Proptech panel: How proptech supports the construction industry
Construction is one of the least digitised industries in the world – by one panellist's account, ahead of only hunting and fishing – yet the building phase is among the riskiest and most cash-intensive stages of the property life cycle.
In this Proptech Association Australia panel, association vice president Jennifer Harrison was joined by Justin Williams of Construction ID, Chris Polin of DLP Manager and Bart Crowther of PlanRadar to discuss "contech" – the technology that supports procurement, site access, safety, quality assurance and defects management.
The panellists explained why sprawling Excel spreadsheets remain the hidden enemy on site, how mobile apps and structured workflows are cutting hours of daily reporting down to minutes, and where AI, robotics and offsite manufacturing could take the industry next.
On the panel:
Jennifer Harrison – Vice President, Proptech Association Australia (moderator)
Justin Williams – Founder and Managing Director, Construction ID
Chris Polin – Founder, DLP Manager
Bart Crowther – Country Manager Australia, PlanRadar
The conversation covered:
(00:00) Jennifer Harrison kicks off the panel on ConTech—covering procurement, safety, quality, and defects management.
(02:26) Justin Williams gives the Construction ID pitch for its modular software spanning the entire building lifecycle.
(03:40) Justin shares his founder journey since 2011 and the lesson learned from building four separate apps before combining them into one unified platform.
(06:49) Tackling the administration nightmare: why Excel spreadsheets remain the hidden enemy on construction sites.
(09:02) The tech setup: how mobile apps sync with web portals to save tradies walking back and forth to the site office.
(14:16) Chris Polin introduces DLP Manager, born out of a soul-destroying 3,000-line Excel spreadsheet for defect handovers.
(16:43) Removing the emotion: why homeowner warranty handovers need structured workflows rather than endless phone calls and paper notes.
(22:50) Bart Crowther pitches PlanRadar, hailing from Vienna with over 120,000 users across 65 countries.
(27:08) Saving time on site: turning a two-hour daily inspection report into a 30-second task for engineers.
(29:30) Landing a $780 million bridge project in Hobart and the bizarre international PR ripple effect in Croatia.
(31:16) Sustainability isn't just a buzzword: minimising waste, rework, and defects is the real ESG play in construction.
(34:10) Inside PlanRadar's structured sales machine: how a dedicated international SDR team feeds Australian reps four to seven meetings a day.
(38:00) Social impact and work-life balance: how better defect tracking enables site foremen to work remotely.
(42:53) Looking ahead: where AI, robotics, and offsite modular manufacturing will transform the trades needed to build the built environment.
(48:24) Where to find the panellists online and how to stay connected with the Proptech Association.
In their words:
“The more that we can replicate but also automate that Excel spreadsheet, the better. What that also means if people are using things like forms or workflows, it's eliminating a lot of the data entry issues that can happen when you use Excel.” – Justin Williams
“Construction managers who have built a $100 million building really struggle with that management of homeowners after. So we really do awareness around a different option and removing the emotion out of defects.” – Chris Polin
“Construction is the lowest digitised industry, except for, I believe, hunting and fishing. So doesn't really say much, right?” – Bart Crowther
About the panel:
Justin Williams is the founder and managing director of Construction ID (Wiseworking), which has been building construction software since 2011.
Chris Polin is the founder of DLP Manager, drawing on 15–20 years in construction, including at Lendlease, to fix the defects and warranty handover period.
Bart Crowther is the Australian country manager for PlanRadar, the Vienna-born construction and real estate documentation platform.
Jennifer Harrison, vice president of the Proptech Association Australia, moderated the panel.
Transcript:
This is an automated transcript of the panel, lightly edited for readability. Please excuse any errors.
Jennifer Harrison: Thank you everyone for joining us today for the proptech panel. I'm excited for this one because I've actually been wanting to do something on ConTech, which is short for construction technology, and today is the day. Uh, ConTech, or construction technology, is the topic of this month's proptech panel. Now, ConTech describes everything that is related to the building and construction phase of the real estate life cycle, which is one of the most risky, one of the most money intensive, and also one of the most time intensive phases. So, the types of functions that ConTech can help with include procurement, resourcing, project management, subcontracting, site access and logistics, quality assurance, health and safety, defects management, and more. Uh, today, I am in the Stone & Chalk facility in the Sydney Startup Hub, so I'm on Gadigal lands today. And if you don't know me, I'm Jennifer Harrison, and I am the vice president of the Proptech Association. Every month we host a webinar, and we're very grateful for the support of Stone & Chalk in helping to run this event. I'd like to introduce the panel for today. My first guest is Justin Williams from Construction ID. Hello, Justin, thank you for being with us today.
Justin Williams: Hi, Jennifer.
Jennifer Harrison: How are you?
Justin Williams: Well, thanks. Well, thanks. Um, and hello to everyone. I, I've had some microphone issues, so I don't know if everyone can hear me okay, but, um, uh, but hello.
Jennifer Harrison: We can. And where are you joining us from?
Justin Williams: I'm joining you from Melbourne, um, which is by, by, um... When I look behind me, it's actually sunny today. Um, which is-
Jennifer Harrison: We- we'll wait five minutes
Justin Williams: ... very rare this time of year.
Jennifer Harrison: Okay. My second guest today is Chris Poland from DLP Manager. Good day, Chris. Thanks for being with us. How are you?
Chris Polin: Very well. Thank you, Jennifer, for having us.
Jennifer Harrison: And where are you joining us from today?
Chris Polin: Uh, I'm upstairs from you in Stone & Chalk-
Jennifer Harrison: Okay
Chris Polin: ... in York Street, so one floor up-
Jennifer Harrison: Lovely
Chris Polin: ... in Sydney.
