As general contractors look to technology for an edge in the slowing commercial construction market, Web-based bidding programs are helping them to connecting bid information, subcontractors, and proposals. A 2008 survey by the Construction Financial Management Association found that 62% of general contractors participated in Web-based construction bidding vs. 43% in 2006.
Web-based bid invitation programs, such as iSqFt.com, SmartBidNet.com and Smartprojectnews.com, give general contractors a private, secure place to invite subcontractors and suppliers to view and bid on their projects, distribute construction documents, and generally streamline the bidding process. The leader in the industry is Cincinnati-based iSqFt with about 700 contractor customers that each pay a fee of $1,800 to $10,000 with extra fees to add users and pre-qualification tools. SmartBidNet and the recently launched Smart Project News are quickly gaining customers.
SmartBidNet: Managing subcontractors
SmartBidNet, College Station, Texas, is the brainchild of founder and president James Benham. Benham invented the program while he was a student at Texas A&M University as a replacement for fax-based subcontractor management services such as Bidfax. Unlike other programs, SmartBidNet's is aimed directly at the general contractor. It makes mundane tasks such as subcontractor bidding, RFIs, and the sharing of construction documents easier.
In SmartBidNet's simple interface, general contractors can create a “favorites” list of subcontractors organized by location, skills, federal minority status, and other criteria for an annual fee. Bidders such as subs have free, 24-hour access to project plans, specs, and other information on any project a general contractor posts to its SmartBidNet page. SmartBidNet also offers comprehensive subcontractor pre-qualification management. SmartBidNet charges by the user and starts at $4,000 a year for its service and only charges extra fees for fax communications.
SmartBidNet has 30 employees, including 17 software engineers, and releases an updated version of SmartBidNet.com every month. Some of the recent improvements to the site include an iPhone app, a pre-qualification form builder, and open XML integration.
Smart Project News: Supplying leads
Smart Project News is a recently launched online subscription service created to provide both general contractors and subcontractors with project information and leads. Users can browse thousands of commercial construction projects from parent company Reed Construction Data's North American project databases and quickly identify the jobs with the most potential. (Note: Reed Construction Data and BD+C are owned by the same parent corporation, Reed Elsevier, Inc.)
Smart Project News users can select a specific project stage—planning, bidding, post-bid, etc.—to search for project opportunities, or they can cast a wider net and search for all projects in the database. Users can also limit their searches by distance, Zip code, (e.g., “10-mile radius from Charlotte, N.C.”), project value, bid date, and owner type. You can also limit searches to prequalified and invited bidders. You can save projects you're interested in into a tab on the Smart Project News site and submit bids online. Users can also set up automated e-mail updates for projects in their area.
The application's project listings provide names and phone numbers of the entire Building Team for a post-bid project; for most projects, the service also supplies plans that can be downloaded as image files. For projects in the planning stage, Smart Project News provides an owner contact, general project information telling where the project lead was originally published, and special categories (e.g., “federal stimulus package project”).
Subscription costs for Smart Project News are determined by the user's location (state, province, or metro area) but average around $1,800 a year. Customers can also go to smartprojectnews.com and buy leads by the project through Reed Construction Data's SmartLeads service, at $150 a project. The Smart Project News service was launched in August.
“As bonding is ratcheted up we're seeing prequalification happening more often,” said SmartBidNet's Benham. “Our sales cycle has picked up as a result of that. Our customers are fighting for the work out there.”
Related Stories
| Aug 14, 2014
Life cycle cost analysis using energy modeling
A life cycle cost analysis helps a school district decide which HVAC system to use in $198 million worth of future building projects.
Sponsored | | Aug 8, 2014
Setting guidelines for construction PDF documents across the AEC industry
Sasha Reed interviews two members of the coalition responsible for creating new Guidelines for Construction PDF Documents. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Aug 4, 2014
BIM Giants: Firms enhance BIM/VDC with advanced collaboration tools [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Cloud-based data sharing, rapid iterative design, and cross-discipline collaboration are among the emerging trends in the BIM/VDC field, according to BD+C's 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 4, 2014
7 habits of highly effective digital enterprises
Transforming your firm into a “digital business” is particularly challenging because digital touches every function while also demanding the rapid development of new skills and investments. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Aug 4, 2014
What AEC executives can do to position their firms for success
Most AEC leadership teams are fastidious about tracking their hit rate–the number of proposals submitted minus the number of proposals won. Here are three alternatives for increasing that percentage. SPONSORED CONTENT
Sponsored | | Jul 30, 2014
How one small architecture firm improved cash flow using ArchiOffice
Foreman Seeley Fountain Architecture not only managed to survive the Great Recession, it has positioned itself to thrive in the economy’s recovery.
| Jul 16, 2014
Learning design fundamentals in the digital age – How to balance learning and technology
My colleague and I were once asked an insightful question by a Civil Engineering Professor that sparked an interesting conversation. He’d been told about our software by some of his students who had used it during their summer internship. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Jul 11, 2014
Are these LEGO-like blocks the future of construction?
Kite Bricks proposes a more efficient way of building with its newly developed Smart Bricks system.
| Jul 1, 2014
Hyper-speed rendering: How Gensler turns BIM models into beauty shots in seconds
In search of a fast rendering solution, Gensler looked to the gaming and moviemaking industries for the next breakthrough tool: Octane Render.
| Jul 1, 2014
Sochi's 'kinetic façade' may steal the show at the Winter Olympics
The temporary pavilion for Russian telecom operator MegaFon will be wrapped with a massive digital "pin screen" that will morph into the shape of any face.
