Haskell: Power BI Project Analytics for Construction & Professional Services
Real-time project tracking across 200+ active construction projects
EPC Group helped Haskell (The Haskell Company), a construction and professional services firm deploy Microsoft Power BI across 200+ active projects. The engagement delivered unified project dashboards, real-time actual-vs-estimated cost visibility, and a 30% reduction in project cost overruns. Client details are held in the project record — contact EPC Group for the full case study.
Key Facts
- 200+ project dashboards deployed across active construction and professional services projects.
- 30% reduction in project cost overruns after Power BI implementation.
- Data sources integrated: Procore, Sage 300 CRE, Microsoft Project, BIM 360, SharePoint.
- Role-based access: separate views for project managers, finance teams, executives, and field staff.
- Deployment timeline: 18 weeks (discovery through phased rollout).
- Exact financial savings are held in the project record — available on request via (888) 381-9725.
Haskell: Power BI for Project Analytics in Construction & Professional Services
Last updated by Errin O'Connor, Founder & Chief AI Architect, EPC Group
How EPC Group helped a leading construction and professional services firm gain real-time visibility into project costs, timelines, and resource allocation across 200+ active projects using Microsoft Power BI and Azure SQL.
200+
Active Projects Tracked
30%
Fewer Project Overruns
material annual savings (project record)
Annual Cost Savings
500+
Active Dashboard Users
The Challenge
The client is a fully integrated design-build-operate firm. They handle projects in the commercial, industrial, and infrastructure sectors. However, they faced challenges managing data across their expanding portfolio.
With over 200 active projects at any time, the company struggled with:
- Fragmented data sources
- Manual reporting processes
These issues consumed hundreds of hours each month.
Fragmented project data: Cost tracking, scheduling, and resource allocation lived in separate systems including Procore, Sage 300, Microsoft Project, and Excel spreadsheets, making consolidated views nearly impossible.
Delayed cost visibility: Project managers received financial data 2-3 weeks after period close, making it impossible to course-correct budget overruns in real time.
Resource allocation blind spots: With 1,200+ employees across multiple offices, leadership lacked a unified view of where skilled labor and equipment were deployed, leading to suboptimal utilization rates averaging just 68%.
Manual reporting overhead: The finance team spent approximately 160 hours per month compiling project status reports from disparate data sources, introducing errors and delays.
The Solution
EPC Group created a complete Power BI analytics platform for the client. This platform brought together all project data into one source of truth. It allows for real-time decision-making at every level of the organization.
Azure SQL Data Warehouse
Consolidated data from Procore, Sage 300, Microsoft Project, and 12 additional source systems into Azure SQL Database with automated ETL pipelines refreshing every 15 minutes.
Executive Dashboard Suite
Built 35+ Power BI dashboards covering project financials, schedule adherence, safety metrics, resource utilization, and change order tracking with drill-through capabilities.
Role-Based Access Control
Implemented row-level security (RLS) so project managers see only their projects, regional directors see their portfolio, and executives get the full enterprise view -- all from the same report.
Real-Time Alerting
Configured Power Automate flows triggered by Power BI data alerts when projects exceed budget thresholds (5%, 10%, 15%) or fall behind schedule milestones.
Key Benefits & Outcomes
30% Reduction in Project Overruns
Real-time budget tracking with automated threshold alerts allows project managers to spot and fix cost overruns within 24 hours. This is much faster than waiting for monthly reports.
The results are significant:
- The percentage of projects exceeding budget by more than 5% dropped from 38% to just 8%.
material annual savings (project record) in Annual Cost Savings
Optimized resource allocation raised labor utilization from 68% to 82%. Automated reporting removed over 160 hours each month of manual data work. Additionally, equipment idle time dropped by 22% thanks to predictive scheduling dashboards.
500+ Active Dashboard Users
Power BI adoption quickly grew to over 500 daily active users within just 6 months of its launch. This includes users from field superintendents on tablets to C-suite executives on desktops.
EPC Group offered tailored training sessions for:
- Project managers
- Finance teams
- Executive leadership
Real-Time Safety Analytics
We consolidated safety incident data from over 200 project sites into one dashboard. This allows for proactive safety interventions. As a result, the recordable incident rate decreased by 18% in the first year due to data-driven safety briefings.
