The importance of
contract management
In the construction industry, effective contract management is crucial for ensuring projects run smoothly, stay within budget, and comply with legal requirements. Traditionally, many companies have relied on tools such as Excel, email, and Word documents to manage their contracts. While these methods can be functional, they often fall short in handling the complexities and scale of communications needed on modern construction projects. In recent years, contract management software has emerged as a powerful alternative, offering a range of features specifically designed to streamline and enhance the management of construction contracts.
Customers who made the switch to Built Intelligence
Traditional Methods
Traditional contract management relies on manual processes and paper-based documentation. Key tasks, such as drafting contracts notices, submitting RFIs, chasing approvals, and tracking deadlines, are managed through spreadsheets, emails, and physical files. Communication occurs via direct correspondence, and records are kept manually, without a centralised system for maintaining contract documentation and ensuring compliance.
The BI Toolkit
Built intelligence provides smarter contract management solutions through a unique product offering of contract management software supported by our e-learning digital academy and industry community support forum. FastDraft™ is a market leading contract management tool for construction professionals, empowering project teams with a seamless approach to contract management. Our platform ensures consistent communication, reliable contract management, and real-time project performance monitoring.
Traditional Approach Vs The BI Toolkit
Contract Management Tool Comparison
Understanding and Interpreting the Contract
Traditional
Various forms of contract exist and are frequently amended. This relies on the team to either create Word templates or constantly update templates for each contract in order to identify clause numbers. The team must remember to respond to contract notices within timescales and log issues in tracker spreadsheets. For each contract type and customisation, processes need to be documented and agreed.
The BI Toolkit
- FastDraft™ is designed and preconfigured with 34+ contract workflows and processes associated with each of the contracts in the NEC, FIDIC and JCT suites - making it easier to manage them effectively.
- Customisable workflows, ensure FastDraft™ can be configured to meet the specific needs of your organisation and project.
- BI offers specialist training courses to explain all of the various contract forms in all of the major contract suites.
- As well as in-app coaching to alert users to the key activities required at various stages of the contract lifecycle.
- In-app coaching guides users through the contractual maze and provides alert users to the key activities required at various stages of the contract lifecycle, supporting a “right first time” approach.
Contractual Compliance
Traditional
Relies on project team to create a spreadsheet tracker and update actions in track each time they are raised. It can be difficult to track outstanding actions against a multitude of contract deadlines. Difficult for management teams to track project issues remotely with offline spreadsheet trackers and provide support when needed.
The BI Toolkit
- FastDraft™ allows users to track contract events such as early warnings, compensation events, claims, variations in real time with contract deadline calculated correctly each time.
- Automated alerts and notifications ensure that all parties are aware of important events and deadlines.
Risk Mitigation
Traditional
Reliance on manual entry and tracking increases the likelihood of data errors which can lead to contractual disputes or compliance issues. It can be challenging to maintain a clear audit trail and ensure compliance using traditional methods.
The BI Toolkit
- Provides real-time visibility into contract events and performance, FastDraft™ helps identify and mitigate risks early in the contract lifecycle.
- Robust data capture means users are guided with only the reliant options with tailored dropdowns and step by step workflows. This helps prevent disputes and reduces the likelihood of costly claims.
Single Source of Truth
Traditional
Emails often lead to disjointed conversations across multiple threads, making it difficult to track important information. Multiple spreadsheets requiring manual entry and updating create multiple sources of truth. Often each party keeps their own separate records, which is time-consuming and increases the risk of inaccuracies and data being of our date. In the event of a dispute being escalated to adjudication, critical time can be lost tracking down all the relevant information to defend your contractual position.
The BI Toolkit
- FastDraft™ provides a centralised repository for all contractual notices with everything automatically logged and categorised for ease of reference, making it easy to store, access, and manage important information.
- Communications are linked together for related issues such as insurable events or claims so that a virtual dossier is ready if needed.
- This ensures all stakeholders have access to the vital information they need, reducing confusion and errors.
- Time spent on administrative tasks is significantly reduced.
Speed and Efficiencies
Traditional
With crucial data held in emails and multiple spreadsheets, it can be hard to locate the information you need in a timely manner when facing an adjudication deadline. This might typically be addressed with a team of admin assistants to keep on top of admin and filing tasks.
The BI Toolkit
- With a collaborative cloud-based system all team members are working from the same hymn sheet.
- All records are data stamped, tracked and accessible in real-time so project teams can make informed decisions quickly, improving project outcomes and reducing delays and admin costs.
- Historical data can also be analysed to identify trends and improve future contract management practices.
Reporting and Analytics
Traditional
Traditional methods may not offer the same depth of analysis and insights, making it harder to identify trends or issues early. Data is not "real-time" and generating reports typically requires manual compilation from multiple sources, which can be time-consuming and less accurate. Businesses with multiple live projects struggle to compare performance across sites.
The BI Toolkit
- FastDraft™ provides robust data capture mechanisms, ensuring all data is stored in real-time for instant reporting and data security.
- Integrated reporting and analytics allows users to monitor contract performance and make data-driven decisions.
- Dashboards provide key contract metrics and KPIs, offering a clear view of project status and contract health.
- Head office reporting is aligned across all projects.
Security
Traditional
Traditional spreadsheets and local filing systems methods may not provide the same level of protection as specialised software and meet ISO QMS requirements. Security depends on the practices used (e.g., password-protected files, secure email).
Data can easily be lost or corrupted, particularly if not properly backed up or if physical copies are used.
A project can also accidentally commit the business to contractual change before understanding the financial implications.
The BI Toolkit
- FastDraft™ provides role-based access control, single sign-on, Multi-Factor Authentication and automatic export of your records to 3rd party CDEs.
- This ensures that only authorised personnel can view information or send contractual communications and that all your data is backed up remotely in Microsoft datacentres and your preferred document storage solution.
- Financial limits can also be enforced to ensure that individuals cannot send or approve anything outside their delegated authority.
Integration and Data Sharing
Traditional
Depending on the policies of the organisations involved, contractual notices and attachments may need to be manually copied to a Common Data Environment or Document Management System to comply with ISO27001 or ISO9001 company procedures.
The BI Toolkit
- FastDraft's™ open APIs allow you to get data out of the system and push to 3rd party tools or get data from other systems and push it to FastDraft™.
- Pre-built connectors for integration hubs such as Zapier and MS Power Automate simplify things further, enabling you to configure rules for tasks such as automatically saving notices and attachments to your CDE/DMS.
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What our customers say
See Our Case Studies“The technology, service, training and support is well received, intuitive and supports the business needs across the multi Billion portfolio we operate.”
Project Executive
The Environment Agency
"I like the ability to open multiple screens (programmes, etc) at one time allowing easy navigation of complex issues."
Senior Engineer
Hampshire County Council
“It is an intuitive system which makes it simple to review and raise all instructions, early warnings and compensation events. It is very easy to run internal reports to view all information.”
Quantity Surveyor
Kier Group
“FastDraft™ is a very good system that makes managing an NEC contract very simple with all relevant information in one place. It is very user friendly as well.”
Senior Quantity Surveyor
VolkerStevin
