Buildertrend Reviews

Phenomenal Software, it should replace everything that a construction company uses. I get that some dont like moving forward to tech, but once you actually put the work into BT to use it, it makes everything so much faster and coordination is top-notch. The fact we can give homeowners access to see whats going on construction wise saves us time and stress. We generally dont need to communicate basic things to them, they can see it for themselves!

The selections software is still a little bit limited, takes hours of work. Some sort of master template to feed everything would be amazing if it could be implemented in the future. Also the loading glitch, and how I have to "click X" to search another property. Can make going through several properties fast to a chore since it has to refresh so many times.

The best feature in this program is communication and scheduling. Also, where other programs have to borrow from many 3rd party programs to achieve their functions, this program is able to incorporate all in one. We are using it for every step of the construction process, from sales to estimates, to job management and scheduling and invoicing. Other neat features include requesting bids to subs and vendors within the program, financing for customers, interactive and customize-able selections for customers within the program. There are other features not mentioned in this review as well. The main point is that this program offers all management needs for builders and contractors, and the software team continues to update and add features according to the requests and needs of those who are using the program.
Also, where competitors charge extra for each user, this company includes unlimited users in their package, as well as unlimited subs and vendors. Some of the functions you would have to pay extra for in other programs like scheduling for crew etc. are included in their main package. Therefore the price, and what you get for your money is way better.

This software is a little more difficult to learn than other competing programs, due to it's complexity and depth of features. At times it's a bit overwhelming, though that is to be expected with the level of depth. Also some other programs have a general appearance which makes the program more inviting and user friendly. That being said, we still moved forward with this program because of the need for more features without having to pay all the extra money.
One feature they really need to improve is their proposal builder. They have good formatting options and cost codes/ item catalogs where you can build price lists within the system, but when you add items into the estimate or create a big template, when you want to go and edit info like quantities etc. you have to go through an ocean of items that are not clearly formatted (they have a worksheet tab for editing items, and a format tab for grouping and changing layout for final appearance, but the worksheet portion is unformatted, and in the format section you cannot delete items or change them at all. Therefore I found the proposal functions to be a bit rocky to deal with. However, buildertrend users can vote on improvements for the program and so there is at least light at the end of the tunnel.

It allowed for progress to be shared with future home owners.

Lots of times photos would not upload and messages would be delayed for days.

I have been in the construction industry for 20 years. I have used different software to aid us along the way. We decided to implement Builder Trend in the beginning of 2019. We are very happy with all aspects of how Builder Trend works and how it helps us .

Issues are so small, don't really bothered to mention.

It is cloud based, so you can access it from any computer or phone. The software is semi-customizable, which has allowed us to label and schedule things how we need them. We absolutely love the scheduling portion and the ability to upload daily logs/pictures from the job site for every job. There are a ton of other features that are really useful, such as the owner payment, job costing, and change order sections. Your overall experience will depend on how well you set up the program initially. If you set it up right, it is a great tool.

While the program is semi-customizable, it is not completely customizable. There is not much they can do to help if you want a feature more customized other than submit a ticket and hope other people are complaining about the same thing. But, that is to be expected with any mass sold cloud based software.

The scheduling feature is what we use most. Its nice to have all the info to our trades and managers so they are fully aware of the project, can see pictures, and have a full scope of work prior to start date. We use the estimating part of the software as well I do wish the contract section had more detail in it which I think it could if we took some extra time to develop that.

Very happy now I can have as many job starts as I would like instead of being limited. Little unhappy that I can have only 3 users and have to pay for more than 3. As the owner who does estimates I want access as a user. I also have a designer who does estimates and she needs access. I also have 2 project managers/carpenters that need access to it as well so I will be looking at having to pay for additional users on top of the price increase I have already incurred but making it unlimited job starts.

Haven't fully used BT to its full potential but we will at some point. The software is top notch I don't have really any complaints that I can think of at this time.

I like the level of customization available in the software, it allows me to detail my proposals, and make them look the way I want, so they stand out from the competition.
Also love the financials feature, and the schedule, so the client always knows what the project balance is, and what is happening next.

