A creative representation of a construction worker using software on a site. (Image generated by AI)

In construction, sometimes there鈥檚 a sense that the future was yesterday: that is, significant technological gains of the past seem to be catching up to the industry鈥檚 present.

It means construction is in overdrive, modernising archaic processes and programmes at break-neck speed.

Construction Briefing discussed the evolution with Quickbase鈥檚 Bob Salaj, who offered some predictions on what鈥檚 next in the industry and analysis from the company鈥檚 .

Could you introduce yourself and give a brief background of your professional career?

I鈥檝e actually been working with Quickbase now for over 20-some years, going back in the day to when we were part of Intuit.

Robert Salaj, Quickbase

My background stemmed from large Fortune 500 companies such as GE, but honestly for the last decade have really been within the electrical contracting space and leveraging the techniques of process mapping, but also using this low-code, no-code software called Quickbase to basically bring us into the 21^st century and beyond.

And I think if you see in the, in the, uh, state of construction, 91% are still using basically paper all the way through.

Can you talk more about low-code/no-code software and how Quickbase uses it?

So low-code, no-code [software that allows users to create applications without coding] like Quickbase enabled me and others within construction to basically say, let鈥檚 take the ideas that we have as foreman superintendents, project managers, let鈥檚 go to where they鈥檙e doing the day-to-day operations, and let鈥檚 build software to suit the actual operation as opposed to buying something off the shelf and force-feeding it.

We started off with one application, and it grew to 20-plus applications, and we continue to build out these realms inside of these contractors to begin touching every point of their business.

It can range anywhere from CRM, bid management, prefab, HR, accounting, the sky鈥檚 the limit. It could be new hires in recruiting efforts; let鈥檚 say we鈥檙e going to go out to colleges or down to the unions and working with union halls, it can go a variety of different ways for that.

And in the current state of construction, [around] 91% of companies are still basically using paper all the way through their process.

So, converting the Excel spreadsheets, making this ecosystem robust, at the end of the day, it鈥檚 extremely advantageous for the presidents, the C-levels, whoever鈥檚 doing it, to create these dashboards and have the metrics at their fingertips. Also to create dashboards that make sense for them as opposed to being either inundated with information.

What鈥檚 driving contractors and construction companies to adopt new software like Quickbase?

A creative illustration of artificial intelligence aiding the supply chain and construction environments. (Image generated by AI)

With labour shortages, with everybody retiring, with the brain drain and everything else moving forward, [vital] information is getting lost.

We created a very simple app just for lessons learned and standard operating procedures that you actually put into Quickbase, and then you can have buttons throughout that explains how you do this particular process, because I think, with the foreman, they are inundated with technology.

And that鈥檚 actually kind of a big misconception: people are starting to realise construction鈥檚 kind of鈥� being crushed with technology right now. A foreman has to sign off in like 16 different software [programmes] overall. There鈥檚 a different save button in a different location, different look and feel. They鈥檙e getting drained, overall.

Quickbase can be that rapid prototype implementation tool. If we need a better way and better mechanism to create a change order log and you have an Excel spreadsheet, we convert it, and then we proof-of-concept this and, next thing you know, because it鈥檚 low code, no code, [the users] begin to expand upon it.

What鈥檚 been revelatory as more firms work with and adjust the software?

There鈥檚 a tie with the work that you鈥檙e choosing to do in what regions.

And what鈥檚 interesting is we鈥檙e finding that megaprojects are actually having a drain on the local workforce and pulling labour out of that environment. People begin to jump ship from one union or one contract 鈥� and they鈥檙e putting more strain on the local markets.

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What we鈥檙e seeing with labour shortages through the CRM bid management app that we launched is how we need to do a better job of prioritising the work we go after [as a contractor].

What do we want to win at the end of the day? Maybe we need to start saying 鈥楴o鈥� to some of the business as opposed to saying 鈥榊es鈥� to everything. How are you tracking certifications? What people are willing to travel? What is the incentive pay, the per diems? Where do they live? It鈥檚 about who鈥檚 available. Do you have clear line of sight to who鈥檚 available? When are they ending their work on? What jobs? How do they begin to move forward with it?

We鈥檙e finding that these pieces of the pie鈥� general contractors and others are saying: we need a database to track what these other point solutions are.

And presumably a software like Quickbase could lend itself to employing other novel technologies?

Robert Salaj, second from right, with his Quickbase team at Procore Groundbreak 2024 held in Denver, Colorado, US, last November. (Image courtesy Robert Salaj鈥檚 LinkedIn)

That鈥檚 an exciting topic.

When I started in my previous role, we had two BIM [Building Information Model] modellers and that expanded to over 50 in one department.

So, how do we embrace that technology and realise that learning curve and how much time and effort goes into it?

I鈥檝e seen clients start the journey 鈥� because everyone says we want to do BIM 鈥� and not realise what happens with it, right? There鈥檚 a lot of steps they need to take, even just to plan out the job, to then model the job to have quality assurance, and then actually provide either the BIM model or maybe it鈥檚 prefab drawings or maybe there鈥檚 some other onsite drawings that go straight to the foreman.

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And what we realised in that journey was you could either take ten hours of budget time that you鈥檙e actually reallocating to help plan out this entire job, or 鈥� if you鈥檙e not diligent about it 鈥� those modelers will take 50 hours to go do it. That鈥檚 where a lot of this time management aspect of the project managers, the foreman, they want to get the job done, and they already know how to do it.

They鈥檙e not trusting the technology in the process because all you鈥檙e doing at the end of the day is taking out hours out of my budget that I could be actually out in the trench doing the same thing.

So, what we built was an app to track the tasks of the planning and layout department and how that actually manoeuvred all the way through and created a mechanism in the bid management app that said: we鈥檙e requesting X-amount of hours, do you approve Mr or Ms Project Manager?

And there was that approval process in that visibility and democratisation, by having that in the Quickbase app, you are holding your own self accountable.

How do we see management software developing alongside future construction workers?

A representative image of young people working in high-tech construction. (Image generated with AI)

I鈥檒l pick on megaprojects; you have assistant project managers, you have project engineers on staff. What are they doing today to solve some of the issues where they need to coordinate or work down through?

They default to Excel, they default to Word documents, email, or a market board.

What Quickbase is doing, and what we鈥檙e promoting, is we have to look at your data set. If your division as a company is large projects, small projects, medium specialty, or service and accounts, and you鈥檙e dealing with residential and solar, well if you鈥檙e only getting data from large projects, it doesn鈥檛 tell you the whole story of what鈥檚 progressing.

We try to look at artificial intelligence as鈥� if you don鈥檛 have that information, only a subset of the data will inform the site. We have to get our data set.

Once we have it, [I sense] working with the next generation that comes in, they鈥檙e more tech-savvy. They鈥檙e able to understand this technology and create more of a database structure that scales. It鈥檚 almost like giving them a mechanism to grow their own career.

And we are starting to see people blend the project management, manpower tracking, and workforce planning with preconstruction, and [technology helps] bridge that gap.