BuildingConnected vs SmartBid
Last Updated:Our analysts compared BuildingConnected against SmartBid based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Construction Bidding Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.
Product Basics
BuildingConnected is a platform that connects builders and owners to construction networks to tackle risk management and bidding processes. It is designed for general contractors, subcontractors and owners. It manages bids and proposals to increase ROI. It helps reduce risk, automate analysis and recommend steps to lower risk. It also assists in tracking projects, bid invites, status updates and due dates from a centralized monitoring suite.
Furthermore, it supports bid leveling to identify the lowest bid, increase transparency and lower risk. It offers data-based decisions, provides historical data and tracks relationships. It includes cloud storage, Procore integrations, branded invites, bid lists and plan rooms.
SmartBid by ConstructConnect is a mobile and web-based platform that helps general contractors and subcontractors streamline bidding processes. Users can send bid invitations, share documents, prequalify contractors and manage project data. It integrates with Procore, Dropbox and Autodesk BIM 360.
It ensures secure data storage, gives contractors access to qualified subs and corresponding contact information, and transfers documentation and attachments. Contractors can compare submitted bids by consolidating bid data, replacing spreadsheets and standardizing bid tabulation.
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$125
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No
Small
Medium
Large
Small
Medium
Large
Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile
Product Assistance
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Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
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Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Product Insights
- Simplify Pre-Construction Processes: Automatically mitigate risks using the TradeTapp. Manage projects from a centralized database and increase ROI. Create custom questionnaires to streamline vendor qualification workflows.
- Increase Operational Efficiency: Comment on bids and reports to improve communication among teams. Track bid statuses and keep everyone informed of any changes.
- Reduce Data Entry Errors: Allow multiple workers to update data in real time. Generate precise estimates by determining material quantities. Edit scope sheets to add new information to prevent unnecessary expenses.
- Make Data-Driven Decisions: Access company stats through the dashboard. Analyze competitors’ bidding details to develop strategic plans. Track estimators’ performance metrics like bids won, contract value and hit rates.
- Reduce Administrative Burden: Automatically track bids via the bid board to save time. View employees' workloads and assign bids to the right estimator to help eliminate double-work.
- Integrative Solution: Create new projects in Procore directly from the system. Upload and access files hosted in Box.
- Increase Bid Coverage: Integrate with ConstructConnect and SmartInsight to access subcontractor databases. Grant subs access to project details. Compare multiple bids simultaneously to save time.
- Gain Vital Insights: Generate financial and project performance reports to make informed decisions. Monitor job statuses in real time through the dashboard.
- Stay Out of Legal Troubles: Enable subs to upload documents such as licenses, insurances and W-9 forms directly into the system. Send automated notifications to subcontractors when compliance is nearing expiration.
- Increase Team Collaboration: Integrate with takeoff solutions such as Procore, Stack and BIM 360 to encourage multiple estimators to work on the same project.
- Share Documents in Real Time: Leverage Microsoft Azure’s document management capabilities to maintain a centralized database with granular access controls.
- Risk Management: Identify risks with automated risk mitigation recommendations. Conduct risk analysis of projects annually or for a specific timeframe. View financial benchmarking, key metric calculations, capacity recommendations and safety performance histories by creating risk profiles.
- Quantity Takeoff: Price items by determining material quantities to create accurate estimates. Export takeoff lists to CSV. Manage takeoffs and data updates in real time as per project requirements.
- Vendor Management: Verify authenticity of automated follow-ups, renewals and reminders. Integrate with existing ERP systems to internally monitor subcontractors' backlogs.
- Bid Calendar: Automatically create a calendar consisting of bid details and manage workloads. Filter calendar views by month, week or day. Access files by zooming in on bid details.
- Bid Levelling: Add new information after receiving bids by editing scope sheets. Validate awarded bids by exporting into Excel.
- Bid Board: View bid invites pertaining to departments or across an entire office. Track deadlines, project files and workers’ schedules to streamline bidding processes. Assign jobs to team members to help eliminate duplicate work entries.
- TradeTapp: Submit qualification applications and evaluate vendor lists calculated by several factors, such as financial metrics, backlog capacities, safety performances and operational histories.
- Analytics and Reporting: Identify historical relationships with subcontractors. Analyze information in real time to make data-driven decisions.
- Subcontractor Network: Filter data by locations, labor requirements and trades to find potential subcontractors. Add subcontractors to a “Do Not Use” list to block bid invitations. Allow multiple users to update changes in real time to help avoid manual data entry.
- Bid Invitations: Build custom mailing lists and edit bid invitations using mail editing functionality. Create ITBs using pre-built templates.
- Document Sharing: Upload project documents of different formats. Grant editing permissions to authorized users. Publish public documents to websites through XML integration.
- Mobile Interface: Use the mobile app to monitor bids and responses. Access project data off-site.
- Subcontractor Management: Manage a subcontractors’ network by integrating with public registries.
- Subcontractor Database: Import existing databases to find qualified subcontractors. Sort contacts by project types, trade codes and service areas.
- Bid Comparison: Analyze bid submissions and compare multiple bids to select the ideal subcontractor for the project.
- Prequalifications: Create custom forms online to collect subcontractors’ data consisting of supporting documents and confidentiality agreements.
- Nonconformance Tracking: Avoid manual data entry using optical character recognition technology. Enable subcontractors to upload compliance documents. Receive overdue nonconformance notifications to help ensure prompt action.
- Reports and Project Metrics: Generate color-coded reports to detect spam emails, duplicate companies and minorities. Create custom reports to track bidding processes. Analyze reports of subcontractors who received bid invitations and submitted bids.
- Integrations: Transition from pre-construction stage to building stage by integrating with Procore, Autodesk BIM 360 and Stack. Integrate with Dropbox to upload, store and share project files.
Product Ranking
#4
among all
Construction Bidding Software
#12
among all
Construction Bidding Software
Analyst Rating Summary
73
42
83
76
89
85
Support
Planroom & Document Management
General Contractor Functionalities
Bid Request Management
Subcontractor Functionalities
Planroom & Document Management
Subcontractor Functionalities
Integrations & Extensibility
Subcontractor Prequalification
Bid Request Management
Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data
BuildingConnected
SmartBid
Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data
Analyst Ratings for Vendor Qualification Requirements Customize This Data
User Sentiment Summary
202 reviews
95 reviews
BuildingConnected has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 92% when considering 202 user reviews from 3 recognized software review sites.
SmartBid has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 87% when considering 95 user reviews from 3 recognized software review sites.
4.3 (18)
4.4 (24)
4.6 (176)
4.4 (64)
4.7 (8)
4.0 (7)
Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews
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BuildingConnected is a web-based platform that assists users with bid, subcontractor and risk management modules. Many reviewers were satisfied with the solution’s document management functionalities. Several users noted, the product offers an easy-to-use interface that helps simplify bidding processes and save time. However, many observed, the system’s webpage doesn’t work well on mobile devices. They also criticized that the platform didn’t provide enough formatting options for reports. Overall, the software’s a good fit for companies needing help with document storage and bidding operations.
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Screenshots
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