Collaboration Vital for Construction Industry’s Future

The way the construction industry currently works is disjointed, to say the least and nowhere is that more obvious than managing the submission and approvals of progress claims, according to Payapps.

Payapps is cloud-based construction software for managing progress claims up and down the supply chain.

Cashflow transparency is the lifeblood of the industry, but for some reason too many firms are struggling with a broken process that leads to delays across entire projects Payapps Global chief operating office, Tony Simonsen said.

“It seems simple—submit a claim, show your work, get paid—but the reality’s a bit different,” Simonsen said.

“It’s hard to know what everyone else is doing and staff spend more time chasing paper than they do getting work done.”

The solution to this issue is collaboration—working together in a transparent way to make sure everyone knows exactly where the money’s coming from, where it’s going, and when it’s due drives us closer to a far more connected construction workplace, Simonsen said.

“We’ve built that solution—an automated progress claim solution for the construction industry,” Simonsen said.

“By putting everything online, we’ve killed off the tyranny of the email chain, paper chasing and Chinese Whispers over who did what and when.

“We’ve made it simple. Transparent. Instant. Everyone along the construction supply chain can handle the whole progress claim process from their smartphones, and it’s possible to keep everyone up to date with a couple of clicks.

“We like to keep everything transparent, and in the interests of that transparency, here are the core collaborative features of Payapps:

• Transparency: full visibility of outstanding claims for both parties

• Mobile technology: easy access, anywhere, any time, so that both contractors and subcontractors can submit, assess, amend and approve on the move

• Contract compliance: effectively manage contract compliance documentation, such as subcontractor insurance

• Powerful workflows: automated electronic exchange of information and configurable multi-stage approval processes for both parties

• Security of payment compliant: engineered for the Australian and New Zealand construction industry, keeps you aligned with the various state-based security of payment legislation and promotes fair payment practices

• Milestone tracking and reminders: integrated into workflow for deadlines and key contract dates.

Firms of all sizes, from Built and Icon to ADCO Constructions and Parkview to smaller subcontractors such as City Circle Group and Fabcon Structural, rely on Payapps to streamline progress claim management.

“And they’ve all got one thing in common: the collaboration they find with Payapps is improving their relationship with their counter-parties,” Simonsen said.

“There’s more to our collaborative software than just improving cashflow visibility or helping managers keep an eye on their progress. Collaboration’s going to drive the construction industry forwards,” Simonsen said.

“A KPMG survey found 82 per cent of people in the industry expect greater collaboration in the next five years and industry commentaries are demanding that we all use collaborative technologies.

“That’s the thing about collaboration. Everyone stands to win.

“It improves supply chain collaboration, delivering true transparency of information and processes between the contractor and sub-contractors, with instant access to data in a single source of truth.

“Overheads are reduced, with dramatic time savings on manual processes that can be redirected to other important areas of a project, driving productivity on both sides.

“And transparency and standardisation significantly reduces the risk of payment disputes and the associated cashflow consequences, resulting in a happier and healthier supply chain.

“With a more collaborative mindset, we all work together and we all trust each other more, and in this way we collectively move towards a more connected construction workplace of the future.”

See how you could save time and money with Payapps by scheduling a demo with our team. Book in at au.payapps.com/book-demo.

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