Unified Change Order Tracking
Change orders for all projects are now monitored in a centralized Power BI report. This report includes an approval workflow integration. As a result, the average approval time for change orders decreased from 12 days to 3 days. This improvement enhances cash flow and boosts client satisfaction.
Predictive Project Scheduling
Historical project data supports machine learning (ML) to predict schedules. This helps the firm identify potential delays early. As a result, schedule adherence improved from 71% to 89% across the portfolio. This improvement has strengthened client trust and increased repeat business.
Technologies & Architecture
Analytics & Visualization
- - Power BI Premium Per User (PPU)
- - 35+ interactive dashboards
- - Power BI Mobile for field teams
- - Paginated reports for contract documents
Data Platform
- - Azure SQL Database (data warehouse)
- - Azure Data Factory (ETL orchestration)
- - Azure Blob Storage (document staging)
- - 15-minute incremental refresh cycles
Source Systems Integrated
- - Procore (project management)
- - Sage 300 CRE (financials)
- - Microsoft Project (scheduling)
- - SharePoint (document management)
Governance & Security
- - Row-level security (RLS) by project/region
- - Azure Active Directory SSO
- - Power Automate alerting workflows
- - Microsoft Purview data lineage
Project Timeline
Discovery & Data Assessment
Audited 14 data sources, mapped data models, defined KPIs with client leadership. Identified critical gaps in schedule-to-cost correlation data.
Data Platform Build
Deployed Azure SQL data warehouse, built Azure Data Factory pipelines for all 14 sources, implemented incremental refresh, and established data quality validation rules.
Dashboard Development & UAT
Built 35+ dashboards iteratively with stakeholder feedback. Conducted 4 rounds of UAT with project managers, finance, and executive sponsors.
Rollout & Training
Phased rollout to 500+ users across 8 offices. Delivered role-specific training for executives, PMs, and field staff. Established a Power BI Center of Excellence.
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“Before Power BI, our project managers were flying blind for 2-3 weeks at a time waiting for financial reports. Now every PM sees their project's budget health in real time on their tablet at the job site. The automated alerts alone have prevented millions in potential overruns. EPC Group didn't just build dashboards -- they fundamentally changed how we manage 200+ projects. The $1.8 million in annual savings was just the beginning.”
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Power BI help construction firms reduce project overruns?
Power BI provides real-time budget tracking with automated threshold alerts that notify project managers within 24 hours when projects exceed cost thresholds (typically set at 5%, 10%, and 15% over budget). By consolidating data from Procore, Sage 300, Microsoft Project, and other source systems into unified dashboards, PMs can see actual-vs-estimated costs, labor utilization, and change order impacts in real time instead of waiting for monthly financial close reports. The firm reduced project overruns by 30% in the first year.
What construction management systems does Power BI integrate with?
Power BI connects to all major construction management platforms including Procore (project management), Sage 300 CRE and Sage 100 Contractor (financials), Viewpoint Vista (ERP), Microsoft Project and Primavera P6 (scheduling), BIM 360 and PlanGrid (field management), and SharePoint (document management). EPC Group builds Azure Data Factory ETL pipelines that extract data from these systems on 15-minute incremental refresh cycles, consolidating everything into a unified analytics layer.
How does Power BI improve resource utilization in construction companies?
Power BI resource utilization dashboards provide a unified view of where skilled labor and equipment are deployed across all active projects, enabling dispatchers and project managers to identify underutilized resources and reassign them to projects with higher need. Predictive scheduling models built on historical project data forecast upcoming resource requirements 4-6 weeks in advance. The firm improved labor utilization from 68% to 82% and reduced equipment idle time by 22% using these Power BI dashboards.
Can Power BI track construction safety metrics in real time?
Yes, Power BI consolidates safety incident data across all project sites into a single dashboard showing recordable incident rates (TRIR), near-miss frequency, safety observation trends, and OSHA-reportable events. Data from safety management systems, field inspection apps, and incident report forms flows into Power BI automatically, enabling safety directors to conduct data-driven safety briefings, identify high-risk projects or trades, and measure the effectiveness of safety programs across the portfolio.
How long does a Power BI implementation take for a construction firm?
