Course outline
Sign up where invitations are sent
Most commercial invitations arrive through a handful of networks, and receiving them is usually free: start with BuildingConnected, ConstructConnect's free bid board and a Blue Book listing. Prequalification systems like COMPASS and TradeTapp you join when a GC sends you a link. Paid lead services are optional.
After this lesson you can
- Sign up on the free networks GCs send invitations through
- Know which prequalification systems you'll be asked to fill in, and what they cost
- Weigh the paid lead services before you buy one
Receiving invitations is usually free for subcontractors. The paid tiers are for finding work nobody invited you to.
Where invitations are sent
| Network | What it's for | Cost to you |
|---|---|---|
| BuildingConnected | Autodesk's network, where most large GCs send invitations. TradeTapp prequalification lives here too. | Free to receive and answer invitations. Bid Board Pro, which tracks invitations across all your clients, is quoted on request. |
| ConstructConnect / iSqFt | The Bid Center board, where iSqFt invitations land. Project Intelligence is for finding work you weren't invited to. | Bid Center is free. Project Intelligence is $129 a month per market month-to-month, or from $199 a month per market on an annual plan. |
| The Blue Book Network | The directory estimators search when they need a flooring sub in a market they don't know. | A basic listing is free. ProView, the upgrade, is paid placement. |
| Procore | Some GCs run bidding, and the job after award, inside Procore. | Nothing to buy: the GC invites you into the project. |
| SAM.gov | Registration you need to be paid on federal projects. It takes a while, so do it before you need it. | Free. |
| Dodge Construction Network | Tracks projects from early planning, so you can find the GCs pursuing a job and ask to be included before invitations go out. | Quoted after a demo. |
| PlanHub | Direct invitations on a free profile. The paid plan searches every project inside your radius. | Premier is $1,999 a year for 50 miles, $2,349 for 100 and $3,299 for 200, with a trial. |
Prequalification systems GCs send you
These don't send invitations. A GC or owner sends you a link, and you fill in their questionnaire so they can put you on their list. Most are paid for by the GC. Each GC's subcontractor page says which one they use.
| System | Who uses it | Cost to you |
|---|---|---|
| COMPASS | More than 300 contractors, including STO Building Group (Structure Tone), Gilbane, The Beck Group, Moss, Coastal Construction, Snyder Langston, Burns & McDonnell and Bird. | Free with one GC. With two or more, roughly $1,500 to $2,000 a year; members of ASA, ABC and several other associations get preferred pricing. |
| Autodesk TradeTapp | Whiting-Turner and others. It's the Qualifications tab in BuildingConnected. | Free, for as many GCs as you like. |
| Vertikal RMS | Turner, among others. | Free to apply. |
| Procore Prequalification | GCs that run everything in Procore. | Free; you fill it in inside their account. |
| Highwire, Oracle Textura Pre-Qualification | Some large GCs. | Free; the GC pays. |
| A GC's own portal | Swinerton, for example, through its own CMiC system. | Free. |
| ISNetworld, Avetta | Owners of plants, energy sites and some hospitals and campuses. | You pay: roughly $800 to $1,300 a year for ISNetworld at a small shop plus a setup fee, and $450 to $900 for Avetta's basic tier. Both scale with headcount, so join only when a client requires it. |
COMPASS works from one standard form, the 1Form, filled in once a year: financials, EMR, safety logs, references, bonding and insurance. Every participating GC can prequalify you from it, and you choose who sees your numbers. When a GC you want sends a COMPASS link, it's usually the only way onto their list.
Free places to register too
- Your state, county and city purchasing portals. Public owners are usually required to advertise, and registering puts their invitations in your inbox.
- Your local builders exchange or AGC/ABC chapter plan room, often where regional GCs post first.
- Each big GC's own vendor portal. Most large contractors have one, and it's the only way onto their list.
Prices checked September 2026. Every one of these changes its plans, so confirm before you buy. More detail: where commercial flooring bids come from.
Key points
- Start free: BuildingConnected, ConstructConnect's Bid Center and a Blue Book listing.
- Prequalification systems arrive as a link from a GC, and most cost you only time.
- Register on SAM.gov before you need it if you'll ever bid federal work.
Every invitation lands in one place
Sign up with whichever address each person uses. IntelBid reads every team member's connected mailbox and pulls each invitation into one intake queue and onto the job's activity, so nothing is lost when people register with their own addresses. Open any client to note which prequalification system or portal they want you to use.