Onetrace: Different Trades, Same Operational Pain Points

Onetrace started out in fire protection. The goal was straightforward: to help subcontractors focus on their trade by helping them evidence their work and stay compliant.

This heavily regulated and scrutinised industry demands precision – clear photos, timestamps, sign-offs and structured records that prove every install has been performed correctly.

But as the company grew, its customers began asking for more. Timesheets. Workforce tracking. Compliance document signing. Information that had little to do with passive fire stopping itself and everything to do with running a subcontracting business.

That was the moment of realisation. Onetrace was not solving fire protection challenges: it was addressing industry-wide workflow challenges.

Tracking workforce, capturing evidence, managing variations, handing over work, staying on programme – the craft may change, but the operational pressures remain remarkably similar.

Every trade is unique – until you zoom out

Each trade has its own craft, specialist skills, materials and workflows. Those differences matter. But step back from the detail of the work itself and a different pattern emerges.

Every subcontractor, regardless of discipline, must manage people, documentation, reporting and profitability. Everyone deals with variations, delays and pressure from main contractors to stay on programme.

The strain becomes most visible when subcontractors manage multiple projects simultaneously. Operatives rotate between sites. Deadlines overlap. The pace of work shifts daily.

Without structured workflows, it becomes difficult to know who is where, what has been completed and whether the programme remains achievable.

Shared challenges that appear everywhere

Across the construction sector, the same operational challenges surface time and again. As subcontractors grow, managers lose real-time visibility on-site.

Updates arrive late and office teams spend hours chasing information. Without structured workflows, small delays disrupt sequencing, leaving managers reacting to issues rather than preventing them. Jobs that require rework are not caught until days, maybe even weeks, later.

At the same time, the pressure to produce reliable evidence and maintain compliance has intensified. Trades are expected to provide photos, timestamps, sign-offs and structured records that protect margins and prove quality.

Missing evidence can delay payment and trigger disputes. Increasingly, main contractors demand traceability as standard. Reactive evidence creates risk; proactive evidence protects the business.

The blind spot

These are not trade-specific problems, they are business problems. Yet subcontractors frequently look for solutions designed narrowly around their trade.

Too often, they adopt rigid systems shaped around internal administrative processes rather than platforms built around real subcontractor workflows. The result is software that records activity but does not truly manage it.

Once subcontractors recognise that their challenges are shared across trades, the search changes. They begin looking for platforms designed around how subcontractors operate, not what they install.

Why workflow challenges intensify as teams grow

The tipping point typically arrives when a subcontractor expands beyond a small, tightly managed team. Processes that worked at five operatives begin to strain at 20 and often fail entirely at 50. Information becomes harder to trust. Updates arrive too late to influence decisions.

This is not a trade issue, it is a scale issue. Growth increases operational complexity and, without structured workflows, even straightforward tasks become difficult to manage.

The business of subcontracting

Subcontracting is demanding. Margins are slim, cash flow is tight. Programme pressure is constant, while variations require careful management. Quality must be proven.

Subcontractors who recognise this shift their approach. Instead of searching for trade-specific tools to solve universal operational problems, they adopt systems built around subcontractor workflows: structured evidence capture, clear reporting and real-time coordination.

For a company that began in fire protection, Onetrace’s broader insight is simple but significant: different trades may install different materials, but they face the same operational realities.

Find out more here.