Jennifer Harrison: And my third guest today is Bart Crowther from PlanRadar. Hello, Bart. Thanks for being with us. Where are you joining us from today?
Bart Crowther: Hey, Jennifer. Great to be part of the panel today. Uh, I'm normally based in Sydney, but today I'm up in sunny Queensland at, uh, at a major projects conference in, uh, in Brisbane.
Jennifer Harrison: Very nice. Very nice. Okay. Justin, let me come and have a bit of a chat with you first, and let's find out more about Construction ID. The first thing we always ask people is, please tell us in a nutshell what your proptech does. Give us your elevator pitch.
Justin Williams: So, Construction ID is software that can be used on small and large projects, that's, that's both commercial and residential projects, um, for the entire life cycle of the building. Um, so it's a modular software, and we've got modules for, um, pre-construction, construction, and post-construction. Today, we're talking about ConTech, so I'll talk about, um, our construction module, which is called Build & Defect, and it's specifically do- designed to assist, um, projects with, um, OH&S, so that's health and safety, um, uh, quality, and document control, um, uh, to help make those projects profitable.
Jennifer Harrison: Great. And can you tell us a little bit more about Construction ID? Uh, who are the founders? Who else do you work with? Can you tell us a little bit more about your, your journey?
Justin Williams: So, um, I'm the founder, um, of, of Construction ID. And, um, in fact, uh, I'm the founder. Originally, the journey started in 2011, so we've been in this for a long time now, as you can probably tell from my gray hair and receding hairline. Um, uh, we started with, uh, defects, um, initially, um, during the construction period, and there was a lot of uptake from this and, and, um, the demand was for, um, that to flow on to post-construction. Uh, so we built an application for that. Then they asked, uh, then the market asked us to build an application for OH&S, which is safety. Um, uh, and then after that, they asked us to build another application for document management. So that's four separate applications. Um, the, uh, big aha moment for us came when we kept getting repeated requests, um, to do more and more, and having to build other applications. That was a nightmare to, to, uh, manage. And, um, you know, we said, we, we sort of, um, said, "Why not just build the one application, that's Construction ID, that does it all?" Um, and, you know, as you can appreciate, that took a long time to not only architect, but also build. Um, so, um, uh, and COVID, whilst it was, um, was a very, very, um, uh, I'll, I'll say exciting period for us all, it was also a good chance to, um, uh, take that time to make sure the architecture for Construction ID was right. Um, um, the hindsight that, that, that sort of, um, downtime also gives you is, is, uh, that if I did this journey again, I wouldn't build so many applications and so many different client builds. Um, I'd put everything into the one, one, um, one application. Um, and, uh, that's, that's something that, that, that, uh, hindsight gives everyone, isn't it, 20/20-
Jennifer Harrison: Hindsight's always 20/20, as they say. But that's quite interesting, 'cause, uh, you know, it's always, y- I think it's very interesting for founders who are still quite early in their journey to hear these little, uh, nuggets from founders who are, are a bit, bit, a bit further along. And I think there's also an interesting tension. I can see some proptechs are very single-minded. They are focused on doing one, pretty much just one thing, and they do it very well, and they can go faster. Other proptechs are building in more options and more f- um, you know, future revenue streams into their foundations, and therefore they're going a bit, a b- a bit slower. Uh, but I don't know that there's a right or, a right or a wrong- Um, tell us a little bit more please, Justin, if, if you can, what would you say is the biggest pain point that Construction ID solves for in the construction industry? And can you explain to the audience, please, how are you using technology to solve for that?
Justin Williams: So, so look, we, we cover, um, uh, pretty much every, every aspect of, on, on a construction site. That's, you know, the quality, the OHNS, and the document management side. So that's a lot of scope to cover, to cover. However, you know, is it, the common theme over all of those, all of those functions is administration and, um, the administration that's, that's, that's involved in, in managing all those different processes. Um, so, you know, the word administration can mean many things to people. Um, it can mean forms, it can mean reports, it can mean registers, it can mean documents, it can mean communications, it can mean compliance, it can mean checklists, it can mean inductions. I'm just reading this list out here. Um, however, all of these drive some very important things like quality and safety. Um, and those are the two, two, uh, uh, I suppose, quality, safety, time, and cost are the, are the four most important things on any construction project. And having software that helps with all those things behind the scenes is, is very important. Um, look, one, one thing that, that software is great at doing, and, and any software is great at doing is it's, it's, it's great at, at solving and helping with repetitive tasks. Um, and the result of workflows that these tasks need. Um, so, so some of the things that, that, that, um, using software, um, auto- automates is, um, sending, things like sending emails, updating Excel spreadsheets and, um, and the like. You know, I, I guarantee that every company probably in the world is using some form of Excel spreadsheet. Um, and, uh, that is an absolute nightmare to keep up to date with. And soft- software, um, helps automate that or replace the old Excel spreadsheet.
Jennifer Harrison: Yeah. Absolutely. So can I just say, is, is it, is, uh, is it an app? Is Construction ID delivered in an app form? Do tradies pull up the app when, when they're on site? Uh, admin people back in the office using a desktop version? Can you tell us a little bit more about that side of the tech?
