18mo

Family business Cubby Construction rolled out Gather RMS across all projects in North West England, transitioning over 100 site users from traditional paper site diaries to the market-leading site record management system.

In the 18 months since the start of their Gather subscription, Cubby Construction has created more than 4,000 site records. Director Tommy Cubby is impressed by the power of consistent, objective site data: "Gather eliminates the 'he said, she said' from the conversation. With quality, well-rounded data from site, we can now communicate calmly using facts and compare our productivity target to actual delivery."

Like many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Cubby Construction has been relying on paper site diaries to record and report productivity activities. Though the quality of information has been historically satisfactory, the company looks to adopt industry best practice as it scales up.

The key objectives Cubby Construction wishes to achieve by adopting Gather RMS include:

• Reducing administrative burden and streamlining reporting
• Improving consistency and accuracy in site records for better commercial assurance
• Eliminating information silos between functions and teams
• Automating reporting and information sharing with clients and suppliers
• Transitioning smoothly to new forms of contract mandated with larger works, e.g. NEC4
• Gaining the ability to swiftly identify and course-correct production issues as they emerge

"We started off thinking that Gather would replace paper site diaries, but we quickly realised it's more than that." Cubby lays out his vision for using the site data his 300-strong team have captured through Gather: "In the future, Gather will be the provider for all of our operational data. It helps us beyond operations. Using historical job data, we can write better, more accurate estimates based on past prices and performance. We have just scratched the surface of what data can do."

Versatile and efficient

As Cubby Construction's diverse portfolio includes both infrastructure and civil works across multiple disciplines, a versatile tool like Gather provides the right solution for them to tailor record-keeping and reporting to the project.

The shift planner function on Gather has been invaluable to Cubby Construction's planning teams. Our shift planner can pre-populate records with resource, activities and labour information. It also allows duplication of similar shifts, effectively saving up to 60% of time needed in planning.

Pre-planned shifts also encourage field users to adopt Gather. As the planning team has already filled out key fields in advance, the time needed for the site team to complete the shift record is reduced by over 50%.

Document progress with photos 

Another feature the Cubby Construction team finds valuable is the siteview function, which allows the site team to upload geotagged photos to each shift. Having a comprehensive library of progress photos not only maps progress; it also reduces the need, time and cost of site visits.

Using the siteview tool, Cubby Construction's project management team is able to track the progress of multiple projects in different locations from the comfort of their office. The visual, geographical information of photos adds another layer of richness to the consistent, numeric, structured site data captured using Gather.

The visual representation of progress from initial survey to commissioning is essential for the project management team to have a firm grasp of the "who, what, why, and when" for events at each site location. The more comprehensive the information on progress and performance, the more confident the project manager can be with their decisions.

Using data to fuel collaboration

Gather RMS has curbed cumbersome weekly paperwork and strengthened data-driven communications between site and office teams. Having everyone on the same page with an agreed single source of truth is key to fostering transparency, trust and collaboration.

Cubby Construction's leadership team finds the performance reports automatically generated by Gather particularly useful. Armed with accurate, up-to-date information on site activities, the construction veterans can leverage their experience and judgement to intervene and steer projects back on track and within budget.

Rich, objective site records captured using Gather have enhanced communication amongst team members on multiple construction project sites for Cubby Construction. Walker comments: "Gather has had a positive impact on the way we work together. The software brings team members together digitally to consolidate records and share data. It has also facilitated in-person meetings on site. This lets us make better commercial decisions and project plans as a team."

Commercial assurance

Better, faster commercial assurance is another improvement Gather has brought to Cubby Construction. With structured, accurate, contemporaneous records containing planned and actual productivity metrics, cost analysis and change management now take hours instead of weeks.

"From a commercial perspective, the ability to capture and collate information relating to change management is invaluable, adding photographs, written records and attaching relevant resources such as labour, equipment, and materials," Walker states.

For example, Cubby Construction has found value in the new worklog variance categorisation feature Gather released recently. On the CSLR drainage installation project, Cubby Construction were able to diagnose production issues through systematically analysing 4,045 variances in its 1,465 shift records.

The contractor discovered that unexpected physical conditions, lack of appropriate materials, and communication gaps impacted planned project delivery. This analysis, which would have taken months with traditional paper-based methods, was completed in hours.

What's more, Gather aligned worklog variance categories for this project with potential compensation event triggers outlined in NEC4 Clause 60.1. Though Cubby Construction has not worked with NEC4 contracts extensively, by consistently categorising variances on Gather, it was able to adapt to the new process of establishing compensation under NEC4 and minimise potential payment delays.

Growing together

The ongoing, dedicated customer service team Gather has been providing to Cubby Construction also distinguishes the platform from other construction tech software.

Head of Commercial at Cubby Construction Ian Adams is impressed by Gather's support: "Gather hasn't just sold us software. They're genuinely interested in our problems and offered a solution I didn't imagine could be solved with site data."

Adams and his team of 10 quantity surveyors now review and categorise shift records and worklog variances daily. Areas lagging in productivity are highlighted for real-time optimisation, and early warning events are flagged for review.

"We've grown used to two-dimensional site records, thinking of allocation sheets as the end product," Adams comments on the mindset change the Gather record management system has brought upon his team. "I've never seen software that does what Gather can do with site records."

William Doyle, founder and CEO of Gather, is pleased that Gather's RMS has transformed how Cubby Construction captures and interacts with site data: "Our mission is to accelerate sustainable construction. Without timely payment for those who deliver the works, nothing would be truly sustainable. That's why I created Gather – to ensure contractors get paid on time, in full, and for everything."

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