How Construction Project Management Tools Help Maintain Momentum

If there’s one skill you need in construction, it’s the ability to think on your feet. Large, long-term projects demand construction project management with a high level of coordination, careful construction budget control, and quick problem-solving – but even the simplest projects can become unexpectedly complex. It’s a lot to juggle, but with the right tools and systems in place, project managers can reduce risk, improve communication, and boost value for everyone involved.

The Case For Pre-Construction

“Integrated” is how Darby Ogle, one of Ashton Construction Services’s Senior Project Managers, describes ACS’s project management approach to complex builds.

“We prefer to work on construction management contracts with pre-construction involved, especially for the big long-term projects,” she explains. “We like an integrated collaborative approach with the consultants, the trades, the clients, and our team – even to the extent of our site team.”

Darby says pre-construction helps her team understand all the moving parts of the project from the very beginning – which makes it easier to avoid or mitigate time-consuming and costly issues once the build is underway.

Bringing in a range of stakeholders and trades to flag potential issues and brainstorm potential solutions is the key to a streamlined construction build.

“We have a really diverse team, people who have been on a wide variety of projects,” says Terry LeBlanc, who also works as a Senior Project Manager with ACS. “When you can bring a few of those people to the table early on, they’re able to tap into their experience and spot the potential hurdles. That way you already know what the problem’s going to be, instead of having it surprise you halfway through a project.”

This collaborative and proactive approach to construction project management also allows teams to explore value-engineering opportunities and alternative materials early – when there’s still time to figure it out without causing a project delay.

“If we’re doing a kitchen, we’ll turn to Tara, a project manager who also happens to be a genius at commercial kitchens,” says Darby. “Our construction manager, Dan, is a genius at civil. So as we go through each step up the process, it’s huge to be able to bring each of them in for a quick review. It saves clients lots of money when one person doesn’t have to be a fountain of knowledge – we can use the whole team.”

As an added bonus, less travel also means a smaller carbon footprint. “They’re not on the highway all the time, burning gas,” Steve adds.

The benefits of partnering with local contractors, suppliers, and trades go beyond saving money. Local trades bring a deeper level of commitment, accountability, and care to every project.

When Travel Time Impacts Timelines

This early planning is particularly important in places like the Bow Valley, which comes with a range of logistical challenges like limited trade availability, scarce housing for out-of-town crews, and seasonal pressure on permits and parking. 

“There’s no housing, and hotels are booked all summer. You can’t just rent them out for trades to stay,” says Terry.

“If you bring in a Calgary trade, they’re doing 10-hour days, plus driving back and forth,” adds Darby. “It’s two hours each way. And then what if they hit a bear on the highway, or there’s construction? Then you’re sitting there going, ‘Why isn’t the electrician here yet?’”

That’s why it’s so important to hire a local construction management company with a strong team of project managers, site supervisors, and trades who already live and work in the area. It saves clients from incurring additional housing and travel costs, cuts back on project delays, and keeps project managers (mostly) headache-free.

For ACS, the solution is its strong base of local trades and committed team members who already live in the area. This homegrown approach not only sidesteps the logistical hurdles of daily travel but also means no one has to panic when things don’t go according to plan – because help is always close at hand.

Recently, due to unexpected circumstances, ACS needed to pour a concrete foundation as part of a build on Main Street in Canmore a few days earlier than planned. A pour in such a busy area requires plenty of support, but the project manager was out of town, leaving only the site superintendent onsite. Fortunately, other ACS team members were able to pitch in at the last minute.

“Dan, our construction manager, was flagging the trucks and doing traffic control on Main Street,” says Darby. “One of our foremen from a different site prepped and unloaded the concrete. We also had a project coordinator jump in from a different project site, running over all of the paperwork. We basically had five different project teams go, ‘yeah, I can work on a Saturday, I’ll come help.’”

