Contractor Foreman vs. Newforma Project Center

Contractor Foreman has been a great tool for managing a variety of projects, from home remodels to large-scale builds. It works especially well for keeping everything organized in one place, whether it’s estimates, schedules, or job costs.
One scenario where it’s been really useful is in managing multiple jobs at once. With several remodels and new construction projects happening at the same time, having a centralized system to track progress, store documents, and communicate with subcontractors has helped keep everything on schedule. It’s also great for estimating—being able to quickly generate and send professional proposals has made bidding much more efficient.
It’s especially well-suited for projects that require a lot of moving parts, like tracking permits and compliance documents. For larger jobs, like school construction, it helps ensure that all approvals, budgets, and schedules stay on track without getting lost in a mess of paperwork.
Where it’s less ideal is for smaller, one-off jobs where a full project management system might be overkill. If it’s just a quick repair or a simple remodel, sometimes it’s easier to just handle things manually. The mobile app could also be a bit more intuitive for on-site use, especially for field updates and quick changes.
Overall, it’s a strong tool for contractors managing multiple projects, budgets, and teams. It keeps things organized and saves time, especially on jobs that require detailed tracking and coordination.

Newforma is extremely well suited for archiving emails. The Outlook add in even has the option to "send and file in project", so you can archive it to a specific project as it is being sent, making it so you will never have to go back and file emails after the fact. Also, the markup tool is extremely useful and all of our users like it much better than Adobe Acrobat.

Incentivized

• The service is top notch. You would be hard pressed to find other options with this kind of service.
• The ability to have your project flow through the modules makes it a breeze to use.
• Being able to track time as well is a key feature.

Incentivized

• Construction administration.
• Document filing.

Incentivized

• We already heard from CF that they might implement this, but a Gantt chart available while in the estimating tab, before you submit the project
• If you don't do things juuuusssst so, sometimes the system doesn't update or rejects what you're doing. It can be picky.
• You have to constantly refresh using their provided button. Fixes a lot of issues and becomes second nature, but a little annoying at first.

Incentivized

• This was primarily an email archiving solution, but we're pushing forward with trying to integrate it with more of our business solutions to make it part of a suite of packages.

Incentivized

Eliminated the need for our team to log into multiple systems to do their jobs which aligns to our Lean approach

Incentivized

Mostly great, especially for the price. The features appear to have definitely been designed by a team with a depth of construction specific experience. I also highly rate the usability because of the vast vast amount of customizability inherent in the system. It appears that almost all forms and features are customabizable on the company level and even specific to different individual users.

Incentivized

Availability was good, FUNCTIONAL availability was more spotty

Incentivized

Many times we had issues that turned out to be errors and bugs. At first, we would be told forcefully that there were no bugs, then we would document them, and we would get an acknowledgement but no apology for essentially either gaslighting us or being ignorant of their system

Incentivized

Absolutely top notch! They were always there to help and immediately. Very happy with the communication they provided and the knowledge they had of their product. I would venture to say that they are one of the best in terms of support in their space.

Incentivized

While I have never asked for support myself, a Newforma representative has been in the office annually to give training seminars and info sessions on how to fully use the product. I find this essential to keep the product relevant and make sure everyone knows its full capabilities and an important part of customer support.

Incentivized

Implementation was moderately difficult, it's the functionality and execution that are seriously lacking

Incentivized

I used Projul and Buildium when I was primarily managing rental properties rather than full home builds. Projul was great for estimating and invoicing, while Buildium served its purpose well at the time. Now, as a small construction company, Contractor Foreman provides everything we need in one platform, making project management much more efficient.

Incentivized

Newforma provides many tools for organizing and archiving project information of various formats. Its ability to search communications is often used by our team. The desktop application is great for internal organization and the web interface provides the basic tools for collaboration and project management between teams of collaborating organizations. This is beneficial to the A/E and construction industries for document control.

Incentivized

We had just 2 users

Incentivized

• Cost Savings. Integration with QuickBooks and Bills improved financial control. 0-15% cost savings per project.
• Time Savings: Streamlined project management led to a 20-30% reduction in administrative time, boosting on-site productivity, and with project tracking a 15-20% reduction in project delays.
• Enhanced Collaboration: Centralized documentation and real-time updates improved team communication, increasing collaboration by 5-10%.
• Overall, CF has provided a 10-15% return on investment annually through increased efficiency and cost control.

Incentivized

• ROI has not been evaluated yet, but I assume it will be positive.