DASCO shaves 200 hours off construction admin every month

As it grew, DASCO saw the size and complexity of its projects expand. It was facing the problem of multiple software programs and manual paper-based systems to handle quality and safety control, day-to-day project management and complex administration and financial requirements.

Today DASCO uses Procore quality and safety, project management, equipment management and project financials—consolidating the functions of multiple software and manual solutions into one place.

“Procore is designed for a progressive construction organisation, and that's how we view the future at DASCO,” said Hass McCook, Systems Implementation Manager for DASCO.

“Our competitive edge is how we use Procore—it’s an important tool for our business. We believe the industry will be moving towards the Procore model, and it's going to be how you tailor it to deliver a greater ROI that will set you apart.”

Throughout its 27 year history, DASCO, like most in the construction industry, has been patching together multiple online collaboration software systems, spreadsheets and printed documentation that needed separate monitoring and training.

“We selected Procore to deliver greater efficiencies, quality and safety, with a look also to reduce maintenance and warranty claims to lower costs throughout the entire project life cycle,” Hass outlined.

Quality and safety, plus reputational risk, was also a significant focus. “Safety and quality control were mostly done manually or split across two different apps. Site reviews for maintenance reports were printed spreadsheets hosting hundreds of defects that needed to be marked up on site, taken back to the office and keyed in. It was a challenge to monitor, let alone audit,“ Hass said.

The automation Procore delivers for DASCO provides time savings across the board that allows the company to better focus on quality and safety and also reduce costs while improving performance outcomes.

This is reflected in the construction management company easily completing a streamlined ISO9001 Audit process and certification program courtesy of Procore.

“The Procore system helped us deliver the workflow and documentation needed to demonstrate our commitment to continuous improvement. It really helped us achieve ISO9001 certification,” said Hass.

“On our larger construction projects, we have also been able to reduce our headcount by at least one team member. We have also seen the daily administration workloads for project engineers and contract administrators reduce substantially while our client relationships continue to strengthen,” he said.

DASCO now benefits from the Project Management tools—Inspections, Incidents and Observations to manage defects and claims during its warranty period, particularly with two and five-year maintenance reports.

“Our team can now walk through a site, view a defect, load it onto their iPad, oversee its resolution, take a photo of the fixed defect and generate a report in Procore that is sent to the client. On high-density builds, this can save us 200 hours per report and our clients can trust our processes and reputation as a quality construction company. It also helps support maintaining our audit and compliance benchmarks,” Hass said.

Another key benefit for DASCO is the sliding-scale retention feature helping it manage its contractual obligations and meet security of payment laws in ANZ.

“Before Procore, our contract admins used to spend hours managing the tedious retention and deeds release process through spreadsheets,“ said Hass. “Now, all of the retentions can be automatically calculated and withheld on each invoice through Procore. When you have 40 invoices to deal with every month, this saves us a few 'man-weeks' at the back of each project.“

DASCO’s commitment to the implementation of Procore has created a unique relationship with the team in Australia and the U.S.

“We regularly provide feedback to Procore about what is on our 'wish list', and Procore always listens,” Hass concluded.