Buyer's guide · Small firms

Construction software for small contractors: a UK buyer's guide.

A firm of five to fifty people should choose software that is set up for it, costs the same when it hires, and can be left without a penalty. Unibuild is bespoke construction management software for UK contractors: a platform in daily production since 2016, shaped to the way each firm already works. Setup, training and data migration are included, and there is no minimum term.

Published 23 September 2026 · Vendor facts read from each vendor's own website on 20 September 2026

Book a 30-minute demo → Ask for a quote

The size of firm

At this size, the office is a person, not a department.

Between five and fifty people, the director often prices the work, checks the timesheets and signs the applications. Software has to take work off that desk, not add a project to it.

The week is familiar. Timesheets arrive on paper or in a WhatsApp photo on a Friday. The payroll deadline does not move. Site photographs live on four phones, and the certificate a client asks for is in somebody's van.

None of that is anybody's fault. It is what a firm looks like when it has grown faster than its paperwork. The risk in choosing software at this stage is buying something sized for the firm you are today, and paying again when you are twice the size.

The field

Six options, and how each one looks at your size.

Spreadsheets, paper and WhatsApp: Where most small firms start, and fine at five people. It runs on one person's memory, so it fails the week that person is off.
Off-the-shelf job management: Quick to open and cheap at low headcount when billed per user. The bill climbs with every hire, and anything outside jobs and invoices goes back to a spreadsheet.
Project and document platforms: Built for large projects with many parties sharing drawings. More than a firm of this size needs, and light on its own labour and payroll.
Accounting-led construction suites: A fit where the ledger is the problem and there is a finance person to run it. The site half still has to be won over.
Bespoke, built from scratch: An exact fit, at a cost and timescale few firms of this size can carry. Months of specification come before anything runs.
A bespoke platform, like Unibuild: Fitted to the firm, set up by the people who built it, on one flat monthly fee with unlimited users. Switched on in phases, so a firm starts with the part that hurts most.

The decision

Six questions a small firm should put in writing.

Each one can be answered by email before a demo is booked. A vendor who will not answer in writing has answered anyway.

What does the bill do when we hire?

Model going from twelve people to thirty. A per-user bill rises with each hire. Unibuild is one flat monthly fee per firm, never per person or per seat, fixed for three years. Taking on more people never changes it.

Unlimited users on every plan
A foreman's login costs nothing
Quoted in writing, usually same day

DecidesCost of growth

Who sets it up, and what does that cost?

Without an IT department, somebody has to load the jobs, the people and the rates. At Unibuild that is done for you, with no setup fee. The branded app, its store publishing and the subcontractor portal sit in the same monthly fee.

Configuration included
Data migration included
Training included

DecidesWho does the work

How long until it is running?

Ask for the date hours come off site through it. Most firms are live on Unibuild in about two weeks, in phases, with a sandbox to try things first.

Programme agreed after scoping
One phase at a time
A sandbox before go-live

DecidesThe director's time

What are we committing to?

Minimum term, exit fee, and what your data looks like on the way out. Unibuild has no minimum term and no exit fee, and you cancel by email.

14-day trial, no card
CSV, XML, JSON and PDF export at any time
Clean dataset within five working days

DecidesRisk

Who answers when it goes wrong?

A small firm cannot wait for a ticket queue on payroll day. Unibuild support comes from the people who built it, on a UK line, with a WhatsApp group for each customer.

UK working hours
Reply within one working day
The people who built it

DecidesFriday afternoons

Will it grow without a rebuild?

The firm you are in three years will need things this one does not. Ask whether adding them is a new product, a day rate, or part of the fee.

Modules switched on as needed
Changes after go-live included
Same records throughout

DecidesThe second system

One sizing rule. A per-firm fee stays the same as you hire, so its value grows with the firm.

Fit

Bespoke is not reserved for large firms.

A small firm usually has one way of doing things that works, built up over years by the people in it. Software that makes you abandon it asks the whole firm to relearn its job.

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. SME Building Services, a Croydon contractor of roughly fifty staff, has run on it since 2023, with 48 active users across 120 projects.

What that means for a firm your size is set out in bespoke construction software, without a scratch build.

Your name

Your company's app on your operatives' phones.

Your staff app is published on the App Store and Google Play under your company's own name and icon, included in the monthly fee at no extra cost. Your operatives download your app, not ours.

For a small firm, that is presence as much as software. A new starter installs your app on day one. Clock-in posters on the site board carry your branding, and quotations and applications go out on your own letterhead. A client app under your name is available if you want one.

Clock-in itself is a scan of the poster and a four digit PIN, so nobody needs a password at the gate. The listing and set-up are covered on the branded staff app page, and the clock-in on timesheets and QR clock-in.