Safety is paramount, so it’s fortunate that so many people were available to support. If they hadn’t, the pour likely wouldn’t have been able to happen on a Saturday – or ACS may have had to bring in support from another company, which would have increased the labour costs on the project.

Nurturing Growth and Maintaining Consistency

For construction project management companies like ACS, where efficiency, collaboration, and communication are considered critical to every project’s success, it’s important to have the right project management tools. “We’re always learning and growing, which means adopting new systems and technology to create efficiencies and reduce costs,” says ACS Founder, President & CEO Steve Ashton.

For a while, ACS relied on the project management platform Buildertrend – and it served the company well. As ACS began taking on more large commercial projects, however, the project management team realized it needed a new tool that could keep everyone connected and working in tandem, while continuing to grow with the company.

“Really, we needed a way to share information more quickly and accurately across all the different parties involved. That becomes especially important on complex projects, where you’re coordinating 30 to 40 trades,” says Darby. “For smaller jobs – say, managing just five trades – email and Excel might be fine. But on larger projects, you need a system that can handle the complexity and volume without delays. It’s not just about getting accurate information to the site team without having to print and physically tape drawings onsite – it’s also about keeping clients in the loop with real-time updates, so they always have the most current view of the project.”

The answer? Procore construction management software.

“Procore basically manages everything we need for a project, from a documentation and a tracking perspective,” says Darby. “It’s also able to integrate with architect and consultant systems, so instead of having to send an email out to the trades, we can file something, mark it up, and send it out through Procore. Then they mark it up and distribute it to everyone who needs a copy at the same time.”

On average, project team members spend 18% of their time just searching for data. By automating this part of the process, project managers are able to quickly supply everyone with the documentation they need. And because all stakeholders have access to the same information at the same time, there’s a reduced risk of communication issues and human errors. This leads to high quality, streamlined construction – all because everyone is quite literally on the same page.

Time spent on rework or rectifying issues

Source: How We Build Now Report, Procore 2023

Goodbye Data Entry, Hello Job Sites

For financial tracking and invoice approvals, ACS uses inBuild, an invoicing platform that links Procore with Quickbooks. This software bridges the gap between jobsite activity and accounting.

“If QuickBooks is the garage and Procore is the house, inBuild is the sidewalk,” explains Darby. “inBuild is how we approve invoices and push them through to be paid and tracked.”

With inBuild in place, ACS project managers don’t need to spend as much time entering data, which frees them up to focus on navigating actual project challenges.

The impact has been massive: “Our clients get consistent, accurate information,” says Darby. “We don’t have to review our budgets or invoices as often, and we have better cost tracking. We can get a snapshot of the project budget at any point and know that it’s accurate and up-to-date. Before, we really only got that snapshot once a month.”

This makes it easier to be proactive about construction budget control and timeline management throughout the month, instead of having to react at the end of the month when it may be harder to mitigate issues.

It also provides ACS staff with the support they want. According to a recent staff survey, 35% of total staff were interested in additional training, standardization, and systems that support them in their roles.

Building With Confidence

Even with strong systems in place, construction projects are constantly evolving. That’s why it’s so important to build flexibility into every project – and to keep an eye out for new industry developments.

“Staying current and being passionate about the growth and evolution of our business within our industry is an incredible advantage,” says Steve. “That passion manifests as expertise, as we remain up-to-date with the latest trends, technology, and innovations. It allows us to be bold and have confidence in all our accomplishments.”

Strong internal systems – systems that put clients first and incorporate technology where it makes sense – make it easier to respond to challenges in real time, pivot when needed, and ensure projects maintain momentum from start to finish.

“We don’t just rely on one person to hold all the knowledge,” says Darby. “We work as a team – so even when something unexpected comes up, we can adapt and keep going.”

Planning a commercial build in the Bow Valley? Contact ACS today to see how our systems – and our people – can support your next project.

Blog article written by: Scribe National

Photos by: Eva Urbanska

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