Insights and Advice for Enabling More Efficient and Sustainable Construction

Unpacking the Value of Construction Networking

21 January, 2025
13 mins read

Construction networking blog post by RIB Software

Whether you are a builder seeking out new clients, a subcontractor looking for your next opportunity, or an engineer hoping to learn more about the latest technology trends, construction networking is a vital part of doing business. Across all industries, 80% of professionals find networking essential to their career success.

In an industry built on personal contacts and word-of-mouth advertising, networking in construction is a powerful way to build relationships that pay big dividends, but finding time for these activities can be challenging. Networking remains one of the best ways for construction professionals to grow their business opportunities. Strategic networking helps you make the right contacts, build a strong reputation, and gain access to new projects. Yet, construction networking is also something that’s often overlooked.

In this guide, we’ll cover the importance of networking and how you can network like a pro by tapping into the right events and organizations. We’ll also review the latest technology and social media tools that can make construction industry networking convenient and fun.

The Importance of Networking in the Construction Industry

The construction industry has always been grounded in relationships, common experiences, and trust built through hands-on problem-solving and face-to-face collaboration. Exchanging ideas and sharing experiences with other builders, designers, quantity surveyors, contractors, and other construction roles on the job site or at construction networking events makes building-related careers more satisfying and enriching.

Over the past two decades, the internet has brought us platforms like LinkedIn, online construction industry forums, and social media options that make it easier to connect and collaborate with construction professionals worldwide. Digital networking can never fully replace face-to-face connections. Still, it offers new ways to engage with other professionals, often from the comfort of our own offices or living rooms.

While there are many different ways to market your construction business, the strategies that consistently offer the best ROI are networking, referrals, and word of mouth. Networking is essential if you’re a subcontractor or materials supplier wanting to become a preferred source for a general contractor. Referrals and word of mouth are also the best ways for contractors to attract new clients.

Networking in the construction industry is so important because it’s human relationships that really differentiate your business. For example, concrete suppliers will likely offer their products at a similar price point to their competitors. However, an ability to coordinate the project’s needs, manage time and resources, and provide a reliable service is what sets them apart.

If you want to attract new clients, knowing the right people and establishing a great reputation will take you much farther than price reductions or paper advertising ever could. Offering an amazing service is only the first step. The second step to success is having the right contacts. And when you get networking right, you build up long-standing connections that help you get more work in the future.

How to Network in Construction: Top 10 Tips

Tips for effective construction networking
Construction Networking Tips

Networking is important for improving business success. However, not many leaders in the construction industry network as much or as well as they could.

Here are a few strategies to help anyone in the construction industry network more effectively.

1. Join the Right Events

By far, the easiest and most effective way to improve your construction industry networking is through events. Industry events help you meet like-minded professionals in your field, share knowledge, and explore new opportunities. Many events also provide educational sessions and workshops to help attendees expand their knowledge and hone their skills.

RIB Software sponsors many different construction events throughout the year and around the world. These include user seminars, prospecting events, and global thought leadership conferences. The events are held both in person and virtually.

Attending these events is a very useful way to network. We invite our users and prospects from different companies and keep them within the same sector/industry to ensure each attendee finds the perfect match to network with and learn from throughout the event.

2. Join Professional Organizations

Much like events, established construction organizations, and communities provide a hub to facilitate networking for construction professionals. These communities are established to help members and visitors exchange information and ideas while building new relationships. The groups come in many shapes and sizes, including small local clubs, international organizations, and online forums. Some of the more well-known and respected professional organizations around the world include:

  • The Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) in North America
  • The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) in the UK
  • Master Builders Australia (MBA)
  • The National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) in South Africa

3. Network at the Job Site

You can also use an active job site for strategic networking. Chances are, there will be various specialty and trade contractors and experienced construction site managers working on the same project. Simply taking the time to walk around the site and meet the other people you’re working with can make a big difference in how you grow your network.

Physical, outdoor tasks and wide-open spaces on job sites make it tempting to focus on the task at hand. However, viewing routine in-person functions like vendor meetings, happy hours, and project dinners as more than just social events can help you build a more expansive network. Even daily job site happenings like safety meetings and lunch breaks can be turned into valuable networking opportunities. 