Justin Williams: Sure. Sure. So, so look, Construction ID is, is both an app, so it's, you know, on your mobile, mobile device. Um, and that all talks to or synchronizes with, um, a web portal. So desk-based users and on-site users can use, use the app. Um, and, or the web portal. Um, so a choice of both. Um, so, you know, with, with the app, we make it very intuitive and easy to use. Um, so, so it's important, um, that, that it's easy to use so people use it. But also, um, it's important, um, and I've seen it firsthand, that users have access to in- information. You know, I've seen firsthand how, uh, much time is lost traveling back to the site, to and fro from the site office, whether that's in an alley mach, a builder's lift or, um, walking, physically walking back to the site office takes, takes a lot of time. Um, so the more information you can give users, um, uh, on site on their, on their device, on their mobile phone, um, the better. It eliminates that. Uh, you know, and I talked about the Excel spreadsheet before being, you know, the number one, um, number one, I won't say enemy, but the number one, uh, thing that you need to, uh, address, uh-
Jennifer Harrison: Maybe it's a hard habit to break for, for-
Justin Williams: Yes
Jennifer Harrison: ... a lot of people. I mean, I, I do-
Justin Williams: Yeah, no
Jennifer Harrison: ... quite like an Excel spreadsheet my- myself. Uh...
Justin Williams: Um, so, so, so, you know, the more that we can, um, auto- replicate but also automate, um, that, uh, that Excel spreadsheet, the better. Um, what that, what that also means if people are using, um, things like forms or, or, um, uh, or workflows, it, it's eliminating a lot of the, the, um, data entry, um, uh, issues that can, can happen when you use Excel. Um, uh, and that, that, that in turn, uh, avoids rework, which, uh, creates cost inefficiencies and, um, time loss and, and drives up the, um, well, makes, makes projects take longer, but also drives up the, um, the productivity loss in, uh, in construction. So we like to think of Construction ID being the one percenter, um, of construction, and that's, that's the, the sporting terminology, um, for the person who performs a number of actions, um, which clearly benefit a team but doesn't have a defined position, uh, or a defined role.
Jennifer Harrison: Okay. Interesting. Um, how, how are you approaching sales and marketing at Construction ID?
Justin Williams: Um, so, so we, um, we're, we, uh, our, our sort of, um, uh, go to market as a SAS is basically through my network. You know, this, this year it's, um, it's, uh, it, it's, it's really about scaling up and getting, getting a lot more professional about things, um, and, uh, and, and employing a marketing team and a sales, a sales team to actually, uh, get out there and get known.
Jennifer Harrison: Okay. And can you give us a little bit of a sneak peek at what might be coming up on your product roadmap?
Justin Williams: Okay. So, so, you know, I've, I've, I've jotted down, uh, uh, quite a few notes here, but, uh, the highlights, the highlights of, uh, our, our sort of roadmap, um, over the next few years would be, uh, uh, some of the really exciting emerging technologies like, um, AI and robotics and how we can, um-
Chris Polin: Integrate with those, with those technologies. But also, um, uh, in a commercial sense, we're looking to become, um, hopefully one of the, uh, top three SAS solutions in Australia, and just focus on the Australian market. Um, because by doing that, we can, um, we can help change the market. Um, and, and, um, we've got a... w- with Construction ID, we have a fairly unique model where, um, where it's used- useful throughout the, um, supply chain, um, rather than s- the, lots of disparate systems. And we hope by becoming one of the top three SAS models, we can help change the construction ro- um, roadscape. Um, uh, and, um, and, and, and, uh, by, by doing that, you know, it helps, helps the industry, which, which is currently, as everyone knows, on its knees a bit, and, uh-
Jennifer Harrison: Yeah
Chris Polin: ... suffering.
Jennifer Harrison: There's, there's some, definitely some ongoing challenges in, in construction industry. I was just, uh, at a, at a presentation this morning where an economist from REI was saying that cost inflation in, is 11, 12% in construction at the moment. Um, and I think it's, it's, you know, it seems like, uh, e- every week Channel Nine News is reporting that another home builder, um, sadly, has had to go into insolvency. So-
Chris Polin: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Harrison: So, um, thank you very much for telling us about Construction ID, Justin. Uh, Chris, let's have a little bit of a chat about DLP Manager. So same question to kick it off. In a nutshell, what is DLP Manager? Give us your elevator pitch.
Chris Polin: Uh, DLP Manager is a workflow solution for the handover and customer warranty period, mainly focused around the needs of the builder and developer, but engaging with all the stakeholders to make sure that's a smooth, streamlined process. Oop, you're on mute there, Jennifer.
Jennifer Harrison: Yeah, sorry.
Chris Polin: There you go
Jennifer Harrison: So tell us a little bit more about your journey, uh, into the land of startups.
Chris Polin: Yeah. So, um, I came from a long line, 15, 20 years in construction, uh, with Lendlease and multiple companies. Uh, and st- ended up starting my own business. And looking for work, I ended up getting some connections with some tier one developers and builders, and ended up with a spreadsheet 3,000 lines long. And, um, I'd done it at Lendlease before-
Jennifer Harrison: Well, I could still give you a million, like a million lines-
Chris Polin: Oh, that was just-
Jennifer Harrison: ... if you, if you really need them
Chris Polin: ... one building. It was just one building, Jennifer. I looked at it and smiled and said, "Yes, sir." And I went and, uh, heh, I wasn't doing it again, so I went and fixed my own, fixed my own problem. So I had a, um-
Jennifer Harrison: Perfect. Love it
Chris Polin: ... a guy I worked with before. We went and he built a, an MVP and a workflow solution to manage that coordination between the handover from owners, developer, builder, subcontractors, and all the way around the big circle of defects management. Um, for, you know, that workflow takes about eight steps and involves four people, and that's for one defect. So he times that by 3,000, it was just... it's not achievable in Excel. So we built a workflow management tool, um, and then, uh, built it out over the next few years working with this tier one builder and developer, um, and got to a point last year where we released it, where it was ready for lease for companies to take it on themselves. So there's lots of construction, post-construction teams out there for... Every building and developer seem to have a post-construction team. So now we're providing them the, the backup and software to allow them to manage and coordinate that, that efficiently.
