As the cost of housing increases nationwide, there’s been a large demand for affordable housing development. According to the Pew Research Center, 49% of Americans report concerns with housing accessibility, creating a significant need for affordable housing.
Construction companies working on affordable housing projects can benefit from using labor tracking tools that increase efficiency and get projects done faster. Here’s how we describe labor tracking, as well as some tools and platforms that can help with improving your construction firm’s workforce management.
What is labor tracking?
Labor tracking is the process of gathering information on workers and contractors while the project is in progress. All the collected data is populated into a database, which management can then use to assess a worker’s progress and productivity.
Labor tracking ensures that everyone is where they need to be, that they’re putting in their contractually-obligated hours, and that they’re adequately completing their assigned tasks.
Construction labor tracking tools and software simplify the process by automating timesheets and making other aspects (such as employee scheduling and workforce forecasting) easier. Some platforms also improve the accuracy of reporting through methods like GPS monitoring.
For affordable housing projects to succeed, proper labor tracking and management are essential.
The SmartBarrel device
The SmartBarrel device is one of the best tools for labor tracking for low-income housing projects.
This plug-and-play box is LTE-connected, solar-powered, built to withstand the weather, and designed to fit both large and small construction sites. Devices are tracked by GPS, using atomic clocks to track time.
The device improves labor tracking for affordable housing projects with the following features:
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- Manpower tracking – Biometric facial verification upon check-in keeps a record of all workers on the job
- Safety tracking – Verify that workers have completed safety training. You can also track safety incidents, and confirm with the device that workers are wearing their personal protective equipment
- Time tracking – Digitize the timekeeping process and collect accurate employee hours with approved timecards, so you no longer chase workers down for information
- Working onboarding and orientation – You can simplify onboarding and orientation by easily adding in worker profiles, including emergency contact information
Other useful features for affordable housing development include:
- Automated daily logs, including weather observations and information from work summaries
- Work summaries gathered through SMS
- The ability to broadcast messages to workers
- Document and certification tracking
- Cost code and construction phase tracking
- The ability to set up break rules (such as automatic lunch breaks) and round-up rules (i.e., rounding clock-in times to the nearest 15-minute interval)
- A dashboard to manage projects and access reports
- An optional MobilePunch app for easy check-ins and check-outs
- Integration with Procore, CMIC, FoundationSoft, Viewpoint, and Autodesk
Users praise the SmartBarrel device for its ease of use and simple, intuitive design. It requires little to no maintenance from IT since it’s self-connected and solar-powered.
Plus. it’s magnetic and easy to move—the box’s color makes it easy to spot from even a distance or high rise, so workers will always know where to check in and out.
You can request a demo to get started.
Procore
Procore is a construction management software for owners, general contractors, and subcontractors that can also be used for affordable housing development.
It’s cloud-based and enables collaboration on projects through shared documentation and connected systems, integrating with various platforms and tools (including the SmartBarrel device). Procore centralizes data, gives users access to historical records, and provides real-time project information.
Some features include:
- Contract, submittal, and document management
- Change order management
- Budget tracking and control
- Project billing
- Collaboration tools
- Meeting minutes
- A multilingual interface
The software is geared particularly towards construction professionals, who benefit from its project management components.
Procore’s App Marketplace allows partners (such as software and technology companies) to sign up for integration and connect their platforms. It’s home to many accounting, CRM, IT, portfolio management, and timekeeping collaborations.
Check out Procore’s integrations.
Freshbooks
Freshbooks is an accounting software that helps monitor a project’s financial components. Affordable housing development projects that use Freshbooks benefit from features such as:
- Cost estimates
- Invoicing
- Payment processing
- Accounting
- Expense tracking
While there is a time tracking aspect to the platform, it lacks a verification feature. Freshbooks (like many other platforms) is a bit more generic and less specialized in the construction industry, which makes it less suited to deal with industry-specific issues, such as buddy punching.
Teamwork
Teamwork is another project management tool that can be used for affordable housing projects. It helps in particular with resource and workforce management. Some key features include:
- Task delegation based on workers that are organized into teams and sub-teams
- A portfolio view that lets you see all projects at the same time
- Collaboration features like status updates and contacts
- Profitability tracking
This tool integrates with Slack, Quickbooks, Dropbox, and more.
It offers a free account type, but there’s a 5-user limit, so it’s best suited for small teams and less so for larger-scale construction projects.
ClickTime
ClickTime is a timesheet software that focuses on reporting and time tracking. You’ll get features for affordable housing projects such as:
- Weekly, daily, and biweekly timesheets
- Custom entry requirements and permissions
- Company dashboards
- Basic billing rates
ClickTime offers an accompanying iPhone and Android app that lets you manage time tracking virtually and enables things such as phone notifications and photo attachments to entries.
Although it’s aimed at helping with productivity, budgeting, and employee tracking, some core features (such as resource planning and time-off management) can only be unlocked by paying more, resulting in hidden fees — note the “available for a small additional monthly fee” verbiage on their website.
Harvest
Harvest is a web-based time tracking tool that construction firms can use for low-income housing projects. It specializes in reporting and helps with monitoring expenses and productivity.
Features include:
- Time tracking through browser, desktop, and mobile with custom reminders
- Reports for budgeting, costs, and team capacity
- Invoicing to turn time into payments
One significant feature that Harvest offers is converting timesheet data to graphs, which lets you visualize data for better analysis.
Although it integrates with Asana, Quickbooks, Trello, and more, Harvest, too, isn’t specific to the construction industry, so there may be difficulties introducing it to your construction firm.
Labor tracking tools simplify building management
Whether it’s before, during, or after construction, technology makes overseeing projects and properties much easier and more efficient. The main goals of adopting these new technologies are to improve operations, encourage better communication, and eliminate liability.
If you’re interested in tools for affordable housing development, consider ones like the SmartBarrel device that automate processes and reduce overhead so you can focus on what’s important.
