Amazing Bid Software

Our company already has a large database of subcontractors, but PlanHub has brought us even more subcontractors to ensure that we are getting as much coverage as possible. The customer support is very helpful and very quick to respond if we may ever have any questions or issues.

Pros

You can see what subcontractors have viewed the drawings, what subcontractors have downloaded the drawings and what pages they have downloaded. PlanHub provides a platform for subcontractors to message GC's directly if they have any questions. Subcontractors can upload their bid directly to PlanHub.

Cons

Instead of having to open up a company's profile to see their contact information, their phone number/email should be listed when sorting through what subcontractors have viewed/downloaded the plans.

Bid awareness

We are able to reach so many more subcontractors that are interested and actively participating in our projects. This has improved our ability to be extremely competitive while enabling us to forge new and lasting relationships with subcontractors.

Pros

The ease of selecting the trades and scope of work required for the project type selected. The enormous amount of subs that can be reached or that can see a posted project. The formal bid invite that is sent via Plan Hub is professional too.

Cons

Editing a project is still somewhat frustrating and in some areas there aren't enough options to choose from. There is no place for photos in the plans area.

PlahHub for General Contractors

We have used Planhub for over a year now and have found that we are reaching many subs that we may not have reached otherwise in the bidding phase of our projects. It is easy to use and doesn't take much time to build a new project.

Pros

The GC side of this product is free. It's reach has found us many bidders that we were not previously reaching. It is easy to use when building out new projects.

Cons

The "messaging" is difficult to use. Questions and answers do not stay together as a conversation. Also, the folders do not allow us to keep our files together in an organized way (like sub-folders). Also, subcontractors do not have access to my email address and frequently call the office to see where to send bids to. Also, it would be nice if it were possible to "copy" the trades/scopes needed from a previously built project when we have multiple projects that are basically the same but in different locations.

PLAN HUB GREAT FOR GENERAL CONTRACTORS AND SUBCONTRACTORS

At the start it was helpful, As I continue to use it project after project I find the same bidders now know who I am as a serious player in the construction market bid to me directly. Many times I have an empty division where no one sent in a bid and Plan Hub Magicly sends me what I need with out having to call around for it.

Pros

Aa an estimator, Plan Hub gives me access to added subs i would normally have access to. My database of subcontractors has improved 10 fold

Cons

I Have no negative opinion. I did a trial comparing Plan Hub And Blue Books New Service and Plan Hub Delivers 50% More responses IE: (BIDS) On Average I get 45 good qualified bids in addition to the bids I get from my database of existing subcontractors.

User Review

Overall, for the price you might as well have Planhub. It is an additional tool to use that is extremely affordable no strings attached. We are happy with our software.

Pros

The software integrates well with how our sales and development team already function. It is similar to over lead generation and organizational tools we use so there was almost no learning curve.

Cons

Sometimes when we click on an invitation to bid on an email it doesn't transfer us directly to the project info on planhub.com instead it will take us to our main login page and we will need to find it through there.

Tile Contractror

Overall, we like the information the product provides and look forward to seeing how the product grows over the coming months and years.

Pros

The software not only provides bid invites, but shows if there are multiple contractors bidding the projects, and also provides updates as to the status of the project. If its still bidding or has been awarded. They also provide a breakdown of what subcontractors are needed for each project. Like we mainly do stone and tile work so spending time downloading and looking threw drawings on a project to s see its only VCT or LVT flooring is time spent, that we don't anymore since Planhub provides us with the information upfront.

Cons

The product is still new so there is a bigger coverage of jobs by the other companies but that is improving each week as more and more companies begin to post on this site.

Information access

Very helpful when you find the job listed, that you are working on. Sometimes, there are GC's bidding that you did not have on your list, you find them on Planhub.

Pros

Usually list all the GC's bidding on a project, as well as the plan documents.

Cons

You can not type in a job name and perform a search for a particular job. You have to go through the list page by page to find the job you are looking for.

Planhub Review

I save time. In my industry time is a huge factor. I can create a new project in your system in less than 5 minutes. If ever I have a question or issue I call the customer service rep and she walks me through. I appreciate the amount of subs that use it and sends me quotes through the site.

