Choose on three things: what the bill scales with, whether the system fits how your firm already works, and whose name is on the staff app. Unibuild is bespoke business software for UK trades and specialist contractors: a platform in daily production since 2016, shaped to the way each firm already works. It is one flat monthly figure per firm that covers everything, with unlimited users.
Published · Last reviewed · Reviewer Darshan Parmar, Founder
What is the best construction management software for a UK contractor? There is no single best, and a ranking would hide the decision. It depends on three things: the size of the firm, what the bill scales with as the firm grows, and whether the UK regimes are part of the record. Those regimes are CIS, the domestic reverse charge, CDM 2015 records and Construction Act payment notices.
For a UK trade firm of 5 to 300 people that wants site and office on one system, Unibuild is built for that size. One monthly figure per firm, quoted in writing and fixed for three years, unlimited users, the staff app under your firm's own name, and a 14-day trial with no card. The table below puts every named vendor beside it on the same questions, from what each publishes about itself.
Most shortlists mix categories without saying so. Name the category first and half the comparison is done, because each one fails in a predictable place.
Free to start and exact to the person who built it. Nothing reminds anybody, nothing holds a photograph, and the file stops when its author is on holiday.
Quick to set up and good at jobs, dispatch and invoicing. The firm adapts to its screens, and valuations, plant and compliance often stay in spreadsheets beside it.
Built around drawings, documents and large project teams. Strong where many parties share one project, and lighter on the contractor's own labour, plant and payroll.
Built outward from the ledger, so the finance team is at home from day one. Site capture is the half that has to be won over.
An exact fit, if the specification was right. It means months of specification, a long build, and paying to reinvent timesheets and document storage from nothing.
A working platform, adapted to the firm and extended wherever something is missing. The fit of bespoke, on a core that has run contracting businesses every working day for ten years.
A demo shows what a system does. These questions show what it costs to live with. Put them to every vendor in writing, before the first meeting.
Most construction software asks a firm to adopt the vendor's process. Unibuild is shaped to yours: your approval limits, your document templates, your rate cards and your words for things. The firm does not change how it works to suit the screens.
When a firm needs something new, Unibuild builds it. Changes asked for after go-live are included in the monthly fee rather than charged at a day rate.
The build starts from a working platform rather than an empty screen. A firm gets the fit of a bespoke system without the cost, the timescale or the risk of commissioning one from scratch. That platform has run Electrical & Mechanical Services (UK) Ltd, a temporary site services firm, every working day since 2016. SME Building Services, a Croydon contractor, has run on it since 2023, with 48 active users across 120 projects.
The detail, from first scoping call to the change you ask for in year two, is in how Unibuild's bespoke software is built around your firm.
Your staff app is published on the App Store and Google Play under your company's own name and icon, on iPhone and Android, and its publishing is included in the monthly fee at no extra cost. Your operatives download your app, not ours.
That is decided at the gate, on a Monday morning. An operative asked to install their employer's app is being asked to do something ordinary. Asked to install a product from a company they have never heard of, they have a reason to leave it until later.
The branding carries through the rest of the platform. The office portal shows your name, logo and colours. Fifty-eight document types generate on your own letterhead, and the QR clock-in posters print in your branding. A client app under your brand is available for firms that want one.
From the store listing to the poster at the gate, the detail is in the branded staff app, published under your company's name.
Software built for another market can be configured towards these. The question is whether they are part of the record or a workaround beside it. Duties stay with the firm either way.
| Regime | Ask any vendor | Unibuild |
|---|---|---|
| CIS | Does it work to HMRC tax months, and assemble the monthly return from payments already made? | Periods run from the 6th to the 5th and close into a CIS300 return pack, nil returns included. Deductions sit against the subcontract orders and payments |
| Domestic reverse charge VAT | Is the reverse charge a VAT treatment on the invoice, or a note typed by hand? | A configurable charge type, alongside standard, reduced and zero-rated |
| CDM 2015 | Are RAMS, toolbox talks and training records held against the job and the person? | RAMS, permits to work, toolbox talks with signed attendance and the training matrix run on the same records as the job |
| Construction Act payment notices | Do the orders it issues carry a payment mechanism, with the notice dates on them? | Subcontract orders carry printed payment terms: due date, final date for payment, payment notice and pay less notice. The payment timetable calculator works out the dates |
The accounts package stays. Unibuild runs the job up to the application for payment, syncs with QuickBooks, Xero and Sage 50, and exports payroll and any other data as CSV, XML or JSON.