Jennifer Harrison: Hmm. And so if, if DLP Manager wasn't in, in there, I mean, how would those post-construction teams be handling the problem? Is it just lots of bodies, lots of spreadsheets, lots of phone calls?
Chris Polin: Lots of bodies, lots of spreadsheets, lots of phone calls, lots of people. Um, more people than necessary getting involved. Look, I've landed on the, the, the, the initial problem is the people, the owners aren't getting heard by the construction companies. Um, if they send an email or if, if something gets missed, then it's a very emotional time for owners when they're handing over. So we've got to take that into account. So our platform, you know, as soon as it's logged by the owner, you know, all mobile friendly. They can log a defect and the builder's notified immediately and can assess that item and, and give that owner some, um, assurance it's being met. So a lot of transparency and accountability in our platform, um, all the way through that, that workflow.
Jennifer Harrison: Hmm. It's interesting, I, I, I think I, I've, I have told you this when we had a, had, had a chat a few months ago, but I bought a property off the plan in 1999, actually.
Chris Polin: Yeah.
Jennifer Harrison: And then, uh, when I m- initially moved in, they explained to me, they called it snagging. There was this snagging process.
Chris Polin: The UK term, yeah.
Jennifer Harrison: And look, this was, this was 1999. Yes, it wa- it was in London, in the UK. And I typed up a list. I think I had 33 items on my snagging list, and this was 1999, so I actually faxed it over to them. And I did feel that they just randomly told a few tradies to come, and they thought that maybe by fixing five or six of the problems- I wouldn't actually pursue them or have an expectation that, that the other problems would be fixed. And in some cases, I was told that the problems weren't a problem, and I actually had, you know, like a, a ventilation outlet that didn't have a cover. It actually just literally had some gaffer tape over it.
Chris Polin: Yeah.
Jennifer Harrison: And I was kind of t- I actually had a window. Sorry, I wanna take a... I had a window that couldn't open because there was a ra- a balcony railing, and the window could open basically one centimeter. And I said to them, I said, "No, I think you need to take that window out and replace it with a window that actually will clear the balcony railing and open." But look, it was quite a process for me. I had to-
Chris Polin: Well, you're still emotional about it, and that was 20 years ago.
Jennifer Harrison: I am. You know I am.
Chris Polin: There you go. Oh, that's-
Jennifer Harrison: I am still emotional about it.
Chris Polin: But it goes with that-
Jennifer Harrison: Because it just dumps your head in. Do you know what I mean? It's like-
Chris Polin: Well, put that quick workflow. You send that to the builder, but the builder paid a window guy. And how... We need the right information to get that through to the right person so everyone, you know, there's no excuses why we can and cannot do it. So, and it's, you know, with technology now that's available to us, photos, descriptions-
Jennifer Harrison: Yeah
Chris Polin: ... and, and working through that workflow. So, um, well, the workflow is, for me, is born from experience in managing this process. So that workflow, nice and direct, but then there's everything in between with defects management. And, uh, we bought a phone for this business 'cause, uh, that's how you manage defects, and it, we don't use it anymore.
Jennifer Harrison: Right.
Chris Polin: So that's where we've got to.
Jennifer Harrison: There you go. That's, well, that, that's a great, that's a great proof point.
Chris Polin: Yeah.
Jennifer Harrison: So can, can you tell us a little bit more about the technology you've built?
Chris Polin: Yeah. So, uh, we've got a developer team, um, who also builds, um, workflow technology for Sydney Water. So they have developed this workflow where, um, very permissions-based. So if you're an owner, you only see bits and pieces. There's a lot of stuff in defects that happens in the background for builders and subcontractors managing that process as well. So, um, back charges and communications and rectifications of water leaks, but then not only just fixing the water leak, but the carpet, the patching, the painting, the mold. And everything comes along with it. So, um, there's a lot of experience in how that workflow goes direct, but then also round in circles, but still going in the same right direction. I'm a big one of just making sure we get to an endpoint, although I do understand there's a lot of aspects to a defect. You know, and again, that's one defect in, in, in 3,000.
Jennifer Harrison: Yeah.
Chris Polin: So it can get very complicated for the builder trying to manage who's it with, where's it at. Well, it's impossible in a spreadsheet. We use a traffic light system. It's very, um, visual, so you can see things are moving quite quickly. And if they're not, again, alarms and automatic notifications going ahead and, and, and helping you manage that process.
Jennifer Harrison: Mm-hmm. And so how do you approach sales and marketing? How are you going to market?
Chris Polin: Uh, so we've got a, a good marketing team that's built a lot of awareness, and we jump on the back of this awareness of technology and construction.
Jennifer Harrison: Mm-hmm.
Chris Polin: But in the last year, we've built awareness around this, you know, really underserved, um, phase of construction. As Justin know, the under f- the, the post-construction phase is really, construction company, a hard phase. Construction managers who have built $100 million building really struggle with that, um, that management of homeowners after. So we really do awareness around a, a different option and, and removing the emotion out of defects. Um, and then this year that market is really starting to pay off with a lot of organic growth, um, and awareness that, hang on, there's another option other than manhandling and spreadsheets.
Jennifer Harrison: Yeah. And can you give us a little bit of a sneak peek as to what's coming up on your product roadmap?
