How to find and add subcontractors using “Search”

With BC Pro, you can use our Recommendation Engine to quickly find the right subcontractors for your projects. 

To reach the recommendation engine, once you've created a tender package, click into the tender package. 

In the "Subs" tab of a tender package, click "Add Subs". 



In this article, you can learn: 

• How does the recommendation engine work?
• How does "Search by office location instead" work?
• How to add a subcontractor in "Search"
• What are additional potential matches?

How does the recommendation engine work?

BuildingConnected’s Recommendation Engine recommends subcontractors based on the following four criteria: 

• Work Performed
• Service Area
• Proximity to Project
• Relationship
  

Work Performed, Service Area, and Proximity to Project

Companies in these best matches meet the “Work Performed” you are searching for and also are “willing to travel to” your project location based on the service area set in their profile or their past tendering history. 

Activity and Relationship

The list of best matches is not alphabetically ordered. This is because the companies listed at the top of the list are most likely to perform the trade listed in the “Work Performed” section, are likely to perform work in the project location, are active on BuildingConnected, and have interacted with your company in the past (accepted an invitation or submitted a tender to your company through BuildingConnected). 

Therefore, companies who are not as active and have not worked with your company before will appear lower in the list.

With these four criteria in action, these are the companies that "best match your filters". 

Additional Considerations 

• Other Filters: The other filters below “Work Performed” like "Tags", “Qualification Status” and “Labor Requirements” are not automatic factors taken into consideration by the Recommendation Engine. You can choose to additionally filter your “best matches” by selecting them to further narrow your search.
  
  
  
  
• Preferred Companies: If you use our preferred companies and contacts feature, the companies you mark as preferred will appear at the top of the list if they match the criteria you are searching for. For information about how to use this feature, please reference, “What are preferred companies? (BC Pro)” and “What are preferred contacts? (BC Pro)”
  
• Flag and hide for work performed: Sometimes companies may have the wrong work performed on their profiles. If you notice a company you know does not perform the work performed you are searching for, click the drop-down arrow on a company and click "Flag and hide for work performed". This gives you control to hide a company from appearing for you in the wrong trade. Learn more about how this feature works here.
  
  
  
  
• Do Not Use List: Any subcontractors who have been added to your “Do Not Use” list may appear in the list of companies. However, the “Add” or  “Invite” button will be disabled next to all individuals within that company and subcontractors will not be added by the slider on unpublished tender packages. You can also place a company on the "Do Not Use List" while in the recommendation engine. Click the drop-down arrow on a company and click "Add to do-not-use-list". 
  
  
  

How does "Search by office location instead" work?

You can also choose to search by office location instead of "willing to travel to". Click "Search by office location instead". 

Note: 

• This will search a default of 30 miles radius around the project address. You can edit this number.
• The other criteria (work performed, activity, relationship, and other filters applied) are still considered in the search. 
  
• Office location is not always indicative of where a company is willing to work. 

Edit the mile radius around the project address if desired. You can also adjust the address for your search.

How to add a subcontractor in "Search"

To reach the "Search tab", click "Invite Subs" or "Add Subs" from your Subs tab. 



Click "Add" next to the company's contacts. 

Note: The contact that appears first is the person our system has determined is the best person to reach. This is based on their activity and therefore, likeliness to respond to your invitation. Also, if a subcontractor has noted their own "Primary Contact", that person will be listed first. 

However, if you want to find a specific contact or reach someone else, click on "View all contacts" under the names in that company when available. Click "Add" next to any contacts. 



To quickly add all the recommended companies, click on “Add XX companies” at the top right. This will add the first contact from each company to your subcontractor list. This occurs because the first contact is the person our system has determined is the best person to invite based on their responsiveness. 

Note: This option is add "all" is not available when you have selected "Search by office location instead". 

If you do not want to add all recommended companies, you can use the slider to add the number you desire. Click “Add multiple best matches with slider” 

Note: This option is also not available when you have selected "search by office location instead". 

Slide the number to the left or right to increase or decrease the number of companies accordingly. Click on “Add XX companies”. 



The companies are now added to your list. If your project is not yet published, no one has been invited or notified yet. You can move forward with publishing your project if you are ready. 

What are additional potential matches?

In addition to the best matches, you can scroll through the list of companies and click "See more" until you see a list of companies that “potentially match” your filters. These potential matches are shown after the recommended “best matches”. 



These potential matches meet the filters you have placed on the search in the left side bar, but are not recommended because the company does not have enough tendering activity on BuildingConnected to be considered for recommendations. The list of companies is sorted by proximity to the project location. 

To add these subcontractor, you will need to individually select “Add” next to each contact. The potential matches are separate from the best matches and do not have an add all or slider option.