What Software Runs Service Calls and Construction Projects in One Place for Mechanical Contractors?#

Several do, but they start from different ends. ServiceTitan and BuildOps started from service and dispatch and added project tools; Jonas is a construction ERP with service management alongside accounting and payroll. If most of your revenue is service to homeowners, start with the service-first platforms. Appello starts from the project side for ICI trade contractors: projects with schedule-of-values billing and holdback, plus work orders with checklists, T&M lines and customer sign-off on a dispatch board that shows jobs and work orders together. If your crews are union and move between a hospital retrofit and a plant service call in the same week, choose the system where the same people, timesheets and rates feed both.

How do the main options compare?#

Every competitor fact comes from the vendor's own website, checked October 14, 2026. Links are in the sources at the end.

Software	How it describes itself	Service side	Project side	Pricing (as published)
ServiceTitan	"Run service calls and multi-phase construction projects without switching systems" (mechanical page)	Dispatch and service agreements; per-technician plans, with customizable memberships on The Works plan	"Bill by milestone" on its mechanical page	Per technician; Starter, Essentials and The Works; prices on request
BuildOps	"Connect projects, service, and financials in one AI-native platform"; "Mission Control for Commercial Contractors"	Schedule & Dispatch; service-only plans	Submittals, RFIs, change orders and job costing added for project work	By field and office users; quoted
Jonas	"One platform for job costing, work orders, payroll, and financials"	Service management and work orders	Construction ERP: job cost, WIP, US and Canadian payroll	Custom quote
Appello	Field to office for ICI trade contractors	Work orders with checklists, T&M lines, photos and customer sign-off; dispatch board	Estimates to jobs, schedule of values, progress invoices with holdback, change orders, job cost	No user limit; price scales with users, the modules you use and a standard server fee; quoted

Why is "service plus projects" harder than it sounds?#

Because the two kinds of work look different on paper and are the same underneath.

A project is months long. You bill a GC monthly against a schedule of values, with holdback (10% in Ontario), and you track cost by cost code against a budget. A service call or T&M ticket is hours or days long. You send a tech, log labour and parts, get a signature and invoice it.

But underneath, it's the same company. The journeyman who spent Monday to Wednesday on the hospital riser is on a boiler call at the school board on Thursday. He's paid from the same collective agreement, drives the same van with the same stock, and his hours go to the same payroll. If service and projects live in separate systems, the office reconciles them every week.

What has to be shared between service and project work?#

Ask any vendor to show you these in one place.

1. The people. One roster, one schedule. You should see that a tech is booked on a project crew before you drop a service call on him.
2. The timesheet and the rates. One timesheet per worker, whether the hours were on a project cost code or a work order, priced from the same agreement, with travel and overtime.
3. The equipment and stock. The lift, the van and the parts on it, charged to whichever job or work order used them.
4. The customer. The same facility manager who signs your service tickets may be the owner on next year's retrofit.
5. The money. Project invoices with holdback and T&M invoices, going to the same accounting system.

What does service work need that projects don't?#

• Dispatch. A board of technicians and days, where you drag a call onto a tech's morning.
• A work order the tech can finish on the phone. A checklist, labour and parts logged as he goes, photos, and a signature from the customer before he leaves.
• Fast billing. The invoice built from the signed work order, the same day, not at month-end.

And projects need what service-first tools often treat as an add-on: a schedule of values, progress billing with holdback, change orders that roll into the next claim, and job cost by cost code while the job runs. Our post on T&M billing covers when to use T&M on project work.

Do you need one system or two?#

One, if the same people do both kinds of work. Two systems mean two schedules, two timesheets, union rate tables kept in two places, and a weekly reconciliation.

Two can make sense if service is a separate company with separate techs, a separate customer base and separate books. Then the overlap is small and the integration matters less.

What should you test in a demo?#

• "Show me Ahmed booked on the hospital project Monday to Wednesday, then drag a service call onto his Thursday. Does the board warn me if he's already booked?"
• "He clocks in on the service call. Show me his hours priced from the agreement, on the same timesheet as Monday's project hours."
• "Show me the work order on his phone: checklist, parts, a photo and the customer's signature, with no signal in the mechanical room."
• "Turn the signed work order into an invoice."
• "Now show me the hospital project's progress claim, with holdback and an approved change order."

Where is Appello not the right fit?#

Appello is built for ICI trade contractors, often union, with about 20 to 400 field staff. It isn't built for:

• Residential HVAC and plumbing service companies that book homeowner calls and sell maintenance memberships.
• General contractors who need document control and submittals for the whole building.
• A one-person shop with no field crew.

Where does Appello fit?#

Appello was built inside an industrial mechanical contractor, for ICI trade contractors whose crews do project work and the service and T&M around it.

• One dispatch board. Technicians down the side, days or hours across the top. Drag an unscheduled job or work order onto a tech's day or hour. The board warns about approved leave and double-booking and shows each tech's booked hours. The tech sees the assignment in the mobile app.
• Work orders. Each one has a checklist (an item can require a photo, a note or a form), labour, materials from your catalogue and equipment used, logged by day. Hours from the normal timesheet show on the work order automatically. Link the customer's equipment being serviced, or put the work order under a project job when it's extra work on a site you're already on.
• On the phone. The tech works the checklist, adds parts, marks the work order complete and collects the customer's signature in person. With no signal, both are saved and sync when the phone is back in coverage. You can also email the customer a signing link or a view-only link.
• Billing. A signed work order becomes an invoice with its labour, material and equipment lines, with the work-complete document attached. Projects bill from the schedule of values, with holdback, tax and approved change orders calculated. Invoices push to QuickBooks Online.
• One timesheet. Every row carries the job or work order, the cost code and the trade level, priced from the agreement with overtime, travel, board and parking. Hours logged to the wrong place can be moved to another job or work order.

Bring next week's schedule, projects and service calls together, to a demo and we'll put it on one board.

FAQ#

Can Appello dispatch service technicians?
Yes. The dispatch board shows technicians and their days or hours, and you drag jobs and work orders onto them. Techs see their assignments in the mobile app.

Can a work order sit under a construction project?
Yes. A work order can have a parent job, so extra T&M work on a site you're already on stays with that job.

Does the customer sign the work order on the tech's phone?
Yes, in person on the phone, or through an emailed signing link. Each signature records the name, the date and, where the device allows it, the location.

Is ServiceTitan or BuildOps better for a union mechanical sub?
Ask each one to show a union timesheet: one journeyman, project hours and a service call in the same week, priced from your agreement with travel and overtime, plus a progress invoice with holdback. Appello does both from one timesheet and one schedule of values; that is the demo we'd run for you.

Do I need separate software for T&M tickets on projects?
No. Use a work order under the project job, or T&M lines on the job, and invoice it from the signed ticket.

Sources#

All accessed October 14, 2026.

• ServiceTitan, mechanical contractor software and pricing
• BuildOps, home page and pricing
• Ontario, Construction Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30, s. 22 (holdback)
• Jonas Construction Software, home page and mechanical contractors
• Appello documentation, Work Orders and Dispatch Board

Related reading#

• What Are the Best Jonas Alternatives for Mechanical and Insulation Contractors?
• T&M Billing: When to Use It and How to Document It
• Crew Scheduling Fundamentals for Multi-Site Operations
• What Are the Best Procore Alternatives for Subcontractors?
• Appello Scheduling & Dispatch and Project Management