Remove the “Con” from Contractor
Put Customers at Ease While You Save Time & Money
BuildSOS helps honest contractors and service providers to put clients at ease by providing authenticity and transparency that reduces the risk for builders and homeowners along with tools to run your business more efficiently, saving you time, money, and headaches. With our platform, you can even build your estimates directly from the Home Depot live catalog and get orders shipped directly to the build site.
Challenges with the Residential Construction Industry
Decades of storm chasers and scammers posing as honest contractors have caused reputational harm to our industry. As a result, homeowners and insurers have become skeptical of residential builders and subcontractors, and the burden is on you to prove you are honest and trustworthy.
To make things worse, you might be underbid by a competitor who is using unethical practices to keep costs down. You lose the job, and the homeowner sooner or later finds out why the bid was so low. This results in disputes and legal issues, and complications with insurers who may be involved in paying out a claim for the work.
Homeowners have learned to not trust builders and subcontractors. After all, someone they know has been taken advantage of and they have their guard up, and most clients are uneducated in the process because it is their first time doing major renovations or repairs.
The few scammers that rip off the public put legitimate contractors’ backs against the wall from the start. This adversarial relationship is exacerbated after disasters because now you have to fight their insurance and mortgage companies too. Additionally, the homeowner is emotionally exhausted, and the clock is running because they want to get home.
BuildSOS was created as a solution to this issue. Verify your identity and credentials with BuildSOS and show homeowners that you are legitimate and honest.
A Better Way
BuildSOS offers three ways to minimize the disaster after the natural disaster via verification, technology, and transparency.
- Verify the “Good Guys” – show you’re legit and give your prospective clients peace of mind that they can trust you so you’re not starting off as adversaries. Get an edge over cheaper bids from unethical competitors.
- Easier Estimates – streamline your estimating process using pictures the homeowners provide from before the storm, use Hover functionality to get accurate measurements, and get real-time, discounted pricing directly from Home Depot through our exclusive partnership. Leverage ContractorTools estimating and invoicing functionality, if needed, to simplify your paperwork.
- Transparency Throughout – easily stay on the same page by updating your clients and the insurance company about the repairs, expediting the approval and payment process.
Stop Being Adversaries with Your Contractor & Insurance Company
Every party involved, including the homeowner’s mortgage company, has safeguards to protect them and reduce their risk. These safeguards cause more time delays and drive up the cost for everyone involved.
BuildSOS created a structure that provides transparency after every step to expedite the rebuilding process because it reduces the risk for every party involved including you, the homeowner, their insurance company, and the client’s mortgage company. From the beginning, you build trust by being a verified contractor and continue that throughout the project with our software, which prevents misunderstanding and free rework by following the same, transparent process.
This provides peace of mind because it reduces risk, gets projects done faster with higher client satisfaction (that leads to more referrals), and gets you paid faster with fewer headaches.
How BuildSOS Got Started
A small group of contractors, many of whom sit on Louisiana’s contractor licensing boards and are leaders of area home builder associations, teamed together after seeing the unnecessary challenges and fraud in the rebuilding efforts from the 2016 floods that impacted Southeast Louisiana. They wanted to help their neighbors get back into their homes faster so their communities could be together again.
The main reason rebuilding efforts took so long and cost so much was a lack of coordination, clear processes, data sharing, and trust.
Delays and costs increase because the residential construction industry involves many participants who lack common processes. This is further worsened by homeowners uneducated about the rebuilding process.
BuildSOS empowers homeowners by giving them the control to identify good and fraudulent contractors through our verification process. We also empower homeowners through education on what to expect when rebuilding and transparency in the process.
Contractor Verification
First of all, BuildSOS is not a lead source for contractors. Contractors cover our costs to get verified and pay a fee for our estimating and project management software.
Our self-verification process includes:
- Registered with the Secretary of State
- State Contractor License
- Valid Business Insurance
- Criminal Background Check
- Business in Good Standing with Secretary of State
BuildSOS does not verify the quality of work a contractor does on every job, that is done by the local permitting/building code office. However, we do educate homeowners on what to look for (and how to build stronger) and our software enables photo documentation of construction progress that your clients and their insurance company can use to expedite releasing funds.
What’s Next & How to Get Verified
Sign up is simple and takes only minutes, and then you will be part of the BuildSOS family.
After you are registered, take the additional step of self-verifying. Once verified, you’ll be able to easily show prospective clients that you’re a legitimate contractor. Homeowners are being educated to “Card Your Contractors” to verify them and insurance companies are starting to offer discounts for working with verified contractors because it reduces their risk and paperwork.