by nature. 

While some common hazards can be anticipated and mitigated, many crises tend to hit unexpectedly at the worst possible times. How fast trade contractors respond at that critical moment matters. 

“Regardless of the type of event or situation, a crisis requires prompt action to help minimize or control the potential impact,” explains Tobias Cushing, former head of construction at The Hartford, now casualty technical director at Zurich North America. 

In order to do that, your people and processes can’t be rigid; they have to be resilient. As Dayananthan Sivalingam, senior planning and cost control engineer at ADNOC Group, advises: “Remain flexible and adaptable in crisis response strategies to effectively navigate evolving situations and minimize disruptions.”

Construction project management software, like eSUB, gives you that high level of adaptability that you need to be able to pivot during a crisis. You can rely on construction software flexibility to carry you through those critical moments.

The Right Software Enables You to Record and Quickly Address Safety Issues 

Job site accidents are one of the most common crises in the construction industry, and they can happen at any time, regardless of the presence of preventive measures. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the construction industry nationwide saw 169,600 recordable cases of non-fatal accidents and illnesses in 2022. 

Perhaps more concerning than the fact that there are so many accidents is that approximately one-quarter of construction workers admit to not reporting when accidents happen, reports Phil Clark, founder of Claris Design•Build. Workers claim it simply takes too much time to file a safety report, so they don’t do it. 

Construction project management software solves that problem by making it easy for workers to report accidents. Such information can be shared through daily reports and field notes that workers can submit in real time from anywhere because of the platform’s mobile capabilities. As a result, safety issues can be addressed more quickly and future incidences avoided. 

Construction Software Flexibility Helps Trade Contractors Fill Sudden Labor Gaps

When highly-skilled workers quit, it creates a crisis for trade contractors. As the Travelers Insurance team explains, a shortage of skilled workers leads to:

• Project delays and cost overruns.
• Productivity and quality control problems.
• Safety issues.

Unfortunately, the quit rate in the industry is volatile. According to April 2024’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLT) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the industry’s quit rate dropped from 1.9 percent in April 2023 to 1.6 percent in March 2024, and then increased to 2.4 percent in April 2024, or about 197,000 workers. 

When someone quits a vital role in construction, that skill must be covered as quickly as possible to avoid bigger problems. The right technology helps by giving you insights into labor resources such as where current workers are spending their time and who might have some availability to fill a skills gap until you find a permanent hire.

Software Flexibility Lets You Confront Supply Chain Disruptions

Trade contractors rely on the on-time delivery of project materials. “Getting the correct materials in the correct quantity to the construction site is an essential component in meeting deadlines,” writes the Construction Marketing Association team. 

Yet, the late delivery of building materials continues to be one of the greatest contributing factors to project delays, explains Andrew Tavener, head of marketing at Descartes Fleet Solutions. “When materials are delivered late, only in parts, inaccurately, or not at all, construction projects can potentially grind to a halt.”

Construction project management software helps trade contractors overcome this roadblock. With the software, you can track purchase orders to ensure there are no uncertainties about due dates as well as monitor and track delivery dates and status. If delays are unavoidable, “necessary operational adjustments” can be made, Tavener notes. The real-time data improves communication and collaboration between suppliers and trade contractors which helps both prevent and solve materials delivery crises. 

Technology Aids Your Efforts to Mitigate Legal Disputes

Legal disputes are a common crisis in construction, and can significantly impact not only the profitability of a project but also the viability of your business. The keys to reducing that impact are prevention, where possible, and good documentation. Construction project management software plays a key role in both instances through data collection and document management. 

Every effort should be made by trade contractors to avoid legal disputes. Technology can help by analyzing historical data to assess risks and predict potential conflicts, explains civil engineer Ahmed Ismail, managing director of FTI Consulting. That early detection enables you to modify processes as a preventive measure to minimize the likelihood of a dispute. 

When you can’t prevent a legal dispute, good documentation can facilitate a quick and satisfactory resolution of issues. The leading causes of disputes — ambiguity, uncertainty, and lack of transparency — can all be clarified or solved with proper documentation.  

The attorneys at Babcock, Scott & Babcock explain, “One of the most important aspects of documentation is that it is kept on a consistent and contemporaneous basis.” This means project specifics need to be documented in real time. The team also stresses the importance of photographs and video evidence in project documentation for legal disputes.

The software allows trade contractors to meet all of these parameters. Project stakeholders can submit daily reports complete with videos and photographs through the platform in real time. That information can be quickly referenced and shared with clients should any disputes arise.

That capability was critical to Thermal Construction, a general contractor in coldroom construction.  “We were doing a project and … it was a disaster,” recalls co-owner Sheila Myers. “So, we kept notes, we kept track of any issues that the people running it were causing us. We kept a record of delays that they were creating.” When it came time to settle the dispute, “we had the documentation to prove what happened on the job,” says Myers. 

“Getting the information put into the program every day, and having it there means we’re prepared for whatever could happen,” Myers adds.

Construction Software Flexibility Can Prevent Profit Loss on Projects 

You cannot afford to lose money on jobs. “String together a handful of bad projects that lose money and your business could be in serious trouble,” warns Kendall Jones, editor-in-chief at ConstructConnect. To avoid this crisis, you need to make sure you are bidding on jobs that will turn a profit and you are monitoring job costs throughout a project so you can make adjustments if necessary. 

Construction project management software lets you do both.

Profit loss often starts with a bad project bid. While you want to make your bids competitive, you don’t want to sacrifice profits just to get the work. In order to build realistic bids, you need access to current and historical project data. 

The technology centralizes data so you can be confident in the accuracy of the job cost information you use to create bids. This makes your company more adaptable to changing market conditions by helping you better identify the right projects. 

That centralized job cost data also gives you flexibility during a project to make changes to maintain profitability. Through the platform, you can track expenses like labor and materials costs in real time. As the team at Kerr Consulting explains, this capability “allows you to monitor the financial health of your projects and make informed decisions to ensure profitability.”

You can’t underestimate the importance of being adaptable and flexible in the construction industry. Crises do happen, and while you can’t anticipate them all, you can be prepared to confront them when they arise. Construction project management software, like eSUB, gives you that edge. 

Schedule a demo of eSUB Cloud today to learn more about how construction software flexibility fuels adaptability in times of crisis.

Images used under license from Shutterstock.com.