What is construction software and what does it get you?

You are searching for construction software because your quotes take too long right now. Below is what it is exactly, what it does and how you use it without turning your way of working upside down.

What exactly is construction software?

Construction software is an app where you record your prices, tasks and client details once, so you reuse them on every quote, work order and invoice. You type or dictate data, and the app calculates, plans and invoices along with you. No more loose Excel sheets next to your email and your calendar. The app itself runs in Dutch; the agent answers you in English.

The difference with a loose spreadsheet is the link between the parts. A price you enter for plastering doesn't need to be typed again on the next quote: it is already there. That shifts your time from looking things up to judging.

Say you're a plasterer and you get three requests on a Monday. Without construction software you look up your own price list three times, work out the VAT rate three times and type the same terms three times. With construction software you only enter the measurements and the rest is already there.

Why does making a quote take so much time?

A quote takes time because you keep looking up the same data: your hourly rate, the VAT rate for this job, the floor area of the property. Record that data once in your company profile, and you don't have to gather it again each time and you build every quote faster.

The company profile (bedrijfsschets) is the basis for this: you record your tasks, prices and times once, and the rest of the app calculates from it. It isn't a separate step you repeat for every job, but a setting you make once and then keep using.

A renovation firm that does bathrooms doesn't have to work out again for every request what an hour of tiling costs. That is already in the profile. You only have to decide how many square metres it will be. See how that works in practice on the page about quotes and estimating.

How do I make the intake deliver the calculation work up front?

The intake delivers the calculation work by letting a client fill in details themselves through a request page, or by looking up an address that automatically returns the build year, floor area and VAT rate. That way you don't start a quote with a blank screen, but with part of the work already done.

The request page is a shareable intake page with your own branding: every submission immediately becomes a project in your app. The address intake goes a step further, because postcode and house number give you the build year, floor area and the right VAT rate, without you having to look it up. Which rate applies exactly to work on a home, you can read at the Dutch tax authority on the VAT rate for work on homes (Belastingdienst, in Dutch).

Think of a roofer who gets a request through the website. The client enters the address, and the app knows straight away whether the property falls under the reduced VAT rate for renovation, before you have set foot on the roof.

How do I turn a job into a quote line without mistakes?

You turn a job into a quote line by linking the quantity to your recorded price, so the calculator works out the line with margin automatically. Mistakes usually happen because you multiply by hand or use an old rate: that risk disappears once the link is automatic.

When you survey a job, you go wall by wall: measurements, corners, doors and windows, finish and condition. The app works out the square metres itself and they go straight into the quote. Then the calculator takes that quantity, multiplies it by your price and immediately shows the line, including a margin slider.

So a painter who surveys a living room doesn't have to work with a tape measure and a calculator. He measures the walls in the app, and the quote line for that room is there straight away, with the margin he sets himself.

How do I send a correct quote and know whether the client approves?

You send a quote with your own terms from the app, and get a notification as soon as the client approves. That way you don't have to chase a signature by phone or email: the status of the quote updates automatically.

That helps most when you have several requests open at once. Instead of keeping track of loose emails, you see in one overview which quotes are still open and which have been accepted. What else a building has to comply with, you can find at RVO on laws and rules for buildings (the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, in Dutch), useful if you want to check that your offer meets the right requirements.

Say you're an installer and you send five quotes out on Friday afternoon. Instead of having to ask around on Monday who has signed, you get a notification as soon as the first client approves, and you can schedule that job straight away.

Want to see what this looks like in your business? You start with a free trial account with five complete projects, or you first look at the prices of all plans.