Managing a construction project is a multifaceted endeavour. With the number of resources out there that can confuse anyone, accurately cost estimating and planning your construction project shouldn’t be one to suffer.
With a wide range of open-source and free management tools available to help connect a team, implementing one of these tools can assist in making sure that the project plan remains in sight and is moving forward appropriately – no matter if the crew is on-site or off.
You don’t necessarily have to make a huge investment to get your hands on a powerful estimating and collaboration tool – there are some free construction management and planning tools available that will take you through the full project life-cycle without breaking the bank.
Illustrated in this article below are 6 top free construction estimating & project planning tools. Listed are the top 3 Construction Estimating tools and the top 3 project planning/collaboration tools (listed in no specific order).
Accurately estimate the project and win that bid!
Construction Estimating Tools
Fieldwire is a construction app that is available for iPhone, Android and web-based. This app allows everyone involved from the foreman to the project manager to share information in real-time. With this app you can coordinate efficiently, track performance, reduce risk and collaborate with your team.
The free trial is offered for their basic plan which offers a limit of 5 users. This plan is for small teams who are looking to try to core features. This plan give you access to 250 sheets with the ability to build 3 projects.
Features
- Track tasks, inspections, punch lists
- Plan viewing
- Task management
- Instant messaging
- File sharing
- Real-time messaging
- Scheduling and reporting
- Simply integrate with Primavera P6
- View drawings
- Record markups and as-builts
- Digitize forms (Daily reports, timesheets, inspection requests, RFI’s)
- And much more!
OrangeScrum
is a work management tool that works well on iOS and Android. You can create projects, invite your team and assign tasks in less than a minute.
This tool helps you structure your project and enhance transparency throughout your team.
The free trial offers you the choice to test any membership plans they have to offer for free. From their start up plan to unlimited users you can choose the plan that’s right for you. With a higher-level plan, you gain more storage and the number of users increase.
Features
- Users range from 10 to unlimited users
- Unlimited tasks, Projects & task groups/sprint
- Storage range from 5 to 100GB
- Task management
- Project management and collaboration
- Agile project management
- Time management
- Reports and analytics
- Invoice management
- And much more!
FlexaMate
is a flexible, affordable estimating tool for contractors. This tool will give you access to over 15000+ labour units for quick estimating, fast bidding and the ability to manage your contacts efficiently.
The trial give you access to the full tool and ca get you started with preparing quotes and bids effortlessly.
Features
- Enter materials, tasks and length
- Add labour units and material pricing and discount
- Fine tune quotes, review and export to send to clients or for reporting
- Manage contacts
- Re-Use Previous estimates
- Add custom parts to a personal catalogue
- And much more!
Project Planning Tools
Zoho Projects
is a project management app that was designed to help users plan, track and collaborate online. You can simply assign tasks, manage your resources and team members that will turn into a productive and successful outcome. This app works well on iOS and Android.
The free trial is available for 5 users, 2 project and 10 MB of storage. You will have access to feeds, calendar and forums, Google App integrations, and custom status for project and tasks.
Features
- Automate task’s workflow
- Organize tasks into easy manageable units
- Get visuals with Gantt charts to track critical paths and baselines
- Collaborate effortlessly
- Team can log billable and non-billable hours with the timesheets
- Built in invoices
- Track changes with codes
- Integrate apps like slack, Dropbox, Google, etc.
- And much more!
Taiga
is a free open source project management tool. This app works well on iPhone, Android and is web-based – available at the Windows store. It is a tool that was created to handle complex and simple projects alike.
Taiga is not only a tool to help you move forward with your project but also provide you access to a community with like minded users.
The trial is free and open-source offering up to 3 members on a private project. You will have access to create 1 private project with unlimited public projects and up to 300MB of storage in the private project.
Features
- Scrums
- Kanban methodology
- Epics multi-projects
- Multi-platform importers (Trello, Jira, GitHub)
- Track project issues
- Social management
- Community forum
- And much more!
Wrike is a cloud-based construction management tool. This tool is adaptable to desktop and mobile apps for ease of use. This tool will make sure you keep your project goals in order and insight for a successful outcome.
The free trial is available for 5 users and offer access to a simple, shared task list for a small team.
Features
- Board view
- Task management
- File sharing
- Real-time activity steam
- Spreadsheet view
- Basic integration (Google, Dropbox, MSFT, Office 365, OneDrive and iCal)
- Desktop and mobile app
- Cloud storage integration
- 2GB of storage
- And much more!
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Have you used any of these tools before? What are your thoughts, if not, would you explore these tools?
Do you have a list of tools that you’ve used and have proven successful?
Let us know in the comments below.
