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Construction · Project Management · BIM Integration

BuildTrack — Construction PM Platform for Crown Construction Group

Construction project management platform with Gantt scheduling, budget tracking, RFI management, drawing version control, and subcontractor progress portals — reducing project overruns 40% across £200M of active projects.

ReactNode.jsPostgreSQLAWS S3Autodesk BIM 360 APIPDF.jsWebSocketsRedis
40%
Fewer Project Delays
£200M
Projects Under Management
200+
Subcontractors Connected
20 Wks
MVP Delivered
Delivered
Construction
40%
Fewer Project Delays
£200M
Projects Under Management
Client
Crown Construction Group
Industry
Commercial Construction & Engineering
Location
London, UK
Duration
20 Weeks MVP · 2024
Project Overview

About This Project

Crown Construction managed 12 concurrent commercial projects via disconnected email chains, WhatsApp groups, and spreadsheets maintained by individual project managers. RFI responses averaged 11 days — each day of delay cascading into programme slippage that triggered penalty clauses. Drawing supersession chaos meant site teams regularly built from outdated revisions, generating rework that consumed 8% of total project budget.

We built BuildTrack in 20 weeks for MVP: a unified project hub with RFI workflow, drawing register with version control, budget tracking with real-time committed cost visibility, subcontractor digital progress claim portal, and Autodesk BIM 360 integration for on-site model access — deployed across all 12 live projects.

React
Node.js
PostgreSQL
AWS S3
BIM 360 API
PDF.js
WebSockets
40%
Reduction in programme delays across all 12 active projects vs the prior 12-month baseline
3.2 days
Average RFI response time — down from 11 days, eliminating the primary source of programme delays
4 days
Subcontractor progress claim processing — down from 3 weeks, improving site relationships
£3.2M
Penalty clause exposure eliminated through programme delay reduction across the project portfolio
The Problem

Challenges We Solved

12 Projects on Email and WhatsApp

No single project information system. Each of 12 projects had its own SharePoint folder, email chain, and WhatsApp group. Information was siloed by project and by individual. Finding any document or decision required knowing who sent which email.

11-Day RFI Response Time

Requests for Information — formal queries from site teams to designers — were emailed to individual engineers who responded when they got to it. The 11-day average response time was the single largest source of programme delay and contractor penalty claims.

Drawing Version Control Chaos

Drawing issue control was managed by emailing updated PDFs to a distribution list. Site teams worked from whatever version they'd downloaded. Superseded drawings remained in use regularly — discovered only after rework had been completed.

Manual Subcontractor Progress Claims

500 subcontractor applications for payment submitted monthly on paper, manually assessed by quantity surveyors, approved by project managers via email, and processed by accounts payable — taking 3 weeks from submission to payment certificate.

Budget Tracking with 2-Week Lag

Budget reports were produced fortnightly by QS teams manually extracting cost data from spreadsheets. By the time a cost overrun was visible in the report, 2 weeks of additional expenditure had occurred against a known problem.

No On-Site BIM Access

BIM models were managed in the office by design managers. Site managers had no access to current 3D models on-site without a VPN connection to the office — meaning complex coordination issues were resolved from 2D drawings, often incorrectly.

Our Approach

How We Solved It

Unified Project Hub with Document Threading

A single project hub per project with structured threads for RFI, submittals, meeting minutes, and general correspondence — all searchable, linked to drawings, and accessible to the full project team including client representatives with controlled access.

RFI Workflow with SLA Countdown

Digital RFI submission routes automatically to the responsible designer with an SLA countdown visible to all parties. At day 5 without response, automatic escalation to senior engineer. Average response time from 11 days to 3.2 days within 60 days of go-live.

Drawing Register with Supersession Control

A structured drawing register with revision tracking, supersession notifications, and QR-code-linked access from site. When a new revision is issued, all previous revision holders receive an automatic notification. Downloading a superseded drawing triggers a warning.

Digital Progress Claim Portal

Subcontractors submit progress applications via a portal with photo-evidenced milestone completion and bill of quantities line-by-line breakdown. QS review and certification within the platform, with automated payment certificate generation on approval. 3 weeks to 4 days.

Real-Time Budget Dashboard with EVM

Budget dashboard showing original budget, committed costs, actual expenditure, and forecast final cost in real time as purchase orders and invoices are processed. Earned Value Management metrics surfaced automatically — cost overruns visible within 24 hours, not 2 weeks.

Autodesk BIM 360 Integration

Autodesk BIM 360 integration with a mobile-optimised 3D model viewer for on-site access without VPN. Site managers walk the floor with an iPad viewing the current coordinated BIM model, marking up coordination issues directly on the model for resolution.

Results

The Outcomes

Month 5 — 4 Pilot Projects
RFI Response: 11 Days → 3.2 Days

4 pilot projects live on BuildTrack. RFI response time dropped from 11 days to 3.2 days across all active RFIs. Drawing supersession incidents reduced to zero on pilot projects. Subcontractor payment cycle from 3 weeks to 4 days on first digital applications.

Month 10 — All 12 Projects Live
40% Fewer Delays · £3.2M Penalty Risk Eliminated

All 12 projects on BuildTrack. Programme delays down 40%. £3.2M in penalty clause exposure eliminated through programme improvement. All 200+ subcontractors using the digital progress claim portal. BIM 360 access deployed to 45 site managers.

Month 20 — Platform Mature
£200M Under Management · JV Expansion

£200M projects under active management. Crown Construction expanded BuildTrack to 3 joint venture partner organisations — platform now used on 28 projects across 4 entities. Rework cost as a percentage of project budget down from 8% to 1.9%.

40% Fewer Delays. £200M Managed. £3.2M Penalty Risk Eliminated.
BuildTrack gave Crown Construction visibility and control across 12 simultaneous projects for the first time.
★★★★★
"BuildTrack gave us control of 12 projects simultaneously in a way we'd never had before. RFI response times went from 11 days to 3, and we've eliminated the programme delays that were costing us in penalty clauses. The subcontractor portal has transformed payment relationships on site — our subbies are easier to work with because we pay them faster."
AF
Andrew Fletcher
Managing Director, Crown Construction Group

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