Custom flow planning software development for finishing contractors
Appfront builds build-flow planning for finishing trades: per project, the homes or units in the order of the build flow; per home, the phases of your work with the days they take; the crews that follow the flow from one home to the next; the dependency on the preceding party, such as the plasterer or the installer; and the shift reported by the main contractor, recalculated directly for your crews and your materials. So the site manager doesn't have to rework the contractor's build schedule and their own Excel every Monday.
What is build-flow planning software for finishing trades?
Build-flow planning means scheduling your work home by home, in the order in which the build moves through a project: home 1 gets the plasterer in week 38, home 2 in week 39, and your crew follows that flow. The software records the flow per project, your phases per home with the time they take, and the crews running the flow. If the main contractor shifts a block, the software works out what that means for your crews, your other projects and the materials that must be on site each week.
Without such a system, the site manager receives the contractor's schedule as a PDF and converts it into an Excel per project. If the contractor pushes block C back two weeks, they have to work out which crew was assigned there, whether that crew can move to another project, and whether the materials ordered for block C now stand in the way on site. With four projects running at once, that is a day's work every week.
We build custom software because the planning has to follow your trade: which phases your work has per home, which preceding party must be finished first, how you compose crews and calculate standard times, how main contractors supply their schedules, and which ERP you use. A generic planning board knows tasks and people, but not the home, the flow or the contractor who shifts.
Flow per project
The homes in flow order, with your phases and standard times per home type, and the party that must finish before you.
Crews on the flow
Crews assigned to the flow rather than to loose tasks, across projects, with capacity per week and a signal when two flows need the same crew.
Shift recalculated
The main contractor's new schedule imported or entered, and the consequences for crews, other projects and materials visible before you reply.
How we build your custom build-flow planning software for finishing trades
We start with the most recent shift from a main contractor: what it cost you to process, which crew was held up as a result, and whether the materials were rescheduled in time.
The types of projects you undertake, what your phases look like per home, how you determine crews and standard times, how contractors submit their schedules, and which ERP system you use.
The house types with their phases and standard times, the dependencies on preceding trades, the crews with their composition, and the projects with their flow.
The planning board per project and per crew, handling schedule changes, materials per week and hours recording per home from the start of construction.
The integration with project administration and the ERP, post-calculation per dwelling against the standard time, and ongoing maintenance.
What construction flow planning software for finishing trades actually does
The components below feature at almost every finishing trade in serial housebuilding. Which ones you need depends on how many projects run at the same time and on how your contractors plan.
Flow planning per project
Homes in flow sequence, with the phases, dates and the preceding trade for each home, on a timeline per project.
House types and standard times
The phases for each house type with the days and staffing they require, so a new project of eighty homes can be set up in a few minutes.
Crew planning across projects
Crews on the flow, staffing per week across all projects, and an alert when a crew is double-booked or has a gap.
Schedule changes
The new contractor schedule imported or entered per block, with the impact on crews, other projects and materials made visible.
Materials per week
The flow determines which materials are needed on which site and when, with the associated orders and call-offs.
Hours per home
The crew records hours per home and phase from the start of construction, with the post-calculation against the standard time serving as a signal for costing.
Who we build construction flow planning software for finishing trades for
The software is intended for finishing trades whose work runs in flows through housing projects, and where the main contractor's schedule can overturn their own planning every week.
Plasterers and painters
Early in the finishing flow, dependent on the installer and determining who comes after you. Flow planning and schedule changes are the core.
Tilers and floor layers
Multiple phases per home with drying times in between, and materials per home. Standard times per house type and materials per week matter most.
Painters and finishing companies
Late in the flow, with handover as the fixed date. Crew planning across projects and post-calculation are what is needed.
Multi-discipline finishing specialists
Walls, ceilings and finishing carried out by in-house crews one after another. The dependencies between your own phases are the core.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page is about planning the construction flow. For planning at a painting contractor, see our page on scaffolding planning software; for the planning board as a tool, our page on planning board software; and for the construction company as a whole, our page on construction company software. You can read about our approach at building software.
If you want to close off the finishing work per home with a checklist and photos, take a look at our app for the finishing handover checklist.
Why choose Appfront for your construction flow planning software for finishing trades?
In serial construction, your schedule is effectively the main contractor's schedule, and it changes. We build on that: the flow as the structure, the shift as a normal event.
The flow is the schedule
Not loose tasks, but homes in sequence, with crews following them. Setting up a project means defining the flow and choosing the house type.
A shift is a calculation, not a day's work
The main contractor moves a block; the software shows which crew, which other project and which material it affects. You respond the same day.
Standard times are checked
Hours per home against the standard time per house type. The costing for the next project works from what it actually cost.
Security and privacy in construction flow scheduling software for finishing contractors
The software works with the main contractors' schedules, your standard times and costings, and the hours of employees and subcontractors. Access is set by role: the crew sees its own schedule and logs hours, the site manager plans their projects, management sees capacity across everything and the post-costing. Every shift is logged with its source and time, so that if a dispute arises with a contractor, it is clear which schedule applied when.
The software runs in a European data centre, with encrypted storage and daily back-ups. Integrations with the ERP and project administration use their own keys, which can be revoked per integration.
Frequently asked questions about construction flow scheduling software for finishing contractors
Questions finishing trades ask before getting started.
It records, for each project, the homes in flow order, and for each home your phases with standard times and the party that precedes them, and it schedules crews on the flow across projects. A shift from the main contractor is passed through to crews, other projects and materials, and hours per home are recorded and compared against the standard time.
If the contractor supplies a schedule file, it is imported and compared with the previous version, so you only see the shifts. If you receive a PDF or an email, the site manager enters the shift per block, and the software recalculates the rest.
The software shows the gap alongside the other projects for that week and suggests where the crew could be deployed. The site manager decides; the software works through the consequences for both projects.
Yes. For each house type you record the phases with the days and crew size they require, and the hours the crew logs per home are set against them. If a house type consistently deviates, you see that per project and can adjust the standard time for the next costing.
For each house type and phase you record which material is needed, and from the flow you get, per week and per build, what must be on site. If the flow shifts, the call-off shifts with it, and the software flags material already delivered for work that has been postponed.
Yes. Projects and costings come from your project administration, and hours and materials flow back for invoicing and post-costing. We connect to what you already use; the schedule does not become a second project administration.
Check that first. A planning board with crews and tasks is enough if you run one or two projects at a time and the contractor rarely reschedules. Custom software makes sense when several streams share the same crews, when schedule changes happen weekly, when materials are tied to the stream week by week, or when you want to check standard times per home type.
Every flow scheduled, and a shift from the contractor recalculated the same day?
Tell us how many projects run at once, how your contractors supply their schedules, and how you currently handle a shift. We'll show you what the flow schedule, the crew planning and the recalculation look like.