Chris Polin: Yeah. So we've got a, a feature coming out, um, in the next month that will open us to, uh, the remedial building, so allowing remedial builders to manage their, and owners, communities to manage any building reports. Um, so that, that's a big, um, step in a new market for us for basically everything post-construction. When I say post-construction, after the initial build. So it'll be our, for owners, communities to document all those works, building works in their, um, building on that, on that job. And then we're looking to sort of with our partners, we've partnered with Procore and a couple of international clients to sort of start to look a bit further overseas by the end of the year. Um, and we've also got our eye on some AI stuff and machine learning, so.
Jennifer Harrison: Wonderful. Thanks so much for telling us about DLP Manager.
Chris Polin: Thank you.
Jennifer Harrison: And Bart, PlanRadar, uh, same opening a question to you. Y- yeah, uh, in a nutshell, can you give us the PlanRadar elevator pitch, please?
Bart Crowther: Yeah, sure can. Um, yeah, we certainly do have some similar value propositions across, um, you know, Justin and Chris's products there and, and our own. PlanRadar's really focused on, um, you know, increasing the communication, the collaboration on construction and property projects. And, and we do that by being able to, um, customly align, um, our, our form building, um, part of the platform, um, for data collection around a particular process that a business might have. And, you know, you can take photos, you can do voice to text for your notes, and it's right. It's really, really super quick at, um, creating smart and, and very professionally laid out reports. Um, so we, we kind of find that we've got value propositions in a few different areas, Jennifer.
Jennifer Harrison: Mm-hmm.
Bart Crowther: So it could be a specialty contractor like an engineer, it could be a complete, um, you know, digitization for a head contractor, or it could literally be defect management for another customer. Um, and you know, we've got another part of the platform where you can actually take existing PDF, uh, forms, turning them into fillable forms, and they can be aligned to a project. And when they're filled out and completed by a subcontractor or a participant on a project, they then become a document of record on that project file where you want it to be filed
Jennifer Harrison: Lovely. And can you tell us, please, a little bit more about PlanRadar, where it's headquartered and where else in the world you are, and then, um, tell us a little bit more about how you run, uh, PlanRadar in Australia.
Bart Crowther: Yeah, absolutely. We're, um... We've got a, a nice sort of a, a romantic story, if you like, around our origins, Jennifer. We, we hail from Vienna in Austria. Um, it's a very, very beautiful part of the world, and, um, PlanRadar, you know, was started a little over 10 years ago. Um, and we've got, uh, offices in, I believe, 19 countries now. We've got 120,000 users across 65 countries. So in that little over 10 years, we've, um, we've grown, you know, tremendously well. Um, with the operation here in Australia, I started with the company as the country manager a little over a year ago, and, uh, very quickly, I understood that the, the Austrians, who are very German in their thinking, very structured, um, they, they have a plan for success for everybody within... who works within the business. So they already had a recipe for success for me. Um, so even though I had, you know, all these years of experience, um, they were saying, "Well, this is the Austrian way." So, um, it was important for me to embrace all of that thinking first of all and see whether there was any additional elements we needed to add for the Australian market. Um, so yeah, it's been an interesting journey.
Jennifer Harrison: So does that mean every Australian employee also has their own personal plan for success?
Bart Crowther: Yeah, they sure do, Jennifer. Like, as an example, I mean, one of your few questions coming up is gonna be around, you know, things like the sales and marketing. So if you look at a salesperson, for example, there is four different types of sales position that is available within the company, like four levels. I can only hire for the first two. Right? The second two, they need to be achieved.
Jennifer Harrison: Ah, okay.
Bart Crowther: Yeah.
Jennifer Harrison: Interesting. Okay, interesting. So is... This might be... I know this might be a bit of a challenging question, but if you had to, could you point to the single biggest pain point you think PlanRadar solves in the Australian construction industry?
Bart Crowther: The single biggest one. I think, um, if I, if I had to sort of focus on the single biggest one, I think one of the biggest problems that all of these platforms, um, have in, in going to market is the change management side, Jennifer, in getting businesses to embrace that digitization and that change, and I think if, if I could put it on one thing, it's the fact that PlanRadar can take a single process and digitize it cost-effectively without having to boil the ocean. Um, so I think, um, one of the biggest, uh, success points that, uh, that PlanRadar's had in the Australian market to date is being able to digitize the process for client-side engineers that are doing, um, complex and detailed inspections on large projects and having to magically create a report for their client on a daily basis, which usually takes them two to three hours to complete after they've been on site all day. Um, now they can complete that in 30 seconds.
Jennifer Harrison: Fantastic. So can you tell us a little bit more about the technology that enables that to be done in, in 30 seconds, and what does it actually look like to be using PlanRadar? Is it an app? Is it a desktop, um, portal? What, what does it look like in the hands of the user?
Bart Crowther: Yeah. So PlanRadar is a true SaaS, um, driven, uh, platform that is hosted on AWS. So we have a desktop application which is largely centered around the, the user or the person who's gonna be sitting in an office who, uh, wants to see pretty dashboards that's going to help them manage things by exception and drill into the areas that need their attention. Pardon me. And then out on site, you've got, uh, the capability for the, for the workers that are needing to go out in the field. They can have access to apps for iOS, for Android, for Windows, both on tablets and phones, and they don't even need to have an internet connection to continue using the, uh, the software. Um, but what they, what they're usually presented with is, um, they can upload plans to PlanRadar, and you can pin a location to a plan. You can GPS tag your location and then create your communication, and your communication, it could be, you know, a, um, an RFI or a request for information. It could be a defect. It could be a safety inspection that you're doing. Um, and so Pla- PlanRadar makes it very, very simple to, to sort of access all of those capabilities out in the, in the, in the, on the projects.
Jennifer Harrison: Wonderful. Uh, what kind of feedback, um... Are you able to share with us some of the feedback you're getting from the market from those users?
