Saving time and costs with real-time project management

The Challenge

BBL Construction Service, ranked #254 on the ENR400, is a design-build firm that operates nationwide from a single office. Managing bid invitations and sourcing qualified specialty contractors in remote areas required extensive cold calling and manual data entry, slowing down the pre-construction process and consuming valuable time.

The Solution

In 2023, BBL revamped its bid management process by integrating the Procore Construction Network with their existing Procore Bid Management tool. This integration centralized contractor outreach and bid evaluations, significantly reducing the time required to source contractors and speeding up the pre-construction phase.

The Results

• With access to thousands of specialty contractors through the Procore Construction Network, BBL drastically cut the time needed for each bid
• By minimizing back-and-forth communication with contractors, BBL finalized pricing faster, reducing the pre-construction phase and accelerating project starts
• Procore’s Bid Management tools allow BBL to replicate bid documents from previous projects, saving eight or more hours of pre-construction work

The Search for Specialty Contractors

Founded in Albany, NY, in 1973, BBL Construction is a leading design-build firm who proudly embraces its local roots. Operating from a single office while managing projects nationwide, BBL’s focus has remained on delivering quality services. Despite their expansion, with 40% of their $529.5 million annual revenue coming from projects outside New York, BBL faced a significant challenge: sourcing qualified specialty contractors in remote cities. Their pre-construction process was burdened by extensive cold calling and manual data entry, consuming valuable time and prolonging the pre-construction phase.

Historically, BBL’s project managers spent an enormous amount of time manually sourcing contractors, only to face a high rejection rate. Cold calling would often result in discovering that 80-90% of companies were unavailable or didn’t meet the project’s requirements. Even when they found the right contractors, manually entering details into their Bid Management system added to the workload. Each time BBL entered a new market, they had to restart the entire process, leading to inefficiencies that affected their ability to quickly finalize bids and move projects forward.

“We typically called 50 to 100 contractors for each scope of work,” said Sean Leach, Project Manager at BBL. “It was a huge time drain, and often we’d only find 5-10% who met the scope of work.”

Transforming Bid Management

BBL has been a Procore user since 2014, utilizing its Preconstruction platform to manage the bidding process. The introduction of the Procore Construction Network (PCN) changed the process entirely. By leveraging the extensive database, BBL could now access contractors who were better aligned with their project needs. “The companies in the Procore Construction Network are more in line with our requirements. It eliminates the guesswork,” Leach explained. “Now, around 80-90% of the contractors we reach out to are a match. It’s a complete turnaround.”

Not only did this increase the accuracy of their contractor outreach, but the process became faster and more automated. With the click of a button, BBL could invite contractors to bid, saving hours of manual data entry. Once bids were submitted, updates were automatically tracked, reducing the need for follow-up phone calls and emails.

The Bid Management tool allowed BBL to save time across their entire pre-construction process. By eliminating the need to manually track subcontractors in spreadsheets, BBL could replicate bid documents from previous projects with ease. If they returned to a market, the tool allowed them to instantly access a list of contractors who had been previously solicited in that area.

“Creating and sending templates used to take at least eight hours per scope of work. Now it’s just a click of a button,” said Leach.

The Impact of Efficiencies

BBL’s ability to quickly secure accurate bids from subcontractors directly affected their speed in reaching GMP agreements with clients. Project Executive Eric Weatherwax noted that much of their initial client negotiations depended on the timely validation of numbers from subcontractors. “The faster we can get accurate data, the sooner we can finalize a contract with the client,” he explained. This efficiency allows BBL to speed up project timelines and manage more projects simultaneously, giving BBL a competitive edge.

Today, Procore’s platform has become essential for BBL in sourcing new partners, saving hours of labor costs on each project and shortening the preconstruction timeline. Weatherwax sees this as a prime example of how leveraging the right technology and partnerships can transform operational challenges into a competitive advantage.

“Construction has traditionally been resistant to technology,” he says. “But once you experience the benefits, it becomes clear that it must be a core part of your business. Procore has been a fantastic partner in making that transition.”