BLDG Construction make savings by having a better system for collaboration

BLDG Construction is a specialist contractor, mainly working on domestic projects. They have honed their reputation for delivering the best in quality and craftsmanship and with plans to expand into more commercial work as part of their growth, BLDG were looking for ways that tech can support them in scaling up.

Challenge

Before Fonn, BLDG were using a few different methods of communication and sharing documents. Callum Knapp from BLDG said: “Our main communications were through email, texts and WhatsApp which is fine when you only have one or two jobs, but we knew if we wanted to expand we’d need somewhere to collate all of our information.”

Callum found that sending emails for every issue and update became time-consuming and felt too formal, and the natural progression seemed to be towards a system where everything would be saved in one place, without the need to search for updates and documents across multiple channels.

Solution

From the start, Callum’s main draw towards Fonn was the easy-to-use nature of the app. “If you’re going to get buy-in from subcontractors and clients, a system has to be user friendly,” he said. As a company that has a strong reputation for effective and clear communication, BLDG needed their solution to enable strong collaboration that wasn’t too complicated for wider use.

The most vital tool for Callum’s team is the schedule of works (Scope of Works), where everything for a project is kept in one place and broken down for easy tracking. Before, information would be contained over a number of spreadsheets which could get complicated to maintain and there was the risk of things being missed. Fonn’s issues folder is an important feature for a lot of BLDG’s clients – being able to see that problems are being addressed builds all-important trust.

Smooth on-boarding and adoption

Getting on board with Fonn has been a great process for Callum, who feels as though questions are answered quickly and the support is there when it is needed. “We needed a bit more structure for purchase order forms, and we got the help we needed to set up a custom form. We’re now able to keep track of material costs, against what we’ve got going on in price,” he said.

If you’re going to get buy-in from subcontractors and clients, a system has to be user friendly - Callum Knapp, BLDG Construction

There hasn’t been any issues with implementation either with everyone using Fonn as part of their processes: “It makes their life easier, so why wouldn’t they use it?” Callum said. He noted that Fonn gives the team ownership and accountability over projects, enabling better management from day one. “Using Fonn means people heading up projects can feel more in control of what’s happening on-site.”

Saving money, and a bright future

It’s not just better collaboration that Callum has seen since implementing Fonn; there have been cost savings relating to ordering materials based on accurate data recorded in Fonn. These savings were possible because they had up-to-date information on what had been used, and what was needed to complete work.

BLDG plan to use Fonn as they scale up and are consistently working with the team to make sure they are using it to its full capability, “We’re constantly finding new ways to make life easier with Fonn, and our customers love it,” Callum said. “Customers will want to go over the day’s work, and being able to show them through the app what has been carried out during the course of a day is a better way of communicating.”

This transparency gives customers the confidence to raise any questions or concerns and these can be addressed and recorded there and then in the app.

BLDG are making great use of tech as part of their growth and Callum said the whole process is very much worth it for them: “Having somewhere to manage all of your projects will save you the money you spend on it - in the losses you would have made from not being organised in the first place!”

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