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Twelve questions to ask before buying preconstruction software
A buyer’s checklist for GC owners and precon managers, including the ones vendors would rather you did not ask.
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Every construction software demo looks good. These questions separate a tool that fits how your precon department actually works from one that will sit unused after the pilot.
About the work
- Does it cover the whole chain — postings, scope, packages, leveling, bid sheet, buyout — or one slice that still needs a spreadsheet on either side?
- Where does the scope come from? If the answer is “you type it in,” the hard part is still yours.
- Can I edit what the AI produces, and can I see where each line came from?
- Does the bid sheet export to Excel, and can I bring a priced sheet back in?
About your subs
- Do subcontractors pay anything to receive packages? They should not.
- Can I see who opened and downloaded, not just who was sent?
- Do subs see anything beyond the package they were sent?
About your data
- Is my company’s data isolated from other contractors on the platform?
- Are my documents used to train models?
- Can I get everything out if I leave?
About the deal
- Is pricing per company or per seat? Per-seat pricing punishes you for putting the whole team on it mid-bid.
- Will you run the demo on one of my live projects instead of a canned sample?
Our answers are on the pricing, security, and contact pages. Ask us the hard ones.
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See it on one of your own bids
We will walk through the platform using a project like the ones you bid, not a canned sample.
Or email contact@preconstruct.ai