Pros

The easy steps of inputting a job How quickly I can find subs How my representative is always available to help if/when I need her

Cons

Only one thing I wish you could provide that is a report of subcontractors for my area with email addresses

Easy-to-use-interface

Overall, I find it easier to use than the competitor, Blue Book. It's more responsive, clean, and less clunky. The simplicity in the design is definitely a winning feature.

Pros

The greatest thing about this software is the ease of use. Any person is able to easily figure out the basic workings of plan hub within a day or so of playing around with it.

Cons

The main con is that when a separate email is sent to us with the message content from plan hub, sometimes it can be very difficult, and in a few instances impossible to figure out which project the message is coming from. The email contains a link, but for an unknown reason, at times when I click the link plan hub does not take me directly to the message thread, but only directs me to the dashboard of projects. For someone like us, who review upwards of 20 projects a day, it becomes impossible to go back to every project and message to try to link it to the correct one. Messaging definitely needs improvement!

Great venue to advertise a project.

Pros

Great way to advertise a project. Has the ability to reach all Divisions if needed.

Cons

1. Not able to download report for future projects or to notify specific trades of revised plans or issues, nor copy to excel spreadsheet for maintaining for project bidding purposes on who has been notified (this needs to be searchable and able to sort by division) 2. Need to be able to notify specific Divisions of any push dates or bids still needed, etc., instead of sending out to everyone. 3. Bid Documents need a better system for uploading and labeling.(need to be more specific) ability to have some labeled "photos", "Required Paperwork", "Revised Plans", instead of all being lumped together in one section. 4.Need to be able to mark ALL plans specifically- Rev. 1, Rev 2, new updated plans, etc. and not have to click EACH file. 5. Even though it lists email within project, I do not always receive bids submitted straight thru Plan Hub. Bids should also be sent directly to email and most subs end up calling to get the email- stating it was not listed on their end.

GREAT RESOURCE

We benefit a lot by making sure we are sending our proposals to all of the GC's that are bidding the specific job. We get direct ITB's from most of our customers, but it's always valuable to see "who else" is bidding the job so that we maximize our opportunity of winning the project.

Pros

I get to search for specific commercial jobs that our company is specifically interested in. With the filters you can apply, we get to avoid any potential jobs that we are not interested in doing, including in the geographic areas we specifically work.

Cons

When you are using the search function; unless you specifically type in the title of the project the way it was entered on the other end, you will not be able to find that project. For example, if you are interested in looking for a specific T-Mobile project. If you search Tmobile without the hyphen, the project will not show up. And vice versa; if the human being uploaded that T-mobile in the system and they did or didn't use the hyphen. Depending on how you search it, you won't find it. If you mispell a project, it will simply say it doesn't exist. So there needs to be an improvement to the software such that any version of the spelling you type in will show up.

Thanks To PlanHub

Pros

I really like the user friendly aspect of it, great customer support team, happy customer have used them for years.

Cons

They dont have a on-screen take-off module with it

Best Plan I have Purchased

I am overwhelmed with work bidding opportunities , simply fantastic.

Pros

This PlanHub has every type of work wanted, I bid on various locations and select Private work ONLY as I stopped dealing with UNION or Government Project. Other Companies I have to pay for evry city another fee if I wan to see what bids are out there. Planhub I can see NYC Long Island all of Nj where I want and it does NOT cost arm and a leg as I used to pay.

Cons

If they have Electronic take-off software with it would have been GREEEAAT

PlanHub Review

Overall experience has been good. The main thing I like about PlanHub is that I get access to all bidding GC's on record.

Pros

I like the ease of use and the info provided the most.

Cons

The mobile version of it needs improvement. In the past, I couldn't upload bids at all using my phone. Some changes were made and I can submit bids now from my phone...but, the layout is still scrambled a bit when using a phone.

Best Construction Bidding Software

We use this daily to download construction documents for HVAC pricing and to bid project to GC's listed.

Pros

Ease of use. Also most of the GC's we work with use this system. Very user friendly.

Cons

Ability to find listed projects. If the exact name of the project is not entered, the system won't find it.

The Best Team that is out there.

Overall they are the absolute best. Other plans rooms didnt give me much feedback or status updates like Planhub did. The customer services is out of this world. Most of the projects we are awarded come from Gc's posting with Planhub. Connections and customers services is the best way to describe planhub.

