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Contractor Foreman

NOW: Starting @ $49/m for the WHOLE company, Contractor Foreman is the most affordable all-in-one solution for small and medium trade and general contractors who want a better way to manage their projects. *FREE Trial + 100 Day Gu...Read more about Contractor Foreman

Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate

Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate, formerly Sage Timberline Office, provides contractors, developers, and property managers with the most complete solution for managing the entire project or property lifecycle with confidence,...Read more about Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate

4.0 (550 reviews)

2 recommendations

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HeavyBid

HCSS HeavyBid estimating and bidding software is built specifically for the construction industry. Used by more than 50,000 estimators, HeavyBid helps users build estimates and manage daily bids. The software helps automate ...Read more about HeavyBid

4.6 (504 reviews)

3 recommendations

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Buildertrend

Buildertrend provides pre-sale tools including a built-in customer relationship management (CRM) system, bid requests, project proposals, plus more. Project management tools include scheduling, budgeting, timesheets, and more. Cus...Read more about Buildertrend

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B2W Estimate

B2W Estimate software for heavy civil construction estimating and bidding enables contractors to bid with speed, accuracy, and strategy. Users can pre-populate a centralized database with cost data and structures for labor, tasks,...Read more about B2W Estimate

4.5 (198 reviews)

3 recommendations

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Projectmates

Achieve the business outcomes most important to you with Projectmates, the cloud-based construction project management software that’s powerful yet easy to use. Projectmates empowers you to manage the entire project life cycle – f...Read more about Projectmates

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InEight

InEight provides field-tested project management software for the owners, contractors, engineers and architects who are building the world around us. Over 400,000 users and more than 850 customers worldwide rely on InEight for rea...Read more about InEight

4.4 (14 reviews)

2 recommendations

Maestro

For over three decades, Maestro Technologies has empowered the Canadian construction industry with innovative information management solutions. Born and bred in Canada and serving over 10,000 users nationwide, maestro ERP stands ...Read more about Maestro

3.3 (7 reviews)

3 recommendations

Oracle Aconex

Oracle Aconex is a cloud-based operation management solution for managing information and processes between companies on complex construction and engineering projects. Several functions include document management, workflow automa...Read more about Oracle Aconex

4.4 (211 reviews)

1 recommendations

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PipelineSuite Bid Management

PipelineSuite is a cloud-based bid invitation software solution with an integrated online plan room and optional prequalification module for general contractors. The solution allows general contractors to email bid invitations and...Read more about PipelineSuite Bid Management

4.7 (76 reviews)

1 recommendations

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RedTeam Go

RedTeam Go is a simple, end-to-end construction project management software designed to optimize your business for a better day, every day. Minimize Stress - All Your Data in One Place - Automatic Reminders - Bids Convert Into Co...Read more about RedTeam Go

4.3 (110 reviews)

12 recommendations

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Bidtracer

Bidtracer is a cloud-based construction business management solution that helps companies to manage bids, documents, projects, equipment tracking and more. It is suitable for a number of construction industries such as piping, com...Read more about Bidtracer

CoConstruct

CoConstruct is a construction project management software that provides custom home builders and remodelers with tools for managing projects, financials and clients. It allows users to sync data from estimates, specifications, sel...Read more about CoConstruct

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iSqFt for General Contractors

With iSqFt, contractors of any size can streamline their entire pre-construction process and bid effectively. Designed to address the unique challenges of general contractors, design-build firms, and construction managers, iS...Read more about iSqFt for General Contractors

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Pantera Tools

Pantera Tools provides construction professionals with customized solutions to fit their brand, company, and workflows. From our invitation to bid, to project management products, we aim to provide an easy-to-use solution, at a co...Read more about Pantera Tools

4.5 (15 reviews)

3 recommendations

BuildCircle

BuildCircle is a cloud-based construction management solution designed for construction teams to bid, build and track projects. Key features include file management, contacts management and report generation. BuildCircle’s on...Read more about BuildCircle

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Asite

Asite’s construction management platform allows project managers to easily manage and collaborate on all project documents, including RFIs, submittals, daily field reports, drawing logs, and more. You can Bring all your project in...Read more about Asite

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RedTeam Flex

RedTeam is a project management, construction financials and document control solution suited for midsize commercial general contractors. It is a cloud-based application developed by contractors to manage pre-construction, constru...Read more about RedTeam Flex

4.2 (196 reviews)

7 recommendations

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BrickControl

BrickControl is a web software in the cloud that helps you manage your construction projects in a very powerful and simple way. BrickControl allows you to create estimates with the necessary structure (levels, tasks and resource...Read more about BrickControl

