The Construction Blog

For two months we surveyed the construction industry to create our 2013 Construction Project Management Benchmark Report. Our report discovered that construction project management software users are more satisfied with their system and deliver more projects on time and on budget than their peers.

Last year, we surveyed contractors, estimators, building owners and others about their estimating processes and the technologies they use to improve them. To start 2013, we’d like to know about your construction project management best practices. Help us development an industry benchmark report by filling out this survey.

Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the position of construction estimator to grow 36 percent by 2020. While a job as a construction estimator may not be glamorous, it’s one of the most important roles on a site. Here are the skills you need to capitalize on this job growth.

In 2009, we published an article on how to track LEED credits with project management software. Back then, tracking LEED credits was a new feature in general construction project management systems. Today, there are now software solutions designed specifically to help construction firms track their LEED credits.

The construction industry was promised $131 billion in funding. Since I cover the construction market at Software Advice, I was curious: did the stimulus funds actually generate construction jobs? Because I live in Texas, a large state with a relatively strong construction economy, I chose to focus on jobs here, specifically.

Finding a construction job may be getting easier. A June 2012 report by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) identified 20 states that are adding construction jobs. To help individuals understand what kinds of jobs are being created, I recently caught up with Ken Simonson, Chief Economist at AGC.

Although the construction market is still in hard times, green construction is an industry bright spot. Recent research by McGraw Hill indicates that the electrical trade is among the trades in highest demand in the green construction market. Here the green skills that electrical contractors need.

In the construction industry, photos are a critical component for recording the conditions of a building and for reporting those conditions to a variety of audiences. However, most organizations do not properly strategize managing and storing them. Here are five distinctions between documents and photos to consider.

Over the last few months we have polled contractors, estimators, building owners and many others about their estimating processes. Here, in our first Construction Estimating Benchmark Report, we share our findings. These benchmarks allow you to compare your estimating processes against industry standards.

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with John Chaney, Co-founder and President of Dexter + Chaney, at our headquarters in Austin, Texas. In our interview, Chaney discussed the state of the construction industry and introduced new features in the latest release of Spectrum construction software.