{"id":123173,"date":"2015-05-05T14:51:21","date_gmt":"2015-05-05T18:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/?p=123173"},"modified":"2018-06-26T17:54:28","modified_gmt":"2018-06-26T21:54:28","slug":"bridgit-app-construction-deficiencies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/bridgit-app-construction-deficiencies","title":{"rendered":"Bridgit mobile app improves efficiency at construction sites by recording deficiencies"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Mallorie_Lauren_Bridgit\"<\/a>(L-R): Mallorie Brodie, Lauren Hasegawa<\/em><\/p>\n

Young, female tech startup founders who are bringing change to the construction industry —\u00a0Mallorie Brodie and Lauren Hasegawa haven\u2019t just cracked the glass ceiling, they\u2019re about to shatter it.<\/p>\n

The Western University grads were an unlikely duo — Brodie holds a certificate in Entrepreneurship from the Richard Ivey School of Business, while Hasegawa has a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering. But in 2012, the two launched a mobile application through The Next 36, a program that offers young entrepreneurs education, funding and mentoring. The app was called Bridgit, and it addressed the need for tracking construction site deficiencies in real-time.<\/p>\n

Bridgit<\/a> stuck as a business name, while the app became known as Closeout. Site managers and subcontractors\u00a0use the cloud-based technology to take a picture of a deficiency and add an assignee.\u00a0The user can also write a description, identify the location and assign a due date. Subcontractors\u00a0receive the notifications via email and once the work is completed, they can mark it as such on the application and send a photo back to the site manager.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s incredibly efficient and easy to use — which is why the industry has taken notice. BuzzBuzzHome News chatted with co-founders Mallorie Brodie and Lauren Hasegawa to learn more about Closeout and its effect on the construction industry.<\/p>\n

\"bridgit<\/a>BuzzBuzzHome: How did you first come up with the idea behind Closeout? Why the construction industry?<\/b><\/p>\n

Mallorie Brodie:<\/b> Lauren [Hasegawa] studied Civil Engineering and through her experience working on-site in construction, she noticed the lack of technology available to be used on-site. From there, we knew we wanted to tackle a problem related to improving communication and efficiency in construction. In order to find the right focus, we spent countless hours on-site and interviewed over 500 people in the industry — project managers, site supervisors, architects, engineers, etc. From all of that research, it became clear that there was a need for a deficiency tracking tool that would improve communication on-site, increase accountability and speed up construction in general. That tool is Closeout.<\/p>\n

BBH: What role or roles does each of you play within the company?<\/b><\/p>\n

Lauren Hasegawa:<\/b> Mallorie focuses mainly on the product — gathering feedback from users and working with the development team to plan updates and new features. I work mostly in sales and helping to recruit the best and brightest new Bridgit team members.<\/p>\n

BBH: What makes Closeout a smarter alternative to more traditional ways of tracking deficiencies on construction sites?<\/b><\/p>\n

MB:<\/b> Typically, the deficiencies on-site are tracked manually through a mix of handwritten notes, spreadsheets, and emails. Using Closeout, all deficiencies can be recorded and tracked through a cloud-based mobile and web system. This way of recording and communicating deficiencies means subcontractors can be notified faster, issues are more clearly described and accountability in general is a lot higher. As one of our users, Daniela from Minto describes it: \u201cFunny enough, if a day goes by where I haven\u2019t assigned a task to a trade, they are asking me where it is which keeps me on my toes. That kind of trade accountability is priceless!\u201d She\u2019s currently working on the Minto 88 condo project at Sheppard and Yonge.<\/p>\n

\"Bridgit42\"<\/a>Photo: Kevin Smith,\u00a0Site Superintendent at Minto 88 with\u00a0Daniela\u00a0Fiore-Goncalves, Assistant Site Superintendent\u00a0<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

BBH: What are Closeout\u2019s strongest features?<\/b><\/p>\n

LH:<\/b> Closeout\u2019s simplicity is by far the strongest feature. The software only \u00a0takes a few minutes to learn, which means that large teams can get started quickly. The way we\u2019ve integrated subcontractors is also incredibly simple. In order for the system to work the subcontractors do not need to have the app — they are integrated through email notifications which mean no change in workstyle on their part. We\u2019ve been able to hide all of the complicated stuff (user permissions, automated emails, etc.) behind the scenes so the user only sees what\u2019s relevant to them.<\/p>\n