Pros

What I like most is they are always up to date on the projects coming through. We are notified of any status changes. If I have any questions I can email some of there reps and they reply within a couple of hours if not less. Great customer Service.

Cons

Nothing. Everything I need is there and any suggestions I have asked for I was catered to.

PlanHub Review

We are bidding three times as many jobs as we were before using PlanHub. It is so simple to navigate and download the correct documents.

Pros

-Easy to use -Easy to download documents -Not as expensive as other bid software -Visually appealing

Cons

-Sometimes the documents are out of order or not labeled a way that is easy to read -Not all GCs are listed

Great platform for bidding projects!

With this platform we can get our proposal out in a timely manner. It’s great to have a platform that has everything linked together. Easy of use just makes bidding a joy.

Pros

I love the ease of use with this platform. It’s very self-explanatory. I get a bulk of my leads from the emails. that come out. There is nothing better than be able to use a platform and everything works. The downloads work flawlessly. All the main information for the contractors is easy to access.

Cons

There is only one thing I don't like. It may be on the upgraded accounts. I would like to see the contractor email address above the telephone number for the contractor.

My toughtys on Plan Hub

Thanks to Plan Hubs I get as many leads as i can chase down and they are quality Leads, My revenue has Tripled and my client list has grown ten fold

Pros

Delivers quality Leads Tailored to my Area of Operation

Cons

Search Function, trying to find jobs that you know are in there but you dont have the name right

PlanHub Pros & Cons

We are receiving a tremendous amount of GC opportunities that we never had before.

Pros

It allows me to receive RFPs that I would never have known about.

Cons

I would like more sections of industry to better tailor the RFP requests to my companies needs. I receive a lot of requests that don't fit our industry.

A Great Portal to Expand Our Reach

Overall it's been very good. It took a little bit of time to refine our criteria for the best opportunities, but since then it's been an invaluable resource.

Pros

The ability to communicate and get access to others within our area that we weren't otherwise aware of. Plus the ease of use make it simple for all to use.

Cons

When using on a mobile device it is not user friendly.

Great for New Contacts

So far so good. I have enjoyed using the site and plan on continuing to do so.

Pros

I like how readily available new jobs and contacts are we have had more exposure since using, the ease of use, and placing a bid can be done through the site. I like being able to contact general contractors and ask questions through the site. My favorite aspect is that it will show other GCs on the project even if you didn't receive the invitation from them that way I can bid to more than one company on a job. I also like the cost of this site is very economical compared to other sites that can be pricey and offer the same information.

Cons

My least favorite parts are how the drawings are listed on the site sometimes in single mixed up pages, even though that may be how they were loaded and not the actual sites issue. I also don't like how the bidding format is set up. We customize bids per contractor just as far as the company name so I have to load and send bids one at a time instead of in a group, but I do like that I can send them through the site.

Plan Hub review

I feel that plan hub is a great tool for us to use as a company and the overall usability is great.

Pros

I like the fact that we get emails stating that a job has been added. I also feel that the ability to review all of the documents is great. It is easy to use and I am able to share the info with others on my team.

Cons

I do not like the fact that it does not list all of the contractors that are quoting the job. We have quoted many of the projects and have only secured a couple due to the fact that we quoted it to the wrong contractor.

Review on Planhub

I was having trouble finding subcontractors and I have found so many new subs on planhub. Planhub has made my bidding part of my job so much easier! I have never had any problems with planhub, they have come a long ways since I first started using them.

Pros

I have used Plan Hub for many years. I use several different Planrooms and software and Planhub is the best. They have a large Subcontractor base which is needed for out of town jobs. Every job I bid goes one planhub.

Cons

I wish I could message the subs from my original email address.

Planhub Review for Preconstructuion

Planhub has been useful in capturing projects across the nation from $200k to $3.5 Million and everything in between.

Pros

Planhub is useful tool whether your are bidding on a local project (example D.M.V.) or out of state. We get to meet tons of new sub contractors to help us win bids. It's easy to setup project whether it is union/non-union, phased/regular hours etc...

Cons

There should be a way to view local subs that have viewed the projects when searching for people who have downloaded the project files.

API

Pros

Simplicity of accessing the drawings and prints. General Contractors bidding listed with their contact information. Receive an abundance of ITBs. Establishing new contacts from the ITBs we quote.

