For many years, construction companies relied on paper and spreadsheets to complete projects. Manual techniques were often used to develop blueprints, communicate with team members, and prepare material estimates. But this old school approach has now been replaced by technology. Indeed, estimating software, digital records, and advanced communication tools have become the gold standard of a successful construction project.

New technologies, a rising population, and increased interest in construction activities have led to significant growth in Australia’s construction sector. There has been a steady demand for both residential and commercial projects throughout the country, which indicates that construction work will continue to contribute significantly to Australia’s GDP.

The hotel and tourism sector comprises a significant portion of Australia's GDP. Both local and international visitors generate revenue for hotel chains when they travel to various parts of the country for tourism and leisure. In 2018, travel expenditures had risen by 21.3%, increasing from $107.9 billion to $130.9 billion. This expansion has provided a unique opportunity for builders, estimators, and construction companies in general. With more demand for hotel and holiday accommodations, builders can access and tender for  lucrative projects that generate revenue and improve their bottom lines. 

A wall by any other name: whether you know them as green walls, plant walls, vertical gardens or biophilic design, living walls are on the rise for new builds in our major metros. 

From One Central Park in Sydney to Brisbane’s Aria Botanica, our verticals are becoming more verdant thanks to a considerate design that blends a building with its natural surrounds. 

Buildsoft has released a new update to Cubit, with version 9.1.7. See details of the fixes included in the release below. 

As almost every industry continues to leverage big data, the construction sector has been left behind in using numbers to drive success. Manufacturers, bankers, and retailers are using data to provide insights and make better decisions. By collecting and analysing data in real-time, such businesses are able to cut costs, handle emerging customer concerns, and provide higher quality services. Leveraging data within the construction sector is beneficial for companies looking to generate growth.

Australia’s residential construction boom began in 2012, as demand exceeded supply and more everyday Aussies said yes to the dream of homeownership.

Fast forward seven years and construction represents approximately 11% of gross domestic product, providing ongoing job security to just over 9% of the total workforce… but these numbers are changing.

Every year, engineers and builders look to develop innovative, energy-efficient, and cost-effective materials for their projects. Such a revolution is important because traditional building materials are becoming depleted or inefficient to meet current demand. For example, mining large quantities of iron ore just to extract metal is an environmentally unsustainable technique. With technology advancing performance in many different aspects of building and construction, the same technologies are being leveraged to explore and implement new building materials. 

As the most commonly used material in construction, concrete has been relied on for decades to provide durability, strength, and flexibility. Significant advancements have been made in the world of concrete manufacturing and usage over the years. Builders can now access concrete in multiple grades, compositions, and performance levels. 

For many years, construction companies have been looking for ways to reduce the gap between architectural drawings and actual plans (on the ground). Converting physical blueprints on paper -and 2D models on a screen- into 3D reality can be very complicated. These conversions are what make productivity and scalability challenging for builders.

Productivity has been an achilles heel in the construction sector. With global investments expected to double by 2030, improving productivity will be the key to success within this field. The unfortunate reality is that many projects still go over budget and experience delays. If you want your company to remain competitive and win more customers, you’ll need to find ways to cut costs, communicate more effectively, hire top talent, and harness the power of technology. 

Buildsoft has released a new update to Cubit, with version 9.1.6. See details of the enhancements and fixes included in the release below. 

The goal of any business is to grow. However, this growth comes with many new challenges that your company will have to deal with. From handling more workers to having higher expectations from customers, growth can easily turn into a nightmare if your construction business isn’t prepared. In many cases, growth directly impacts quality. This is because many companies still rely on the same processes they were using before expanding, ultimately resulting in a drop in quality over time.

Since its invention 20 years ago, 3D printing has been used to create unique products across multiple industries. The realm of possibility for 3D printed structures has continued to expand over time. From medical devices to sculptures and even furniture, 3D printed objects are becoming common in our daily lives.

Buildsoft has made some improvements to Bartender, with version 1.4.1. See details of the update below. 
 

