ConstructionOnline Reviews

This is the best new "toy" I've had in years. I feel like a kid in a candy store!

Comments: Saves time. Makes it easy to find stuff. Helps you stay organized. Keeps subs, vendors, owners, architects, vendors all on the same page.

Pros:

I am a new user of this kind of software. A few months ago I did not even know that something like this existed. It has opened a whole new world for me and I am blown away by what this software can do. We demo'ed a few competing products before making a choice and it was the wide range of features at the most competitive price that sold us on ConstructionOnline. I especially like the messaging feature which is basically an email system dedicated to one specific project.

Cons:

There is nothing I really dislike about ConstructionOnline, there are just some features I do not use as they do not meet my needs as a commercial general contractor. For example, I do not use Estimating and Change Orders as they seem to be less robust than some of the other software products. These features seem to be geared more towards the residential market. However, I realize it is hard to be everything for everyone. A feature, I think, that would be nice would be the ability to sign documents electronically. Maybe one can do it through Redline; if so, I have not been able to figure it out yet. As a general contractor one has to collect submittal packages from vendors and subcontractors, review them, and then attach a separate sheet to the package, that contains your stamp of approval/comments/signature on it, before you forward the submittal package on to the architect/engineer for review. On this submittal sheet there is space for the different reviewers to add their stamps as well. It would be nice if ConstructionOnline could generate this submittal sheet that you can attach to submittal packages sent to you. Currently, I generate the submittal sheet in another project management program, print it, place my stamp on it, sign it, scan it back into my computer, upload it to a pdf editor, add it to the submittal package file, and then upload the combined file to ConstructionOnline. It would be nice if you could do it all in ConstructionOnline.

ConstructionOnline increased our productivity

Comments: It was a little slow going at first, but we are picking up speed. We got an assistant project manager fresh out of school who is adding more information on the technical side of things. On the client side, we are loving the fast, clear, professional communication with our clients, and being able to estimate and send invoices with a few clicks. We are going to continue to add things as we go, and I think after a year we will look up and wonder at what we have been able to accomplish with Construction Online.

Pros:

This has been a huge upgrade for us in terms of productivity. We are an older company that has stuck to the same way of doing things for a very long time. Construction Online was fairly simple to implement. We like the flexibility of the system, where we can use the features to suit our needs.

Cons:

I don't like the added steps we have to take to add any text to an invoice. I would like a feature similar to what we have in estimating, where I can add a signing page.

Almost, but missed the mark

Comments: Customer service is very helpful for the product they have. Unfortunately they miss on some pretty basis stuff. We have been told for over a year that development team is working on some of the basic fixes and still nothing changes.

Pros:

Estimation portion is good. Job costing is fair.

Cons:

It does not have the ability to provide clients with add/alternate pricing. Seems like a very basic feature that most construction companies are asked to provide. This one slipped by us through all the demo's and we have been frustrated for over a year with this. Have to manually do work arounds. Also we are a commercial construction company that does about 300 jobs a year. The software does not even have the ability to assign each project a job #. With as many jobs going on, we have to be able to cost every purchase and we do that using job #'s and PO#'s. We are manually assigning each job a number. These are just two of the larger misses on this software.

Excellent tool for construction companies

Pros:

Scheduling / estimating / to do / daily logs

Cons:

Still learning about all the tools the system has to offer. So far - there is nothing I don’t like or noted needs improvements

Great Construction Management Software

Comments: I like Construction Online and can't wait to see what it will improve into down the line. It's come a long way from where it was years ago.

Pros:

My favorite feature is being able to access project information anywhere. You can see the schedule, tasks, pictures, and plans. Collaboration can happen quickly with it problem solving.

Cons:

Data and Business Intelligence features could use some improvement, but that's the typical failing of the entire industry.

Big Fan!!!

Pros:

I really like the estimating integration and project tracking. Its nice to have a platform to house all the information about one project.

Cons:

Adding Sheets to a current set is a cumbersome. It would be great id we could add the Architects revision number instead of V1 V2 etc.

Essential

Comments: Very positive, used BuilderTrend, no comparison ConstructionOnline far superior.

Pros:

Daily records & plan view. Especially able to find dimension thru CAD.

Cons:

RFI, I do not think this is a software problem, but getting people to respond.

