Staying on top of construction resource management is an absolute must. With today’s increasingly complex projects and tighter-than-ever timelines you simply can’t afford to misallocate the resources you have at your disposal.
There’s also the issue of labor shortages in construction. Research by the Associated General Contractors of America and Autodesk revealed that 80% of contractors are having difficulties finding qualified workers. As the industry continues to grapple with workforce challenges, you need to be smart about how you handle and assign labor resources.
This article will cover all that and more.
We’ll dive into the ins and outs of construction resource management, plus discuss best practices and tools that can help you ensure that all your resources are allocated effectively and are put to good use.
Let’s get started.
What we cover:
Construction resource management is the practice of planning and managing the use of construction resources, to ensure that projects are delivered on time and within budget.
Typically done by construction managers or project managers, construction resource management involves many tasks, including the following.
The goal of construction resource management is to maximize the utilization of resources and reduce waste, ultimately meeting the project’s objectives in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible.
Construction resources come in many forms. Some of the most common resources include:
Workforce planning — which is a key component of construction resource management — involves monitoring and allocating team members across projects.
Effective workforce planning entails monitoring schedules, team bandwidth, and jobsite capacities. Managers need to balance all these components to ensure that each project is well-staffed and that team members aren't over- or under-allocated. It also involves reviewing the company's workforce resources and forecasting workforce needs, so the firm can recruit accordingly.
Workforce planning is critical, particularly amidst issues like labor shortages. When you have limited workforce available, it’s even more important to keep a tight handle on your workforce.
Now that you know the fundamentals of construction resource management, let’s discuss the benefits that you’ll gain from the practice.
When you don’t have a handle on how much resources you need for your projects, you may end up allocating either too much or little to certain activities. This leads to double-work, wasted time, and delays — all of which add more costs to the project. For instance, the mismanagement of equipment or materials can result in excess spend that can be better used elsewhere.
Proper construction resource management can prevent such issues from happening. When you’re closely tracking the use of resources and reallocating them based on the project’s needs, you can ensure that time and money are always well-spent.
By implementing construction resource management, you can see to it that team members are assigned to the right place and they have what they need (i.e., equipment, materials, and supplies) to do their jobs well.
As such, teams are able to be more productive. There’s less downtime or waiting around, plus they can do their best work because they have the necessary resources at the right time.
Construction resource management gives you better visibility into your resources. The practice involves closely monitoring resource utilization, so you always know what you have at any given time.
This, in turn, helps you make well-informed decisions on how to use and allocate construction resources.
It’s not uncommon for projects to run into sudden changes. If you’re not prepared, you may end up with inadequate resources to cover unexpected needs.
You can avoid these situations by implementing proper construction resource management. When you constantly stay on top of how your budget, workforce, equipment, and materials are used, it’s much easier to re-evaluate and reallocate resources to cope with unforeseen project changes.
One of the first steps to effective construction resource management is mapping out a plan for how resources will be allocated and used. While the specifics of this process will vary depending on your teams and projects, here are the steps to create your construction resource management plan.
Iron out all the necessary details involved in the project. Itemize the tasks and activities that need to be completed and specify the deadlines for each milestone.
Use the information from the previous step to figure out the right resource allocations for the project. At this stage, you’ll need to calculate the amount of resources required, assign them to the appropriate activities and project phases, and indicate when you’ll need them.
One thing you could do at this stage is to tap into your experience as well industry standards and previous project data to figure out the best allocations.
The next step is to get approval for the resources that you're planning to use. Coordinate with the necessary parties and decision makers and ensure that you have the authorization to use the resources at the appropriate time. Be sure to complete this step before the project kicks off.
Your construction resource plan shouldn’t be set in stone. Keep an eye on it, even when the project is underway and don’t be afraid to pivot or launch a plan B if unforeseen issues arise.
Construction resource management shouldn’t be done manually. Equip yourself and your team with construction technologies that streamline the process of planning and allocating resources.
Consider the following.
Forma Build (formerly named Autodesk Build) offers robust capabilities for all your project management needs. Track project progress, accelerate commissioning, and improve turnover with robust asset tracking capabilities.
Rhumbix is a cloud-based field reporting platform designed to simplify timekeeping, T&M, production tracking, and field reporting for construction teams. Built for frontline leaders, it enables crews to capture accurate field data in real time, which flows directly into back-office systems for payroll, cost management, and analytics.