To fully utilize the software, there is a lot of data to be entered and updated regularly on a large project, which can take a fair bit of time.

My favourite bit about this software is that I can add as many users as I like and not incur extra charges like we do for other software. At one point we had over 40 users. It's extremely helpful to us to have this feature because as a small business, we want to grow and it's difficult to do that if we can't include all the people we need in a system due to cost.

We had issues with the cost codes. There were issues that could only be dealt with through the backend. I wish we had the ability to fix things like that ourselves including uploading a csv into the system.

The tool was easy to use that I could figure it out with no training

No real cons, but the schedule long could be a little easier to use

This is product is extremely easy to use. I use it for one of my contractors to estimate closet prices for them.

I don't use the entire program, just a small portion so I really don't have any complaints or anything I like least.

I liked that it covers just about all the bases and has a great notification tool. Lots of good options on how the information is received and shared as well as filter features. The 'All-in-one-place' features are what is great both desktop and the app.

I dont like that I cant give my subcontractors the same control or permissions as my internal users. For example i would like to give my contractors ability to write a change order as a request the same way that they write an RFI as well as make requested adjustments to the schedule. Also the reporting features are not robust and useful. Much more reporting features needed for big builders that have many projects going on.

A great construction management tool. Offers flexibility in formatting of different components within the program. Leads are easily tracked with notifications, summary page is very thorough and useful, job info, templates, scheduling, daily logs, To-Do's, Change Orders, time clock c/w geo-fencing, docs & photos, surveys, estimates, bills & PO's, Budget and owner invoices all flow well and again are customizable to fit individual company needs. Owner view is a great option and allows for owner participation and information flow.

No tax module is addressed within the system. This adds a lot of steps and confusion to make sure taxes are added independently in QuickBooks Online (QB). It also confuses the customer on their Buildertrend site. We send all invoices out of QB for contract invoices and change order invoices. A big negative. A great management tool but weak on the interface with QB.

They are fantastic at marketing their product and putting on a good demo. Strong feature set if you can overcome a lack of flow and common sense usability.

Packed with features yet ease of use is paid no mind. I was in the software field when everything transitioned to SAS from legacy hardware. The most important factors (high level) are security, down time, make it extremely user friendly, and feature functionality (not at the risk of losing ground on a user friendly interface). Today, if one can’t jump into a software for the first time ever and make it work with ease then it has little to no value (my humble opinion). This is exactly why many companies provide only 30 or 14 day trials or less. It either meets your needs or not but if you can’t figure it out because the execution is poor and the interface is clunky, it’s not a worthwhile investment. I think this company has focused too much on marketing with social media heads like “The Build Show” for popularity and too little on development. Make it stupid simple to where a VA in the Philippines can use it with ease and no background, only then would I have interest in trialing it. Also, the mobile app should be wiped clean and redone entirely - not usable. On to the next.

Buildertrend is a wonderful way to keep track of what is going on. This includes scheduling; creating, recording and sending documentation; organizing projects neatly; and staying aware of finances. It also has a very helpful Leads section, which helps me keep track of prospects from the earliest stage of when I become aware of them. In a word, I would say I appreciate most the organization which Buildertrend offers.

To be succinct, the user interface (UI) is decent but could use some improvement. The Files section in particular could use some work. I would like it to be versatile and able to navigate easily. An example of improved versatility is being able to access information in a simpler and faster way, such as Windows Explorer offers in how I see and can analyze various folders and files. An example of easy navigation is being able to tile multiple view windows so I can compare file locations across multiple Jobs to keep similar file types in the same locations, and so I could ensure my folders all have identical names across multiple Jobs

I really like that there is unlimited storage and that since it is cloud-based, everyone sees the same data as soon as it is entered. There are also ways to customize the software in several areas, especially To-Do's. Permissions are very granular which can be good, although it can be complex as well.

