Construction Leads for Subcontractors
Most software sold to subcontractors helps you handle the invitations you already receive. That is useful once they arrive. It does nothing about the ones that never do, and the invitation you never got is the one you cannot see.
The same four steps, whether the buyer is a builder, a designer, an owner or a company you want to acquire.
The two problems, and which one you actually have
| Symptom | The real problem | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Too many invitations to price properly | Bid throughput | A bid board or estimating workflow |
| Invitations only from the same three contractors | Pipeline concentration | Reaching contractors who do not know you |
| Losing bids you were invited to | Pricing or presentation | Estimating discipline, not more leads |
| Finding out about jobs after they are awarded | Timing | Seeing projects before the package goes out |
| No invitations in a new territory or project type | Being unknown | Introductions before the list is drawn |
Only two of those five are a lead problem. If your inbox is full and your win rate is the issue, better software for reading invitations will help you more than anything on this page. If the invitations are not arriving, no amount of bid management fixes it, because the constraint sits earlier: the person building the list did not think of you.
Where bid lists actually come from
Four of these five steps happen before the first invitation is sent.
What Builtie does for a subcontractor
- Finds the projects early. Drawn from permits, planning records and construction activity across ten metros, so a project is visible while the general contractor is still deciding who to involve.
- Scores them against your trade. Your discipline, your project types, your territory and the build stage at which your package is decided, so the feed is jobs you could realistically win.
- Names the person who writes the list. Traced past permit applicants, agents and numbered companies to the operating company, and to the project manager or estimator inside it, with email, phone and LinkedIn where each can be verified.
- Runs the introduction. Done-for-you LinkedIn and email from your own accounts, drafted from the project record so the first line names their job rather than describing your company.
What Builtie is not
It is not a bid board, an estimating package or a takeoff tool, and it does not try to be. Those are separate jobs done well by separate products, and a subcontractor who is drowning in invitations should buy one of those instead. Builtie sits before all of them, at the point where a contractor decides whom to ask.
The numbers behind the feed
Bar length is relative within this chart, not a comparison between different units.
A first message that gets a subcontractor on a list
Hi Reza, saw you have the Danforth project underway and another one permitted in Scarborough. We are an electrical contractor working in both areas with capacity next month. If you are still filling trades on either, we would like to price them and can send two references from similar buildings.— Illustrative sample outreach message, Builtie
It asks for one specific thing, which is a place on a list rather than a meeting, and it names two real projects. A project manager can answer that in one line, which is precisely why they do.
Trades this works for
Every trade has its own buying window, and missing it is the most common reason a subcontractor never sees the invitation. Concrete is committed before the site is visibly dug, framing is booked while the foundation cures, roofing and cabinetry are decided during framing, and painting is awarded while drywall goes up. There is a guide for each trade, and a map of when each package is decided.
Builtie plans start at $550 per month per seat for 50 matched projects a month, and $880 for 200. Every plan includes done-for-you LinkedIn and email outreach, and there is a 7-day free trial with 10 projects.
Frequently asked questions
How do subcontractors get more bid invitations?
By being known to the contractors who build the lists, before they build them. Bid lists are assembled from firms a general contractor already trusts or was recently introduced to, so the work is reaching the project manager or estimator while the project is still early, not answering faster once the invitation arrives.
Is Builtie a bid board?
No. A bid board manages the invitations you already receive. Builtie finds projects before the invitations exist, identifies the person who decides who gets invited, and runs the introduction. Plenty of subcontractors use both, because they solve different halves of the same problem.
Does Builtie include takeoff or estimating tools?
No, and it is not trying to. Takeoff and estimating are separate products done well by other vendors. Builtie covers the step before them: which projects exist, which suit your trade, and who awards the package.
How far ahead can a subcontractor see a project?
Projects appear when they enter the permit or planning record, typically weeks to months before the trade package is decided and long before a tender. How far ahead is useful depends on your trade: concrete needs the earliest warning, painting the least.
What does it cost?
Starter is $550 per month per seat for 50 matched projects a month and Growth is $880 for 200, both including done-for-you LinkedIn and email outreach, with a 7-day free trial covering 10 projects.