Construction and infrastructure projects lose 13–20% of their budget to data errors, compliance failures, and undetected mismatches. Bimmatch reduces this loss with a real-time AI compliance engine that automatically links digital twins to technical specifications, regulatory codes, and inspection records - flagging every violation, mismatch, and risk directly in the 3D model, Bill of Materials, and project schedule before construction begins.
Bridgit is the leading AI workforce planning solution for construction pros. An excellent tool for assembling teams and forecasting labor, Bridgit makes it easy to optimize staffing decisions. Bridgit AI delivers a conversational planning assistant and detailed reports covering workforce utilization, project pipelines, and the metrics that matter most to your business.
ConstructivIQ focuses on connecting material procurement and supply chain workflows with construction schedules. For projects with complex procurement requirements and dependencies across workflows, this alignment helps prevent material delays that could disrupt the schedule.
Eptura is an intelligent worktech platform that connects people, places, and assets to help organizations manage facilities and operations at scale. With centralized visibility into assets, maintenance, and work orders, Eptura enables teams to streamline facility management, automate preventive and reactive maintenance, and maintain regulatory compliance. By integrating BIM data and advanced analytics into a single system, Eptura helps organizations improve operational efficiency and optimize asset performance.
Matrak is a construction supply chain orchestration platform that connects and coordinates every stage of project delivery, from AI-powered takeoff and estimation to procurement, manufacturing, logistics, and installation. By bringing all stakeholders into a single, real-time system, Matrak creates a clear source of truth across the supply chain, helping teams track materials, manage quality, and align deliveries to project schedules.
ONE-KEY™ by Milwaukee Tool is a jobsite management app that connects teams, tools, and equipment through a centralized digital platform. With built-in Bluetooth tracking and smart tool integration, ONE-KEY provides real-time visibility into inventory, usage, and performance across jobsites.
ORIS is a materials intelligence and sustainability platform designed for infrastructure teams to measure, compare, and reduce carbon, cost, and resource use across projects. Integrated directly into tools like AutoCAD, Civil 3D, and Revit, ORIS enables real-time lifecycle assessments and connects design data with material and supplier insights. This helps civil engineers make faster, more informed decisions, optimize designs early, and deliver more sustainable infrastructure with greater efficiency and confidence.
Outbuild is an AI-enabled, collaborative scheduling platform. It provides tools for creating and managing master schedules while enabling field teams to participate in planning workflows. Further, Outbuild's Pro Tier includes an Executive level dashboard that gives leaders real-time visibility into every active project and an AI-assistant that can answer many valuable questions related to schedule-risk without having to dig through multiple reports.
Qflow is a construction app and data platform that gives teams real-time visibility into materials, waste, and carbon directly from the jobsite. By capturing and digitizing delivery and waste data as it happens, Qflow creates a reliable record of what’s arriving and removed, and who’s responsible for it. This helps reduce errors, rework, and compliance risks while providing a clear, verified source of truth for project teams.
Raken is a leading field-first construction management platform designed to simplify and streamline critical jobsite workflows. With an intuitive mobile app, Raken makes it easy to manage daily reports, time and production tracking, scheduling, safety, RFIs, Submittals, and more. Trusted by over 85,000 users, Raken helps contractors save time, cut costs, reduce risk, and keep every project moving forward while seamlessly connecting with tools like Forma Build.
Tangible is an AI-powered construction platform that transforms static project documents into structured, actionable materials data. By extracting information from Revit models, drawings, and specifications, Tangible automates quantity takeoffs, aligns materials with design intent, and links every insight back to its source. This gives teams a reliable, transparent view of their data so they can answer critical project questions faster and reduce manual effort.
UpKeep is a CMMS and asset operations management platform that helps maintenance and reliability teams manage equipment, work orders, and operational data, using built-in AI tools customized to each company's needs. By integrating with Autodesk solutions, UpKeep connects design and construction data with maintenance workflows, automatically syncing issues, asset updates, and documents across systems.
You can’t complete projects without the right workers, equipment, and facilities, which is why it’s critical to plan and allocate your resources effectively. So, take the time to understand each project’s needs then figure out the right resource allocation. To make things easier, use technology to automate various tasks and generate the necessary reports.
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