"Does BuildIT have a Critical Path?" — we're often asked that question.  First, some background:

Critical Path (also known as Critical Path Method, or CPM) is a scheduling method for dealing with multiple activities (or "tasks" as we call them) required to complete a project. The duration of the project is the sum of sequential tasks, with each task having it's own duration.

The relationship between tasks is such that a change in a critical task will most likely change the overall construction timeline, either shrinking it, or extending it. I say "most likely" because in construction, scheduling tends to be more of an art than a science, and often there are negotiated activities that take place to ensure the project is kept "on track", like doubling up of trades, working on non-working days, and working longer hours in the day.

CPM is taught at the university level as part of construction project management. Tonnes of books are written on it. Thick ones, expensive ones. There is a Project Management Institute that teaches and certifies project managers. There is a science behind CPM, and some big words /phrases that come along for the ride:

• predecessors/successors
• resource levelling
• sequential dependencies / linked tasks
• float
• crashing / fast tracking

BuildIT made the decision years ago to provide a better solution to small to mid sized construction professionals, many of whom are artisans, business owners, and do too much without enough hours in the day. We saw the landscape of software available to this audience, and quite frankly, it was way too complicated and costly for the majority of the folks we had interviewed, and continue to speak to on a daily basis.

There is not a week that goes by that we don't hear from someone that "we tried software X for scheduling, and it was way more than what we needed". How can that be if it had all the bells, whistles, buzz words, fancy computer algorithms and a printed Gantt chart that would make any Ph.D. drool!?

There is enough complicated, complex, "enterprise level" software out there for those of you that need it. Call me and I'll make some recommendations if you feel you need more than what we offer.  One project manager quipped that "you could run a small country with [Microsoft Project]" – but that's not what our customers are up to!

The fact is, we wanted to offer a simpler scheduling solution that gets the job done without a bunch of overhead.

Consider a simple schedule with a dozen or more tasks. All tasks are displayed in chronological order based on start date. That's how most of you would view a schedule.

Now say that something happens which affects the schedule. There is a delay in a shipment, the crane broke down, someone forgot to show up on Monday, AND you forgot your wife's birthday – all throwing a wrench into the system.

You have some options:

1. Modify one task, independent of the rest of the schedule

2. Modify a selection of tasks, independent of the rest of the schedule

or what I refer to as our Critical Path option:

3. Select a task, extend or reduce its duration, and choose a function to change ALL SUBSEQUENT tasks by the same number of working days.

Presto, you essentially are saying that the entire schedule from that point forward is "critical", and all tasks are bumped (accounting for non working days such as weekends and stat holidays).

There are also other strategies for effectively managing critical paths within a BuildIT schedule.

For instance, say you had 100 tasks for a project, and 70 of them were critical (the other 30 were there, placed appropriately in the timeline, but were not tied to the critical path in any way). You can assigned those tasks a CRITICAL code, then just filter on that code to view the critical path, and adjust as necessary.

For more help with how to use BuildIT to accomplish your scheduling goals without the nightmare of task linkages, sequential dependencies and arrows all over the page, call BuildIT support.

Scott Hutchinson (putting the "simple" into scheduling)
scott@builditsystems.com
1 866 585 5050 ext 1

Send us any construction documents you use for transmittals, proposals, bidding, estimates, contracts, work orders, change orders, checklists, specifications, etc.

We'll program and load your documents into your account.

Then you'll have web based documents that:

• can be created and filled in fast (a major time saver).
• are saved with the right job every time (no more lost paperwork).
• can easily be searched for any information within any document (no more looking for information).
• can be faxed and emailed straight from the system (no printing, looking up/dialing fax numbers, or waiting for fax machines).

Depending on the number of documents you require, this may take several days. Either way, we'll load your documents promptly, so you can get down to business.

To make your documents web based - so they automatically fill in the right information in the right place, we have to do some programming.

There is a $100 minimum and special pricing is available for 10 or more documents done at one time.

Once we receive you documents we'll get back to you with exact pricing.

