Buildertrend

When I started working with a team from Signature Building Systems, I first "met" Buildertrend, since then it's been a fun ride. I did change a lot for the team since then (which is kind of what my thing), and probably upped their productivity by a lot.

Very good.

If youre going to integrate BT make sure you take it on a section at a time. Dont try and open up too many sections to your team

These guys have given a lot of thought to the software and it forms an amazing backbone for any client facing construction business. We couldnt last the day without it.

While in general we've been happy but our frustration points have pushed us to look at others. There may be other programs that work like BuilderTrend but we haven't found anything that gives us what we're looking for. While BT has made strides recently we would like to see more industry standard issues resolved on the back end. For the money though it is reasonable.

We are a boutique custom home builder; each project is unique and personalized. Although I was not involved in the selection of this software, my understanding is that we wanted a program that could be accessed by all the parties involved, handle the scheduling and move us away from paper checklists - ultimately allowing all users to be both informed of changes and to be able to plan for future events without having to directly communicate with each person.

As far as scheduling goes this system has failed. It has caused more time consuming questions. My complaint is that you can only link item to item by a (or a couple) predecessor(s) that, ultimately, the program struggles with which item is next in the list if a few of them share the same linked task. Also in a best case scenario, this scheduled list is how you build a house - but in most cases something, whether it be trade related or whether related or inspection related, cause a task to be delayed but the other ones would continue on schedule however the program has linked the start date to the the delayed task and now the whole calender is messed up. Or perhaps the exterior of the house generally starts after framing and roofing but maybe a winter storm makes this impossible so you continue the interior for weeks. Then you try and adjust backwards and because your best case scenario template stated it should commence at framing completion and you delayed that. Thus your left with a domino affect of wrong dates. and a series of emails sent to vendors informing them of the delay that really didn't apply to them. So they change schedules and you are left with no trades to do the interior work that in your mind could and should be fine.

I also find that the program doesn't offer enough flexibility in the selection section. It allows me to upload a previously created document to be stored that a homeowner could then log on and download. They then fill out and can't re-upload this document, so they are forced to fax or scan and email back to us. This is neither time effective nor practical. Perhaps it would be better if we were able to create a checklist that was interactive in this section, similar to the change orders where we type out the change and the client could update decisions. In our company we don't limit our clients to three choices of floor plans and two cabinet doors and 4 granite selections, they are free to choose anything they can dream of. As a result we cannot load a document that would apply to all builds.

However, I believe the change orders tab is well thought out, easy to use and provides all the options to make it a valuable asset. The warranty section does a great job of tracking and notifying and saving time and assuring that service and warranty items are handled and accepted. The daily log and messaging capabilities that allow us to keep a record of notes or messages in one area logged by date and job site is extremely valuable and a good system.

Furthermore, the software as a whole is easy to learn, has a logical and simple layout so even those who are not computer savvy can fumble through without creating errors and won't be too intimidated by the complexity of the software to attempt to use it.

Finally, the technical support and training provided is always quick to help resolve an issue or aid in a question. New training is scheduled in a very quick time frame for free and is tailored to the person that requires it. This is handled exceptionally well in a time when often companies forget you exist once the purchase is complete.

So, we have decided that we will use BuilderTrend for those things that they excel at and don't use it as a scheduling tool.