New Tech Integration Targets Jobsite Labor Inefficiencies

Adobe Stock / Sergey Nivens

Lumber, a construction workforce management platform, recently acquired BuilderFax, a digital credential management solution designed to streamline how worker certifications are stored, shared, and verified. By integrating BuilderFax’s credential wallet with Lumber’s AI-powered workforce tools, the partnership aims to tackle some of the industry’s most pressing labor challenges while helping skilled workers advance their careers.

The integrated platform enables construction firms to instantly verify worker qualifications, reducing costly labor inefficiencies and minimizing project delays. At the same time, workers gain free access to secure digital tools for managing their certifications, ensuring credentials are up to date, accessible, and easily shareable.

Additional benefits include enhanced transparency around on-site experience and skills; streamlined hiring and compliance processes; integration of credential data with time tracking, scheduling, and payroll systems; and support for workers to help build resumes, access personalized career guidance, and explore training pathways based on their credentials and job history.

Lumber CEO and co-founder Shreesha Ramdas says the acquisition comes at a “critical moment” for the construction industry, with labor shortages threatening growth. Ramdas spoke with BUILDER to share more about the Lumber-BuilderFax integration and share the origins of Lumber.

What does Lumber hope to achieve through its digital solutions?

When we started Lumber, we were building a software platform for construction firms to optimize workforce management workflows. But our vision was always to bring value to the workers. From the start, it was clear that the biggest barrier to technology adoption was change management. To move workers to use a software tool that will improve their life has always been a big hurdle. In my mind, it was clear that unless you overcome that challenge, the construction industry will always be lagging other industries in terms of technology adoption and transformation. We were building the platform for the construction firms, but we always thought about the workers and how they would use the tool.

What are the benefits of the merged Lumber-BuilderFax operation?

When the opportunity to acquire BuilderFax came about, founder Kirk Samuelson talked about his vision of enhancing the life of a worker. [You do that] by ensuring you are tracking all their certifications, trainings, and qualifications. I recognized how mission-critical BuilderFax was and how this will add to the mission that Lumber is on: Overcoming barriers and getting workers to use [digital] tools. That’s where I thought the shared vision would bring a lot of value to the firms.

Any worker or any student who aspires to work in the construction industry can use the free BuilderFax app, upload all of their training certificates and get notified when their certifications are expiring. Down the road, we want to bring in mental wellness and financial guidance in the app so that workers can get better guidance to improve both their life as well as their construction experience.

How can Lumber and BuilderFax help solve challenges related to worker shortages and inefficiencies?

I can present you with a use-case scenario that we have encountered. One scenario is where a company asked a construction firm to send 10 workers to a worksite. The workers showed up on the site and were asked to provide their credentials that would allow them to do their work. Usually, that’s a paper that the workers carry to the jobsite. In this case, three of the workers did not have proof that they can actually work on the jobsite and they were sent back. It’s a lose-lose for all stakeholders. The contracting company was not able to do they work they thought they would be able to accomplish and the workers were not able to perform the work, setting the project behind.

This is a scenario that gets prevented when the worker is using the BuilderFax app. The worker has the credentials in the BuilderFax app and they show up on the jobsite and do not have to worry about the paper. On the construction firm side, the BuilderFax app is linked to Lumber, so the credentials are visually verified and up to date. The firm sending the workers knows the credentials are up to date and they can track the workers when they are onsite.

What are the origins of Lumber and what gaps did you identify that the company’s solutions could fill?

When we started Lumber, we were thinking about solving the payment problem that exists between general contractors and subcontractors. But as we started talking to construction firms, what we continue to hear about was the shortage of workers.

If you look across the construction industry, there is a lot of software tackling the project problem but very few software tools and platforms are there to solve worker problems. That was how we got started. In order to deploy solutions for the workers, we figured we had to solve the construction firm problems. That is how we got started with time tracking applications. Then we built payroll solutions; we built an applicant tracking system so firms could hire workers; we built an onboarding platform to help get workers to spend more time in the field. Lumber is solving the problems of the construction firms. It is helping them optimize workflows with respect to the workers. BuilderFax is all about how we improve the worker’s life and make them more productive.

What are some differentiators for Lumber compared to other digital tools?

When we started building the time tracking application, we built [a solution] that brings in gamification. If the worker has been on time for X days, they unlock a level. If they are safe for X days, they unlock another level. We made time tracking applications fun for the workers—as they enter their data, they unlock new levels and earn badges. These badges can be shared and they can feel proud of what they have accomplished in the field.

It’s really important to bring in the gamification aspect to the forefront so that workers have fun while using technology. Without that, I don’t think workers will adopt technology and input the right, accurate data. Especially in the context of the new, younger workers coming to the field. They have been used to the world of Instagram and Snapchat. If they have to interact with old, outdated tools they will question why they should be using the tools. It’s very important to stay relevant for the workers and that’s why the gamification that we have built across the platform is so important.