Procore is a cloud-based software that helps contractors working on construction projects. It helps them manage designs and budgets before starting the construction, daily tasks, implementing safety standards, hiring people and tracking their productivity, giving financial insights and communicating with stakeholders.
How Procore can benefit a property manager
Procore helps property managers organize and implement tasks efficiently when a property is under construction. Even if the property manager is not present on the site of construction all day, they can keep themselves updated through online channels that the software offers. The on-site manager or supervisor keeps the property owner posted about the day to day progress of the construction project.
Here are some top benefits of using Procore for your real estate property management
Preconstruction software
Procore’s preconstruction software offers services like bid management, estimation of construction projects, giving insights on labor and costs, and coordination of changes to design. It also offers services for analyzing performance and reporting insights. This software is available for use through mobile apps.
By using the Procore construction network, you can save time in finalizing contractors, explore new markets, filter your location search and manage bidders. Grimard, a real estate construction company, said, “The tendering tool took 3 days of solid work-putting together tenders, distributing paper copies and more- and reduced it to 5 hours”.
Project management
Procore’s project management software offers services like tracking costs, connecting on-site employees to the design, and implementing safety rules and regulations. The project overview portal shows a snapshot of tasks, inspections, observations, meetings, etc. It also shows how many items are overdue, due in the next 7 days, and due after more than 7 days, using colorful bar graphs.
The project management services include invoice management, design coordination, analytics and more. The aim is for all stakeholders to have access to project status, track correspondence between people, avoid miscommunication and foresee potential issues in implementation.
Managing people
Contractors can use the Procore software to submit tenders on future projects, and back up their offer with historical data about productivity rates. You can track the raw materials installed on the site by looking at field production reports. You can also track and monitor your spending to make sure you avoid going overbudget, and adjust resources accordingly.
The workforce management software by Procore offers some services related to labor productivity. They include a contact directory of vendors, to-do lists of tasks, timesheets, documents, reports, etc. The aim is to have various people like architects and engineers, owners, main and sub contractors, and material suppliers on one platform.
Accounts and finances
The finances domain of the software allows you to access cost and budget data whenever you want, track the financial impact of changes to the project, speed up invoicing and payments, etc.
Property managers can identify critical costs, manage the risk of overspending, and receive accurate financial reports that assess the overall financial health of the company. Regular reports of onsite incidents, action plans, inspections of permits, etc. ensure the implementation of rigorous quality and safety standards.
Marty Martin, the head of financial operations at Makati Development Corporation, said in a review, “Procore was the ideal construction platform for MDC, both from a technical and financial standpoint. We needed a user interface that would suit our 8000-strong team, plus it would have an open approach to connectivity with an array of solutions to support crucial business decisions and quality builds”
Drawbacks
Now that we have discussed all the benefits, let’s take a brief look at things that you should be mindful of before investing in this software.
Pricing
Procore’s pricing plans are not listed on their website. This lack of transparency makes one wonder about whether the software is expensive, or if there are several hidden fees in the service plan. On the Procore website, when you click on pricing, they will ask you some questions about how you manage your property, and what type of construction project it is.
Once you go through their mini-survey about your needs, they ask you to enter your email address so that they can send you a quote. A review author reported that after sending the email, they didn’t receive a quote, just an automated email asking them to book a meeting with a representative.
Integration with other software
As a property manager, you would want to integrate your Procore account with other software you use for specific functions like accounting, marketing, etc. According to the Procore Developers webpage, the software allows integration with enterprise applications, custom dashboards and data warehouses, reports and workflows.
However, some review websites report that the integrated modules have to be purchased separately, historical data of past projects cannot be synced, and some types of data like timecards, budgets, and purchase orders are not synced. For example, they found that when it comes to integrating data from Quickbooks, you can only sync data for new construction projects, and some types of data cannot be synced.
How does Procore fare on user experience?
Ease of use
In terms of ease of use, the Procore software has a 4 star or 5 star review on most review websites. Some users appreciate the fact that all domains of the application have a consistent user interface, so that once you are familiar with using one feature, you can easily navigate through the others.
Features
In terms of features, Procore has a 4-star review on most customer review websites. Some users have appreciated features like ability to organize architectural designs, having all the stages of the project life cycle on one platform,
Value for money
As we discussed earlier, the pricing plans are not visible on the website, and some people have said that it is expensive. Some users have reported other issues with pricing. They feel that it is difficult to calculate separate costs for various aspects of management, and lack of prior information given in sales calls.
If you are a real estate property manager, owner, or contractor, using cloud-based technology to automate and speed up tasks and communication can be a game changer for your business. As you embark on a search for a suitable property construction management software, we hope our review of Procore helped you analyze the pros and cons of this company, and make the right decision for you company.