Understanding how all areas of the software interact is complex, you can't customize fields in Events/Schedule, most of all I dislike the search and filter settings. They are very poor and make it hard to deal with large data sets. Their filters are missing exact matches between items in the same category. There are a handful of other little complaints, but they really need to add custom fields to Events and then update their filter settings to allow exact matches only and also use standard search engine criteria in the text fields.

This software is VERY user friendly no matter what your computer skill level may be. The online tutorials are great and a huge time saver if you are unsure what to do. The customer support staff, should you need them, is always very quick to respond and explains how to execute your task. We were fortunate to have a two day training session with our representatives and that was priceless. Our subs and vendors are able to access our system so it really cuts down on paperwork flow and we know they are seeing the most up to date information on each project. We did have some special needs in our company to tweak things a bit and that was never a problem.

Nothing really, it just takes time to get use to how it flows and again, any question that I did not think of until I dove in feet first, I just emailed or called customer support and got my answers right away.

Buildertrend is super simple for even the lowest tech person. It keeps all our data in one place that all employees can see. Communication is so much better with this product!

Only one complaint - There's no way for the users to record their lunch break so that we can conform to CA regulations, also there's not a way that I know of for the employee to electronically submit their timesheet info with a signature

The client portal is awesome! I wish my current software has one as nice and interactive as BT’s. The dashboard is great as well. I like the daily logs as well, it’s a great little communication tool for project management. Finally the sub portal is fantastic.

It’s difficult to run reports for lead management and marketing. When setting up the Fanny it is dependent on the previous stage, however if someone is assigned to a stage and it doesn’t get Mark as complete on the day it was supposed to there is no automatic dependency, it’s all manual. So for us when there is 30 projects in different pre, in progress and post production phases, it’s a lot to go in and figure out. If you have less than five projects going then it’s fine.

Daily Reports, Budgets, Owners Portal , Lead tracking and use. file management great. All information is in one place & organized.

The To-do Ap is great and has a task check off sheet which is great except for one fatal flaw.

Messaging comes from Buildertrend and not from our own email or our name in front. Confusing clients, reducing branding opportunities for us, creating junk-mail issues with our clients. - We just do not use it.

The Billing side is weird but improving. The payments to subcontractors has improved and can be done on a percentage basis but the billing to clients does not. We use an AIA billing form and use that with the Buildertrend system but the Change orders appear and add to the bill making it awkward and we have to tell clients not to ignore the amount owed on the bottom of the billing.

The selections ap is a good idea and is believed in by some in our organization. It is awkward and confusing and I personally think it would work better if it was treated somewhat like a change order. I think if the change orders show up on Billing page so should selections.

The To-do Ap is great except that it allows the task to be assigned to multiple people. In a way that is good but if more than one person is responsible than no one is. I think it should have a primary responsible person (this can bye done by assigning tasks but that is cumbersome and has other issues.
-The To-do Ap is great and has a task check off sheet which is great except for one fatal flaw. The task check off sheet inside the to-do task is great except that the task can be marked complete by anyone though not all the sub tasks have been marked complete

It provides a solution for managing a construction company

although the program performs many tasks, and even more than we need, it is glitchy and does not provide a smooth experience. When we click on windows to update budgets for instance, the windows flash and reload and resize multiple times. I have tried different browsers and different devices. This is not a user problem, but a problem with the way the data is served up. To perform some routine tasks, there is too many clicks required to get where you need to go. Too many windows and drilling down to get a number changed etc.
Too many places for messages to be hiding. Customers send a message and think we have it, but we have at least three places to check to find the message. Sometimes, messages that come to email cannot be replied to. Very frustrating.
BTW: We used Co construct for a while and liked the flow of the program much better. It ran smoother and was much quicker to get what we needed. It kept the spec sheet in front of the customer and kept good organization of communication. We switched to BT because of job costing and the time card feature, which we now understand are available with CC.
Another huge grind, the budget sheet does not do a good job of showing the running cost on the job and whether we are over or under our budget (variance). Several reports can be created, but none of them do that. We have to export to excel and manipulate it ourselves. Seems like this should be a basic function. CC does this well also. Just sayin' :)

Pictures, prices, all available in one spot.
I love the fact that I can view by location, or category. But it is impractical to use because there is so much dead space between items.
It is great being able to tally up costs as you pick items. unfortunately the costs show up in the wrong fields. See the cons section for more.
I really love the pictures and the details. the fact that I can see multiple images , in different rooms of the floor that I picked, for example.