Great product, great value

Comments: The biggest benefit we've had is the collaboration of information. My field super no longer has to call asking about a PO, he can look online. He can submit back charges and VPO's to me for approval from his phone in the field. Communication amongst our team and to our subs is all in one place for all of us to see.

Pros:

This product is really easy to use. The support is amazing. Even with seemingly simple questions, I can call or email them anytime and I always get the help I need. They have even worked with us to make the pricing options scalable for our needs. Transitioning from the desktop version to the online version was a daunting task but after I did it, I wish I would have done it sooner. The features available for our team to collaborate information is invaluable.

Cons:

When I am in costbooks, I wish there was a way to click and drag items into new folders. The way it's set up now is a little time consuming. There also isn't a way to deactivate sub-categories in the estimates like there was in the desktop version or set sub-categories as allowances.

Construction Online

Comments: When we complete the estimate, we know the exact cost for that job.

Pros:

the estimating is by far the best. The existing template keeps me from overlooking an item. The ability to list every piece of lumber needed for estimate puts Construction Online above most other estimating programs. The ability to choose percent of cost or margin is a great benefit.

Cons:

When entering the name of an item it would help if when it is clicked it would go directly to the description tab next instead of going directly to the quantity tab.

the goods

Comments: I am very pleased with my overall experience with the program.

Pros:

scheduling and being able to track all of our supply usage as well as tracking man hours.

Cons:

i personally found it rather busy and at times difficult to navigate.

COL is Great

Comments: The support staff is amazing. I have always had great solutions to issues I come across here and there. The classes I took for the Quick Books integration were very helpful. We decided to change our entire book keeping around how socket exports to Quick Books.

Pros:

I love the estimating. It keeps the estimate more organized than Quick Books. Adding notes and attaching proposals from other subcontractors and suppliers keeps the information all close by.

Cons:

I don't care for having to edit every row line in the estimate so the description spacing can be larger than the Item and cost rows. I wish there was a way to change all of them at once in the top ruler of the editor.

Outstanding Support!

Comments: Organization, communication, scheduling, efficiency, productivity all improved by utilizing UDA.

Pros:

The best thing about this software is the almost instant customer support given through the live chat and the knowledge of all of the techs is superb.

Cons:

We are getting ready to integrate Quickbooks Desktop and it would be nice if UDA had their own accounting software within the program.

Great Software

Comments: Construction Online has really helped our company. We love customer service and the willingness to consider our feature requests.

Pros:

All-in-one functionality. Super great customer service.

Cons:

There are just a few minor features that we would be great. 1) Not counting QB credit card credit as cost. 2) Being able to see what costs came in from QB for each Construction Online category.

Powerful software with a learning curve

Comments: The biggest benefit is everything being in one place.

Pros:

The selection picker is definitely something we use a lot and helps keep the myriad of selections in a home organized, such that they can be sliced and diced by trade/room etc. Redline plan room we've recently starting using. The ability to do our own takeoffs is super handy. More than any feature, the support you get is invaluable. The team is always ready and willing to help you figure out how to use the software to meet your goals. The ability to have a set of shared plans is super helpful, as you can make field modifications in real time and have them reflected on all your coworkers plans as well, and vice-versa.

Cons:

Construction Online doesn't *look* as user-friendly as say, Trello or Monday.com, but it has all the features and more. It takes considerable training to take advantage of all the capabilities and that makes it hard to adopt across a team that's busy doing other things. Making a lot of the features more user-friendly interface like would help. Bite-sized training, like pre-recorded sessions that introduce users to functions in an organized way, building on previous lessons would be helpful. The support is very helpful and willing to help you get started, but you need to know what you want to accomplish for them to guide you there. Starting fresh, you don't even know what you want yet.

Happy User

Pros:

Our favorite features are the messaging and financial features. The messaging portal makes it easy to organize your conversations and allow all team members to stay in the loop. The estimation, client selections, change orders, and invoicing features work great and make it easy to integrate with Quickbooks.

Cons:

The feature we use the least and feel could be improved is the time tracking feature. We have attempted to use it in the past, but find Quickbooks Time to be easier and more user friendly, especially when it comes to integrating for payroll. The opportunities feature is also fantastic, but we do wish the opportunities could be accessed in the mobile app and synced to Quickbooks. We have some opportunities that might not become a project, but require invoicing for time spent on designs, etc. This is not possible in the opportunities section at the moment and we end up having to copy the estimate information into Quickbooks manually.

