Open bidding, negotiated contracts, submitting proposals, design-build contracts, and other methods are used by general contractors to find employment. Regardless of the technique used to solicit bids, the general contractor will be required to subcontract some or all of the work to trade contractors and other vendors.
The process of managing bids takes a long time. As a general contractor, you spend many hours pre-qualifying subcontractors, creating Invitations to Bid (ITBs), and ensuring that each invited bidder has all of the information, drawings, and specifications they require to submit an accurate bid or proposal. That’s only for a single project. Not to mention all of the follow-up calls, emails, and addenda with your subs to verify that each trade has enough bid coverage.
Keeping track of everything is now about as easy as herding cats to keep information flowing between all parties. This is why general contractors that use bid management software can not only bring order to a chaotic situation but also gain an advantage over their competitors and emerge victorious on bid day. Here are some of the advantages of utilizing Bid Management Software.
Table of Contents
Benefits of Using a Bid Management Software
- Make Your Bidding Process More Efficient
Creating and sending ITBs is a time-consuming process. After you’ve determined which trades you’ll require, you’ll need to determine which subcontractors work in the project region and are competent of performing the task. Email and the capacity to host or exchange plans electronically have greatly improved upon fax machines and shipping plans out, as well as relying on plan rooms and reprographers for subs’ access to plans.
General contractors can save a lot of time by using bid management software to swiftly select who they want to invite to bid, establish ITBs, and share drawings and specs with all of their invited subs all at once. Online access to each project’s blueprints and specifications
- Enhance Communication
On a project, the stronger the communication, the better the ability to collaborate efficiently. Construction projects have traditionally been a disconnected mess, with diverse, disparate crafts operating in isolation from one another. Due to tighter timetables and budgets, as well as the rising complexity of projects, there is a need for closer collaboration in construction, especially from the pre construction phases.
General contractors may quickly communicate information and addenda with all of their bidders using bid management software. Some bid management software allows general contractors to keep track of the documents and files they’ve visited and read, allowing them to reach out and discuss plans and specs with their subs to ensure a better grasp of the project and what each sub is expected to do.
- Ensure Bid Coverage
With bid management software, general contractors can easily track how many bids they have received for each trade and which subs have responded to their ITBs. In addition to being able to access their private network of subs, most bid management solutions provide access to a larger network of trade contractors and vendors.
This allows general contractors to reach out to trade contractors who they might not be familiar with to invite to bid on their projects. Not only can this help to ensure proper bid coverage on a project, but it also will help general contractors to build relationships and grow their network for future projects.
Now that we have covered the benefits of using Bids Management Software, let us look at some viable options for the software to choose for your company. Here is a list of 7 Bids Management Software that is known to be the best in the industry.
Top 7 Bids Management Software
ProContractor
ProContractor is a cloud-based estimating, project management, and accounting software solution that lets you manage the project lifecycle from bid to completion.
You have end-to-end control and seamless workflow across apps with an all-in-one solution, from takeoff and estimating to job cost accounting and project management, and finally to essential reporting and analysis.
ProContractor by Viewpoint® gives you the ability to:
- Increase your company’s visibility – Reduce risk by tracking everything so you can see what worked and what didn’t.
- Enhance the precision of cost reports and estimates – To profitably manage projects, quickly compare budgets to pending and posted expenditures.
- Dismantle silos to improve communication – To improve project quality and timeliness, provide an interactive workflow, accountability, and processes.
- Increase cost and schedule control – With real-time cost tracking tools, keep every project on track and on budget.
- Make decisions based on facts rather than guesswork – Quickly and efficiently.
Building Connected Pro
BuildingConnected is the largest crowd-sourced network in the commercial building industry, allowing contractors to save time and improve bid accuracy. BC Pro assists general contractors and owners in identifying the best subcontractors for each project, sending personalized bid invitations, and determining the best quote. BC Pro helps subcontractors earn more work by keeping track of bid invitations, staying ahead of deadlines, and managing workloads across the entire office—all from one location.
ISqFT
Contractors of any size can use iSqFt to streamline their pre-construction process and bid more efficiently.
iSqFt’s customized, web-based system ties together all aspects of a contractor’s bid process into a single application, addressing the particular challenges of general contractors, design-build firms, and construction managers. Contractors can use iSqFt Bid Management to share information with bidders, track project details up until bid day, and simply share information with the entire project team.
Subcontractors can use iSqFt to access their pre-qualification management application, which is built on ConsensusDocs.
SmartBid
SmartBid is a web-based construction bid management software system that allows general and prime contractors to manage subcontractor information, prequalify subcontractors, share project papers, and send invitations to bid. All conversations, files, projects, and subcontractor data are housed in a secure online portal as part of the web-based system.
Approved customers can access their data via a web browser or the SmartBid mobile app, which is accessible for iOS, Android, and Windows mobile devices, at any time and from any location. Users can search for qualified subcontractors in their private sub-database, or they can use the integrated ConstructConnect subcontractor network and SmartInsight construction network to find the best subs to invite to bid on each project.
YourTradeBase
YourTradeBase is a cloud-based handyman solution that streamlines procedures such as pricing, work scheduling, invoicing, payment processing, lead tracking, and more for businesses in the construction, plumbing, gardening, cleaning, HVAC, and other industries. Professionals can utilize templates to build customized quotes, which they can send to clients via email after adding brand logos, colors, or accreditations.
Electricians can use YourTradeBase to add notes to task schedules, including photographs, measurements, client preferences, and contact information, and access saved information from various locations. Administrators have the ability to manage teams, track work activities on project pipelines, and receive invoice reminders.
Estimate Rocket
Estimate Rocket helps you go from lead to paid in your service contracting business. Estimates and work are scheduled on a calendar, and clients and workers are automatically contacted throughout the project. Create invoices, get paid, and get referrals. From your phone or your office, you may conduct a search on anything. All project documents are in one location for easy access. You can see your sales, profit, lead sources, closing ratios, estimate and crew performance, and more with a single click.
Builterra
Builterra’s construction contract administration platform connects, standardized, and streamlines the entire contract administration workflow, including design quantity take-offs, cost estimating, bid preparation, bid analysis, bid processing, field inspection reporting, and progress payment certification. Since its introduction in 2016, Builterra has processed over $2 billion in progress payment certificates for infrastructure project owners and the civil engineering consultants that work for them.
Conclusion
Using bespoke forms or industry-standard ConsensusDocs preconstruction forms, most bid management platforms allow general contractors to prequalify trade contractors. The risk considerations of each individual trade contractor can then be assessed by general contractors based on their safety records, financials, bonding capacity, present workload, historical work experience, and so on.
Are you ready to discover the advantages of bid management software and how to make preconstruction easier? Head to Saas Worthy.com for more information on Bid Management Software.