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Fieldlens

Fieldlens by RedTeam is a cloud-based jobsite management solution designed for professional construction builders. Its features include assigning tasks, posting jobsite updates directly to the team, managing drawing updates, and t...Read more about Fieldlens

Buyers Guide

Last Updated: March 16, 2023

Soliciting bids from contractors and suppliers is a function as old as the commercial construction industry. Over time, many building industry technology developers have emerged to automate the bid solicitation process. Those responsible for the procurement function now have a choice of many best-of-breed bid solicitation systems, as well as specialty modules offered within existing construction suites. We wrote this guide to help buyers understand their bid invitation software options.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

What Is Bid Management Software?

What Type of Buyer Are You?

Benefits and Potential Issues

What Is Bid Management Software?

In most construction organizations, bid solicitation is a largely manual process that involves email, spreadsheets, faxes and phone calls. There is little automation outside of Microsoft Outlook or similar personal productivity tools. This specialized technology streamlines the bidding process with tools for managing contact, requesting proposals, purchasing and managing and organizing contracts. 

A full-featured bid management system will typically include the following features:

Contact management

Enables the tracking of all contacts and communications between organizations and contractors and suppliers.

Custom form builder

Allows users to build custom bid forms.

Project calendar

Enables the tracking of all of an organization's past, present and future projects.

Subcontractor portal

Enables subcontractors to view upcoming projects, view information about project insurance and more.

Communication template library

Allows users to customize emails and other forms of communication between the organization and contractors and suppliers.

Other features can include:

  • Prequalifications

  • RFI/RPF

  • Invitations for bidding

  • Online planroom 

Bidding programs for construction are available as both on-premises and SaaS solutions, although the general trends seems to be toward SaaS systems.  

What Type of Buyer Are You?

Before you dive into the details of various bidding oversight and productivity systems, you will want to identify yourself with one of the buyer types we’ve detailed below. 

Procurement buyer. This category of buyer is highly specialized in procurement processes and demands sophisticated functionality. Their firm prioritizes cost control and efficient procurement processes, and is therefore focused intently on sophisticated functionality. These buyers will typically seek top best-of-breed construction bid management software systems. 

Project manager. This type of buyer works at a firm where procurement is managed from within the project managing function. These project managers are responsible for selecting suppliers and subcontractors and it therefore makes sense to use bidding technology modules offered within the firm’s project system, rather than implement a separate bidding manager system. 

General estimator. This buyer works in the estimating function at a firm that places procurement responsibility within the estimating department. The estimator is primarily focused on getting high-level pricing from subs, and then comparing those bids. As such, these buyers prefer to use the basic solicitation tracking and management functionality available within commercial estimating systems. 

Integrated suite buyer. This type of buyer values integration of data and processes across the firm, even if it means forgoing some specialized procurement functionality. This buyer is more likely to make use of the procurement modules available within their accounting or enterprise resource planning system.   

The bidding technology vendor landscape is less complex than many other construction markets. Best-of-breed products include eBid eXchange, SmartBidNet, and Pipeline Suite. Some project management software companies, such as Procore, Prolog and HeadsUp, also offer feature-rich bidding applications that can be purchased on a standalone basis. Finally, construction estimating and accounting suites will offer procurement functionality to varying degrees. 

Benefits and Potential Issues

Here are some of the benefits realized from successfully adopting modern, top-rated construction technology solutions. The best bidding software construction companies can implement will yield all of the below benefits. 

Improved efficiency. Traditional bid-solicitation processes are fraught with error and require substantial time and expense to execute. By automating the process with project managing technology, there can be a substantial reduction in errors, printing costs and labor.  

Better estimates and visibility. Bid builder software can produce more effective procurement processes and in turn, provide a company with better data as they develop estimates for their clients. Moreover, they will gain better visibility into costs throughout the project by holding suppliers accountable to their bids.  

Lower costs. The best bidding system will establish highly effective procurement processes that lower costs substantially. By soliciting more bids and creating a more professional, competitive process, buyers will lower their cost of materials and subcontractors

Perhaps the biggest challenge with these kind of implementations is adoption. Even if internal users adopt the invitation to bid software, it can be difficult to get suppliers to respond to the new model of submitting their bids or RFP responses. Overcoming these issues may require mandating use of the system. Contractors should consider whether they have enough leverage with subcontractors and suppliers to make such a mandate. Properly implemented, these solutions can be the best project bidding tool money can buy. But shoppers should checkout bid software reviews, demos and pricing before making any final decisions.