What are BuildingConnected users saying about the software?

An Estimators View

A Must-Have for Professionals

Since using PowerPoint, I have noticed a significant change and the way I am viewed within my organization. My peers and superiors have both noticed how confident I am while conducting quality presentations, and for that I have PowerPoint to thank.

Pros

I love that PowerPoint has several options when it comes to slide design. Presentations can be very bland, so adding a design that's aesthetically pleasing is extremely helpful when I'm trying to grab the attention of my peers and superiors.

Cons

I have not had any bad experiences with PowerPoint.

Great product, best on the market

We have been more than pleased, it has been a good purchase for us without a doubt.

Pros

Document control and ease of use. The document management has paid for the cost of the software by documenting who has accessed documents and when they were accessed. Also, the ease of use has significantly decreased the amount of time that we spend assisting subcontractors and vendors in pre-construction.

Cons

It would be great to be able to view a document rather than having to download the file first. There should also be some flexibility in formatting, data selection for reports.

If you bid commercial flooring projects this is indispensable

I have always liked and used it in the companies I have worked for and this software has improved with the times, with significant developments.

Pros

The fact that you can see many of the bids available throughout the USA and the pertinent Builders

Cons

I can't say that I dislike this software. I only am curious about the availability of my info that could be used without my knowledge if I used their bid function?

Could be better

If the problems shown above are corrected I would describe as good.

Pros

Allows us to send bids in our area to many subcontractors.

Cons

1) Impossible to use in iPhone. 2) Comments are not valued by Buildingconnected Management 3) Mixes apples and oranges when it comes to UNION versus OPEN SHOP Subs, it needs serious revamping. 4) Ditto regarding the mix of subs, painters show under electrical subs. This needs a complete revamp, as well. 5) The selection of dates is cumbersome as the calendar "moves" up and down instead of being located in the same place when changing months. 6) During the set up of project one cannot pick a date for the RFI date. 7) The cursor does not automatically go to the proper location to start typing, instead it necessitates the use of the mouse to move the cursor there. This should be for ALL cases where one needs to type information. 8) There is too many BAD EMAIL ADDRESSES identified in the database that NEVER get corrected. There needs to be an earnest effort coming from the very top to keep the DATABASE in ship shape. We pay WAY TOO much money for this to be the case. 9) There needs to be more refinement within the categories available to pick subs from the standard 16 CSI divisions. For instance, there is a huge difference between a sub who makes and installs the coolers and freezer boxes and those who do the refrigeration for them, such difference is not considered in the options.

Bid invite system that's well worth the price

Overall, this system is amazing. Implementation was simple. You can choose to dial in your uploads with the integration team or start from scratch. Training was in person and super easy and fast. Online videos are available and customer support can help. Estimating teams will be blown away with how easy it is to customize a bid form, collect bids, soft award, complete bid leveling, and win jobs.

Pros

There are so many pros to this online application. To keep it brief: implementation is fast, training is about 15 - 30 minutes, ease of use is insane, capabilities are off the wall with online customizable bid forms, easy file sharing, massively amazing messaging system, brilliant bid leveling online which can be exported and manipulated further, and more! On top of all this, Building Connected integrates with other systems that complete the entire bid to project to close out process.

Cons

The greatest con about this software is that any and everyone can create a fee company listing, so you may view vendor/sub information that's invalid. However, if someone's responsible and reports and edit Building Connected will fix this. Most people don't seem to take this action, though. So don't be surprised if some of the listed information isn't 100% accurate.

The best tool can make our bids more competitive.

Building Connected provided us with the opportunity to network with organizations we may not have otherwise encountered, allowing us to increase the competitiveness of our bids.

Pros

For a quote on a task, take advantage of BuildingConnected's unique feature that allows you to collaborate with different office locations within the same company profile to acquire an estimate. It's also extremely simple to operate. You can invite existing building connect companies to participate, as well as invite new trades. Changes to the tender package can be made quickly and easily without having to email each contractor individually.

Cons

In areas where the BuildingConnected can readily perform magnificently, there aren't many dislikes, and we haven't had any issues with it yet, which is encouraging.

The top apps for finding the best-priced contractors in your area

BuildingConnected offers a pioneering idea for project owners, increasing their ability to get the best prices and also access to specialized contractors to carry out some complex tasks.