What the bill scales with, how users are counted, the trial and whether a price is published. Then the four UK questions: CIS, RAMS and CDM records, applications for payment, and whose name is on the staff app. From what each vendor publishes about itself, dated per row; each name opens the full comparison.
A staircase rises as people or licences are added. A slope rises with turnover. A flat line stays where it was quoted. A dashed line means the vendor publishes no model.
| System | What the bill scales with | Users | Free trial | Publishes a price | UK CIS | RAMS and CDM records | Applications for payment | Staff app under your name | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UnibuildFacts at a glance, 8 November 2026 | The firm. Never per person or per seat | Unlimited on every plan | Yes. 14 days of the full platform, no card | No. Quoted per firm, in writing, usually the same working day | Yes. HMRC tax months, a CIS300 return pack, deductions against subcontract orders | Yes. RAMS, permits to work, toolbox talks and the training matrix on the job's records | Yes. Subcontract orders carry payment notice and pay less notice dates | Yes. On the App Store and Google Play under your firm's own name and icon | UK trade firms of 5 to 300 people running site and office on one system |
| JoblogicVendor's website (opens in a new tab), read | Named users, field engineers included | Anyone who logs in: office, engineers, managers. Portal users free | Yes. Standard plan, no card | Yes, a per-user rate on its Standard plan | Yes. CIS handling, with Sage integration, on its comparison pages | Yes for RAMS: a RAMS module on its marketplace. CDM not published | Yes. Fixed-price projects log invoices as applications (support site) | Not published. Store listing: Joblogic, by JobLogic LTD | Field service and maintenance firms billing by job |
| ProcoreVendor's website (opens in a new tab), read | Annual construction volume | Unlimited. Adding users is never charged (its UK pricing page) | Not published. A personalised demo is offered | No. Custom quote | Not published as a feature. Its estimating page says its accounting integrations manage CIS | Not published. Inspections and incidents tools are listed | Yes. A UK applications for payment page: create, review, approve; subcontractors submit directly | Not published. Store listing: Procore, by Procore Technologies, Inc. | Large main contractors running many projects at scale |
| BigChangeVendor's website (opens in a new tab), read | Licences | A licence per user, wherever they work; subcontractor licences per job (support FAQ) | Not published. Request pricing or a demo | No. Request pricing | Not published as a feature. Its support site covers reverse charge VAT codes | Yes for risk assessments and RAMS at the point of work. CDM not published | Not published | Not published. Store listing: BigChange JobWatch, by BigChange Ltd. Its white labelling covers emails and SMS | Mobile workforces where vehicle tracking is the point |
| Eque2Vendor's website (opens in a new tab), read | Not published | Not published. Licences bought through Eque2 with Sage and Microsoft licences | Not published. A demo is offered | No | Yes. CIS, reverse charge VAT and retentions built in | Not published | Yes. Applications for payment, valuations and variations | Not published. Store listing: Construct Mobile, by Eque2 Ltd | Firms whose centre of gravity is Sage and the ledger |
| CausewayVendor's website (opens in a new tab), read | Not published | Not published. Contact sales | Not published. A demonstration is offered | No | Yes, in its help pages: CIS verification and CIS invoices | Risk assessments as digital site forms. RAMS and CDM not published | Yes. Payment applications from live cost data; NEC applications for payment | Not published. Store listing: CausewayOne Mobile, by Causeway Technologies | Large contractors, highways, infrastructure and local authorities |
| COINSVendor's website (opens in a new tab), read | Per user licence | Per licence, one per user (its pricing FAQ) | Not published. Request a quote | No | Yes. CIS management; deductions calculated on subcontractor payments | Not published. A health and safety and document control module is listed | Yes. Applications for payment managed in one place, with retention | Not published. Store listing: COINS Construction Cloud, by Construction Industry Solutions Limited | Contractors and homebuilders wanting one ERP with the ledger inside |
