In the cutthroat construction industry, speed and efficiency are key to securing contracts and establishing long-term relationships. Whether you’re a project owner, general contractor, or subcontractor, you need a centralized system to handle prompt communication, assign tasks, and monitor progress.
This guide will explore Downtobid to determine what makes it the best construction bid management software and why you should try it.
Note: If you want to send personalized invites in minutes to relevant subs, try Downtobid. Our software breaksdown project plans using AI, gives you 100% scope coverage, and automatically sends out bid invites with sub names as well as relevant project information. Sign up for a demo of our software today.
What is Downtobid?
Downtobid is a construction bid management software and AI copilot for pre-construction and estimating teams: useful to commercial, general contractors, and commercial subcontractors.
For Commercial General Contractors
- Estimators use it to enhance page turn, preventing missed scope (AI checks for all major trades and writes a brief summary)
- The AI Copilot then suggests the appropriate bid packages and matches this against the list of qualified , local subcontractors
- The AI copilot includes the detailed scope of work / sheets to the invitation to bid, ensuring that there are less scope gaps during the preconstruction phase
For Trade Contractors
- Estimating teams can now evaluate 100s of more opportunities at once
- The AI copilot scans through every plan set / bid invite that you receive and detects for scope that’s related to your trade
- If it fits your project wheelhouse, it automatically adds it to a bid board/calendar with all the key details automatically added (deadline, GC, etc)
- Analytics for win/loss
Now that we know what Downtobid is, let’s look at why it’s a unique platform helping transform the construction industry.
Remarkable Key Features of Downtobid
Some of the amazing features in the bid management platform are useful to General Contractors and Contractors, helping streamline their projects, improve communication, and expose them to unlimited opportunities. This includes:
AI Co-Pilot For Preconstruction Teams
With AI gaining traction in the software industry, Downtobid has managed to incorporate the cutting-edge technology into its platform. The AI automation process helps to review the bid packages to determine completeness and accuracy. The feature alone is priceless as it saves you time of going through all the documents manually.
Even with a team to help you review all the project documents, it’s easy to miss critical details that derail the entire construction bid process. You’d also incur extra costs to outsource this task. Downtobid’s AI is fast and accurate, capable of going through hundreds of documents and checking for errors and completeness. You'll have this feature without incurring extra costs.
The AI doesn’t stop there. It also helps to match bid packages to subcontractors. Doing so helps contractors connect with the right subs to ensure proper coverage and prevent scope gaps. Contractors don’t need to go use a template for bid invitation, and go through the evaluation process manually anymore to find the right subcontractor.
Create Bid Invites in Minutes
With Downtobid, you can turn your plans and specs into bid invites as well as scope sheets in minutes. All you need to do is upload your documents, and the bid management platform does the rest.
If that’s not impressive enough, the platform creates personalized invites, helping you establish a genuine connection with contractors. Instead of sending a generic bid invitation that feels like a job interview, Downtobid includes the contractor’s names to make it feel personal and intimate.
You can compare the features of other bid invitation software like e-Builder vs Procore and Downtobid here.
How Downtobid Works
First, click here to get started.
You'll be brought to a page where you can sign up for a demo, then enter your company details.
We will walk you through how to upload your project plans.
Upload your project plans and let AI do the rest.
The AI then goes through each page of your plan set and analyzes it for scope and creates the bid packages. This step takes about 10-30 minutes depending on the complexity of your project. Once it’s done, you should receive an email.
Upon logging in, you should see a full list of all the bid packages the AI copilot created. For each page, it will generate a simple scope sheet that covers:
- an overall description of the bid package
- each instance of where it’s detected scope in the plans
- a list of recommended local, qualified subs that you can invite.
As always, if you’re a GC with your own list, you can choose invite your own subs. Otherwise, you can use Downtobid's subcontractor network.
In addition, the AI automatically creates a suggested bidding schedule to send out your ITBs at optimal times. These ITBs include personalized details and a high-level scope summary so substitutes can quickly determine if the project matches their capabilities, without needing to search through detailed plans. Any necessary follow-ups are scheduled automatically by the system, with the timing and frequency adjusted based on the nearing proposal deadline.
The planroom was designed to be easily accessible for subcontractors without needing to create an account. Subcontractors can quickly view only the drawings relevant to their scope of work. The fast performance and automatic splitting of sheets simplifies the process for them to qualify jobs.
Our streamlined process, without the use of bidding intent buttons, receives significantly more engagement on average - around 30% more responses. Rather than rely on buttons, our AI reviews each replie and Planroom activity to determine a subcontractor's bidding intent and interest level. This allows us to automatically calculate more accurate coverage metrics based on meaningful interactions within the platform.
Lastly, all emails are forwarded to your email. That way you don’t ever have to leave your inbox just to respond to any emails.
You can differentiate between other bidding softwares in our comparison of SmartBid and Downtobid.
Centralized Platform
With so many people and paperwork involved in the construction bidding process, it’s hard to keep up with every document and everyone. Downtobid offers a centralized system, putting everything you need in one place.
With everything done electronically and within the same platform, it becomes easy to track all the bid documents and paperwork involved. You won’t need to dig through countless folders in your office to find one document.
Downtobid has streamlined communication, making it easy for parties involved to share information, project updates, and clarifications on the go.
Finally, Downtobid has ITBs drafted that you can use right away. The platform populates the ITB draft with the relevant details, like the contractor’s names, trade expertise, and project history. This feature helps you create ITBs quickly without needing to write them yourself.
Final Thoughts
Downtobid is helping to simplify the construction procurement process by centralizing everything. The use of AI helps to match contractors to suitable projects and analyze the bid documents. It helps clients turn their plans and designs into ITBs or RFPs within minutes.