Pros

Through reports and lists of contractors, BuildingConnected helps users to finalize bids in every location it covers. The BuildingConnected system will allow you to create your own bid lists, and through those lists provided by BuildingConnected you will be able to send quotation requests to a wide range of contractors, some of whom you may not have previously come into contact with or had any previous knowledge of. BuildingConnected allows you to filter the bids you receive, generate a list of those bids, and eliminate any that you don't want. Getting regular updates on fresh opportunities that align with your company's goals is one of the wonderful benefits of joining BuildingConnected.

Cons

Even though I found the search and filtering capabilities for qualified contractors and estimates to be lacking in accuracy, BuildingConnected is still simple to use.

Streamlined & Simple

We've eliminated a substantial amount of the risk in our bid process by having current information available to all team members. It helps us get info out to subcontracts 3 or 4 days faster than we could with our previous process.

Pros

Great for when we have bid teams of 4 or 5 people and having an instant snapshot of where our bid process stands. We have committed to doing detailed bid forms that subs have gotten used to for submitting their proposal and using the breakdown provided.This helps us zero in on the right conversations we should be having with the right subs and makes us more effective during the bid.

Cons

Our people rely too much on communicating through BC and it reduces the amount of phone conversations where we believe we learn a substantial amount more that a line item on the bid form.

Building Connected is Cutting Edge

The ease of accessing subcontractors across the United States is amazing. Instead of using several different sources it now cut down to using BC and maybe one or two others.

Pros

The access to subcontractors all over the country. The analytics provided by the program to track and compare projects solicited. The constant improvement of the program and how it evolves. The ability to be very dynamic and flexible. The ease of use and set up supersedes other programs tried in the past.

Cons

The up-keep of contact information and how to update it. Populating relevant vendors for scopes of work for the area of work to be performed in.

Building Connected

Pros

Ability to forward invites is main need for this type of software.

Cons

This product if using to manage bids is extremely expensive. You cannot forward invites without buying paid version.

Day to Day with BuildingConnected

Awesome!

Pros

The leveling section is such a time saver. We can look at everything one screen, make adjustments and go with a final number on bid day seamlessly. A real time saver. A great tool to show owners and clients that we have done our homework and selected the lowest most qualified bidder

Cons

Be sure you have a strong network and a strong network connection. As the day wears on it can be slow down at bit

Total Game Changer

Absolutely love it!

Pros

No one else that has this type of software comes anywhere close to the ease of use and ability to generate reports on the productivity and effectiveness of our past bids. I went from inputing about 30% of the information Building Connected has available in my own excel spreadsheet for at least 2-3 hours per day to letting the program do its job and running reports at my leisure!

Cons

Occasionally, the website locks up and causes some frustration with my sales team, but they all agree that we can never go back!

Building Connected

overall a great program to work with and probably does more then what we use it for.

Pros

Great program to use for tendering packages for work. So many trades on the system and you can pick and choose who you want to bid or you can just leave it open and let everyone bid on the package. Awesome and easy to set up.

Cons

As of right now there isn't much bad things to say about this program.

Great Bid Platform!

The software takeoff has made estimating quantities faster than compiling quantities with a paper copy and a ruler. The accuracy of the takeoff is likely increased due to the accuracy of the software versus the human error factor involved with hand figuring quantities.

Pros

I really like that the software compiles many projects into one central location to make it easy to find project information and to check bid dates and addendum information in one general area. This software integrated into our existing platform with ease making it much more likely that we will continue to use the software.

Cons

I would really like to see a better system of notifying subcontractors of their bid status on particular projects. It would be nice if they could be informed right away upon project award instead of needing to reach out to the winning general contractor to determine which subs they will go with.

Great tool

The role out went well; most of our employees were up and running without assistance within the 1st week.

Pros

After the initial the project setup this accelerates the the issuing of new documents and messages. This has saved my team a lot of time and headaches compared to the old way of email the subcontractors. Being able to see who as accessed the project documents helps to insure we get good bid coverage.

Cons

I would like to customize features to better work for our company and be able to load larger file sizes.

Easy to use - some features needed.

What started as a cold call has made my entire job easier. The site is used company wide and has made bidding projects exponentially easier.

Pros

Ease of use and customer service are second to none.

Cons

We need a deeper level of customization when it comes to RFI and other document management.

Electrical Contractors

It connects me with new companies and clients

Pros

Very easy to use and it's services brings change into my business

Cons

Nothing much because everything in the process was enjoyable

Building Connected for Construction Bidding

Pros

Building Connected makes it easy to manage and collect bids for large construction jobs. It is easy to create a section for each trade, search for contractors in the software database, and send out requests for bids. Previously used contractors are highlighted in the search, which makes the process easier. Many contractors are registered with Building Connected, so it is a great choice for bidding.