Sustainability is the new hot topic that's sweeping across many different industries. Customers are looking to become involved in projects, products, or initiatives that don't deplete the limited resources we have available. This is why electric cars, sustainable timber, and renewable energy have become popular in recent years. 

Technology has become a critical component of many engineering and construction companies. Builders, surveyors, estimators, and contractors are leveraging the digital transformation to cut costs while improving efficiency.

Over the last thirty years Australia’s skylines have continually risen, reflecting a change in the way we think about the relationship between towers and densification. Far flung from the early days of business districts, today’s skylines reveal a bricolage of brick, steel and concrete, combining traditional trade and public services, building grids with residential towers and apartment housing.

Prefabricated construction is the environmentally savvy disruptor tipped to break the budget strangling mould of the Australian housing market. Common in nations like Sweden, where prefabricated modular design dominates around 70 percent of the residential housing market, the benefits of prefabrication in construction satisfy a growing demand for safe and affordable housing on a limited deadline. 

BrightBox Software has released an important update to MudShark, their premiere earthworks estimating software.

Buildsoft has released a new update to Cubit, with version 9.1.4. See details of the enhancements and fixes included in the release below. 

Imagine if a single decision could have the same climate-saving impact as neutralising the carbon emissions of one million cars or four million cows. Project managers and sustainability officers would be hurriedly investigating ways to revolutionise the Australian construction industry… right?

Bartender was recently updated to offer you some great new features that make choosing the right suppliers for jobs even easier.

A key element of any successful construction business is accurate estimating, allowing you to anticipate all of your costs and ensure profitability. The problem is that estimating is time consuming and often labour intensive, where errors can add up and have a big impact on your bottom line.

It’s that time of year again when it’s time to get all your financial ducks in a row, and cross your fingers that you’ve done all you can to avoid winding up with a huge tax bill for you and your business.

While it can seem like a daunting time, there’s no need to just hope for the best. There’s some great tax benefits - savings and write-offs, that are just waiting for you to take advantage of; you just have to know they’re there.

Whether you run a large business or your own small business, it’s important to know what savings are available, and how you can actually benefit from the Tax Man.

For more than 35 years Buildsoft has been pioneering estimating solutions in Australia.

This lifetime of achievement, development, and innovation has come from a very real passion to help make the estimating process easier and more efficient for the construction industry.

Here at Buildsoft, we’re committed to understanding your challenges and finding the best way to solve them to make your work easier.

Using the important feedback we’ve received from our customers, we’re proud to bring you Cubit 9.1; with new features and functionality inspired by your requests, and developed to provide the best solutions to your challenges.

Here’s what you can expect.

 DesignBUILD - the ultimate industry event for construction technology and other elements of the construction industry is in hitting Sydney next week, and Buildsoft are set and ready.  

With $10 trillion spent each year on construction and 7% of the world’s working population working in construction-related professions, there’s no questioning the industry's economic size and impact. Despite this, there is an obvious, underlying dormancy in the industry's productivity (productivity as the total amount of output per worker). Shown below, the productivity gap between the construction industry and other non-farming industries is exponential.

Disruption is a buzzword that clearly sums up how innovators are fundamentally altering products, services and business models. It is a driving factor behind the advancements and improvements in all industries. This got us thinking - what will be the next big game-changer in the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry?

So, a termite walks into a bar and asks "Is the Bartender here?" Bad jokes aside, we’re certainly happy Bartender is here, and from much of the feedback we’ve gotten, you guys are happy too. Bartender has been servicing the industry with us for more than a year now, and we’ve hit some great milestones since we launched.

We’re excited to be delivering MudShark 7, which includes our most flexible and user requested features to date so you have unparalleled control over your earthworks projects. We’ve kept our customers at the front of our mind as we designed and developed MudShark 7, and we can’t wait for you to use take advantage of our work.

With the increased prevalence of tech innovation in the construction industry, more businesses are releasing apps catered to the construction and building industry. While this is welcome news, it can be hard to sift through the myriad of apps out there to find the ones that truly add value to your daily work – without the need to pay subscription fees or to make in-app purchases.

