General contracting software
DispatchMind runs a general contracting company from one place: calls and leads in, jobs on the schedule, the work on your team’s phones, then the invoice. Pick General contracting when you sign up and it’s set up for your trade from the first screen. You can change any of it later.
A general contracting job is a pile of visits stacked on one address. Bid walks, phases, specialty crews in and out, inspections, punch list, final walk. DispatchMind keeps every visit, photo and note on one project page, so you always know which phase is stuck and who is supposed to show up next.
A typical general contracting job in DispatchMind
- A homeowner calls about a kitchen and bath remodel, and the office books a project consult and site visit.
- You do the bid walk, take photos and measurements, and send an estimate from your price book that they sign online.
- Each phase gets its own visit on the calendar, with color tags like Waiting on inspection or Trade partner booked.
- Specialty crews log notes and photos from the tech app, and the punch list lives right on the job.
- After the final walk-through you turn the estimate into the last invoice and collect by card.
What general contracting owners tell us slows them down
Phases slip through the cracks
On a long project it is easy to forget the drywall crew can't start until rough-in passes. Color tags show exactly what each job needs next, and the stuck jobs report flags anything that hasn't moved in 60 days.
Too many people, one address
Electricians, plumbers and finish carpenters all need the address, the gate code and the scope. Give each trade partner a tech login with the access level you set, so they see only their own visits and nothing else on your books.
Not knowing if a project made money
Big jobs hide small losses. DispatchMind tracks expenses, parts and crew pay against each job and shows profit per job, so you see which project types are worth bidding again.
Set up for general contracting from day one
Your job types
- Project consult
- Site visit
- Bid walk
- Phase work
- Subcontractor visit
- Inspection
- Punch list
- Final walk-through
The details you keep on each job
- Project scope
- Customer budget
- Target start
- Permit #
- Current phase
A checklist for the work
Phase sign-off: Phase walked with the customer · Photos · Inspection booked if needed · Change orders signed · Site cleaned · Next phase scheduled
A starter price list
Your common items are already in your price book. You set every price; nothing is filled in for you.
- Consult
- Project management
- Labor (per hour)
- Subcontracted work
- Materials
- Change order
Crews
- Put more than one worker on a job. The lead closes it out; the crew sees it in their app.
- Crew pay splits a job equally, or by a percent you set per person.
Nellie knows the trade
Nellie is the assistant built into DispatchMind. On a general contracting account she knows how your customers talk and what to ask:
- What is the project, and where?
- Any plans, drawings or a budget in mind?
- When do they want to start?
- Best time to talk or walk the site?
What she treats as urgent: A safety hazard on an open site; A failed inspection or a stop-work notice.
What she never does: Never quote a project price the company hasn’t set; Never say a system is up to code, compliant or will pass an inspection: the licensed tech and the inspector decide that.
Everything else
- Jobs move through four plain steps: Submitted, In progress, Pending, Done pending approval. Your trade’s own steps are color tags you can sort by.
- Estimates and invoices from your price book.
- A tech app for your team, with what each person may see set by you.
- Reports and commissions worked out from your own jobs.
- Bring your customers and jobs over from the system you use now.
General contracting software: common questions
Can I manage a multi-phase remodel as one project?
Yes. Keep the project on one job page and book each phase, inspection and walk-through as its own visit. Notes, photos and money for the whole project stay in one history.
How do I give specialty crews access without showing them everything?
Each trade partner gets a tech login with the access level you choose. They see only the jobs you assign them, can tap on my way, and add notes and photos. Your money and other customers stay hidden.
Can I keep a punch list on the job?
Yes. Add a checklist and custom job fields for your punch list items. Techs check items off from the tech app and you can see what is left before the final walk-through.
Can customers sign off on change orders?
You can send a new estimate from your price book for the added work, and the customer approves and signs it. Once that work wraps up, bill it right from the estimate.
Can I try DispatchMind for my general contracting company before paying?
Yes. You get a 14-day free trial with every feature on, Nellie included, and no card needed. After that it runs month to month, so you can stop any time.
Related trades
Try DispatchMind free for 14 days
Set up for general contracting. No card, month to month.