Cons

I think users should have more control over managing packages - for example, if you decide you want to delete a trade, it is not possible to do so without contact support.

Worth the Try

I don't mind working with it because it's easy to use, for me personally I would rather use it when needed, I would rather have another project administration website. Just because I can't edit much on it, It has what it has and you have to work with it. There's no area to add links, nowhere to add files and stuff like that.

Pros

I mostly like that it has an easy to use interface, easy on the eye, simple, you get a personal agent to help with any doubts and suggestions you might have.

Cons

That it has limited options to add additional features or additional links, you can't really edit much.

My thoughts having used BUILDING CONNECTED for a number of years.......

Very useful & user friendly, in general.

Pros

Super user friendly (for most who are 'remotely' tech savvy )

Cons

I dislike that subcontractors who view the ITB can close it and do not have to confirm their intent, thus wasting a lot of time when we have to call "non-responders". A feature whereby they cannot leave the ITB without conforming their intent, either way. This would save DAYS of phone calls on each bid chasing people who have no intent of bidding. OR, non-responders should get a daily automatic reminder until they do respond either way of their intent. This would force (most of them) to eventually confirm their intent. Additionally if subcontractors from outside a certain radius (say 75 or 100 miles) of the proposed project location could be removed or blocked from the list when searching for potential bidders, that would be super helpful. And in closing, if subcontractors listed under a certain trade /scope, under "+ Invite bidders", could be for that particular trade/ scope. There are too many, say for example Painters under site work, or electricians under ceramic tile .... needs to be cleaned up.

Improves Efficiency!

We have become more efficient in our bidding process, allowing us to increase our win percentage, increase our subcontractor coverage and to tackle more projects.

Pros

This software is paramount is organizing and presenting critical bidding information, not only to our subs but also relaying that information back to our Estimating team. The software can be setup to accommodate different levels of detail, with individual projects, or individual bid packages for each project. Easily distribute and download critical project documents.

Cons

A few of our "outdated" subcontractors are hesitant to login and interact with the system.

Total Bid Management in 1 Localized Place

BC has helped our estimating & preconstruction department streamline our entire bid invite & management process. It has allowed us to localize all data and information in 1 platform. It has also allowed us the benefit of all team member having access to the most up to date information no matter where they are at. Being web-based makes it easy to log in remotely and get updates without having to contact other team members to ensure you are looking at the most up to date information.

Pros

BC is extremely user friendly, allows the entire preconstruction team to stay on the same page, and auto updates as changes are made and bidder statuses are updated. BC has streamlined our entire process, allowed to gain more subcontractor outreach and bid coverage. One of the great features that BC provides is the data analytics. Our company is easily able to identify market segments we are more successful in, clients we are the most successful with & subcontractors and suppliers that are the most responsive and competitive for us. The bid leveling feature has allowed us to set-up and compare bids directly in BC without having a separate program or spreadsheet for this. This is key as it allows all team members direct access to the most up to date information at the click of a button.

Cons

One of the features is that subcontractors are responsible to create their own free accounts and keep them updated. One of the issues we had to navigate around and create processes for was making sure we always had the most up to date subcontractor contact person.

Solicit & Communicate Efficiently

Top notch product with excellent customer support that improves our ability to win work.

Pros

BuildingConnected provides users an intuitive interface to organize and solicit subcontractors and vendors on construction projects large & small. The project information tab has the ability to capture an convey general project information both internally and externally feeding into the strong analytical tools. The files tab allows for user customization to project specific documents and requirements. I have not run into a situation where the information could not be organized and presented the way I wanted it to. The bid packages tab is really where the program shines. Packages can be created based upon specific project needs, bidders added efficiently and accurately, subcontractor action tracked and monitored, costs tracked, and costs forecasted. The remainder of the resources and information only serves to complement the core components and solicitation requirements of the tabs above.

Cons

Webpage is not optimized for mobile devices. Analytics do not allow for individual projects to be excluded which diminishes the value of the reporting.

Possibly the best Bid Invitation Software available.

We wanted a bid invitation solution that our subcontractors liked, were familiar with, and we wanted a long term partner. So far the relationship with BC has been great. I wish the pricing was a little lower and more comparable to other softwares out there as that would allow me to not have to review other competitor products upon renewal.

Pros

The user-friendly interface allows us to issue bid invitations in a matter of minutes.

Cons

I dislike that you have to use the software to obtain quotes. I wish direct emails were possible without having to go through the web.