A field-tested playbook from David Ward (Safe Site Check In) to deploy jobsite software with zero training, no user license management, and web-first technology.
Construction doesn’t resist technology—it resists deployment. In construction tech adoption, “pilot project purgatory” happens when pilots drag on and never scale because tools add another project—logins, training, approvals—on top of the build. As David Ward, CEO of Safe Site Check In, puts it: “Building is already complicated and risky enough without adding additional scope – a technology project – into the project plan.”
In an interview with product leader Mirco Bianchini, Ward explains how eliminating user management, app downloads, training, and IT approvals turns endless pilots into immediate adoption—especially when teams focus on jobsite general requirements like access control, safety acknowledgments, and compliance reporting.
Read Mirco’s full write-up: Gotta make it easy.
Why Digital Tools Struggle on Jobsites
Field teams love new sawzalls and nail guns because the benefits are physical and immediate—more boards per hour, faster installs. Construction tech often feels abstract. The value of construction tech adoption shows up in spreadsheets and dashboards, not in the concrete and steel. When digital adoption creates another project within a project to manage (downloads, user logins, training, scheduling IT services), busy superintendents and safety managers tune out.
Ward’s insight is simple: construction tech adoption failures often aren’t about “tech aversion.” They’re about deployment complexity.
Clear Requirements + Simplicity = Adoption
The fastest path out of pilot project purgatory in construction tech adoption is to solve specific, widely shared requirements in the simplest possible way. Across many types of building projects—such as education, healthcare, labs, industrial, infrastructure—the construction tech requirements most teams share include:
- Control who enters the site and when (access control)
- Replace paper sign-in with digital check-in
- Capture safety acknowledgments and briefings
- Maintain real-time workforce and subcontractor visibility
- Produce clean compliance and incident reports
- Improve emergency response readiness
If you focus on validating these requirements— and not on transforming every process at once – a simple demonstration in the field is all you need for immediate adoption.
Field-Proven Simplifications That Work
These simplifications consistently improve construction tech adoption in the field:
- No apps: Anyone with any device can scan and go—no app store, no downloads, fewer IT hurdles. Because anyone can show up on site, the technology must be instantly usable by anyone.
- No training: A QR code poster at the gate gets everyone checking in within minutes.
- No user management: Fees per site, not per user. Jobsite visitors are a mix of employees, subs, vendors, and guests that change daily; user administration kills momentum.
See how this looks in practice: Digital Visitor Management and Digital Badging and Onboarding.
Converting Pilots Into Adoption
Aim for short, successful demonstrations that validate requirements and you won’t need pilot project complexity. Ward’s guidance:
- Treat digital check-in and access control as “general requirements,” not a capital project—this reduces buying friction and per-project expensing.
- Prove immediate savings by eliminating paper collection and manual entry.
- Integrate where it counts: pipe workforce data into systems like Procore so PMs and admins aren’t retyping data.
Learn more: Procore Integration.
Who Adopts Fastest (and Why)
Companies led by the next generation (often 35–45-year-old executives) adopt fastest—they’re digitally fluent. But they’re still constrained by field realities of a disparate workforce. That means:
- Start simple, expand later. Don’t overwhelm crews with all features on day one.
- Favor consumer-grade usability over “enterprise” complexity.
- Keep the on-ramp short: QR → check-in → visibility in seconds.
Explore how SSCI supports these outcomes across all types of construction: Construction Workforce Management.
A Quick Checklist for Evaluating Jobsite Software
Use this to pressure-test any jobsite tool:
- Can subs and visitors use it without an account?
- Can we deploy with a QR poster and zero formal training?
- Is it web-based (no required app install)?
- Does it reduce admin work immediately (this week), and how do we measure that?
- Can we deploy without requesting IT services?
- Can it automatically feed workforce/manpower logs into our systems (e.g., Procore)?
If you can’t answer “yes” to most of these, expect pilot project purgatory.
How Safe Site Check In Applies This Playbook
Safe Site Check In is built for fast, frictionless construction tech adoption:
- Consumer-grade usability with QR/poster check-in—no app downloads
- No user management—pricing based on check-ins per site
- Digital acknowledgments to support safety and compliance workflows
- Real-time workforce and subcontractor visibility
- Cloud based permanent, private secure storage
- Automatic data into downstream systems like Procore
See the core capabilities:
- Digital Visitor Management
- Digital Badging and Onboarding
- Construction Workforce Management
- Procore Integration
For real-world examples of simple deployment across sectors, explore our Projects hub: Projects Using Safe Site Check In.
Source and Further Reading
Mirco Bianchini’s article based on an interview with David Ward: Gotta make it easy
Ready to cut pilot time and start measuring value? Schedule a Demo or Start a Free Trial
Our Safe Site Check In web app can Make Jobsite Management Easy™. SSCI automates check-in with safety screening, badging, onboarding and daily log creation. Our solution has been used on thousands of sites for millions of screenings in construction and other industrial worksites by thousands of employees and visitors every day. Used worldwide, built and supported in the USA.
