#1 most frequent
United States of America
84.1%3,276 installations of 3,897
What is Buildertrend?
BuilderTrend is a construction management system. It includes functionality for pre-sale, project management, financial management, and customer management processes. It also provides mobile accessibility.
Categories & Use Cases
Media
1 / 4
Screenshot of the homeowner portal
Top Performing Features
Jobsite reports
Users can create and share reports on jobsite safety, daily progress, etc.
Category average: 8.1
As-built drawings
Users can generate as-built drawings upon project completion, to reflect the exact dimensions and materials of the final work, including any changes made to the initial plans during the construction process.
Category average: 7.8
RFI tools
Users can create, send, receive, and archive Requests for Information (RFIs), to record exchanges with subcontractors, vendors, and other suppliers.
Category average: 8.4
Areas for Improvement
Takeoff tools
Allow users to list the materials and quantities they will need for the project either manually from hardcopy blueprints or electronically from digital blueprints.
Category average: 7.7
Job costing
Tracking and monitoring of the costs of all materials, labor, subcontractors, & equipment required for a given construction project. Allows users to compare actual costs to estimated costs, see how the job is progressing, identify which parts of the job are using the largest parts of the budget.
Category average: 7.5
Cost databases
Pulls information from online databases and aggregates it to allow contractors to compare prices of materials from different suppliers.
Category average: 7.6
Who Buys & Uses Buildertrend
#2 most frequent
Canada
7.2%281 installations of 3,897
#3 most frequent
Australia
4.4%170 installations of 3,897
We continue to be excited about growing with Buildertrend!
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We are a custom builder in the south east building bespoke and one off unique homes. We build from the oceanfront to inland and each home varies significantly in scope and budget. Buildertrend is the software we use to mitigate the variables, and keep as much as we can consistent, repeatable, and predictable.
Pros
- Templates
- Scheduling
- Job Costing & Budgeting
- Communication & Customer Service
Cons
- Implementing AI
- Client Portal and Client Portal Reporting
Return on Investment
- With Buildertrend, there is no limit to how much we can scale up. Or alternatively scale down if we needed to.
- Certainly the most valuable ROI we've received is getting our time back.
- Training and Onboarding is much more simplified now. We certainly prioritize new hire candidates that have Buildertrend experience.
Usability
Other Software Used
QuickBooks Online
My business changing experience with Buildertrend
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
Buildertrend has been instrumental to the growth of my business. It has also allowed for me to keep in touch with all aspects of my business, even when I am not there myself. It has removed chaos from our jobs sites and improved my employee retention and effectiveness.
Pros
- Project Management
- Financial Tracking
- Scheduling
- Client communication
Cons
- Undo button
Return on Investment
- Improved financial tracking has led to improved profit
- Detailed and shared schedules has helped improve our build times.
- Client communication tracking has improved our client satisfaction and protected us.
- Job logs have helped as in many scenarios to be able to go back and view what happened on the job.
Usability
Alternatives Considered
CoConstruct and Procore
Other Software Used
monday.com, Bluebeam, Dropbox
Buildertrend for the win
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We use Buildertrend every day. It is monumental to run our entire operation. The are essential to all we do with our firm.
Pros
- Owner portal and access for our clients
- Manage scheduling and to do items for our team
- Track time cards and financials
Cons
- Cost plus financials
- WIP
Return on Investment
- Our ROI is so much higher because of what they do
Usability
Buildertrend is disappointing for a small contractor
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
Buildertrend's listed pricing information is obsolete, they have revised their pricing to start somewhere north of $900 per month, pricing me, a long time user and early adopter out of their system. I'm a small contractor, with one user, and maybe $190,000 annual volume. In my opinion, $17,000 in overhead expense is outrageous, and I feel I've been kicked to the curb by a system that has decided to abandon their existing user base because we don't offer the revenue stream they desire, despite our long term support and use. In my experience, they even charged me an additional monthly fee two weeks after I requested cancellation, during which time I never accessed the program. In my opinion, they started out as a very responsive user-oriented company, but success has led them to stab their original users in the back. Beware the "Midwestern Nice" fluff they project, I feel this company is not your friend unless your volume exceeds two million dollars.
Pros
- Selections
- Messaging
- Daily logs
Cons
- Pricing
Return on Investment
- The prior year cost me roughly $4300, which was barely reasonable for my volume. Some clients liked the format, some hated it and didn't participate. In my experience, few subcontractors or suppliers embraced the program, severely limiting the effectiveness.
- For the coming year the fees would have exceeded $17,000, far too much for a program with limited client, employee, and subcontractor appeal with as small a volume as I have.
- Honestly, for the last year, I feel they've been a burning tire hung around my neck and I regret not cancelling them in early 2019, I'd have $10,000 more in my pocket and no significant negative impact.
- I did appreciate the daily log as a way to report on progress, but less than half my clients made use of this option.
Other Software Used
Microsoft 365, QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Adobe Acrobat
BUILDERTREND = Awesome for BUILDERS *Not so much for Sales or Marketing*
Pros
- (Customer Service Tools) Buildertrend has an excellent Homeowner portal allowing them to view their details easily, communicate well with us, and keep confidential items separated for security.
- (Cost Tracking) Through Change Orders, Product Orders, Contracts, and more, the Financing section keeps everything on track for us and the Homeowner.
- (Daily Logs) My personal favorite. We have somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 ongoing jobs. It helps me learn and stay on the same page with the whole team by checking the daily logs every day and seeing where each project is at.
- (Customer Info & Filters) Through a wide range of specifications and options, Buildertrend allows us to quickly search and find the right projects fast.
Cons
- (Sales) In our opinion, respectfully, Buildertrend just does not have anything close to the CRM Tools that others like Salesforce or Hubspot have.
- (Marketing) Same as the answer above. If you want to market your business and get fast data on how your ads, website, or other tools are doing, Buildertrend just doesn't have it.
- (Notifications) After about two years of using Buildertrend, I still have issues with NOT receiving notifications that I get from Clients. Because we have a big team of people, it is best practice to take certain people off the general notification list for specific jobs. It would be great if there was a way to do that but still receive a notification if you got a direct message from someone.
Return on Investment
- (Positive) While I don't have real dollars or data to share, I can definitely say that Buildertrend helped our business to grow. Buildertrend streamlined and continues to streamline our processes. We are not just more efficient, we are more effective as a team.
- (Negative) Sales and Marketing were handicapped by Buildertrend for a number of years. After switching to an alternative CRM for these two teams, our online presence and number of sales have increased.
Alternatives Considered
HubSpot CRM, HubSpot Marketing Hub and HubSpot Sales Hub
Other Software Used
HubSpot Sales Hub, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Wistia, Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)
