Technology serves as a key tool for contractors, according to ABC study

The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) released its inaugural “Tech Report” on Nov. 18, a study of the innovative technology and tools that ABC contractor members are using on job sites to be safer, more profitable and primed to win more work.

According to the association, the report was sourced from a survey conducted from March through May 2021. It details opportunities for construction contractors to improve their operations in project coordination, planning, estimating, production and scheduling.

“This report will provide construction leaders with a roadmap to understand how technology and innovation can help their businesses,” said Jack Hineman, vice president of business intelligence at Gaylor Electric Inc., Indianapolis, and chair-elect of ABC’s Construction Technology and Innovation Committee. “Investing in construction technology will help construction companies innovate, differentiate themselves, and attract and educate their top talent. Our industry is composed of problem solvers who build America. When a tool does not exist to solve a problem, our users put in the sweat equity to build a resource that resolves issues to the best of their ability.”

Among the findings, the 2021 Tech Report reveals:

• Seventy percent of respondents listed an operational issue as one of their top three challenges that technology can help solve.
• More than half of respondents rely on project management software, with 68 percent using it for office management, and 59 percent using it in the field.
• Nearly all respondents rely on specialized accounting and billing software.
• Seventy-eight percent of respondents have implemented new technology in the past two years, with software platforms for project management and accounting as the prime focus of implementation teams.
• According to data collected from ABC 2020 Excellence in Construction Awards honorees, 93 percent of these best-in-class construction projects were built using technology management.

“Executing world-class performance requires contractors to continuously innovate, and I am confident the 2021 ABC Tech Report will help contractors on their technology journey,” said Matt Abeles, ABC vice president of construction technology and innovation. “If we choose to lead, commit and innovate, together we will create the conditions for all to do their work without incident, be more profitable, and win more work.”

The inaugural report is made possible by members of the ABC Tech Alliance, a consortium of firms that create construction technology and solutions for ABC contractor members, the majority of which primarily perform work in the industrial and commercial sectors. The 2021-2022 Tech Alliance members are Autodesk, San Rafael, California; Bespoke Metrics, Ontario; BuildOps, Santa Monica, California; Flashtract, Atlanta; KPA, Lafayette, Colorado; myComply, Brooklyn, New York; Points North, Duluth, Minnesota; Procore, Carpinteria, California; ProEst, San Diego; Safesite, San Francisco; Sage, Atlanta; SmartBuild, Toronto; StructionSite, Oakland, California; SubHQ, Spokane, Washington; and Tenna, Edison, New Jersey.

To read the full report, click here.