You're already paying for this. You're just not getting anything for it.
Your construction software doesn't talk to each other. The spreadsheets, the re-keying, the month-end scramble — that's not free. It's the most expensive line item that never appears on your P&L.
£0K
Avg. annual software spend (mid-market contractor)
£0K
Avg. hidden admin cost (never on P&L)
0+
Disconnected tools (typical £50M+ firm)
0 months
To cost-neutrality after Replace
Licence fees are the tip of the iceberg
Your software spend is the number you know. The cost of making those tools work together is the number you don't.
What shows up on your P&L
What doesn't — but costs more
Buried in salaries, overtime, and “just how things work.” Never appears as a line item.
“Most firms discover they're spending £40K–£80K a year in hidden admin costs maintaining spreadsheets between systems — on top of £60K–£200K in software licences.”
The SaaS Assessment quantifies this precisely for your firm — every tool, every hidden cost, every integration gap. It's the document you wish you'd had years ago.
And it's getting worse
Your SaaS vendors are adding AI features you didn't ask for — and raising your price to pay for them. Every new feature deepens the lock-in. Every year you wait, the switching cost grows. The cost of fragmentation isn't just the subscription — it's the data portability risk, the switching cost, and the upcoming AI-feature price increases.
Designed to pay for itself
Every stage delivers standalone value. Cancelled software subscriptions fund the next. The commercial model is engineered for cost-neutrality.
Assessment
Professional audit of your entire software ecosystem. Maps every tool, every cost, every integration gap. You keep this document regardless of what happens next.
- Full software inventory with cost analysis
- Integration map and health assessment
- Hidden cost quantification
- Prioritised roadmap with ROI case
Connect
Custom dashboard sitting on top of your existing tools. Your team keeps using what they know — they just get unified visibility across everything.
- Company-wide project dashboard
- Automated employee provisioning
- Cross-system reporting (CVR, KPIs)
- Regulatory compliance surfacing
Replace
Progressive replacement of your fragmented stack, domain by domain. You cancel software subscriptions as modules go live — the savings fund the investment.
- 7/7 UK regulatory compliance
- AI-native features throughout
- Mobile-first, offline-capable
- Software subscriptions progressively cancelled
Cost-neutrality point
12–18 months
After which, cancelled software subscriptions have fully offset the investment. Savings compound from here.
Typical annual saving
£80K–£120K
in cancelled subscriptions
Fund your transformation
UK government programmes are actively funding digital transformation in construction — including BridgeAI, where construction is a named priority sector. Innovation grants, R&D tax incentives, and match-funded programmes can materially reduce your net investment. Most firms don't know these exist. We do.
The SaaS Assessment identifies which programmes apply to your firm, estimates potential contribution, and maps application timelines — so funding is part of your investment decision from day one.
R&D tax relief — a benefit most firms miss
When your platform includes genuinely novel technical work — regulatory compliance engines, AI-native automation, or the GDPR-BSA resolution architecture — elements of that build can qualify for UK R&D tax relief under the merged RDEC scheme.
Indicative benefit
£10K–£35K
depending on build scope
Net RDEC rate
~15%
of qualifying R&D spend
The SaaS Assessment identifies which elements of your build are likely to qualify and estimates the potential benefit — so you can factor it into your investment decision. Your accountant makes the final call.
Smartzone is not a tax advisor. Eligibility depends on your specific circumstances. Figures are indicative based on the merged RDEC scheme (April 2024).
We only earn when you save
Unique in UK construction IT. Nobody else ties compensation to your actual software cost reduction.
Savings share — incentive alignment
We tie part of our fee to your actual savings.
After Replace is delivered and software subscriptions are cancelled, we track verified savings against the baseline documented in your assessment. If you don't save, we don't earn.
15–25%
of verified net savings
24–36
month agreement term
1.5×
build fee cap on total payments
Payments begin only after the first software subscription is actually cancelled. No savings, no payment. Unique in UK construction IT — nobody else structures it this way.
The economics have changed
Five years ago, custom-building a construction management platform took 18+ months and cost £500K+. Three things have shifted.
Faster, smarter delivery
Modern tools accelerate every phase — requirements, architecture, development, testing. Expert teams amplified by the latest technologies deliver enterprise-grade output at a fraction of the traditional timeline and cost.
Result: months, not years
Proven regulatory foundations
The 7 UK regulatory domains have been rigorously researched, architectured, and tested. Your platform benefits from regulatory logic that's already been validated — not built from scratch. This is how we deliver enterprise-grade compliance at mid-market pricing.
Battle-tested compliance, not prototypes
Modern infrastructure
Cloud hosting eliminates capex — no servers to buy. Per-client database isolation without per-client infrastructure cost. PWA eliminates app store dependency. Open-source UI frameworks eliminate licensing costs.
UK data residency, zero hardware
The technology has caught up with the ambition. What was previously only possible for firms with £1M+ IT budgets is now accessible to mid-market contractors — because proven foundations, modern infrastructure, and smarter delivery have fundamentally changed the economics.
A £50M contractor, 10 software tools
| Item | Annual cost |
|---|---|
| Current software licences (10 tools) | £150,000 |
| Hidden admin costs (spreadsheets, re-keying, compilation) | £65,000 |
| True annual cost of current stack | £215,000 |
| After Smartzone Replace | Annual cost |
|---|---|
| Remaining software licences (tools not replaced) | £50,000 |
| Smartzone evolution retainer | £48,000 |
| Hidden admin costs (eliminated) | £0 |
| New annual cost | £98,000 |
Net annual saving
£117,000/year
Build investment recovered within 14 months. Savings compound every year after.
Pay as you see progress
Build fees are milestone-based. Cash flow aligned with delivery — you never pay ahead of value received.
20%
Kickoff
30%
Mid-build
30%
Beta delivery
20%
Go-live
Every milestone is a review point. If we haven't delivered what was agreed, you don't pay.
The assessment gives you the precise numbers. Everything else is your decision.
30 minutes, free, no commitment. Or go straight to the full assessment — the document you wish you'd had years ago.