Bart Crowther: Yeah, absolutely. Um, you know, having, uh, only opened the office here for a little over a year ago, Jennifer, we've already landed our first mega project, and it's, um, it's probably one of the most fantastic bits of feedback we've had in the business since I started here. Um, it's a $780 million bridge project in Hobart, and within one month of implementation, uh, the Tasmanian government that is renowned for never letting you do a press release allowed us to do a press release, um, signed off, uh, on that. The press release that we ran in the Australian media then got picked up by the, uh, Croatian equivalent of the Financial Review, um, because our founder is a Croatian, uh, engineer, and we had done a, a massive bridge project in, in Croatia. And, um, within, I think, 24 hours of that article being run in the, uh, in the financial newspaper over there, the, uh, Croatian office for PlanRadar received a phone call from the Australian consul saying, "Hey, I wanna meet with you." And then he started inviting them to parties. So they're calling me up saying, "What are you doing down there, Bart?"
Jennifer Harrison: Well, I, um, it just goes to show the pla- the, the power of PR, which I would say, since that's my, that's my day job, PR. But actually, um, we, we have got that news release Bart just mentioned on the proptechassociation.com.au website in our, um, member, member news section. Uh, that's a great story, though. Um, I'm gonna, I might use that one, uh, for the, the power of PR. But a- but anyway, back to, back to, back to construction. We've, we've spoken about time and efficiency benefits. So are there any other benefits you'd like to highlight, um, either from construction technology in general or more specifically from the PlanRadar platform?
Bart Crowther: Yeah. Look, I think there's, um, there's quite a lot of hype out there in the industry, um, especially when you talk to high levels of government when they talk about, um, sustainability and they, they say, "Oh, we've gotta have more sustainable projects." And quite often tech companies are sort of scratching their heads going, "Right. So, um, what does sustainability really mean?" You know? And I think when you focus on the elements of minimizing waste, eliminating rework, and reducing defects, you know, that in a nutshell is creating a more sustainable environment. So, you know, the, the savings of time and the increased and improved communications is really what these platforms are about, you know, bringing some, some smart controls to people by making information available.
Jennifer Harrison: Mm. Yeah, so I like the way, the way you put that, and agree with you. It's, it's a, uh, increasingly I know businesses that have to, for example, respond to tenders or RFPs. There's always now some kind of ESG or sustainability, uh, question in there, and, you know, if you are a for-purpose prop tech, it's, it's, you know, it's a lot easier often for you to answer those questions. But if you're solving for a problem in a particular sector like construction, I think it is important for people to be able to articulate those benefits exactly like you said, it reduce waste, reduce rework, you know, reduce, reduce defects and just join up the obvious logic to, you know, there's less, less landfill, I guess, I guess at the end of the day, at the end of the day. Yeah. Um, how at Planada, uh, PlanRadar are you approaching the sales and marketing function? How do you go to market?
Bart Crowther: Yeah, it's an interesting question, Jennifer. It's, um, it's, it's a big success story for the company and the structure that we've got for our sales and marketing. So, um, in Australia we have three, um, marketing roles that we actually have. So we've got a digital marketing role that was, is very specifically defined. Um, we've got an, an events and partnerships marketing role, which is very clearly defined, and then we've got a content marketing role, which is also very clearly defined. Um, everybody understands and knows their job and what their job is and what their job isn't. Um, and then, then on the other side with the, with the sales, we've got, you know, um, as I mentioned, pardon me, um, two, two of the positions, the, um, sales consultant and senior sales consultant that we can hire into, and the other two they've got to achieve, and they achieve that through not just sales, but uh, but also consistency. You know, at the top level, um, they've basically got to have achieved, um, a million euros in sales in, in a 12-month period. Um, and plus some other elements that they need to actually, um, uh, you know, to, to prove before they can get to that level. Um, behind all of that we've got a team of 150, um, sales development representatives based out of an international location that, um, uh, call down and make appointments and, uh, out of those 150, we've got six that are, um, uh, 100% focused on the Australian market. Um, there's a lot of time and effort that is spent in studying each market, um, so that those representatives aren't just calling, um, down, for example, on the Australian market and sounding like an international call center. Um, they understand the way the market works and, uh, what they want and what they don't want, and, you know, basically the, the net result is we have around about a- anywhere between four and seven appointments put in every salesperson's calendar every single day-
Jennifer Harrison: Mm-hmm
Bart Crowther: ... um, by those sales development, uh, representatives. So it's a very, very successful model.
Jennifer Harrison: Mm. Yeah. There's an element, I guess, of, of just process and c- and consistency and, uh, I know in the residential space, there used to be this idea of 10 at 10. You had to make 10 phone calls at 10 o'clock every single day. Uh, you know-
Bart Crowther: Absolutely
Jennifer Harrison: ... day in, day in, day out. Yeah. Okay. And are you able to tell us, give us a sneak peek, what's, what's next for PlanRadar in Australia? Uh, what's next? What might be coming up on your product roadmap?