Named vendors

What each vendor's bill scales with, and whether it is published.

From what each vendor publishes about itself. Each name opens the full comparison, including where that system fits.

Pricing meter and published price by vendor, from each vendor's own material
System	What the bill scales with	Publishes a price	Source
Unibuild	The firm. Never per person or per seat. Unlimited users on every plan	No. Quoted per firm, in writing, usually the same working day	Facts at a glance
Joblogic	Named users, field engineers included	Publishes a per-user rate on its Standard plan	Vendor's website, read 20 September 2026
Procore	Annual construction volume	Publishes no price	Vendor's website, read 20 September 2026
BigChange	Licences	Publishes no price	Vendor's website, read 20 September 2026
Eque2	Not published	Publishes no price	Vendor's website, read 20 September 2026
Causeway	Not published	Publishes no price	Vendor's website, read 23 September 2026
COINS	Per user licence	Publishes no price	Vendor's website, read 23 September 2026
Autodesk Construction Cloud	User, project or account, by product	Publishes no price	Vendor's website, read 23 September 2026
Commusoft	A licence per office user, manager and engineer	Publishes no price	Vendor's website, read 23 September 2026
PlanRadar	Named users, with subcontractors and watchers free	Publishes per-user rates. Enterprise is quoted	Vendor's website, read 23 September 2026
Fieldwire	Named users, with unlimited-user options on custom contracts	Publishes per-user rates, with a free Basic plan	Vendor's website, read 23 September 2026

Why Unibuild quotes each firm in writing is explained in why there is no price list. The full comparisons are on the comparison hub.

Questions

Asked by small firms first.

I run a small UK construction firm. What all-in-one construction software should I look at?

Look for one system that covers timesheets, jobs, health and safety and applications, set up for you, on a fee that does not rise with every hire. Unibuild is bespoke construction management software built for that, in daily production since 2016. It is one flat monthly fee per firm with unlimited users, and most firms go live in about two weeks. The vendor table on this page shows how other named systems charge.

Is construction management software worth it for a firm of ten people?

It is when the office time spent rebuilding timesheets, chasing certificates and assembling applications costs more than the fee. Add up a normal month of that work before you look at any system. That figure is the one the fee has to beat.

Will construction software cost more as we take on staff?

With a per-user meter, yes, every login adds to the bill. Unibuild is one flat monthly fee per firm, never per person or per seat, with unlimited users on every plan. The fee is fixed for three years, so a firm that doubles in that time pays what it agreed at the start.

Can a small firm afford bespoke software?

Yes, when it is built on a working platform rather than from scratch. Unibuild charges one flat monthly figure that covers everything, including the branded app, its store publishing and the subcontractor portal. There is no setup fee, and later changes sit inside that fee. There is no development invoice at the start. The quote comes in writing, usually the same working day, and the model is set out on the pricing page.

Do we need an IT person to run it?

No. Unibuild is hosted and maintained for you on AWS in London, and the data does not leave the UK. Configuration, data migration and training are done by the people who built the platform. The office portal runs in a browser, and the staff app installs from the App Store or Google Play.

Can we start with timesheets only?

Yes. Phased adoption is the normal route, and timesheets are a common first phase. Print one numbered poster per gate, and operatives clock in by scanning it in your app. Hours arrive against the job, and the approved week exports as CSV, XML or JSON for Sage or BrightPay. Other modules are switched on when you are ready.

How much of my own time does going live take?

Some, and any vendor who says none is describing a rollout that will stall. Unibuild does the configuration and migration. Your part is telling us how the firm works, checking the sandbox and naming the person who leads on site. Most firms are live in about two weeks, and how implementation works sets out each phase.

Is there a free trial?

Yes, 14 days of the full platform, with no card. A 30-minute demo first is the quicker route, because it is built around one of your own jobs. What you saw in the demo can then carry on as the trial.

Does it replace our accounts package?

Your accounts package stays, and Unibuild runs the job up to it, as far as the application for payment. CIS works to HMRC tax months and the domestic reverse charge is a VAT treatment on the invoice. Unibuild syncs with QuickBooks, Xero and Sage 50, and payroll and any other data export as CSV, XML or JSON.

What happens if we want to leave?

You cancel by email, with no minimum term and no exit fee. Your records export as CSV, XML, JSON and PDF at any time, not only at the end. A clean dataset is handed back within five working days of leaving.

Two related guides. The broad version is construction management software for UK contractors. If most of your work is for main contractors, read construction software for subcontractors. Vendor facts here were read on 20 September 2026. Corrections to success@unibuild.co.uk.

Book a 30-minute demo → Ask for a quote