Very intuitive.

Summary Price information is all wrong. My total price and remaining balance are the same! How can that be? As I pick additional items the dollar figure under selections made goes down. How can that be? I have no idea what my condo rebuild will cost me.
It takes 500 click for me to pick flooring for 1 condo. I should be able to say "I want Tile- Wood Plank- 6"x 24" Lumber Gray tiles throughout". It takes hours for me to record what should take 1 minute!
Each section is organized difrently. in the 1st section (enterance) my tile is 1st on the grid. Then on the second(Kitchen) it is last! This makes it so hard to search.
If I look at a category view, there are page, after page of blank space between items, making it impossible to use. I have to go through 10 pages to move between flooring selections in this view making it useless. The same hold true for the location view. I suspect this is a function of the data loader, but the company and project managers always say "that is the way BY works" When I complain to Road runner restoration they say they can do nothing about it. They state they cant modify the software!
The user has no capability to undo selections! So if we make a mistake we need to wait a month for the construction company to make changes.
Items .
If I logon to two units in the same webbrowser, one overwrites the other! Aaaah!

The included customer service team and support are unmatched. When you're running your business through this program, sometimes you need an immediate answer or need to learn a new feature on the fly and having instant access to those webinars and forums is invaluable.

I also love how detailed and thought through each feature is - it's what made the switch from our old process so easy because they literally thought of everything!

I could go on forever... the custom fields, different types of users and permissions, project templates, sync to Quickbooks... Buildertrend is doing it and doing it well.

Some of the features like selections, financials, and the gantt chart portion of the calendar are definitely more challenging when trying to switch from our current process over to Buildertrend. However, I'm not sure if there is a better way for any of those; I know those will have a learning curve because those are the more difficult parts of the project.

It's hard to come up with cons for the program because I feel a lot of my issues could be resolved by learning more about the feature. I guess I'll leave with a suggestion: maybe emailing or notifying users of the next month's available webinars or reminders to use the resources -- I forgot these existed for about a year, I was just watching the videos available. I would like to see more videos uploaded -- long and short on specific features.

I feel the software is well developed. While I have not used every part I have a pretty good overview of the software and feel that the creators did a good job creating a system that is thorough for our industry.

What I would like to see improved is an ease to using the selections. I spend a lot of time copying and deleting things that could easily be moved around easier with some simple additions to a toolbar like copy, move to another selection / project / category... I would also like a save and close button on the selections. Each time I save a selection my screen jumps around 3 times and then I can click on the X to close the window. I realize this is a small item but it would allow me to move around my projects much faster.

I would also like to see a way to block cost codes that have not been selected on the Allowances so my team is not selecting incorrect codes when inputting selections.

In regards to Allowances it would be nice to have a total for a category that can be broken down into each item. For example, having an allowance for appliances that I'm able to put a total of $5000 as the overall allowance but not breaking each item out while still having my cost codes listed in the Allowance so the totals are captured as selections are entered. This again would be a time saver as I need to watch my numbers but often not to the level of each cost code.

This online management system is so great in every way. It is so intuitive to the construction community. I love the ease of scheduling, the ease of selections, having everything in one place for our team, the level of permissions per team member, and the customer support is off the charts - I don't think there's a rating high enough for them. I used a competitor of BT for years, and it's like driving a Tesla compared to a ModelT.

What I like least is that I didn't find it sooner and the sales experience...barf. I get why they sell the way they do, but it's icky. Eventually, I forgot about how gross it was because the customer service is unimaginably great! Don't not sign-up because your sales person lacks authenticity and makes your skin crawl. The experience after is totally worth it.