Project Management Software
for Custom Home Builders

Painless Bid Solicitation and Analysis

BuildTools will help you cut time out of the bidding process and keep project bids in one place.

The key to any bid management system is getting buy-in from subcontractors, making it easy for them to get you the numbers you need. BuildTools streamlines the bidding process and makes it easy for subcontractors to submit their bids. We’ve learned that if you don’t make it simple, it simply won’t work.

• Cut time out of the bidding process: Easily create a bid package that includes all the relevant specs, selections, and drawings with just a few clicks of a mouse.
• Keep project bids in one place: Keep all your bids and communication organized and easily accessible in the bids inbox. Send addendums, revisions, clarifications, and reminders in seconds.
• Make fewer phone calls: Track the status of your bid packages in real-time. Cutting back on the need to chase trades and suppliers for bids.

Keep Projects on Schedule With Less Effort

Simple and powerful. View project schedules for all your resources—subcontractors and employees—across all your projects. Crews are notified of changes automatically so everyone is up to date. Unlike most scheduling systems, BuildTools actually gets used.

• Get started quickly: Use our schedule templates or copy a schedule from current or past projects to hit the ground running.
• Keep your team informed: Notify all of the affected trades of changes to the schedule with just one click.
• Track what happened: Use the baseline feature to track any changes in your schedule over time. Stay in the know when things don’t go as planned.

Reduce Errors and Increase Profitability

Cross-module integration connects everything together—specifications, selections, purchase orders, change orders, schedule phases—all tied to the appropriate budget code.

• Take control of your costs: Manage your purchase orders and track your costs with the help of our easy to use budgeting tools.
• Real-time project costs at your fingertips: See the latest costs based on real-time data from the budget, revised budgets, and actuals without spreadsheets or manual number crunching.
• Messages subcontractor invoices with ease: Inputting invoices and getting approval from project managers has never been easier with our integrated inbox.

Stay on Top of Every Little Detail

The need to manage selections in one place that is accessible to the client, designer, and the construction team is vital. BuildTools enables clients to easily approve online selections, integrates with change orders, and more.

• Selections library: Don’t reinvent the wheel with each project. Save time by building out a selections library to use across all your projects.
• Filter selections by location or cost code: Organize your selections by the specific location of the build or sort by cost code, providing your team easy access to all project selections.
• Simplify your approval process: Make it easier for your clients to approve selections. Clients can log in and electronically sign off on selections when it’s convenient for them.

Get the Job Done On Time and Under Budget

Keeping track of tasks with BuildTools is a simple way to maintain transparency across your company. Team members can easily see what needs to be done, when it is due, and who is responsible. Hello, accountability!

• Create templates for frequent to-do items: With BuildTools you don’t have to recreate the same tasks for each job start. Load project and punch list templates to create a consistent construction process.
• Hold your team accountable: Keep tasks from falling through the cracks. With so many projects on the go, don’t rely on memory or pen and paper, document action items and see them to completion.
• Action items for the field and office: Keep track of projects right from your pocket, tablet, or desktop. Stay on track by accessing tasks from any internet-connected device.

Know What’s Happening on Your Job Sites

Keep tabs on what is happening on your job sites in real-time and make better decisions for scheduling based on information learned from the past. BuildTools daily logs allow your crew to stay on top of what happened today to better plan for tomorrow.

• Know who was on the job site: Track who was supposed to be on the job site, who was there, and what they accomplished. BuildTools will give you a head start by preloading the resources based on your actual schedule.
• Track deliveries: Easily track when certain items arrive on site and the time frame in which the delivery took place.
• Keep the project team in the know: Use daily logs to create daily notes about your project. Make sure items don’t fall through the cracks and let others know when you need assistance.

Manage Plans and Collaborate on Ideas

Do you ever find yourself wondering if you have the most current set of plans when you’re heading to the job site? BuildTools provides a simple system for drawing management. Users can easily view drawings and revisions, ensuring everyone has the information they need.

• Maintain one accurate set of drawings: Redline notes can be kept on one set of drawings and accessed by the entire team. Create layers for private notes, electrical markups, client changes, corrections, and more.
• Mark up drawings: Whether you’re in the field or at your desk, you can annotate drawings and add notes to share with your project team members in real-time.
• Tie everything back to your plan: Link tasks, change orders, photos, and punch list items directly to the drawing to increase clarity and reduce errors.

Streamline Warranty and Post-construction Work

Automatically issue notifications to contractors when and where work is to be completed. Enable your clients to request service work and provide detailed photos for your team to review. Reporting functionality provides you with complete visibility on all of the service work across your entire company.

• Have clients submit warranty requests: Your clients can submit service requests directly to your team for further review and approval.
• Document, schedule, and notify: As your service items have been approved, make sure your contractors and clients have been provided with every detail they need for completion.
• Field accessibility: Your team has full access to service requests while out in the field to close out work orders when they’re complete.

Keep Everyone In the Loop

Communication is the cornerstone of any successful construction company. BuildTools allows for seamless communication from any module. No more “he-said, she-said” arguments. No more searching for a comment or e-mail. Search every message through the unified inbox. Your entire project team’s communication is collected in one place and archived indefinitely.

• Keep it organized: The centralized inbox allows you to keep messages and comments organized so you can filter by project or even down to the module.
• Search and you will find: A powerful search engine that finds old emails and comments is a huge time saver and will always keep you organized and up to date.
• Messages where you expect them: Never miss a message! Users don’t need to log in to receive messages sent from BuildTools. All communication will also be sent to your everyday email inbox for easy access.
• Easily track issues with RFIs: Unique numbers help you monitor RFIs. Set a due date, assign resources, and update the status. When the issue is resolved, set the status to Close to automatically notify others. Access all RFI communications in one location.

