What do a nail gun, a laser level, a portable circular saw, and a modern hydraulic excavator all have in common? The obvious answer is that they are all tools and equipment commonly found on a construction site. Another correct answer would be that they are all pieces of construction technology that didn’t exist 100 years ago. The wide adoption and efficiency of these technologies has driven construction to unimaginable levels. The same is increasingly true of the many managerial and administrative elements of the construction industry.
"The most intelligent platforms the industry has ever seen"
Apps like Getter, buildpass and Hnry are broad in scope, bringing the many processes of the construction business into centralised software, making project management simpler and more intuitive at each stage of the process.
We spoke to Getter CEO Tom Burton, buildpass Co-founder Matt Perrot and Hnry Partnerships Director Hayley Bolding about how new apps are changing the construction game.
Getter
The answer to one of the greatest productivity killers all tradies face in their day to day - supply procurement. Getter offers two ways of getting products to the job site; shop and deliver and delivery only. Their shop and deliver service allows tradies to shop via the Getter website or App and then Getter sources and delivers the product, taking care of the supply procurement process, end-to-end.
Getter also offers a delivery only service, allowing tradies to call their suppliers ahead of time, place their order and rely on Getter to deliver it in a timely manner, straight to site.
Getter is a welcome addition to the construction industry, especially in capital cities and busy suburbs where parking is scarce, and traffic congested. The ambitious mission of this innovative start-up is to “Bridge the gap between the site and the shop”, according to founder Tom Burton, “So construction crews can keep working instead of heading to the nearest supplier.”
The company is founded by a group of tradies, so they are well aware of the constraints that sourcing and procurement can put on a project, both economically and time-wise. “Industry research showed tradies made unplanned trips to the hardware store on one in every three jobs, adding about $2 billion in labour and vehicle expenses annually”, says Burton. They’ve crafted their website and app with convenience in mind, with absolutely no time for clunky, unnecessarily complicated software. Their website is streamlined with over 100,000 products categorised into trade-specific genres and their app is intuitive, with product availability info according to location.
There’s also another perk that nobody thought possible; Getter even delivers smoko bonuses like cold drinks and beers to keep morale high - the icing on the cake. With their heavy focus on customer service and precision delivering, Getter elevates your work experience, adding enjoyment and efficiency to the job site environment.
Hnry
Hnry makes life easier all year round for tradies, but especially at tax time. This incredibly user-friendly platform is one of a kind, with a genius approach to financial administration when it comes to sole traders and the self-employed.
Acknowledging the huge discrepancy self-employed people face when searching for a specialist accountant, Hnry has taken things into their own hands and crafted a service which solves this pain-point. Hnry provides specialist accounting services that are only a phone call, email or instant chat away, without the threat of being slapped with a bill simply after seeking assistance.
This full-service platform allows contractors, freelancers, tradies and sole traders to be paid into a Hnry bank account, upon which their tax will be automatically calculated and deducted from their earnings, with Hnry paying their tax bill straight away. Hnry’s team of dedicated accountants also lodge tax returns whenever they’re due, all as part of the service. Their expenses feature allows tradies and freelancers to log expenses in the app in a matter of seconds, which are reviewed immediately for instant tax relief.
Hnry seems too good to be true, but it gets even better. The invoicing feature allows users to send invoices that Hnry will even chase up if they aren’t promptly paid. Their mission is to free sole traders, freelancers and the self-employed of ever thinking about tax again, and they’ve really achieved that.
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buildpass
Automation at its absolute finest, buildpass is here to make life easier. Administration is often the most dreaded part of a tradies job, but for BuildPass customers it is about to become a breeze.
BuildPass is an SAAS start-up that incorporates inductions, site diaries, safe work method statement, insurances, communication, ticket management, document management, sign-ons, medical information, permits, quality inspections, defect management, plant inductions and safety walks plus more, into one super handy platform - think Xero on steroids.
BuildPass is blazing the trail in construction admin and makes management roles automated, leaving more time for the money making. As a self-proclaimed ‘obsessed’ team that’s hellbent on building intuitive, user-friendly software for the construction industry, these guys are really kicking their own goals and making yours easier to reach. They’re driven by a common frustration among most of the start-ups featured here - the lag in modern technology roll-out for the construction industry. Buildpass are already being welcomed with open arms, into some of the nations most trusted construction and design companies, including Dome Building Projects and Visioneer Builders. With subscriptions for any budget, buildpass are truly revolutionising construction admin.