Cons

At times, the uploaded documents are scattered. Have to download to easily find the pages I specifically review.

In Between- Some pros, some cons.

It's a bit less than average- the overall setup is amazing and simple to add the project but the quality contractors don't seem to be very helpful. I think if there was a type of qualification process for contractors to add their information, for it to be a bit more accurate that would expand quality!

Pros

The ease of putting the project out for bid, simplicity and "surprise" bids that we receive occasionally.

Cons

Contractors can add numerous trades if not all and that's not their trade of work. Contractor coverage doesn't seem to impact our bidding process, we don't receive too many bids or contractors to confirm during our estimating phase.

I hate writing reviews but....

Good service and support when we had small problems setting up in the beginning.

Pros

Ease of use. Does a good job connecting me to bids in my specific area and my specific field.

Cons

Nothing negative to say about it. Doing exactly what we need--connecting us to a lot of relevant construction projects. Suggestion: I would like to connect to projects further upstream in the design phase (ie: owners, developers, or Architects). Secondly: It would be nice to be able to get a regional targeted mailing list.

Plan Hub Experience

The plan hub plateform is easy to use. The difficulty is the users and how they setup their projects.

Pros

This project is simple to use and easy to navigate to your project.

Cons

The way project files are listed in projects make looking through documents difficult. Files are not organized alphabetically or numerically. You can also get download issues on documents.

PlanHub Review

This is a great information source. Captures and notifies us of upcoming projects.

Pros

Easy to use. Everything that I need to bid in one place. Solid contact information.

Cons

Projects often come up with short lead times.

Plan Hub Review

No issues with Plan Hub, we do get alot of Plan Hub Updates on projects. Not an issues but maybe there is a way to just send the updates to the folks that are bidding or have downloaded the plans.

Pros

Ease of use, very user friendly. Contains almost all the project details you would need to know.

Cons

Not much negative to say at this point, its a good system, just when you bid you are not sure how many others you are up against for the project.

Easy to use.

Overall I am pleased with PlanHub. It has given me more GC's to bid on several jobs and that means I am reach a bigger client base.

Pros

I like everything about PlanHub. The search process is easy which means that I get more quotes to the GC's and this means I can bid more jobs.

Cons

The only thing that I do not like is the fact that you do not show the GC's address on site. In my quote process we add the GC's address to the quote and this means that I have to go looking for the address on the web or through previous quotes.

Great platform to connect with quality GC's

Pros

Simple, straight to the point, so far I h ave made at least 2 long term connections with GC's who feed us work.

Cons

Get emails for jobs we have no scope on, could be just an invite mistake?

Bid Organization

We are evaluating projects to bid on and then sorting them out to our estimating team.

Pros

Easy to find projects, and quickly assess if we want to quote

Cons

Difficult for the organization to see who is working on which bid. If there was a Bid Organization feature like Building Connected it would be more valuable resource.

PlanHub

I have a very good experience

Pros

It’s very friendly to use never have any problem with using it

Cons

It’s the fact that the plan goes to too many contractors

Still learning

I am able to see all of my bids on one page.also I know when I submitted them and the date I sent them and to whom.

Pros

The software is easy to use but still learning what it can do.

Cons

Dont know how to use all the functions yet

Easy Use

Really like using Plan Hub & all the help I get from the rep. We get several bids for our projects using Plan Hub, its been a win win for our Company. Just need to work out the areas(meaning how many miles they will travel to work on a project) covered for the sub-contractors.

Pros

Easy to use & follow. Quick fix if any problems.

Cons

Finding sub-contractors in the correct area.

Planhub makes publishing our Bids Easy

Customer Support, easy to use, project exposure are all top notch!

Pros

This software is user friendly and fast! It only takes me a couple of minutes to post a project and reach hundreds of potential subcontractors.

Cons

I'd like to be able to customize the trades needed when posting a project.

Great for business

We've had a great experience with PlanHub. There is no doubt in my mind that we've been awarded jobs that we never would have had the opportunity to bid on.

Pros

The software is definitely user friendly and the support staff is friendly and helpful

Cons

Hmmmmm……..I wish there was some miracle way to just view my industry

PlanHub as an End User

It's overall positive in that it has helped us build relationships with clients and keeps us abreast of upcoming projects, but it is rather slow to use and we often get bombarded with emails even after we have declined to bid on projects.

