How Jobsite Cameras Enhance Communication for Five Guys

General contractors' office staff "absolutely loves it"

From groundbreaking to grand opening, communication between owner, vendor and contractor plays a pivotal role in the success of a retail construction project. John Hegarty, regional construction director at Five Guys^® uses fast-to-deploy jobsite cameras for remote monitoring to give teams real-time insights on the status of multiple projects. "I get on EarthCam everyday," Jon explains,  "Everyone in our company from the top to bottom uses it, including the GCs."

For operations with large numbers of simultaneous projects, having easy-to-install systems that can be rolled out at scale is important. "One thing that really sold me on it originally, was just that everything came in a case. You pull it out, the camera snaps right on the case it came in. The modem's internal, and it's all a self-contained unit. The simplicity and the standardization of EarthCam's system is beautiful." said Hegarty.

The level of transparency that camera technology brings can, however, create some concerns to overcome. "It was a little bit of a hard sell with the GC getting them to accept that we're providing a camera live feed to multiple people across the country but now that they're in the program they understand the benefits of it, their office staff absolutely loves it." Jon explained.

"Real-time footage is night-and-day to our 'seven-minute snaps'"

Once contractors are onboard, the benefit of jobsite camera technology becomes clear - immediate visibility into construction progress. General Contractors such as C.D. Smith Construction, who regularly work on retail projects, save 75% of their travel budget using remote monitoring, enabling them to make informed decisions remotely, quickly and efficiently. "EarthCam has been a god-send for me," said Paul Smedberg, project executive at C.D. Smith. "There isn't a day that goes past that I don't log into the camera - probably five times."

Jon Hegarty adds, "Just explaining it to people really goes a long way -  it's not that we're here to micromanage your process -we're just trying to understand what's happening so we can plan accordingly." This transparency helps ensure that projects stay on track, speeding up the construction timeline and reducing costly delays. Smedburg continues, "What does it for me - moreso than just getting word of mouth or talking to subcontractors and suppliers, is that I can actually physically see the authenticity of what's being delivered to me, The live, actual real-time footage from EarthCam is night-and-day to our 'seven minute snaps'."

"Simplicity & standardization of EarthCam's system is beautiful"

Jobsite cameras such as EarthCam serve as invaluable tools for quality control and monitoring on retail construction sites. "Another very good attribute with a live camera is - builder’s risk insurers nowadays are getting more diligent in how your site is secured, how it’s monitored, who’s recording it, and EarthCam has enabled us to save money on premiums by not having to be required to have 24/7 boots on the ground surveillance of the jobsite," stated Smedberg. Project management platforms such as Procore and Autodesk Build provide unparalleled collaborative project oversight. EarthCam is the number-one site camera partner with Procore, automating visual data uploads to Daily Logs. "The link between EarthCam and Procore is beautiful," said Hegarty. "We can create a one-stop shop and easily access the EarthCam from Procore. It has been a great tool for us as a team to centralize information and provide these resources for our general contractors." 

"I consider it my third arm of project management"

With features such as live streaming, time-lapse, and high-resolution imagery, stakeholders can closely monitor every aspect of the construction process, ensuring that standards are met and potential issues are addressed proactively. "Time-lapse is not only huge as a marketing tool, it's also for a general contractor that could end up in a dispute on a force majeure claim on weather events," said Smedberg. "In that particular moment, I can go in - grab the current time-lapse - I’ve actually used those snippets within backup for change orders or claims for winter conditions and things like that. I consider it my third arm of project management."

Additionally, EarthCam’s Edge Video Recording (EVR) presents a valuable tool for retail construction projects by offering comprehensive, high-resolution video documentation for up to one year. AI object detection let you identify, track and report on objects with ease. "It's a great tool to reference in the future," said Hegarty. "Just to see how the construction process rolled out." 

"It cut my travel budget for each job by at least 75%"

Camera technology facilitates seamless collaboration among project teams and stakeholders. With EarthCam, project managers have the ability to remotely share real-time footage, images, and progress reports, and everyone involved in the project can stay informed and aligned throughout the construction process. "I would say that realistically it has cut our travel budget for each job by at least 75%." Smedberg proclaimed.