A mid-size GC replaced Procore with a custom application built around their workflow — and cut per-project admin time by 40%.
The client was a $25M general contractor running commercial projects on Procore at $833/month — and spending 6+ hours per project week on workarounds because Procore's workflow didn't match their operation. We built a custom construction management application in 14 weeks.
Procore at $833/month with 6+ weekly hours of workarounds because the workflow didn't match their operation
Procore is built for the way Procore believes construction management should work. The client's 15-person project management team had developed their own workflows over 20 years — a specific 3-step RFI review process that Procore's 2-step process forced workarounds on, a daily report format that Procore's template didn't match (requiring export → reformat → email every day), and a subcontractor portal workflow that was supposed to be Procore's strength but had become the source of the most support calls from their subcontractors.
The financial calculation: $833/month × 12 months = $9,996/year in Procore cost, plus the labor cost of the workarounds (6 hours/week × 3 PMs × $65/hour blended rate = $1,014/week, $52,728/year). Total annual cost of the Procore setup: $62,724. The custom application would eliminate the Procore cost and reduce the workaround labor.
Custom construction management application built around the client's actual workflow — RFIs, submittals, daily reports, subcontractor portals — with the specific approval logic their team uses
Stack: Next.js 14, Postgres (Neon), Drizzle ORM, Clerk, Resend, Vercel Blob (for file storage).
Project structure: Projects with phases, scope items, and the schedule baseline. Subcontractor assignments with scope and contract value per assignment.
RFIs: 3-stage RFI workflow matching the client's process: Field Engineer submits, Project Manager reviews and adds response, Principal reviews and approves. Email notifications at each stage. RFI log with open/closed status and response time tracking.
Submittals: Submittal register with spec section, submittal type, and required review date. Subcontractor upload portal. Internal review workflow with approval/rejection and review comments. Revision tracking.
Daily reports: Daily report template matching the client's format exactly — weather, workers on site by trade, equipment, work completed, work in progress, and issues. PDF generation for the daily report with the client's header. Email delivery to the project owner's contact.
Subcontractor portal: Separate authenticated portal for subcontractors to access their submittal items, RFIs, and daily schedule. No Procore login required for subcontractors — invitation by email with a simple credential setup.
One honest number to start.
Fixed-scope, fixed-price. The number below is the starting point — final scope is built from your brief.
Custom construction management application built around the client's actual workflow — RFIs, submittals, daily reports, subcontractor portals — with the specific approval logic their team uses
Three steps, every time.
The same repeatable engagement on every project. No surprises, no mystery, no billable ambiguity.
Brief & discovery.
We send you questions, then get on a call. Output: a written scope with every step, feature, and integration listed.
Build & ship.
Fixed schedule, weekly reviews. No scope creep unless you change the scope — and if you do, we reprice it transparently.
Warranty & retainer.
30-day warranty on every launch. Most clients stay on a monthly retainer for ongoing features and maintenance.
Results
- Procore subscription eliminated ($833/month saved)
- Admin time per project week: reduced from 6+ hours to 3.5 hours (measured at 90 days post-launch)
- Subcontractor support calls: dropped to near zero
Questions, answered.
Historical project data was not migrated — the new system launched on new projects. In-flight projects ran in parallel for 30 days while the team onboarded, then migrated as projects moved to the next phase.
Yes — the application is built for concurrent project management. The dashboard shows all active projects with status, open RFIs, pending submittals, and schedule health across the portfolio.
Construction management application: from $32k depending on scope. Fixed-price.
Tell Ryel about your project.
Describe what you’re building and what outcome you need. You’ll have a written, fixed-price scope within the week.