Pros

The software itself is easy to navigate and to understand. It compiles a great number of opportunities into one place. It is a great way to find potential clients and get in front of them.

Cons

The software/website itself runs slowly most of the time, especially when selecting a project or after having deleted one from the list. The Google Map feed rarely loads. It takes me more time to curate through the types of jobs that we don't do than I usually spend downloading plans. I wish there were a "ignore refit/upbuild/renovation" sort of option. I'm also not a fan of continuing to get email updates about projects after I've indicated that we will not bid them.

Very Good but Glitchy

Takeoff are quick while using templates and parts takes more time and effort

Pros

Easy to do basic takeoffs if NOT using Templates

Cons

Program freezes temporarily looses some functionality until you close and reopen.

Helpful Info

Pros

-easily able to find more subs -easy to send emails

Cons

-It seems difficult to add new subs -People have a hard time finding my contact information

Excellent tool for getting bids

Pros

I love the fact that i get bid invites for projects that meet my scope of work and i don't need to search through 1000's of plans that have nothing to do with my company.

Cons

I haven't had any cons so far. The software works great.

Great but with some draw backs

We are happy with the frequency in the ITBs and the quality of the projects.

Pros

Access to a wide network of GCs and access to opportunities to bid projects.

Cons

We don't always get the ITBs in enough time to provide a quality bid. So i am having to pass up lots of opportunities because of the small window of time. Its frustrating because lots of the ITBs are easy bids that we feel we could win if there was more time given.

Contractor review

One very important item is to have the plans available to read or down load.

Pros

It was fairly easy to use, list most information needed.

Cons

The prior software you were able to move thru steps better, the bid section can be improved or be more flexible with entering information. The mandatory cost should have an option to " see attached quote" , reason the quote has item included or not included in the quote. Where a flat rate does not take that into account.

I Love PlanHub

This helps in area they are more remote especially.

Pros

This software is very easy to use and has helped me tremedously when it comes to locating new and qualified contractors to help us with are many construction projects. I highly recommend it and will continue to use PlanHub going forward.

Cons

I wish it showed me which contractors were planning to bid and which ones have declined.

Bidding or not bidding

I'd like to see a change

Pros

Possible new contractors - GC leeds to bid to

Cons

I'm tired of getting so many email about the same projects- updates- addendums - ect.. But we as a user must reply bidding or not bidding. Toi the GC firm give us the time of day to respond back if we are the awarded contractor. If our bid is competitive to get the quote work.. Even if they don't get the bid. They could use this software to let us know. Therefore PlanHub.. Give us..the people who pay for this service, the ability to block your email listing for a GC- job types- ect . It should be our chice , not an email blast from your firm for coverage

Thoughts on Plan Hub

In theory this should benefit my business because it presents a pool of potential clients to engage with and try to build relationships with. It seems however, that based on the wide-spread access to these opps the GC's may be getting inundated with quotes to the point where they feel less to no urgency to respond in most instances. It's a good service with a good concept, and the price is great considering my whole team uses it across the country. Ultimately, it just may not align with what we need to focus our efforts on.

Pros

I like that it opened up more opportunities for me to have visibility to that I may not have seen otherwise. It's nice to have another resource to try and identify and pursue biddable projects through.

Cons

It can be tricky to find a project I viewed previously sometimes. It is also a bit awkward to access projects the way it is currently configured. Once your in the opportunity its laid out well. I've noticed a very low close rate from projects that I've identified on this service. It is also hard to get any type of response from the GC's asking for quotes. Maybe my type of business just isn't aligned properly in regards to what we are targeting: Large Multi-Family and other big scale commercial projects.

Buds

Definitely worth the money

Pros

There are a lot of bids to choose from that are non-union .

Cons

I thought all of the bid invites would list all of the general contractors bidding on the projects . this information would come from the architect and or owner. If plan hub could get that and put that on the bids that would be great and work more worth the money .

PlanHub Review

Very good. Great customer support team as well

Pros

I like the "fire and forget" nature of issuing bids to a vast network of subs.

Cons

I wish it was easier to selectively target subs and send follow ups.