Easily Share Construction Documents In the Field

With every builder using a different construction management app, you can’t expect trades in the field to juggle them all. That would require them to get trained on multiple tools and regularly log in to use them. That’s where BuildTools comes in.

Our patent-pending Project Poster is an industry first. The game-changing feature makes it easy to distribute construction documents in the field and simplifies communication with contractors. No app to install. No login. No training. Just take a photo of the Project Poster at the site and you can access the most current project documents and a real-time schedule, report progress and incidents, upload photos, and more.

Keep Documents In One Place, Under One Project.

In the field or behind a desk, your team will have access to view and upload all job-related files from wherever they are. BuildTools lets you to control permissions on which documents you would like to share with your clients and subcontractors.

• Any time, anywhere, any device: Upload and view documents using any device with cellular or internet connection.
• Customize permissions: Control what your clients see when they login to BuildTools. Simply adjust the permission settings on each folder so they’re only viewing what you want them to.
• Unlimited document storage: That’s right! Unlimited storage for your documents, photos, blueprints, and all other job-related files.

A Front Row Seat to Every Job Site

Custom building and remodeling projects are exciting for your clients. Progress updates are a great way to keep homeowners involved and engaged throughout the construction process. We’ve made it easy to take pictures from any mobile device, mark them up, and share with clients.

• Client friendly: Let your clients do the word of mouth marketing for you. Give them a VIP photo gallery to share with all of their friends and family.
• Quickly send details back to office staff: With all your photos in a central application, easily solve job site wrinkles by circulating photos from the job site to other crew.
• Easily mark up photos: Snap a picture and make edits in real-time to improve communication with your clients and crew.

Stay On Top of Changes and Keep More Money in Your Pocket

It only takes one mistake to see your profit margin evaporate. With BuildTools, you can easily create and approve change orders online. Create accountability. Eliminate painful closings. Change every aspect of a project with a single CO – multiple budget codes, selections, and specifications.

• Easily create change orders: From the field or from the office, you can easily create a change order and have it ready for your client’s approval in minutes
• Simple online approval from clients: Clients can easily approve change orders online with an electronic signature. Once approved, your budget will be updated and show the corresponding changes
• Manage selection overages with no problem: Create change orders to adjust the budget, modify material selections, and change specifications with a single change order. Create associated purchase orders so vendor costs don’t slip through the cracks

Stay on Top of Every Little Detail

The need to manage selections in one place that is accessible to the client, designer, and the construction team is vital. BuildTools enables clients to easily approve online selections, integrates with change orders, and more.

• Selections library: Don’t reinvent the wheel with each project. Save time by building out a selections library to use across all your projects.
• Filter selections by location or cost code: Organize your selections by the specific location of the build or sort by cost code, providing your team easy access to all project selections.
• Simplify your approval process: Make it easier for your clients to approve selections. Clients can log in and electronically sign off on selections when it’s convenient for them.

Stay On Top of Changes and Keep More Money in Your Pocket

It only takes one mistake to see your profit margin evaporate. With BuildTools, you can easily create and approve change orders online. Create accountability. Eliminate painful closings. Change every aspect of a project with a single CO – multiple budget codes, selections, and specifications.

• Easily create change orders: From the field or from the office, you can easily create a change order and have it ready for your client’s approval in minutes
• Simple online approval from clients: Clients can easily approve change orders online with an electronic signature. Once approved, your budget will be updated and show the corresponding changes
• Manage selection overages with no problem: Create change orders to adjust the budget, modify material selections, and change specifications with a single change order. Create associated purchase orders so vendor costs don’t slip through the cracks

Control Costs to Stay on Budget.

Subcontractor invoices can quickly fall through the cracks when you’re using pen and paper processes or disconnected systems. With BuildTools, you can issue purchase orders right from the budget while also tracking and documenting project costs as they are incurred. Stay up to date with your financials.

• QuickBooks® and Xero™ integration: Effortlessly sync your financial information with leading accounting software: QuickBooks Online and Desktop and Xero.
• Superior financial control: Purchase orders are now automatically reflected in your budget, allowing you to control costs, update forecasts, and track budget vs actuals to date.
• Invoice to purchase order matching: Never pay for more than you authorized without an explanation. BuildTools does the double-checking for you, matching purchase orders to invoices so you can stay on top of your financials.

Collect Your Money Quickly and Professionally

Detailed financial reporting is now available at your fingertips! Select from a variety of polished reports to share with your clients: a detailed analysis of their project’s financial standing, when the next payment is due, and insights into payments on the horizon. Our financial statements also incorporate important change orders that need to be paid during any given payment cycle.

• Professional draw requests: Demonstrate your professionalism by sending your clients a polished and detailed draw request for each payment
• Detailed financial reporting: Payment history, budget vs. actuals, outstanding invoices, change order analysis, invoices from subcontractors, and more
• Quick editing: Don’t leave money on the table. If you need to receive a payment or make financial adjustments on the fly, you can quickly edit your numbers without sacrificing your client relationships

No More Manual Number Crunching and Data Entry

BuildTools brings your systems together to reduce double entries and the mistakes that often come with them. With an easy setup, all your projects, cost codes, and subcontractor data is automatically imported.

• Quickbooks Integration: Save time and costly errors using BuildTools’ seamless integration with both QuickBooks® Desktop and Online versions. Synchronize invoices, purchase orders, budgets, contacts, and more with no more double entry.
• Xero Integration: Easily connect to your Xero™ online accounting software to manage your finances on the go. Xero is made for the mobile business owner and a great option for those looking for simplicity. Designed to make running your business easier.