| Sector | Main contractors, subcontractors and trades |
|---|---|
| Common problems | Paper dockets and timesheets, variations agreed verbally, certificate expiry untracked, month-end rebuilt from memory |
| Typical fix | Digital capture on site with photos and timestamps, variations recorded when agreed, expiry alerts for cards and plant certs |
| Also relevant | Subcontractor paperwork, retention, snagging lists and plant tracking |
| Starts with | A free operational audit |
| Area served | Ireland |
Paperwork created in one place and processed in another
Construction has a structural admin problem that most sectors do not. The information is generated on site, in weather, by people with their hands full, and it has to reach an office that may be thirty kilometres away before it can be used for anything.
So it travels on paper, in a van, in a folder, sometimes for a week. Everything downstream, billing, payroll, cost control, waits for that journey and inherits whatever was lost along the way.
Where the margin goes
- Dockets that do not arrive. Work that was done, materials that were used, and no record to bill against.
- Variations agreed verbally. The single most expensive failure on this list. Agreed on site in good faith, undocumented, and unbillable by the time anyone looks.
- Timesheets reconstructed on Friday. From memory, days after the fact, which is neither accurate nor defensible.
- Cards and certificates that lapse. Safe Pass, trade cards, insurance, and inspection certificates for plant and access equipment.
- Subcontractor paperwork across email. Insurance, tax status, rates, applications and retention, each in a different thread.
- Snagging on a clipboard. Photographed, shared in a message, and lost by the time it matters.
- Month end rebuilt from scratch. Because nothing was captured in a form that could be queried.
What automating it looks like
Capture on site, once
Dockets, timesheets and materials recorded where the work happens, with a timestamp, a location and photographs. The record exists immediately and the van stops being part of the data pipeline.
Variations recorded when agreed
At the moment of agreement, with a photo and a name attached. This one change frequently pays for an entire project.
Expiry tracking for cards, insurance and plant
Safe Pass, trade cards, insurance and equipment inspection dates alerted before they lapse, so nobody arrives on site unable to work and no machine is used out of certification. Same mechanism as FleetMain.
Subcontractor records in one place
Insurance and tax verification, agreed rates, payment applications and retention held against the subcontractor rather than scattered across inboxes.
Snagging that closes out
Items raised with photographs, assigned, and tracked to completion, so handover is a report rather than an argument.
Where to start
Start with a free operational audit. We usually follow one job from quote to final account, because that path crosses every place where construction admin leaks. If you also run vehicles, see transport and fleets.
Frequently asked questions
Why do paper dockets cost so much?
Because a docket is handled at least three times: written on site, transported to an office, and typed into a system. Each handling adds delay and a chance of loss, and a lost docket is usually unbilled work. Capturing it digitally at the moment the work happens removes two of the three handlings entirely.
Our variations never get billed properly. Can that be fixed?
This is the most expensive admin failure in construction and it is almost always a capture problem rather than a billing one. A variation gets agreed verbally on site, and by the time anyone assembles the account there is no record of who agreed what. Recording the variation when it is agreed, with a photo and a timestamp, turns a disputed claim into a documented one.
Can you track Safe Pass and plant certificates?
Yes, and it is one of the highest-return automations available to a contractor. Safe Pass cards, trade cards, insurance, and inspection certificates for lifting and access equipment all expire on separate schedules. A worker or a machine arriving on site with a lapsed card or certificate is a stoppage at best. This is precisely what FleetMain does for vehicles and drivers.
What about subcontractor paperwork?
Subcontractor management carries its own recurring load: insurance and tax verification, rates, payment applications, retention and RCT obligations. Most of it is tracked across email and spreadsheets. Bringing it into one place means a payment application can be answered from a record rather than reconstructed.
We also run vans and machines. Is that the same project?
Usually yes, and it is often the cheapest place to start because the problem is well understood. See transport and fleets for vehicle and driver compliance.