General

Q: What is BuildPartner?

A: BuildPartner is a project management platform for construction. It helps architects, surveyors and contractors manage projects under £1m in a simple and transparent way.

Q: Why use BuildPartner?

A: BuildPartner is the only project management software for construction work under £1m. The other option is to use Microsoft excel, and since it is not specifically made for this purpose, there is a lot of repetition and wasted time.

Q: How much does it cost?

A: BuildPartner costs £40 pcm per company plus 1% of successfully tendered project value to the winning builder. You can read more on our pricing here.

Q: How do I get started?

A: You can request an account by filling in the form below. We look forward to hearing from you.

Q: My question isn’t here; how can I ask it?

A: Feel free to send any questions to [email protected], and we’ll reply as soon as possible.

Architects

General

Q: Can more than one user log into one account at the same time?

A: Yes, just be careful scheduling the same project at the same time, work can be lost if the changes contradict.

Cost Plan

Q: How accurate are the average prices and how often are they updated?

A: Averages prices are updated live from the builders current accounts. So labour labour rates, materials prices, and margins are always representative of the prices on the system.

Q: Where do the benchmark prices come from?

A: The benchmark prices are averages of rates saved in builders accounts which make up the quotes they submit on the platform.

Q: The wall area is calculated from the size of the room and the ceiling height, but if in a remodel as an example, the windows take half of the wall area, is that being offset somewhere or not?

A: No, if they are normal-sized windows ‘cutting in’ (painting around the windows) is as costly as painting the area, so there is no change. If the windows are abnormally large, e.g. wall height glazing this needs to be manually changed later.

Q: Can we create our own templates?

A: Yes, but to begin, let us know what you would like to add or change in the existing ones, and we’ll do it for you.

Q: Does BP scale rates to outside London?

A: At the moment, we do that manually, so let us know when you want to do a project externally, and we’ll apply a scaling factor to that project. We’re looking at integrating this into the product eventually.

Scheduling

Q: How do I change the specification?

A: In the material section in each task.

Q: For remodels, is there anywhere you can input the linear meterage of how many partitions I need to build or is that an average?

A: Yes, that is expected for wall area changes. Quantities can be manually updated at the scheduling phase.

Q: Who is doing the schedule and is responsible for the specification and quantities?

A: There are three options for this.

• You guys can do it yourselves, and it will be in your hands completely.
• We provide a scheduler for you, which costs 0.1% of the project value and is returned when the project goes to tender.
• Ask the QS you work with to use the platform to do the schedule, and we can set them up as a team member of yours.

Q: The prices feel a bit too exact for the early phases.

A: We had this feedback before and made a note to change the initial prices to a rounded range but are trying to avoid doing it at the moment. If this continues to be a point of confusion, let us know, and we will make the change.

Q: How can you check inclusions and exclusions, e.g. air conditioning and heat pumps?

A: We are working on inclusions/exclusions functionality. For the moment, it’s best to assume everything is included. For more specialist items, e.g. HVAC systems, we can show you how to add them manually. Just get in touch with us!

Q: Can I add a subcontracted or provisional cost to a task?

A: Certainly, click on the “Edit task” button on the right side of the task. There, you’ll have the option to tick in if it’s a subcontracted or provisional cost.

Inviting builders to quote

Q: What if a contractor wants to tender outside of BuildPartner?

A: If a builder insists on pricing the old fashioned way the schedule can be exported to excel and then re-uploaded.

Q: What are the most common teething issues with onboarding new builders to the platform?

A: Builders need to spend a bit of time getting used to the system. But they only need to do it once and it is much quicker than the time they spend on quoting today. After that, it’s smooth sailing, and we’re always there to support them whenever they need it.

Q: How many builders are using BuildPartner?

A: Around 80 building companies have submitted quotes through the platform.

Builders

General

Q: How many architects use BuildPartner?

A: There are around 100 architecture companies that have created cost plans through the platform.

Q: Can we add items or tasks on the quote?

A: Changes to the schedules can always be suggested to the architect.

Material Rates

Q: It’s my first time quoting via BP, and the material list is very long. Do I need to price them all before submitting the quote?

A: As there are so many material rates, and not all of them will be in the schedules, the best way to check them will be task by task in the quote.

Labour Rates

Q: What are the default labour rates based on?

A: They’re based on averages collected over the years and are a useful starting point.

Pricing

Q: What do you charge the builders?

A: We charge a 0.1% fee for each quote and schedule created which is refunded if you don’t win the project.