Bart Crowther: Yeah, no, great question. We've, we've just had some, had two, uh, massive, uh, releases in the last six months. Um, the, the first one was about six months ago, and it was the capability around being able to take your project schedule into PlanRadar. So quite often businesses are creating a project schedule in Microsoft Project or P6. You can now upload that file into PlanRadar and, and almost instantaneously create, uh, tasks that are aligned to each of those line items. And pardon me, and then when you, um, when, when, when that task is updated, so too is the project schedule on the fly. Um, in addition to that, we released about, uh, about two months ago, our full document management capability, and it's not just document management, it's about, um, uh, you know, uh, document approvals and plan approvals and, you know, things like shop drawing reviews, et cetera, can be formalized within PlanRadar now. Now, the, the things that are coming up are, you know, as the, um, the other guys, Chris and Justin, sort of alluded to, that artificial intelligence. There's a lot of, um, top-secret stuff happening at, uh, head office. Um, one of those things is, uh, is a capability with the, uh, with the AI goggles, where you can literally be looking around a space that might be an existing building that doesn't have up-to-date plans. Um, and so you can literally be looking around, and it, it'll create the plan right there in front of you, um, to the point that you'll be able to utilize the measurements, et cetera, um, uh, quite easily. And, you know, that capability has been, has been built out over the last few months and, uh, and we'll start to see that released, uh, I believe over the next few months.
Jennifer Harrison: Exciting. Thank you very much for telling us more about PlanRadar. Bart-
Bart Crowther: Thank you.
Jennifer Harrison: Uh, if anyone in the audience would like to ask a question, you can use the Q&A function or the chat, and we'll, um, funnel those through to the panel. Uh, Chris and Justin might come back... Actually, Chris might come back to you first. Um, Bart just talked a little bit about sustainability. Do you find that comes into many of your conversations in the market? Or is that something where you're trying, you know, consciously to explain what the benefits of doing defects better are from a sustainability point of view?
Chris Polin: Yeah. So the, uh, the ESG, so the environmental, social, and governance. So we, we, we found our, our main... Well, ESG social is, was, is a big one for us. Uh, environmental, you know, we, uh, we, we eliminate site visits, and we eliminate a lot of stress on the subcontractors and the owners by giving everyone as much information as they need to sort of knock that defect off the first time, rather than back and forth. So we, you know, hard to measure, but definitely providing the right information so they, to minimize the rework and the, and the appointments for the owners. Social, um, is the, the big one for us. The defects managers, you know, the, they've, it is a, it's a, it can be, be a very negative job. You've got emotional owners and defects not being done, so we've really re- removed that emotion and made it easier for those teams to... You know, it's always been very transient as well. It's a graduate who wants to get onto the next project or, you know, they've got an admin who doesn't wanna do it anymore because they just get too emotional. So we've really tried to help with that workplace and to a point where our team can now manage, um, building reports of defects without going to site. So that's, we have defect foreman who work from home. So, which has never been heard of before.
Jennifer Harrison: Mm.
Chris Polin: So no one ever thought a foreman could work from home, but, you know, all the information's there, they're signing off, and they're getting that engagement with their subcontractors. So, um, we're finding that's where we're really adding value to the workplace and, and the, the resources of the company.
Jennifer Harrison: Mm. Great. Thanks. And Justin, what's your experience at Construction ID? How does sustainability or ESG come into either your conversations in the market or when you're planning and, um, building your features?
Justin Williams: Sure. So, so with ESG, um, you know, governance is probably the, the, um, lowest hanging fruit, if you like. That's, that's something which, which is directly applicable. It's pretty, pretty easy to draw a, uh, connection between, um, putting, running things through a form, um, uh, reporting on things and, and following workflows and how that, that satisfies governance. One thing that, that we've observed at Construction ID is that with the other two parts, social and environmental, a lot of those are, uh, from a project and construction perspective, developer-driven. Um, so i- what I mean by that is the builder tends to, with, on, on the projects, follow what the developer, um, says to do on the project. Um, what's the old saying? Uh, go where the money is. Um, do what the money says. Um, so, so that's, that's, that's, that's an observation, um, that we've made at Construction ID, is a lot of the requirements, um, uh, or, or, um, or, or practices that are followed, uh, uh, the, the construction, um, part follows, uh, are, are sort of developer-driven. Um, uh, so, so, uh, and, and in terms of, in terms of the, the other impacts, so Bart and Chris have, have mentioned those. Like, um, uh, you know, I, I think they're, they're sort of common, um, those benefits are common, um, uh, with, throughout, with, with any, any, um, digitization, is, is you get, you get, um, social and environmental, um, benefits. Um, uh, but yeah, look, I, I think the biggest impact is in the field of governance. Um-
Jennifer Harrison: Mm-hmm. Mm. Wonderful. I mean, it will be interesting to see, uh, 'cause we do have quite a number of ASX-quoted companies that are in the civil engineering, you know, building construction, and property development space. I think it will be interesting to see if some of those, uh, big end of town, if I could put it that way, requirements on auditing and disclosure actually trickle down, how, uh, you know, uh-The industry at the beginning of town starts to engage with some of these issues more specifically. So what we're hearing at the Proptech Association now is that, uh, some of the nice fluffy words that maybe have been used in the past to address ESG and sustainability, uh, the auditors and the regulators now are, are not looking for nice fluffy words. They're looking for granular specificity and specific actions with specific measured, measured impact. So, um, wait, wait and see how that might, might trickle down. But one of the, um, things I wanted to ask, uh, each of you as, I mean, a final question was, I might come back to you first, Justin, is, um, where, where do you think there's still really low-hanging fruit? I mean, construction is, it is messy, right? It is messy. Um, I think, you know, it's been estimated it actually takes seven different trades to build a wall.
Justin Williams: Hmm.
Jennifer Harrison: You know, because you need a carpenter, you need a plasterer, you need an electrician, you need a painter decorator. You know, uh, w- where is there still the low-hanging fruit?