Here's how to send your documents:

• If you have paper documents fax them to: 1 866 585 5051
• If you have electronic document files: e-mail them to support@builditsystems.com

Choices to enhance your online business profile

Mini-Website Creator

Don't have a website? Have an outdated website that just sits there?

Having a website is critical if you want to attract more customers, and give prospective customers the information they need to assess your business. A recent post in Entrepreneur.com suggests you budget $5K - $10K for the construction of a website, and $100 - $400 a month for upgrades and maintenance. You can click here to read their article.

With BuildIT, you can get started on a web presence for much less - our Mini-Website is the perfect answer. It's an easy to use website creator that you, yes you, can easily upload photos, images, and descriptions of your jobs/business... in plain English (read: no HTML, programmer stuff, just fill in the blanks and follow a few instructions).

Think of it as an online portfolio to showcase the work you do.

• No special skills needed.
• Create your own Mini-Website in 30 minutes.
• Make changes and update it anywhere, anytime.
• Even use it as a portfolio to showcase your recent work and connect to it from your main website.

Or we can do it for you

Give us your company logo, address, pictures, some general descriptions, and any "must-haves".

We'll create a 4 page Mini-Website for you. And then you're free to update your site, whenever you wish (it's easy).

Only $250 including domain name and email forwarding (see below).

For more information or to sign up e-mail: support@builditsystems.com

Promote the name of your business in your email communication (not AOL's, Comcast's, Hotmail's, or Yahoo's)

Here's how: We register a domain name for your company, and point it to your Mini-Website.

Plus we'll create a new email address for you - so all outbound email from your BuildIT account will be marked as coming from your new domain name.

We'll also program your domain name so your inbound email goes right into your account. Now all your email will have your company name on it can can be managed from within your account.

If you have more than one BuildIT user, we'll create new email addresses for them too, so all company email is organized and accessible via the web.

Domain name registration, email forwarding, and complete setup only: $100

For more information or to sign up e-mail: support@builditsystems.com

Punch lists, work lists, check lists, and work schedules are all different kinds of work/schedule templates.

If you want help developing your work/schedule templates contact us at: support@builditsystems.com

As there are many different kinds of software and file formats, we can't give exact instructions to export your information.

However, if you already have work/schedule templates (punch lists, work lists, check lists, etc.) in electronic format then we can load them into your account for you.

If you have paper schedules fax them to: 1-604-648-8428 

If you have electronic templates email them to: support@builditsystems.com

• Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (preferred), or
• CSV (comma separated values) file, or
• any other common file format

Then we'll load your work/schedule templates into your account, usually within a few hours of receiving them (during normal work hours Pacific Standard Time).

Send us your electronic contacts and we'll load them into your account.

As there are many different kinds of software and file formats, it is not possible to give exact instructions to export every type of electronic contact list.

However, chances are, if you already have a contact list in electronic format, we can load it into your account for you.

Just send us your contact list:

• as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, or
• a CSV (comma separated values) file, or
• any other common file format

Send us an e-mail with the file attached to: support@builditsystems.com

If you send it using an email program outside of your BuildIT account PLEASE make sure your username is included in the email.

Note: Please include headings in the file (so we can tell the difference between phone numbers, fax numbers, cellular numbers, etc).

For example, in Microsoft Outlook, you can 'import and export' (under the 'file' menu) your contact list 'export to a file' as a 'comma separate values' (CSV) file.

Then we'll do the rest and load your contacts into your account, usually within a few hours of receiving them (during normal work hours Pacific Standard Time).

There is no charge for this. (When was the last time a software company actually offered to help you?)

If you already use Outlook?

Here's how to export your contact list:

Note: this may vary depending on the version you have

1. in Outlook, click on "File"
2. then click on "Import and Export"
3. then click on "Export to a File," then click "Next"
4. then click on "Microsoft Excel," then click "Next"
5. then click to choose the folder containing the contacts data you want to export, then click "Next"
6. type a name for the file, and browse to choose the destination folder, then click "Next"
7. click the "Finish" button to export the selected contacts to the specified file location