The business of building and renovating homes is unique in many ways. Anyone looking to start a home improvement or construction project must adhere to local building codes, health and safety legislation as well as regulation on work practices.
Many tasks carried out on a construction site also require construction workers to carry government-issued qualifications and certain construction projects need to be inspected and approved by authorized surveyors.
These regulations serve an important purpose. They are in place to ensure that construction quality is maintained throughout the project and in place to protect both customers and contracted workers. Responsible construction companies and other key trades, including general builders and specialist tradespeople, understand the importance of these regulations and follow these rigorously.
A very fragmented affair
The renovation and construction industry is unique in another aspect as well. Compared to many other industries, it is highly fragmented. As a rule of thumb, construction projects are completed in clearly defined sequential stages with specialized craftsmen working on their respective tasks, often independently.
As a result, achieving seamless and efficient collaboration and communication between the different craftsmen working on the same building site can sometimes be challenging. Estimated completion times may slip due to poor communication and a lack of sharing information. Unexpected situations such as material shortages and unusual curing and/or drying times may also cause delays and prevent upcoming tasks from commencing.
Compromises and Dreams
There is an old saying within the construction industry that goes something like this:” A completed construction project is the end result of a thousand compromises”. There is a high degree of truth in that. Buildings aren’t just made of concrete, bricks, and drywall. Buildings are envisioned and designed by creative minds and bought by customers who have their own expectations of what the completed building should look like.
The anatomy of failure
The reasons behind a failed project, however, can be both complex and convoluted. There are many ways in which a construction project can fail, including (but not limited to) the structural failure of a building, the financial failure of a construction project and the failure to meet customer expectations.
Here are the most common reasons why construction projects fail:
1. Balancing Time Estimates with Actual Time Spent
2. Unclarity on what was agreed
3. Capturing information for reporting purposes
4. Customers not understanding the cost implications of their decisions
5. Signs of Progress not always visible to the customer
6. Lack of Reliable Documentation after the Construction Project
7. Lack of instructions to complete the task correctly
8. Lack of real two-way communication
How Buildbite helps with features
For us at Buildbite, it's clear that the root of most failures is poor collaboration and communication. Here's the good news. It's a problem that can be fixed. We set out to fix this problem by creating Buildbite. Buildbite is the only tool on the market that solves the issues associated with collaboration and communication.
How Buildbite's licensing model helps
Unlike most other solutions, our business model is not based on charging our customers on a per-user basis. It's our firm belief that this would only further the divide and the fragmented nature of the industry. This is because most construction crews are often fluid throughout a project and may consist of a large number of specialists and tradesmen engaged on a need-only basis.
Charging on a per-user basis is disincentivizing customers to deploy productivity-enhancing tools to all team members. All in all, we think we have something going for us.
Start your free trial with Buildbite today.
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