4. Network Online

Plenty of networking happens online. There are a multitude of relevant online groups and forums that you can join to discuss construction topics and connect with the right people. Nearly every type of industry forum, club, or event held in person now has an online counterpart. Online forums also make it easier to connect with others in your specialty since the networking opportunities are no longer limited by geography.

LinkedIn is the obvious choice for online construction industry networking. The worldwide platform makes it easy to reconnect with old contacts or find new strategic connections. Online construction workshops and masterclasses utilize real-time videoconferencing to help participants interact and connect more naturally. While online networking will never fully replace in-person networking, it’s a great way to maintain relationships and broaden your circle of meaningful business associates.

5. Volunteer Events

Volunteering is a great way to use your skills and knowledge to help your community and others in your field, and it also presents many valuable construction industry networking opportunities. Volunteer projects organized to build housing for those in need or rebuild after a disaster bring out industry leaders and experts who can become valuable contacts. Volunteering to help with community workshops, training programs, and industry events also helps to build your reputation as you give back to the local community.

6. Continuing Education

Forging construction industry relationships and meeting valuable contacts are not the first things that come to mind when we think of education, either online or in-person, classes, seminars, workshops, and other educational forums can also be ideal networking opportunities. The industry experts leading these classes and like-minded students involved in interactive discussions can become useful contacts.

Courses on far-reaching topics like integrated project delivery (IPD), project financing, and sustainable construction practices are likely to attract a broad range of contractors and prospective clients. As you explore these channels, you will find that learning how to network in construction and learning new skills can become compatible goals.

7. Mentorships

Taking the time to mentor other professionals can also be a rewarding construction networking opportunity. The organizations sponsoring mentorships provide many useful contacts and resources, while the mentoring experience displays the type of goodwill that builds a positive reputation. For students and junior-level construction personnel, becoming a mentee is a great way to connect and learn from established industry veterans. Over the long term, mentors and mentees can promote one another’s skills and services as they develop new business relationships.

8. Social Media

Marketing, sales, and advertising professionals have long realized the value of social media for establishing new contacts and reaching a broader audience, but networking in construction companies has been slower to migrate away from traditional face-to-face meetings. The many available online channels make social media a networking avenue too valuable to ignore.

LinkedIn is great for job searches and reconnecting with colleagues. However, social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram can also be useful for spreading information about your company and projects and receiving positive social proof from clients and peers.

9. Develop Your Relationships

Once you’ve made a connection, you need to develop that relationship further. The best way to do this is to be helpful and assist your new contact, instead of simply focusing on the ways they can benefit you. Put them in touch with people they might need or want to work with to develop their career, and they might facilitate new connections for you in return.

It takes effort to maintain relationships of any kind, and construction industry contacts are no exception. Keeping in touch with contacts regularly, either by phone, Email, or in person, gives you an opportunity to share important industry news, or suggest joint ventures. You can also offer your advice and assistance when they are facing challenging situations or adapting to new technologies like Building Information Modeling (BIM).

10. Maintaining Positive Relationships

This may seem obvious, but burning bridges with industry contacts should always be avoided, even when conflicts or disagreements arise. You never know where your next project opportunity might come from, or how well-connected your contacts are, so it is important to remain on good terms. The bad impression you leave on one person can follow you throughout your career, since news within the construction industry tends to travel fast. One bad review or opinion can have a lasting impact on your future networking and job opportunities.

People who are frequently recognized as industry leaders, mentors, and valued contacts are those who keep their promises, listen to the concerns and opinions of others, and value long-term relationships over one-time tradeoffs.

With that in mind, always try to maintain positive relationships with everyone you work with. Chances are you’ll end up working with them again in the future.

Conclusion

Strategic networking is a big deal in construction. Get it right, and you’ll have far greater access to new job opportunities. Even if you’re offering the best service, it’s possible you may lose out on jobs to people with better-developed networks than you.

Networking is easy to do when you attend the right events, and it can make a big difference to your overall success. Join us at RIB UNITE, RIB’s annual global digital event, and meet industry professionals and experts in interesting conversations about productivity, sustainability, future construction trends, and much more. Reserve your free seat today, and don’t miss this global online event!

At RIB Software, we offer a range of solutions tailored to the needs of construction companies; our versatile tools include estimating, budgeting, resource management, and much more. If you are interested in experiencing them for yourself, get a free demo of RIB’s toolkit today!