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Feeling like you’re a builder who’s permanently over-worked, stretched, under pressure and may be even a little out of control? Maybe you’re struggling to stay on top of your jobs, staff, documentation, scheduling? Builders like you, face huge pressures to be marketer, accountant, recruiter, manager and labourer rolled into one. So, it’s not surprising that life can be overwhelming.

On this page, you’ll find tips on project management, estimating, business admin, health & safety and prompt payment – all of which will relieve you of many of the day-to-day pressures. It’s all part of our Building Firm Foundations initiative.

Master Job Management

A recent ‘Construction Industry Collaboration Initiative’ Time Survey revealed that people across the sector are suffering from ‘Time Poverty’: “They are squandering the long hours they are working – around 9-10 hours a day – to do what they need, or want, to do.

There are significant implications for people who are suffering from ‘Time Poverty’, for it impacts relationships, leadership, collaboration and productivity let alone generating stress that effects wellbeing.”

We want to help you improve your work/life balance – and work smarter not harder. And the way in which you manage each of your building projects is key.

BuildProjex

BuildProjex makes job management much easier. This clever cloud-based job management software instantly generates all the job information required when either uploaded through HBXL’s EstimatorXpress software, or directly typed into the app. You can assign tasks to individuals – delegation needs to happen if you’re under the cosh and it can work if administered correctly! As they complete their tasks your team can tick the work off. They feel empowered and you feel more free!

The Gantt Chart and calendar in BuildProjex give you clear visibility of the task assignments and delivery dates. No more getting bogged down with day-to-day operations. You can see at a glance what is happening and anticipate any bottlenecks. If something changes, the software automatically cascades the knock-on effect.

Worried that the paperwork is getting away from you? You can also upload the latest versions of building plans, specifications, progress photos, health & safety documents, and contracts into BuildProjex – they’re there all in one place in the app for your team to use. No misunderstandings. No more errors. That takes a huge pressure off.

Free Business Skills Bootcamp

Most people who go into construction won’t have had a grounding in business – why would you? Which is why the HBXL Business Management Skills Bootcamp has proved so popular. It’s like having mentors supporting your actions, advising on how to make life easier, better and more profitable.

You might wonder why as a builder who is over-worked you would find time to attend a course! But you’ll get the time back over and over again in the future. The course runs for 60 hours over 16 weeks. You attend two sessions a week and do two lots of homework.

Expert tutors help you with creating a business model, being more efficient, project managing, saving time in your normal working practices, costings, health and safety, and much more. It’s all about creating that solid foundation to ensure a long-term future for your business, without you burning out in the meantime! The course even includes CITB certification through the Site Supervision Safety Training Scheme. Find out when the next course starts here. And see whether you qualify for free attendance.

Efficient, time-saving estimating

The biggest time and energy drain for builders that we speak to is estimating. So chances are, you’re an over-worked builder because of all the quoting you do. It’s a Catch 22. You need to keep estimating to keep the work coming in. But you have to manage the jobs you win which reduces your estimating time but you can’t take your foot off the pedal… and so it goes on.

EstimatorXpress

Estimating manually is really time-consuming. Spreadsheets are not the way forward. Checking material prices with builders merchant is nigh on impossible when you’ve got a business to run and people to oversee. Basic estimating software packages actually make more work because you have to check and re-check the work.

EstimatorXpress is made for UK residential builders. You can read about it here but in short, most of the work is done for you – it’s mainly automated save for a few pieces of information you need to add. We do the material price checking for you each month, so that’s another tick. You’ll shave days off your estimating time, let alone hours. What’s not to like?

Worried that you haven’t got time to learn EstimatorXpress? We’re with you all the way with an onboarding session, a short software skills course, and plenty of helpful videos. You’ll soon get to grips with it. Give it a few weeks and you’ll be flying through the quotes.

We’ve put together this nifty little ROI calculator to show you the return on your investment. By understanding where your time and money are best spent, you can optimise your operations and use this software for bigger profits. You know it makes sense!

Free Estimating Skills Bootcamp

If you’re up against it on the estimating front, why not get one of the team trained in estimating? Our free HBXL Estimating Skills Bootcamp would be perfect. They use EstimatorXpress for the duration of the course. They get 60 hours of valuable training and you get an extra pair of hands to help you get all your quotations out. Of course you’re welcome to do the course yourself! Check whether you qualify for the free training.

Nail the legal documentation

Legal documents are a necessary part of any construction business, but they can be incredibly time-consuming. Health & Safety can’t be short-cornered, and you risk losing money if you don’t set out your financial terms properly. When you’re really busy it’s very easy to slip up – and let’s face it, a financial or safety mistake will never end well.

Health & Safety Xpert

Did you know that non-compliance of your CDM 2015 duties is a criminal offence? Or that a Construction Phase Plan is required by law?  The trouble is, recruiting an external Health & Safety company can be expensive and time consuming. Form-filling yourself requires concentration and time, driving you away from concentrating on where your business is going to take you and the future of the firm.

So, we have a sensible and cost-effective solution. Health & Safety Xpert. Tell the software what you’re building – number of floors etc. and it will automatically select the relevant documents. It will even fill out as much of the forms as it can, leaving you to complete the final few words. We’re talking Risk and COSHH Assessments, Toolbox Talks, Site Rules, Site Induction, Construction Phase Plans and more… You can’t cross your fingers when it comes to site safety, so share the job with Health & Safety Xpert.

ContractsXpert

Are you wasting time chasing payment or trying to make the customer understand what they agreed to? Are you forever on the phone or on the doorstep discussing the goal posts they keep moving? Put a stop to these time-consuming conversations with a contract.

And if you use the contracts in the HBXL ContractsXpert software then you’ll have very little to sort out. We’ve done all the hard work for you. Explain the job and This tool ensures that your paperwork is always up-to-date and compliant, giving you free time to work on things you want to do, rather than have to do like working on the task in hand. Cheers to an easier life!

Over-worked builder? What next?

We’re ready and waiting to chat about the pressures you’re under. We talk to builders everyday who, like you, are over-worked. It’s not much fun. It’s not easy conveying the benefits of software beyond the obvious ones – but time you save by using HBXL tools has this amazing ripple effect, you’ll see the difference in every area of your business – and life even – in the quality of the jobs you win, the money you make on them… I could go on.

And yes, adding software learning to the to-do list may seem counter-productive. But 1) our software is easier to learn than you might think 2) it will really be worth it in the long run.

So give us a call on 0117 916 7898 or complete the short form to try the software of your choice for free. And instead of being the ‘over-worked builder’ look forward to being the ‘busy and profitable’ builder.