Justin Williams: Uh, look, uh, look, uh, I think, I think there's, there's, there's low-hanging fruit, um, uh, opportunities like, that technology creates and, and I, I talked about them briefly before. Like, um, in the field of artificial intelligence and robotics because, like, there's so much repetition in construction. Like, if you're putting up a, whether you're putting up a wall or, um, installing, installing a kitchen, there's, there's a, there's a, there's a lot of repetition. It's not like it's a unique one-off task a lot of the time, and that's where I think technology can thrive. And, um, you know, I... The, the note that I jotted down is that so far, you know, whilst it's really exciting, um, and, and as I said before, we've been, um, in, i- in this content market for a long time now, and I... It, it's exciting to see widespread adoption of software and systems and people are changing their mindsets. There's a lot less labor intensive, um, faxing, and we talked about faxing before, Jennifer, and, and emailing. There's a lot more, um, adoption of, of, of software which is, which is a good thing. But I think that that's only step one of a long journey. Um, step two is a really exciting part. Step two is when, um, you, you, you start to implement some of those new exciting technologies, um, like robotics and, and, and start to, um, chop those seven trades you talked about down into maybe one, one trade, um, that is delivered by, um, uh, some kind of a robotic, robotic, um, uh, I don't know, some so- a robotic builder. Um, and you've got a, um, a project manager that's inspecting it and inspecting the quality and relating that back digitally. So I, you know, I think that technology can automate a lot of the manual tasks at the moment. Um, imagine how cool it would be to be in a world where, you know, buildings are built for half the price. It, but, um, uh, you've got two times as many buildings being built. You've got two times, um, as many, um, as many, as many oppra- opportunities for, um, improvement. You've got twice the safety. You've got twice the quality. I mean, that, that, that to me is, like, a, a perfect, uh, a perfect situation where you've got technology driving, driving and helping, um, the, uh, the, the built environment.
Jennifer Harrison: Hmm. Fantastic. And Chris, what would you say is still, you know, some of the low-hanging fruit out there?
Chris Polin: Um, there's a lot. I think the construction industry is not laying hay. We're, we're a bit of laggards with technology, but, um, I think the technology that's coming out with, you know, especially with the two panelists here, is all experience driven technology, and it's just coming around and, and gaining the trust of the construction industry. So I think that's definitely coming. You see that with all, all the, um, chat around the future in technology and construction. So our clients are, are, are not wary, but they wanna see how it works and the experience behind it, I suppose. And I think, uh, that's what they're looking for, and then they're adopting it. So we're having good, um, adoption rates. So, um, just gotta keep going. Turn up the next day and, um, it'll, it'll take off, I think.
Jennifer Harrison: Mm-hmm. Okay. And Bart, uh, what would, might be your observations as to where there's still low-hanging fruit for technology to help the construction industry?
Bart Crowther: Yeah. No, look, to, to Chris's point about, you know, being laggards in the, uh, in the technology, the utilization of technology in this space, I mean, construction is, um, is, is the lowest, uh, digitized industry, uh, except for, I believe, hunting and fishing. So doesn't really say much, right? Um, but I think the low-hanging fruit for us is as you look at, uh, as the builders look at speeding up, um, the process of delivering their projects, they're turning to things like offsite modular building of elements of their projects so that it can just be assembled, um, out there on site. And so, you know, when you look at the requirements that are still required at the end, um, at handover, people need to know what was happening in the production line, um, you know, the elements and effort and details that went into putting together those modular pieces. And that's where, you know, platforms like, um, possibly all of the platforms represented here can be utilized on that production line facility, capturing information and details through to the actual construction site where things are being assembled through to the handover. And I think, you know, as the industry's trying to pivot and change, the technology is there to actually assist and make that process a hell of a lot easier, um, and still keep things connected.
Jennifer Harrison: Hmm. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. I think that probably brings us up to time. Uh, so, um, I- Where shall I... So Chris, yes. Come back to you, so I'm gonna start with you, Chris. Uh, thank you very much for joining us today. If people would like to connect with you personally and also find out more about DLP Manager, what's the best way for them to do that?
Chris Polin: So website, dlpmanager. You can book a demonstration through there, or look me up on LinkedIn or, uh, info@dlpmanager.com, and then, uh, we'll connect from there.
Jennifer Harrison: Fantastic. Uh, Justin, what's the best way for people to find out more about Construction ID and also-
Justin Williams: Sure
Jennifer Harrison: ... to connect with you personally?
Justin Williams: Sure. So to find more about Construction ID, it's the website, so www.constructionid.com. Um, and, uh, if you, um, if you wanna connect with me personally, you can connect through, um, LinkedIn, like Chris was mentioning before, um, Justin Williams. Um, and then of course we've got all our, uh, socials so Wiseworking, Construction ID, if you need any more information.
Jennifer Harrison: Yep. And Bart, same question. What's the best way for people to find out more about PlanRadar and also connect with you personally?
Bart Crowther: Yeah, no problem at all. I think, uh, as the, the other guys were mentioning, through the website, um, www.planradar.com. Um, and also connect via LinkedIn. I've got a fairly detailed profile there and, uh, um, you know, once you've touched our, uh, PlanRadar page, I dare say you'll receive a phone call from, uh, one of our sales development officers pretty quickly.
Jennifer Harrison: Okay. Excellent. And LinkedIn and email is a great way to stay in touch with the Proptech Association as well. If you're not already, I would encourage you to follow our page, Proptech Association Australia, on LinkedIn. And if you're not signed up to our newsletter, please, please pop over to our website, proptechassociation.com.au and sign up for the newsletter. Following us on LinkedIn and the newsletter are the best way for you to stay up to date with our events, like our webinars, uh, our other events like our awards, and our bi-monthly member meetups. So, uh, thank you again to Justin, Chris, and Bart. Uh, I'm Jennifer Harrison. Thanks for joining me, and watch out, as I said, on the LinkedIn and newsletter for information about next month's The proptech Panel.
