One group for every project: How Sandøy Byggservice uses Ziik on site

About Company

Sandøy Byggservice is a Norwegian construction company specialising in new builds, renovations and extensions. The company handles everything from groundwork to finished homes, often as a total contractor across all trades. The company has around 18 employees, including carpenters, engineers and administrative staff. At any given time, they typically have between five and eight building projects running in parallel. As part of the Mesterhus chain of companies, they also benefit from shared technical resources, marketing support and access to pre-designed housing concepts, while operating as an independent business.

Challenges before Ziik

Before adopting Ziik, Sandøy Byggservice used Telegram as their primary communication tool.

“It worked, but it wasn’t ideal,” Erlend Sandøy explains.

He points to two main concerns: “I’ve always been a bit sceptical about its  security,” he says. “And it didn’t have all the functionality we needed.”

With multiple projects running at once and teams working across different sites, communication needed to be both reliable and structured, and that was something they felt their previous setup didn’t fully support.

Requirements for a new solution

Sandøy Byggservice knew they didn’t need a complex system. What  they needed was something that would improve their everyday communication. But it didn’t have to replace the mandatory system for documentation and quality assurance for building projects they already had in place. 

In short, they were looking for a solution that:

- felt more secure

- offered better functionality

- supported communication across projects

- could be used easily by everyone in the company

Results

A shared space for each project 

The most important change has been how communication works within projects. For every new job, a dedicated group is created in Ziik, where everyone involved can communicate.

“If someone is out on site and has a question, they can take a picture, write a short message and post it in the project group,” Erlend Sandøy says.

That means fewer interruptions and clearer communication: “You don’t have to call someone and explain everything. You can just show it.”

Better overview across multiple sites 

With several projects running at the same time, having a structured way to communicate makes a difference. All conversations related to a project are gathered in one place, making it easier to keep track of decisions and follow ongoing work.

A simple way to keep everyone informed

Sandøy Byggservice also uses Ziik for company-wide communication. Every Friday, Erlend sends out a weekly update to all employees.

“I share the plan for the coming week, so everyone knows where everyone will be working. And sometimes I add a bit of information about the week that has passed,” Erlend Sandøy explains.

This gives everyone a clear overview and helps coordinate work across projects.

Works across different age groups

Sandøy Byggservice has employees ranging from their teens to their 60s. Not everyone uses the system in the same way.

“Some of the older ones still prefer to pick up the phone,” Erlend Sandøy says. “They might not always respond in the app.”

 But even so, the information gets through: “They see the messages, and we can tell, because the work gets done.”

Favourite Features

Project groups for site communication

Creating a group for each project allows teams to communicate quickly and clearly.

“You can just take a picture and post it. That makes it much easier to explain things.”

Company-wide updates 

Weekly updates give all employees a clear overview of upcoming work and recent developments.

“It’s an easy way to keep everyone informed.”

Handbooks and FAQs

Ziik is used to store employee handbooks and practical information, including rules, routines and common questions.

“It’s good to have that information easily available.”

Shortcuts to tools and services

Links to external systems like internal services or external providers are gathered in one place.

“That works really well for us,” concludes Erlend Sandøy.