NOVUS Building Services: Managing hundreds of projects with construction scheduling software

Their story: Innovation in installation

For NOVUS Building Services, quality and quantity go hand in hand. One shouldn’t have to come before the other.

Their goal: To connect everyone across projects, states and roles

“We were in a real need because our project managers didn’t have visibility to what our own employees and subs were doing in the field,” said Steven Miranda, production and facilities manager. “The production department, including fabrication/installs, estimating, accounting and sales – we were all on an island.”

In 2017, they knew it was time to get off that island before the waves of inefficiency crashed in further. Information would go missing between jobs. Invoices were being sent too early, too late or not at all. Steven himself was taking hundreds of calls a day from the field.

That’s when Garrett Owens, an executive consultant to NOVUS, was hired to help find a construction tech solution. He knew it was time for a digital revolution – with Buildertrend as the catalyst for change.

“When we started, to be honest, I didn’t think this was going to work for us. I thought, ‘This is for homebuilders, right?’” Steven said. “The way I look at Buildertrend now … wow. You have no idea how much easier it’s made my life, having multiple project’s details accessible within a few clicks on my mouse or touchscreen.”

Their solution: Getting creative with construction tech tools to meet their unique needs

The wow factor for Buildertrend came to NOVUS after they learned many of the platform’s digital features can be used in more than one way. Not all construction teams work the same – and neither should their tech. Through weekly trainings with their Buildertrend coach, NOVUS saw how to leverage the different functionalities of each feature to best manage their high volume of specialized projects.

More jobs equal more crews in the field, as well as more subs. Buildertrend has brought calm to communication chaos. Before using this suite of construction scheduling tools, Steven spent the last few hours of every day handwriting the schedule on paper and a white board and individually sending text messages and emails to each employee. Now he does it right in the Buildertrend app. Each job includes project notes so he doesn’t field basic questions from anyone about prior execution or installs.

“I was getting an average of 75 to 125 phone calls a day. I hardly get 25 now,” Steven said. “Any info our team needs, it’s there. Proposals, signed contracts, layouts – everything. I don’t have to work 16-hour days anymore to get everything done.”

There is an active real-time component to the tool. All those crew members and subs are adding info, too. Right in the field on the app, they store countertop measurements, communicate with clients via Messages, upload countless project pictures and immediately connect with the office to get questions answered quickly.

“We have real-time visibility into the field – we never had that before,” Steven said.

Holistically, Buildertrend has made an impact on the company. Every employee in every department uses it to get their jobs done, easier and faster. That includes accounting.

Recently, NOVUS has begun to utilize the Purchase Order tool. As a major countertop installer, they’re ordering more material than most builders. Pennies were falling through the cracks. Now there is the advantage of double-checking if quote prices matched actual charges. Buildertrend keeps track of it all – even with so many projects moving so fast.

Within the Purchase Order feature, NOVUS can approve or void orders, link costs back to QuickBooks and see if they are any discrepancies in charges. It’s now kept all in one place instead of scattered over countless emails.

“Everyone at NOVUS has their overlapping part in Buildertrend. It doesn’t matter if you’re the new guy or you’re the owner,” Steven said.

Their success: One project owner for 100 commercial clients