United House has rolled out an innovative app for reporting on the progress of projects across all its sites in an effort to increase the accuracy of project information. The new app is also expected to save time and reduce IT costs by storing files in the cloud.
The housing specialist is the first construction firm in the UK to deploy Asta Site Progress Mobile, created by Asta Development for use on mobile phones or tablets. United House sites where the new tool is in operation include its mixed-use schemes at Grange Walk in Bermondsey and Wharf Road in Islington.
Site Progress Mobile enables users to quickly update progress information in real time on site, perform actions such as “ticking off” tasks from any location, add notes and attach images associated with a particular tasks or build stage using the device’s camera. The information is subsequently fed into the Asta Development software Asta Powerproject, often used by project planners back in the office.
When the updated project information has been imported into Asta Powerproject, project planners are able to visualise its impact on the overall progress on the project.
Warren Betts, head of planning at United House, said: “As our site portfolio grows it is important to ensure that our senior management has total visibility of each respective project’s workload. Site Progress Mobile is making a tangible difference, and the ability to receive regular real-time updates has allowed us to reduce admin time, make accurate forecasts in terms of project schedules and, critically, identify potential issues before they occur, resulting in proactive mitigation which is delivering considerable cost savings.”
Site Progress Mobile is free to install on Apple and Android devices, with use of the service charged at a monthly rate according to the number of projects/files uploaded to the cloud storage area.
After logging into the app, projects assigned to a user are downloaded automatically from the cloud. The user then selects a project to update and browses through the project hierarchy to a subfolder containing the tasks requiring progress reports.
Individual tasks can be updated, as well as aspects of repetitive events, such as build stages of a plot, finishing stages of a room etc, which can also be ticked off when completed. The app also enables users to record notes, take photographs and associate them with particular tasks or build stages.
The app aims to address the patchy 3G and wi-fi coverage on some construction sites, particularly those that take place below ground level, by automatically storing updates on the cloud server, before synchronising the data across all devices as soon as a signal is picked up again.
No wireless internet signal is required when entering progress values, only when sending the information back to be updated to the source project plan.
Site Progress Mobile helps reduce administrative time and effort, says Asta Development, because progress data no longer needs to be sent back to the office in paper or email form, then re-keyed into the project plans. In addition, data accuracy is improved because updates are not re-keyed manually, reducing the margin for human error, it says.
The app allows users to select the frequency of progress updates, whether daily, weekly, monthly or ad hoc and it records the actual dates of events, not just the percentage complete, which could be useful in the event of future discussions or contractual disputes, says Asta.
Once project information has been uploaded to the cloud by Site Progress Mobile users, it is available for any permitted Asta Powerproject user to access using Site Progress Manager software to download and integrate it into Asta Powerproject projects.
