Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for builders and contractors.
A checklist built from how builders and contractors work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- BOQ and budget per site
- Material indents and receipts
- Labour attendance and weekly bills
- Contractor work orders
- Measurement book and RA bills
- Stopped days and their reasons
- Daily progress report
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners and partners
- For project managers
- For site engineers and supervisors
- For billing engineers
- For storekeepers
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Budget head against actual spend, site by site
- Running bills raised, certified and still unpaid, by client
- Retention held per contractor, and when it falls due
- Material issued to each site this month, against its indents
- Labour days and wages per site, split by contractor
- Stage progress against the planned date, with the reason for every stopped day
- Contractor advances paid and how much is still to be recovered
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- WhatsApp click-to-chat
- Your accounting package, through an export agreed at set-up
- Excel imports of rate lists and measurement sheets
- Bank transfer and payment records
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Is it suitable for small builders?
- Can it prepare a running account bill with retention and advance recovery?
- Does the site engineer need a laptop?
- Does it connect to our accounting package?
- Can sites already in progress be brought in?
- Does it make us compliant with building regulations?
- Can we see what material went to each site?
- Who owns the site records?
- What does it cost?
- Should we continue with Excel?
- How long before site engineers record work in it?
- What should the builder have ready?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Site stock is not counted
- RA bills take a week to prepare
- Labour payments are hard to verify
- Loss appears after handover
Prefer to talk it through? See the builders and contractors page.