Jarrell Mechanical Contracting, the second largest contractor in St. Louis, has been providing the area with HVAC and plumbing services for the past 60 years. From small commercial repairs to large industrial installations, Jarrell takes pride in its ability to satisfy multiple clients no matter how big the challenge.
The Wentzville South Middle School Project
During the summer of 2018, Jarrell was contracted on a roughly 2.5 million-dollar project to fully renovate the mechanical systems at Wentzville South Middle School in Missouri. “We had just ten weeks to completely upgrade the mechanical systems at the middle school, and it still amazes me we were able to do it,” said mechanical engineer, Amanda Boyer. “The schedule was so tight that we needed up to eight foremen on the jobsite during the most critical times. Fieldwire was crucial for each foreman to be able to see what the other was doing at any time. This helped them coordinate work on such a tight schedule and I’m not sure we could have finished the project — on time and budget — without Fieldwire.”
Staying on track with Fieldwire
Fieldwire was implemented at Jarrell just four months prior to starting this project, and it was Amanda who spearheaded the roll-out of the field management software. She said: “We needed software that could bridge the communication gap between the office and the field. We looked at Plangrid, Procore, and a few others but found they were more geared towards general contractors and too expensive. Fieldwire, on the other hand, was easy to use and suited our needs perfectly.”
Saving time where it counts: on the jobsite
After a thorough implementation process, Jarrell was up and running on Fieldwire. According to Amanda, the app was initially used for plan viewing and markups on the go. From their iPad, foremen could highlight and track mechanical work — issues and progress — on a plan for everyone to see in real-time. “This saved a significant amount of time each week, especially in the field where time is money, and I only expect that number to grow.”
Connecting dispersed teams in one place
“Being able to communicate directly about what the foremen are seeing in the field, versus the drawn-out communication process with a paper plan, definitely helps the office and the field stay on the same page,” added Amanda, who is thankful for the transparency gained with Fieldwire. When information is scattered, outdated, or hard to find, projects tend to run over schedule — a common problem that Jarrell couldn’t afford. With Fieldwire in their pockets, the contractor was able to overcome many challenges and deliver a complete mechanical renovation within a ten-week timeline.
Amanda is excited to see what else the company can achieve when it fully leverages the power of the platform. She said: “Since our implementation of Fieldwire, we have seen nothing but good things when it comes to improved coordination and communication. We are very happy with Fieldwire and look forward to utilizing it to its full potential in the future.”