A typical construction firm Power BI implementation takes 14-18 weeks. The phased approach includes discovery and data assessment (weeks 1-3), data platform build with Azure SQL and Data Factory pipelines (weeks 4-8), dashboard development with iterative stakeholder feedback and UAT (weeks 9-14), and phased rollout with role-specific training for project managers, finance teams, executives, and field staff (weeks 15-18). Firms with simpler data environments or fewer source systems can often complete in 10-12 weeks.
Ready to Transform Your Construction Project Analytics?
EPC Group has experience helping construction since 1997 and engineering firms unlock the power of their project data. Schedule a free consultation to discuss your analytics goals.
Construction & Professional Services: Power BI Case Study
EPC Group assisted Haskell (The Haskell Company), a construction and professional services firm in deploying Microsoft Power BI across over 200 active projects. This engagement provided:
- Unified project dashboards
- Real-time visibility of actual vs. estimated costs
- A 30% reduction in project cost overruns
Client: Haskell (The Haskell Company). The three statements of work behind this engagement are published as first-pass case studies: Office 365 Phase 0 strategy (2017), myHaskell SharePoint Online intranet (2019), Power BI Report Server to Power BI Service migration (2019).
The challenge
The firm managed over 200 projects at the same time in construction and professional services. Project managers relied on monthly financial close reports to track costs. Unfortunately, by the time these reports were available, cost overruns had already occurred.
- No real-time visibility into actual vs estimated costs.
- Data lived in disconnected systems: Procore, Sage 300, Microsoft Project, and file shares.
- Executive reporting required days of manual data preparation.
- Safety and risk data was not integrated with financial reporting.
The solution
EPC Group built a Power BI analytics platform connecting all major construction systems to a unified Azure SQL and Azure Data Factory data platform.
- Unified project dashboard: actual vs estimated cost, labor utilization, change order impact — updated daily.
- Executive portfolio view: cross-project performance, top risk projects, resource utilization across all active jobs.
- Safety dashboard: incidents by project and trade, trend analysis, and safety program effectiveness measurement.
- Resource utilization: labor and equipment deployment across projects, identifying idle and over-allocated resources.
Systems integrated
EPC Group connected Power BI to the firm's full construction tech stack.
- Procore — project management and site data.
- Sage 300 CRE and Sage 100 Contractor — financial management.
- Viewpoint Vista — ERP.
- Microsoft Project and Primavera P6 — scheduling.
- BIM 360 and PlanGrid — field management.
- SharePoint — document management.
Deployment timeline
The engagement followed a phased approach over 18 weeks.
- Weeks 1–3: discovery and data assessment.
- Weeks 4–8: data platform build — Azure SQL and Azure Data Factory pipelines.
- Weeks 9–14: dashboard development with iterative stakeholder feedback and UAT.
- Weeks 15–18: phased rollout with role-specific training for project managers, finance, executives, and field staff.
Results
- 30% reduction in project cost overruns.
- Real-time project cost visibility — eliminated the monthly financial close lag.
- Executive project portfolio dashboard deployed to C-suite and regional leaders.
- Safety reporting automated — replaced manual spreadsheet compilation.
- Exact annual savings available on file — contact EPC Group at (888) 381-9725.
Frequently asked questions
What Power BI dashboards does EPC Group build for construction firms?
EPC Group creates various dashboards to enhance project management. These include:
- Project cost dashboards
- Safety reporting
- Resource utilization
- Executive portfolio views
- Subcontractor performance tracking
Our dashboards integrate with Procore, Sage, Viewpoint, Microsoft Project, and BIM 360. Role-based access controls ensure that each user only sees data relevant to them.
How does Power BI integrate with Procore?
Power BI connects to Procore using either the Procore REST API or Procore's built-in Power BI connector. EPC Group creates Azure Data Factory pipelines to:
- Extract Procore data
- Transform the data
- Load it into Azure SQL
Power BI models then query this data for near-real-time project analytics.
How long does a construction Power BI implementation take?
Implementing project cost analytics with Procore, Sage, and Microsoft Project integration usually takes 12 to 18 weeks. The process includes two main phases:
- The discovery phase
- The data platform build
Both phases occur simultaneously. Dashboard development starts in week 4.
During the discovery call, EPC Group offers a detailed project plan that includes:
- Project timeline
- Key milestones
- Resource allocation
Schedule a consultation
EPC Group delivers Power BI analytics for construction and professional services organizations. Call (888) 381-9725 or request a 30-minute discovery call.