FAQs · 43 questions
Every awkward
Every awkward
question.
Straight answer.
The full list of questions we hear from UK contractors — ten themed groups, forty-three questions in plain English. No marketing fog. If something here is wrong, badly worded or out of date, please email us and we'll fix it.
§ 01Getting started
Setup, data, hardware, training.
01How quickly can we get set up?+
Most firms are running their first live clock-in within the hour, and live across the platform within 21 days. Free migration off Excel, Sage, BrightPay or wherever your data lives — we do the lifting, you sign off the import, then we switch over.
02What happens to our existing data?+
We migrate it for you, free, before you go live. Staff records, suppliers, projects, CIS history, plant register. You see the import on a screen-share, sign it off, then we cut over. Larger or messier moves are sized into the same flat quote — no separate implementation invoice.
03Do we need any special hardware?+
No. Any phone made in the last decade works. The QR clock-in poster is printed on A4 and laminated. The cabin can run a £150 Android tablet if you want a shared screen. The office uses whatever browser you already use.
04How long does training take?+
Office staff: two 60-minute sessions on your live data. Site managers and foremen: one morning per site, in the cabin, with phones in hand. Site workers: two minutes — open the camera, scan a QR, sign the RAMS. Adoption is the product, not a training programme.
§ 02Features & functionality
What you actually get.
05Do we really get all features in every plan?+
Yes. There is no premium tier holding the useful features back. Every customer gets the same release on the same Tuesday. The quote is bespoke to your firm, not a feature ladder where the good bits cost extra.
06Does it work offline on construction sites?+
Yes. The phone field app caches scans locally and syncs when signal returns or the worker reaches Wi-Fi at the cabin. Tested in basements, steel-framed buildings, Network Rail tunnels and rural Scotland. Data is never lost.
07What if our workers are not tech-savvy?+
The phone they use for WhatsApp is the only thing they need. No app to install, no password reset, no two-factor on their dad-phone. Open camera, point at QR, page opens. Three taps for every flow. We tested it in winter gloves on wet Tuesdays.
08Can we customise the system for our needs?+
Cost codes, project codes, CIS bands, branding, RAMS templates, permit templates, approval flows — all configured per firm. We do not build per-customer features, but we do bring 100+ configurable knobs that cover most of what firms ask for.
09How many users can we have?+
Unlimited. Always. Add the labour gang, the subbies, the office, the directors, the QS — the bill does not move. The whole point of consolidating onto one platform is everyone's actually on it.
§ 03Integrations & compatibility
What it talks to.
10What if we are still using other software?+
No rip-and-replace required. Sage still runs your statutory accounts. BrightPay still runs payroll. WhatsApp is still where the foreman sends a photo. Unibuild sits in the middle and keeps the records straight.
11Which accounting systems do you integrate with?+
Bidirectional sync with Sage 50, Sage 200, Sage Payroll, Sage Business Cloud, Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent, BrightPay, Iris, Moneysoft. Plus 50+ other connectors across storage, comms, compliance and payroll. Not a CSV export — an API integration that posts both ways.
12Can we import data from our current systems?+
Yes — staff lists, project lists, supplier ledger, CIS history, plant register, drawings, programmes (from Asta or MS Project). We do the import for you as part of onboarding. You sign off, then we cut over.
13Do you integrate with CSCS, CITB databases?+
Yes. CSCS card numbers and expiry dates pull into the training matrix and trigger renewal alerts 30 days out. CITB Levy and Grant data is exportable for return submission. Constructionline, SMAS, CHAS and Achilles bundles export as the schemes ask for.
§ 04Pricing & billing
The figure that comes out
of the bank account.
14How does the 14-day free trial work?+
Full platform, real data, your projects, your team. No credit card. At the end you either tell us to switch billing on, or we archive the workspace. That is the whole flow — no follow-up sequence, no auto-charging, no "just want to confirm" calls.
15Can we cancel anytime?+
Yes. Monthly rolling. One sentence to [email protected] and we close the account at the end of that month. We export your data back to you in CSV and PDF — every record, one click — within five working days.
16Are there hidden fees or extra charges?+
No. No setup fee, no implementation fee, no per-user charge, no per-integration fee, no premium tier. The figure on the quote is the figure on the invoice. If we forget to include something, that is on us, not on your bill.
17What payment methods do you accept?+
Direct Debit through GoCardless or card through Stripe. We do not accept cheques and we cannot invoice for less than three months in advance. Annual customers save the equivalent of two months on the agreed figure.
18What if we grow beyond our plan tier?+
There is no plan tier. Take on a labour gang for a fortnight, drop them when the job ends — the bill does not move on either side. Open a new site, onboard ten more subbies — the bill still does not move. Pricing follows the firm's shape, not its headcount.
§ 05Support & training
UK office. UK hours.
19What support do we get?+
Phone, email and WhatsApp during UK working hours, answered by a person in our UK office who has read your account first. No tier-one queue. No chatbot pretending to help. They have been on construction sites and they speak the language.
20Is training included?+
Yes. Office training (two 60-minute sessions on your live data), site training (one morning per site, on the cabin TV with phones), subbie self-service onboarding (5 minutes each). Included in the quote — no separate training invoice.
21What if we need help after we are set up?+
The same support team. Same UK number. Same UK office. Email us on the same address, ring the same phone, WhatsApp the same human. We do not move you to a "post-onboarding" queue.
