Canadian software highlighted at International Builder's Show

Last week was the International Builder's Show in Las Vegas and it was great to read on Constructech that two Canadian construction technology providers have come to market with new solutions to meet the changing industry. Amid tough economic conditions, builders are finding themselves leveraging new avenues of business such as more small-scaled projects, light commercial work, custom work, or remodeling.

Job Simplicity from Calgary's HomeFront Software addresses some of the challenges of the smaller builder such as manual reporting. Builders can use the product to estimate, schedule, manage customer relations, and integrate accounting systems such as Intuit's QuickBooks.

Similiarly, the HomeDev product from Markham's Constellation HomeBuilder Systems is designed for builders and remodelers to manage construction projects. The product is a solution for job costing, project management, budgeting, trade comparison, and purchasing and uses Microsoft Excel, Project, and Outlook to manage and present data. For builders that are used to working in this type of environment, HomeDev has that similar interface.

Traditional builders are adapting to the current economic challenges and are finding their niche in the marketplace with the help of construction technology from software developers like HomeFront and Constellation.