Construction is an ancient industry, but it’s changed a lot over the years. As the process has evolved and become more complex, the need for more detailed records of what work was performed and what safety measures were taken has also grown.
But keeping those records can be a struggle, especially when it comes to storage and legibility (handwriting is a serious issue). Let’s explore how you can keep detailed records and reduce paperwork at the same time.
Paper usage in the construction industry
Physical construction plans have existed throughout nearly all of recorded human history, with the earliest being a stone tablet dating back 9,000 years ago. This changed with the invention of paper, and paper plans and reports are still widely used today.
However, paper isn’t nearly as practical today as it was 10, let alone 5,000 years ago. But the industry has been slow to adopt the technology, despite 71% of companies claiming to prioritize the transition from pen and paper to digital.
Relying on paper can even drag your company down and prove inefficient, leading to increased waste, higher costs, outdated data, and the need for more physical storage space.
Benefits of going paperless
That said, the benefits of construction companies going paperless are significant, and switching to digital record keeping and reporting can immediately give your company a competitive edge. Here are a few key benefits of paperless construction reporting and documentation.
1. Fewer errors from manual entry
By going paperless, you can eliminate or at least reduce errors from manual entry.
2. Save time and money
Switching from pen and paper to digital processes can reduce the amount of time it takes to complete certain tasks by automating the process.
3. Clearer records
Whether it’s safety documentation or daily reports, you’ll benefit from clearer, more organized records.
5 ways to reduce paperwork in construction
Becoming a paperless construction company can seem daunting at first. However, it can be helpful to think of it as something you can take step-by-step rather than a comprehensive overhaul of your entire process.
Here are 5 steps you can take to immediately reduce the amount of paperwork cluttering your workflow:
1. Switch to digital daily reports
Digital daily reports are easy to fill out on mobile devices, and some even enable you to upload visual documentation like photos and videos. You can even timestamp when the report is filled out and capture crucial jobsite data like weather conditions.
2. Digitize your safety practices
Going digital for safety can actually improve your overall safety practices. By relying on digital checklists, you can more easily record monitor completion, and digital toolbox talks make it easy to record attendance.
You can also empower employees to capture safety incidents and safety and quality observations on mobile devices.
3. Switch to digital or cloud storage
Those old metal filing cabinets don’t only take up space, but they can easily get cluttered and disorganized over time, making it difficult to find the files you need when you need them. But that’s not the only issue with physical document storage—it can also be risky to not back files up digitally, leaving your important documents open to damage or theft.
That’s why digital document storage, including cloud storage, is so important. Not only is it more secure, but it makes it easier to find exactly what you need when you need it and syncs automatically to shared folders which you can ensure only the right people have access to.
4. More effective resource management
Whether it’s equipment, materials, or labor, effective resource management makes the difference between finishing a project on time and under budget or not. It’s important to monitor costs and allocation in real time, and that’s just hard to do with old fashioned pen and paper processes.
With digital resource management, including real-time production insights and dashboards, you can measure progress against estimates in real time and analyze trends to make more informed decisions faster than you would waiting on old-fashioned pen and paper reports and documentation.
5. Use digital time cards
Tracking time shouldn’t take up so much time. But it often does because of how long it takes to enter paper time cards into accounting software manually. With digital time tracking, employees can easily clock in and out on their own devices or a shared device to make things easier.
And that makes it easier for accounting and payroll, too. It’s as simple as the click of a button to transfer that data over, especially with the right accounting software integration.
Go paperless with Raken
Raken offers digital alternatives to all of these pen and paper processes and many more. We also integrate seamlessly with other software to make data transfer even easier. Give us a try to experience the difference going paperless can make.