22Do you offer on-site training?+
Yes — included for the first site. Two of our team come to the cabin, set the QR posters up, walk the foreman through every flow, run a live shift. Additional on-site sessions are at cost (we charge for travel and a day of time, no margin).
§ 06Security & compliance
UK hosted. Boring on purpose.
23Is our data secure?+
AES-256 at rest, TLS 1.3 in transit, keys rotated quarterly, backups encrypted off-site for 35 days. Cyber Essentials Plus held, ISO 27001 path in progress. Penetration tested annually by a CREST-accredited firm. Security pack on request.
24Where is our data stored?+
AWS eu-west-2 (London). Data does not leave the United Kingdom. No third-party trackers, ad-tech or analytics brokers. Sub-processors listed in the DPA, not hidden in the small print.
25How do you help with CDM 2015?+
CDM 2015 is part of the data model — pre-construction info, Construction Phase Plan, welfare, RAMS, RIDDOR, training matrix and the H&S file all live against the project as it runs. At handover or audit you click once and get a single CDM 2015 file PDF. See /cdm-2015-compliance/.
26Can we control who sees what?+
Yes. Role-based permissions go to field level. Foremen see today's site, not last year's projects. Subbies see their package, not yours. Office staff see what their job needs. The audit log shows who saw what and when.
27Is Unibuild GDPR compliant?+
Yes. ICO registered. You are the data controller, we are the processor under your instructions. DPA on the standard contract, not behind a sales call. Bring your DPO to the demo if you want clause-level comfort.
§ 07Technical questions
The boring details.
28What devices and browsers are supported?+
iOS 14+, Android 9+. Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge — all current versions. The mobile field app is a web app — no app store, no install. The desktop view works on any modern browser, including the IT-mandated Edge in the office.
29What internet speed do we need?+
Anything 4G or above is comfortable. The field app is built for low-bandwidth — a clock-in scan is around 10kB. Photos compress before upload. Offline mode handles the patch when the signal drops.
30Can we export our data?+
Yes — every record, in CSV and PDF, one click, any time. Full export bundle includes staff, projects, hours, RAMS, RIDDOR, AfPs, retentions, audit log. If you leave, we hand back a tidy bundle within five working days.
31What happens if there is an outage?+
Trailing 12-month uptime is 99.97%. Live status page (no spin). The field app continues working offline during outages — scans queue locally and sync when service returns. You get service credits if we miss the SLA.
32Who owns the data we put in?+
You do. Always. We do not retain anonymised analytics, we do not sell aggregated data, we do not train models on your records. If you cancel, the live copy is deleted 30 days after handing back the export.
§ 08Sales & commercial
The bits before the contract.
33Can we get a demo before committing?+
Yes. 15-minute live demo, screen-share, mocked up to look like your firm. We mock your projects, subbies, CIS bands and trades before the call. Book at /book-a-demo/ — we come back same working day.
34Do you offer annual discounts?+
Annual billing saves you the equivalent of two months on the agreed figure. Beyond that, we do not run promotions, founder rates or trade-body deals. The quote is the same exercise we run for everyone.
35Can we get references from other customers?+
Yes — once we agree it makes sense for both sides. We connect prospects with existing customers in similar shape (size, trade, region) for a 20-minute call. We pay no referral fee, you pay no introduction fee, the customer is talking to you because they want to.
§ 09Use cases
Does it fit your firm?
36What if you do not have a feature we need?+
Tell us. We collate requests by frequency. If five firms in similar shape ask for the same thing, it lands on the roadmap. We do not build per-customer features — that is how generic tools become bloated SAP.
37Does it work for subbies, not just main contractors?+
Yes. Subbies use the platform as their primary firm tool — packages, AfPs, RAMS sign-on, CIS, payroll. The portal is the simpler view. The full platform is the same product the principal contractor uses.
38Residential and commercial both?+
Yes. Residential refurb, commercial fit-out, civils, M&E, housebuilders, developers, facilities management — same platform, configured to your trade and pattern. The data model is general; the templates and defaults are trade-specific.
39What if we do maintenance, not projects?+
Day work, callouts, maintenance contracts and reactive jobs are all first-class concepts. Custom rate codes for emergency vs out-of-hours. Time on call vs time on tools. PPM scheduling against asset register.
40Does it work for plant hire businesses?+
The plant module covers owned and hired equipment, on-hire and off-hire, LOLER and PUWER inspections, fuel, servicing. If equipment hire is your primary trade rather than a sideline, we have a few patterns we will walk through on the demo.
§ 10Comparisons
Versus what you have now.
41How is Unibuild different from Procore or PlanGrid?+
They are US-built, expensive, missing the UK regulatory backbone (CIS, CDM 2015, MTD reverse charge, RIDDOR), and priced per-helmet. We are UK-built, the price does not move with headcount, and the regs are part of the data model. See /feature-comparison/.
42Why not just use Excel and WhatsApp?+
If you are a 2-person sole trader, you probably should. The honest cost of Excel + WhatsApp + paper at 30 people is around £42k a year in admin chase and margin leak — see the calculator on the home page. The break-even is around 6-8 people.
43What about Sage Construction?+
Sage is excellent at being a statutory accounts package. It is not a site platform — operatives don't clock in to Sage, RAMS don't get signed in Sage, snags don't get raised in Sage. We sit alongside it (two-way sync) so the QS, the FD and the foreman all read the same record without leaving their preferred tool.
§ 11Still got questions
If we missed yours,
email us.
We add to this list as questions come in. If yours is not answered above, the quickest route is email — we reply within one working day.