HBXL’s mission to help building firms ‘go digital’

Managing a building firm with the help of software is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but a necessity, according to Joanna Mulgrew, HBXL Building Software’s Managing Director.

“Building firms that are still reliant on pen and paper and spreadsheets risk being left behind, or worse still, disappearing. The interest in construction software over the last 12 months has risen significantly, and with good reason,” she explains. “The more profitable businesses today are letting digital solutions do the heavy lifting – from the quoting and project management, through to health and safety and contract writing.”

HBXL’s ‘Go Digital’ campaign is designed to take any fear factor out of software programmes, by making them accessible to smaller 1-5 person building firms.

According to Joanna, IT skills are really not needed for using HBXL’s software. The suite of five end-to-end construction software tools has been re-engineered to be even more straightforward for the user. The whole process is ‘step by step’ with visual aids and hints and tips that appear in the window as you go. The project data in the estimate also populates the health and safety, contracts and project management software, saving the user even more time.

Hand-holding and
free training
All new users receive an
onboarding session, help
with their first estimate or
CAD drawing, and have
the option of eight free
hours of live-streamed
training to sharpen their
new found skills if they feel they need it.

“Hefty inflation, material and labour shortages, and project delays are placing a huge pressure on building firms who are also navigating the impacts of the pandemic. If they drop the ball even for a moment, there’s a chance they’ll lose serious money. Estimating software is vital.”

EstimatorXpress tracks the latest prices and can work out not just today’s cost but the job start date cost as well, useful bearing in mind the likely increase in prices over time. Material schedules are produced automatically so suppliers can be given advanced notice – helpful while it’s first-come-first-served. And the onboard Gantt chart will also take a date change in a job and cascade the consequences.

CAD is no longer the preserve of architects and technicians as far as HBXL is concerned. Their PlansXpress software helps builders draw architect quality buildings plans and models – without the need for qualifications. Less costly than architect services, the software’s impressive images can help win the work too.