Punchlists are a necessary evil in the construction industry. Efficiently managing that process helps close out the project on-time. The problem, though, is that the processes of the past are time consuming and difficult to track. An app called Buildup believes they can help make your punchlist process much easier.
When I do punchlists, personally, I either use a paper and pen or an Excel sheet. It wouldn’t be a big deal if it was for my own personal use, but actually distributing the list and tracking progress takes a lot of time. Not only do you have to keep the list up to date, good punchlists include pictures, which you then have to upload and file, followed by emailing all responsible subcontractors, and continuously following up.
Buildup contains all of that detail within itself, is very mobile friendly, and can make the process so much more efficient. It completely replaces the manual punchlist process.
In the Buildup app, tasks or punchlist items are dropped onto the floor plan so that the location of the item is clear, one or multiple subcontractors that are responsible for the item are selected, pictures can be attached and marked up, and notifications are automatically sent to everyone involved…all within a matter of seconds.
A couple additional features I found to be pretty cool include an automatic Spanish translation tool, which converts your punchlist items to the Spanish language, and a voice-to-text option, which lets you add punchlist items hands free.
Getting subcontractor buy-in is another hurdle GCs face pretty regularly and Buildup has a few solutions for that, as well. First, subcontractors use the app for free (included in the cost to the owner or GC). Second, subs will receive emails whether or not they choose to use the app or not. Third, reports or punchlists from Buildup can be exported to Excel or a PDF for external distribution.
To make the app even easier to use for Procore users, Buildup is fully integrated into Procore. That means that you can sync punchlist items to and from Procore and import all of your projects contacts from Procore into Buildup.
For more information about Buildup, you can visit www.buildup.co, start a FREE 30-day trial at www.go.buildup.co/free-trial, and watch my video interview from Groundbreak 2019 below!
