For anyone who hasn’t worked in general contracting, there is one thing that you may not fully grasp. You are doing a lot. A lot of moving, a lot of walking, a lot of standing, and a lot of very different stuff. Even a specialist has numerous odds and ends stocked fully within one field. If you’ve done general contracting, then you know all that. Either way, you are trying to level up your game so we’ll just break into the article. These are the best apps for contractors and we’re excited to list eight here below.
1. Calculator
An old trusted stand-by. Whether it’s measuring the total boards you’ll need to offset every foot or 16” (given if it’s load bearing), or rather you are trying to calculate the dimensions for the countertop you’re putting in and want to calculate potential expenses for the slab by the square foot. You need a tool to run those numbers. It seems simple but it’s the most necessary. You’ve got one pre-installed on your phone. It lives in settings. Trust me, you will be using it.
2. Measure
Another free app just came knocking. However, this one is a little less well-known and that is a travesty. Measure, just like Calculator comes preinstalled on iPhones and has two key features. It will automatically measure based on points. It uses augmented reality (AR) to graph out and measure objects simply by dropping points. The app then spits out a calculation for you.
Also, it works as a level. Both side planes are like walls or boards or those pesky flat planes. While not necessarily as ideal as a traditional level or tape measure, it is ready to go and almost always on hand for a quick and sound measurement.
3. Hubstaff
Another best app for contractors is a GPS tracking app that lets everyone know what is happening during those work hours. In construction, managing a team is hard enough, especially when managers and team leads are often required to move between their own projects, different jobs, and workers.
Hubstaff keeps you informed on how construction teams use their time in an easy, automated fashion. With this application you can:
- When They’re Clocked In, You Know Where They Are
- Time Track and Attendance Schedule
- Set Geofenced “Job-Sites”
- Payroll and Invoice Tracking
4. PlanGrid Build App
Built for the mobile architect this connects design and construction on a free mobile hub in your palm. It allows for updates to be present in real-time as well as the seamless integration and syncing amongst software. You can build, alter and draw on plans or blueprints.
It is a highly regarded five-star application, that once again is completely free.
5. Solocator
In both construction and maintenance, it isn’t always so much “Houston, we have a problem.” But rather, “Houston, where is the problem?” Solocator can help with that. There have been plenty of times when you hear there is a particular problem, in a particular room but you can’t find exactly where or the directions are bad. Solocator stamps photos with dates, times, directions, GPS data – that’s right cardinal directions, and apparently even altitudes.
For those requests, it waves the need for a detailed description and instead places the information on the photograph itself.
6. Autodesk BIM 360
Another great app for contractors is this program keeping everything to a task. This is yet another cloud integration software that focuses most heavily on connecting all the different pieces and people working on the flow of a project. It is an open platform meant to be integrated with the construction software that is already being used by all the different individuals working on the project. This way there is no need to get anyone to transfer to new software and keeps parts connected saving time and money with its open efficiency.
7. FingerCad
FingerCad is essentially a Computer Assisted Design program aimed at the mobile-minded. It features all the standard CAD software elements, you can draw things, you can build blueprints – anything you could do on a computer. While this is more often for an architect than a contractor, it could be easily used by the small-time contractor just breaking into the game and doing a lot of the leg work solo.
8. Fieldwire
An integrated cloud-based up that has limitless data and does not require an internet connection for partial usage. It has messaging software, drawing editing, and overlays. You can sink things from DropBox to add new images. Everything can be done live. Additionally, files, photos, videos, and 360 images are open to being added to the plan. Meetings, sight observations, and meetings can also be added and touched on within the app.
