Procore

Avantages

Procore's construction management tools are both easy to use and functional. Some of the best features that come to mind are the Drawing tool's ability to keep track of current drawings while still being able to review superseded drawings, the Submittal tool's ability to assign submittals to subcontractors so that they know exactly what is required and when it is expected by, and the Punchlist tool's ability to simplify the tracking process and even pinpoint each item to a specific location on the drawings.

Inconvénients

All construction companies have a different way of doing things but Procore, in a way, forces everything to be done a certain way. If you try and tweak things to mimic your company's way of doing things, it may break some of the automated functionality within the software which may cause a lack of continuity and create the potential for user error. Also, some of the tools could use some major improvements. The Drawing tool's markup options are great but they are inconsistent. For instance, when adding text, the only way to change the font size is with a slider bar which makes it difficult to keep things consistent. Also, would it be possible to get a copy and paste feature? The Directory tool is great at keeping companies and users organized and it would be incredibly helpful for companies to add some custom features. For instance, my company likes to track how many employees a company might have, and the states that they are willing to work but there isn't a good way of noting this.

Avantages

• Daily Logs are easily completed and sent to the appropriate parties. This means they actually get done which means they are more accurate. Adding photos to the logs is very easy as well.
• Procore allows you to put links to photos on your drawing set. This is especially helpful when we send out bid packages...bidders can see more details and existing conditions for our commercial remodeling projects.
• If you need to send out a lot of requests for quotes, Procore makes it easy to keep track of everything through the Reports function. PM's can also drill down to see who has or has not opened the invitation...a real time saver!
• Procore has a submittal builder built in, so after you upload the spec book, you can click on the builder and it generates a list of possible submittals. You can modify the list to suit your need. This can save days on a large project.
• When you upload revised drawing pages, Procore allows you to overlay the pages and highlights the differences with the new set. This is very helpful even if you were aware of the coming changes. It also allows you the chance to note the changes for possible change orders.

Inconvénients

• I'd like to see the ability to more with the mark-up tool. Features that are available on simple take-off software would be nice. Something as simple as being able to place a color-coded dot would be helpful.
• When adding people to the directory, it would be nice if when you forget to complete one of the required fields and hit SAVE...rather than delete everything because you forgot that one step...it'd be nice to just give you a message asking you to "please enter missing information".
• The way is now, seems rather punitive, but I'm sure they will change it.
• I'd like to see other types of scheduling options become compatible with Procore. I do use MS Project, but not everyone does. Project is rather pricey and would be another software product to learn.

Avantages

I have used the software previously as a subcontractor and now working for a general contractor. Procore keeps all necessary construction documentation in one, easy to access place with no space restrictions. It can be utilized offline for those out of the way projects. Once the system is understood and practiced, it is quite useful. Sometimes my office is 500+ miles away from the jobsite. I can be on the phone with my superintendent, looking at the same documents while on the phone discussing the issue. Submittals and RFI can be turned around in a day (if all team members are paying attention and on board with Procore.) I can have owners included on the system with limited access to photos and reports. Everyone in our office uses Procore; project managers, coordinators, AP, AR, and directors. I remember how we used to do everything with hard copies and ship back and forth between team members. Procore speeds up the process and streamlines everything.
I also had to sit through depositions for a project that went wrong, 6 years after the project was completed. All of the evidence was either printed emails, or hard copies of daily reports, pictures, etc. I feel like I would have been better covered and better represented if I had all of my documents organized within the system and structure of Procore.

Inconvénients

While Procore is a great system, it is a complicated system and takes some time and training to adopt and master. Like any other program, Procore can only be as good as the data and information uploaded. I find it most difficult to get architects and engineers on board initially. Once on board, most of them question why they were so reluctant, but it is almost always a process. Subcontractors are very similar, although many of our subcontractors still fax over using email.

Avantages

As an Agile-led development team, Procore is constantly improving their product through extensive analytics and actual customer feedback. This is a process I've witnessed first hand. In terms of the product, Procore integrates all the key tools needed for managing projects in the built environment. In addition, the product helps reinforce best practices in construction project management, which coming from a forensic expert, that's definitely a good thing when it comes to proactively managing risk. If more companies simply relied on tools like Procore for managing their projects, there would be a measurable decrease in claims, disputes and litigation.

Inconvénients

Despite extensive multimedia training materials, Procore remains a very difficult tool for onboarding new employees. In addition, the Procore marketing materials didn't set proper expectations for the overhead required to implement Procore company-wide. Additionally, Procore has made the decision to really focus their tools and the language used for describing those tools on very specific roles - primarily general contractors, at-risk CMs with trade contractors and engineers occupying the second tier or class of clients. For agency CMs, architects, other consultants, etc., use of the product is somewhat different from how the documentation describes it.

Avantages

Very easy to use and set up the preferences. Document uploads are simple drag and drop functions in most areas. Creating user access templates and controlling or restricting access to certain areas of the platform is very easy. Individuals at all levels throughout the process are fairly easily able to understand what they need to do as it is very intuitive.

Inconvénients

The user access setting need to be customizable at a lower level of detail, I would have rated five stars for Features & Functionality if it weren't for this. I find myself having to give people within the group full Administrative rights to tools in order for them to do what should be a task available at a lower level without full rights to change setup of the tool. If you aren't doing the same or extremely similar projects each and every time, there needs to be a Corporate level for reporting purposes and what they now have as "Company" level would be more the project level for those projects that are almost identical and/or being performed by the same project group. Changes made to the company level affect all the projects underneath that company and many settings are only at the Company level so if your projects aren't VERY similar to each other this may not work out well. In our case, Procore has managed a work around for this but it causes many of the executive dashboard functions to not work right. Limited customization but with a little ingenuity you can figure out ways to make things work.