The Best Preconstruction Software: Downtobid

The preconstruction phase is the most important stage for any construction project. It’s where crucial decisions, like project planning, scope detection, cost analysis, and budgeting, are made, that's why you need a reliable preconstruction software for project management.

General contractors use our software to simplify complex construction projects, recruit and assemble construction project teams, and follow up with the team on any revisions or updates without leaving the platform. That’s just the basics, as Downtobid can do a lot more. Let’s examine the software to determine why were considered the best preconstruction software in the industry. 

Why Downtobid is the Best Pre-Construction Software

Downtobid is more than a bid management software. It's a single online solution to pre-construction challenges like scope gaps. Estimators use it to identify challenges, mitigate risk, ensure 100% bid coverage, and finding suitable subs.

The risk management process helps to eliminate undesirable project outcomes by creating detailed budgets, choosing the right specialty contractors, and using data like material prices and labor rates to make informed decisions.

The preconstruction software is designed to help general contractors handle pre-construction tasks efficiently. Think of it as a personal assistant handling all administrative tasks, speeding up scope summary, and detecting any errors to avoid scope gaps. Here are some more reasons why Downtobid is the best in its field. 

Downtobid is among the few pre-construction software that successfully integrates AI into its operations. The AI-Copilot has many applications during the pre-construction phase, some of which are:

Enhancing Page Turn

Traditionally, general contractors had to go through construction plans manually to detect scopes. The process would take a lot of time and would often have errors, especially when you have many people working on the same designs. All you need to do is upload your plans and let the AI take over.

AI-Copilot does this in less than an hour with minor or no errors at all. Our construction technology goes through the plans to detect potential scopes.

It then writes scope summaries to help subs understand requirements in their respective line-items. Doing so helps target the right subs and improve collaboration. 

For instance, if a project requires plumbing services, the sub reads the respective scope summaries to determine if they’re the right fit. They also understand their responsibilities, helping them plan how to achieve the required objectives in advance. 

The AI also helps to generate automated quantities to help contractors understand the resources needed to complete the project. Doing so has several benefits, including value engineering, where they develop alternative materials and resources to complete the project per requirements.

AI-Powered Subs Matching

AI-Copilot takes off the load of recruiting subs manually, which takes time, with risks of contacting the wrong fit or engaged subs. The AI automatically matches every scope summary to qualified local subs ready to take on projects. 

The auto-matching capabilities allow you to focus on tasks like contacting qualified subs, preparing bid packages, and evaluating bids. 

AI-Powered Self-Cleaning Subcontractor Database

Downtobid provides access to the most updated subcontractor list by using AI to self-clean the database. Doing so eliminates outdated contacts and ensures a smooth and effective bidding process. The AI eliminates the stress of going through the database manually to weed out unresponsive contacts.

The AI automatically executes this by detecting the type of subs you’re mostly interested in for targeted communication. 

Personalized Bid Invites

Downtobid understands that subcontractors receive hundreds of bid invites daily, most of which go unopened. To counter this problem, the software focused on personalized bid invites to help target subcontractors. 

The approach takes two steps:

Crafting personalized and targeted email subjects to entice email opens. It involves including the subs’ names in the title. Here is an example:

“Dear XYZ, These Scopes Could Definitely Fit Your Skills.”

Such an email subject tends to grab their attention, forcing them to open the email. Then, the next part follows.

Downtobid then includes the scope summary in the email, detailing everything about the line-item. Doing so helps the subs identify the project requirements easily without going through the plans.

There are two benefits to this:

The first benefit is identifying and recruiting the right subs for the project. It helps to weed out unqualified or inexperienced subs. 

The second benefit is time conservative, where subs take a shorter time to identify the requirements and respond immediately. It also ensures the project commences on time to help beat deadlines. 

Easy-to-Use Planroom

Downtobid’s Planroom allows subs to access the plans without signing into the platform. This way, they can access the plans related to their trade and review them to determine if they align with their expertise and understand the requirements. 

Downtobid also organizes the Planroom into four folders:

• Plans
• Specs
• Photos
• Misc

The approach makes the Planroom sub-friendly, allowing them to easily find information. Downtobid also auto sheet and indexes every page to help subs find pages relevant to their trade. Doing so increases engagement and promotes speedy responses. 

Enhanced Communication

Downtobid places a lot of emphasis on communication by creating a seamless platform to improve project management. For starters, you can read and respond to emails from the platform without opening your email app. 

Threaded communication helps all parties trace any messages, helping to improve communication and collaboration. It saves the project stakeholders the time of going through countless emails to track specific details and data. 

For instance, a sub might want to clarify details like the deliverables of a specific project. Instead of going through countless emails, they just have to read through the thread to find this information. 

Downtobid also has automated Thank You and Follow-Up messages. The Thank You messages act as a confirmation to the subcontractor when they submit their bids that their bid has been received. The follow-up emails help to reach out to subcontractors who are yet to respond to a bid invite. 

Streamlining Coordination

Besides checking the scopes for error and completeness, our software also automatically updates and informs the construction teams of any changes in the construction. The addenda aspect detects the impacted sheets and emails these changes to the subs to determine how they impact their trade. 

Doing so eliminates any scope gaps to ensure a satisfactory project. It also prevents the subs from going through the entire scope but focuses on the affected pages, thereby improving feedback time and ensuring the project doesn’t derail or miss the deadline. 

Final Thoughts

Downtobid is an amazing pre-construction software that helps detect scopes in construction plans within minutes. Its AI helps auto-match to qualified subs and self-clean the subs database to ensure general contractors connect with the right subs. Downtobid enhances communication and collaboration through threaded messages and alerts subs whenever there are changes in the scope.