| Autodesk Construction CloudVendor's website (opens in a new tab), read | User, project or account, by product | By product: user, project or account based pricing | Yes. A 30-day Forma Build Essentials trial, no card | No. Get a quote | Not published | Not published. Safety management is listed in Build | Yes. Payment applications in Cost Management (help pages) | Not published. Store listing: Autodesk Forma, by Autodesk Inc. | Model-led projects needing a common data environment |
| CommusoftVendor's website (opens in a new tab), read | A licence per office user, manager and engineer | A licence for every office user, manager and engineer: contracted, monthly or daily | Yes, on request after an online demonstration | No | Not published | Risk assessments as digital forms. RAMS and CDM not published | Not published | Not published. Store listing: Commusoft - Job Management, by Commusoft Ltd | Heating, plumbing and electrical service firms |
| PlanRadarVendor's website (opens in a new tab), read | Named users, with subcontractors and watchers free | Per user on published plans; unlimited subcontractors and watchers free | Yes, 30 days | Yes, per-user rates on its published plans | Not published | Yes for RAMS, created and managed in the platform, per its 2023 RAMS guide. CDM not published | Not published | Not published. Store listing: PlanRadar Construction Manager, by PlanRadar GmbH | Firms whose work is defects, inspections and handover records |
| FieldwireVendor's website (opens in a new tab), read | Named users, with unlimited-user options on custom contracts | Per user; a free Basic plan; unlimited-user options on custom contracts | Not published for the UK. A free Basic plan; the 14-day trial is for the US and Canada (help centre) | Yes, per-user rates, with a free Basic plan | Not published | Not published as a feature. Custom forms are used for RAMS briefings (its UK webinar page) | Not published | Not published. Store listing: Fieldwire, by Hilti Fieldwire, Inc. | Teams coordinating field tasks against drawings |
Yes, No and Not published are read against each vendor's own website and its app store listing on the date in the row. Not published means the vendor's pages do not state it, not that the system lacks it. Pricing models only; no figure is quoted for anyone. The vendor facts are re-checked monthly; last check .
All of these side by side, with the reasoning, are on the comparison hub. Any vendor missing from the table can be put through the same test by email. Ask what the bill scales with, and what happens to it when headcount rises by a third.
Read the table for that size of firm and three things stand out. They are the same three the shortlist should be built on.
Most of the systems above meter people: a named user, a licence, an engineer on the app. That is a reasonable model for a firm whose headcount is settled. A trade firm of 5 to 300 people is rarely settled. It takes on six operatives for a package in March, gives a new supervisor a login in June, and puts an agency gang through the gate in September. On a per-user meter, each of those moves the bill. The others price on annual turnover, by product, or publish no model at all, so ask in writing what happens to the figure when headcount rises by a third.
The UK columns separate the field further. The systems built outward from construction accounting publish CIS, retentions and applications for payment as core features. The field service packages publish risk assessments as digital forms on the engineer's phone. The project platforms publish documents, inspections and payment applications for the main contractor's team. Where a column reads Not published, ask the vendor in writing: it means their pages do not say, not that the system lacks it.
Unibuild is built for exactly this size of firm. One monthly figure attached to the firm, with unlimited users, so none of those moves changes the bill. CIS to HMRC tax months, the domestic reverse charge, RAMS and CDM records and Construction Act payment notices run on the same records as the job. The staff app is published under your firm's own name. The 14-day trial is the full platform with no card, and running it on one live job answers most of the table.
UK-built · CDM · CIS · MTD