Professional Impact

Comments: Just Fantastic and it continues to get better each year.

Pros:

The estimating module is very east to use and allows for quick changes and efficient communication. The Construction online is the best there is when it comes to project tracking and communication with all team members.,

Cons:

Getting proper job costs from Quickbooks. It's helpful but also confusing.

Good Construction Software

Comments: I been using Construction Suite and Construction Online for many years. It is a well thought out software.

Pros:

Construction Online gives me the value of having everything I need in one place. Plus the client portal is a major plus for communication with my clients on change orders, scheduling, etc.

Cons:

Don't have any complaints. Sometimes when you need someone to help you, it may be awhile before they do call back.

Third Space Builders

Pros:

The financial reports are instrumental for our business.

Cons:

Building the construction schedules could use a feature that lets you add lag days.

Significant ease of use and straight forward organization of Construction Online.

Comments: UDA is a one stop shop for all my project management needs. I use UDA and Microsoft Outlook as my main two software tools on a daily basis.

Pros:

Constantly updating and evolving with more features. Easy to acclimate new users to features specifically used for their job duties. It is not an all or nothing software. We can limit users to features that will increase their productivity and not inundate nor confuse them with features that are not beneficial to their work flow.

Cons:

Sometimes big time on web server don't know if it is due to # of users or or amount of information contained in our company files. Wish the web server could process the information faster when imputing data.

SBC Review

Pros:

Financial integration with Quickbooks. Estimating land project scheduling are the best features.

Cons:

Estimating spreadsheet could be a little more residential builder friendly. Contacts vs Lead tracking is a little confusing and complicated to have both sections. Opportunities do not have communications (this is a time when we are communicating a lot with the client). COL also could use a section to send out bids and get replies from there. Selections could also use an update. It can get very confusing.

Convenient and user friendly

Pros:

This product is affordable and convenient for meeting all the essential management team criteria

Cons:

Cons: great user-friendly tracking tools. easy daily log system

Has allowed us to greatly streamline our opperations

Pros:

The project and team management tools will be a huge asset to our system. I like the ability to create templates. I think the estimating is easy to use and very useful

Cons:

I would like to be able to have some initial set up control power on my end when setting up sub contractors. It's absolutely essential that I be able to pull up the estimating docs from the app, so as to cross reference different items. Simply looking at a pdf version is not the same. I think there should be a way to classify projects. For example, once a contract is signed I would turn the project over to live. At that point, the estimate can't be altered, only change orders created. Some of the projects we begin building will never turn into jobs, so they will only have the estimating portion done more than likely. I wouldn't want that project to count as an overall project and go against the total amount we are allowed. But I would want to be able to at least be able to estimate through the system so if it turns into a job, it can carry over. I also think it's really important to be able to use the scheduling system through the app. I wish there were more options to customize the estimate reports to look more professional.

Construction online helps me keep it all straight

Pros:

CO keeps all my documents, notes, logs, appointments and anything else I need to put in there and organizes it in a simple way so I can get what I need when I need it. This business can be crazy, and CO is a powerful tool that lets me keep things under control. I'm learning more all the time, and I know I don't use it to its fullest yet, but even so my business has shown a tremendous impact. Staying organized is what it is all about. The guys at UDA have always been so helpful and respectful. They are able to guide me when I need it even if I am under a deadline and stressed out. If there is a problem they cant't fix on the phone, they can get on the screen share and find a solution or get back to me with a fix in a reasonable time.

Cons:

I have no complaints at all. Maybe I'd like it more if they were headquartered in my town.

Duquaine Development UDA Review

Comments: Over I've been very pleased. I've been using this software for several years since UDA was just starting out with this software. They've listened to many of the suggestions and implemented them throughout the years.

Pros:

Scheduling being online based and auto updating on a weekly basis

Cons:

A few minor items, but nothing major. It'd be nice to send gameplans out 2 days a week instead of daily or weekly.

User Friendly Construction Management Software

Comments: Layout and set up time for new proposals, project details and client information/tracking are easy.

Pros:

Ease of proposal writing, estimating and job cost tracking.

Cons:

Have used the portions of the software I am most familiar with. I need more time/training to become more familiar with other features and options to utilize the complete software package.