Buildsoft has released an important update to Cubit. See details of the release below. 

Cubit 9.0.3 Release

Fixes:

• Fixed an issue where the text on some Vector plans would cause an error message to display when imported.

• Fixed a rare issue where using Revisions on imported jobs from older versions of Cubit would display an error message.

• Fixed an issue where the Legend in the viewport will disappear when zooming in or out of the plan.

• Fixed a rare issue that allowed an Item in the Estimate Sheet to have a calculated Total when it only contained a Rate.

• Fixed an issue where Manual Totals were not transferring when the Item was inserted from a Template.

• Fixed an issue where Bartender Picked Rates were not replacing a Rate Sheet Item's Estimate rates when the Job was exported.

• Fixed an issue where merging Jobs containing Bartender Picked Rates would display an error message.

• Fixed an issue where the dropdown for the Grouping Code of your Job would not display correctly if you were using a resolution of 4k or higher.

• Fixed a rare issue where importing a DWG plan on a new install of Cubit would display an error message.

• Fixed a rare...

2019 is already flying by, with January nearly over. While we can be tempted to gradually get back into the swing of work and slowly build up momentum, now is the perfect time to review your business processes and resources, to ensure you are set up to make this year one of your best.

Attracting customers to your construction business is a continuous process. While traditional methods such as word of mouth, referrals and print advertising may have worked for your company, there will always be a glass ceiling to growth if you don’t leverage online marketing techniques. 

Construction materials have come a long way over the years. From the use of timber and concrete to cigarette butts and cardboard, builders are looking for newer and more effective materials for their projects. Builders are taking advantage of innovative solutions that will reduce the time and cost of designing new structures. 

Builders across the country are realising the importance of using green building materials and techniques. While traditional construction materials such as concrete have been used for many years, they result in fossil fuel depletion and greenhouse gas emissions.

Here at Buildsoft, we’re always striving to deliver you innovative and better ways of working. That’s why we’ve introduced some more enhancements to Bartender, to give you improved visibility and access to your data, so you have greater flexibility and control over how you work.

Here’s what we’ve added.

The construction industry is growing steadily from year to year. In 2018, construction comprised 8% of the country’s GDP, and we can expect that positive trend to continue. 

Automation and robotics is the hot new trend in many different industries. Businesses are looking for ways of automating repetitive, time-consuming, and dangerous tasks to enhance efficiency and improve the safety of workers. The construction industry is no different. In fact, automation is an excellent solution for builders to increase operational efficiency and to cut down on costs. 

With over 1.1 million people employed by the Australian construction industry, making up around 8% of the nation’s GDP, the physical health and safety of industry workers are of utmost importance. A topic that is rarely talked about, however, is the mental health and safety of industry workers.

As the construction industry in Australia continues to grow, workplace safety has become a top concern. The biggest risks that face workers on a construction site are the fatal four: falls, electrocutions, being struck by an object, and being caught in-between. In fact, 28% of all construction injuries involve persons falling from elevated heights. 

We’re proud to bring you our latest advancement in estimating and takeoff, with Cubit 9.

Enhancing usability, speed, and efficiency is always at the fore of our efforts at Buildsoft, so we can deliver on our commitment to making construction easier. Working with the important feedback we get from our customers, coupled with our drive for innovative technologies, we’re excited to bring developments that continually improve the way you work.

We know estimating can be time consuming. There’s a lot of competition to your business and everyone’s wanting to find a faster way.

Estimating with Cubit is already fast, up to 10 times faster than traditional methods, and 3 times than that of other systems. Now we’ve changed the game.

Australia’s commercial construction industry is expected to grow by 8% in 2019 alone. Because commercial buildings are such a large part of the overall economy, it’s important to remain up to speed with any emergent trends that will shape the industry moving forward. Construction trends are constantly changing, and companies in this sector need to remain at the fore so they don’t fall behind their competition.