BuildTopia Pulse - Volume 3, Issue 8

As a frequent user of BuildTopia you are receiving this issue of BuildTopia Pulse. We publish Pulse after each major release. In each issue we highlight product updates, provide pro-tips, and introduce you to our team. We hope you’ll find these emails useful. If you have feedback, we’d love to hear from you!

PRODUCT UPDATES

On Nov 27th we pushed the 2023.8.00 release of BuildTopia. We’ve highlighted some of the noteworthy items below. This is by no means an exhaustive list of what’s in this release. For the full details, read through the release notes in the Library.

ENHANCEMENTS

Bidding and Contracting: Ability to use electronic signatures for Bidding & Contracting so Trade Partners can sign Contracts

• Electronic signature functionality is now included in our Bidding and Contracting module. This will allow users to upload their own Contract document templates and send them to Trade Partners for an electronic signature using either DocuSign or Scribble. Both BuildTopia and TradeTopia users can view the status of the signatures and completed documents through their respective portals.

Bidding and Contracting: Add link to compare UofM Contracts of the same trade

• In Bidding and Contracting, we added a Compare link on the Unit of Measure Contract’s tab. Previously the Compare link was only visible on the Turnkey tab. A link has now been added for UofM Contracts with the same functionality.

Company Setup: Add Change Log to export/upload Lot information

• We have added a new tab on the Admin>Projects>Lot View screen. The Change Logs tab will track any edits made to the Lot details. It will show Old Values and New Values for the revised fields and keep a history for the previous six (6) months.

Trade Partner Account - Lots: Contractors are able to see the contact information for the person assigned to the project.  

• In the Schedule module of TradeTopia, we have added the Project or Lot Construction Manager’s name, email, and phone number to the Tasks, Daily Schedule, and Weekly Schedule tabs. The default contact will be at the Lot level and if no Lot Construction Manager is assigned, then the Project Construction Manager will be displayed.

Bidding and Contracting: When using B&C Edit Matrix, preselected plans from base tab default to options tab

• In Bidding and Contracting, when users view the Edit Matrix screen, the selected plans on the Base tab are now static when clicking the plans drop-down on the Options tab. Previously the selections did not hold on the Options tab. Users can also change plan selections on the Options tab and they will hold when going back to the Base tab.

Always having to click to move to the next set of records?

You can change the setting for this. Go to My Profile > Edit User > Change the Default Number

of Rows to 500 > Save.

NAME DROPPING:  BRENDA BENDER

In each addition we'll interview someone on the Constellation Team we think you should know. For this interview, we asked Brenda a few questions.

Team you are part of:

I am part of the Professional Services Group for BuildTopia.

In two sentences, what is your job?

Assist new clients in the implementation of BuildTopia and Design Studio Manager, as well as ongoing training for existing clients.

What do you love about your job?

I love interacting with builders and I thrive on problem solving, so helping people understand the software and problem solve how the software is going to work for them.

What was your first job?

My very first job, believe it or not was when I was 15 (because we could work at 15 back then).  I worked for a collection agency.  I used to call people and tell them they owed money and how could we work out a payment plan.  Most of the time they were skips.  The phone numbers weren’t good anymore, addresses weren’t good anymore; there was a reason they weren’t paying their bills!

Currently reading:

I hate reading, but I do collect my credits on Audible and currently the book I am listening to on Audible is “Overcoming the 5 Disfunctions of a Team”.  I just started that book, but the one that helped me a lot in this job is “Train the Trainer”.  I’ve never done this type of job before, I was on the builder side for 35 years – this is a total career shift.  “Train the Trainer” gave me a lot of information on how to create the learning environment, so people feel comfortable.

Do you have any pets?

I do have pets: a Pot Belly pig! His name is Brody Baxter Berrington.  He is 6 and a certified Therapy Animal.  I take him to Senior Care Centers.  They’re used to seeing dogs but when a pig walks in, they are all over him!  I also have a dog named Socks. She is a 3-year-old toy Australian Shepherd and a bearded dragon called “Drax”.  I used to have a horse, but she is now retired in California at my friend’s ranch.  I took up show jumping at the young age of 35 - go figure.

Film you’ll always love:

My favorite go-to film is Shawshank Redemption.  I love that movie!   No matter what was thrown at him he always saw there was going to be something better and he was going to get out of that situation.  It was always his frame of mind.

Last show you binged and loved:

Actually, it was Bridgerton, but between seasons I found another one called: Why Women Kill on Amazon Prime.  It’s absolutely hilarious!  It kind of resonates!  My boyfriend and I sat and binged watched it together and we laughed so hard.

First concert you attended:

This is going to tell you how old I am! My very first concert was “Bad Company” in LA where I grew up; I don’t have a lot of highlights about that concert!  My favorite concert was actually my 2^nd concert - “Pink Floyd” The Wall.  It was amazing! They had stuff flying all over the arena.  That was my most memorable concert.

Best snack you’ve had lately:

A Coffee Crisp candy bar.  You don’t get them in America, I have to special order them.  I found them on Amazon and they ship them down to me.  I was introduced to them at the airport in Montreal, and I brought them home with me.  They didn’t last long.

Recipe you’re known for:

If you ask my family, it’s 2 dishes.  They love my spaghetti the other one is my Lamb.  I BBQ lamb chops.  The way I BBQ them and the sauce I make for them, they love it.  That’s all they ever ask for.

Most embarrassing moment:

I have a lot! Let’s see, I was in Anaheim and all dressed up for a date.  I had gotten pulled over because there was an issue with the license tags and my ex-husband getting a ticket.  Anyhow, they pulled me over and put me in cuffs.  My date was an ex-police officer who used to work at that same station they brought me to.  He had to come bail me out.  All the officers knew him, and he knew them!

Favorite emoji:

Sport team you cheer for:

The Denver Broncos; they are having a bad time right now.

Songs on repeat these days:

I’m addicted to Jelly Roll right now, he’s country with an edge.  He’s an ex-con who turned his life around.  What a voice.  If you like country, you’ll like him.

Favourite vacation destination:

Hawaii, the big island because they have 11 of the 13 climate zones all in one island, so you can literally drive up to Mauna Kea in the snow and drive back down and you’re in the rainforest and then you drive over a little bit and you’re on the beach.  We did a lot in the one week we were there!  We did a cattle drive, Mauna Kea which is a volcano and where all the observatories are, and I caught a marlin!

Quotable:

“Your poor planning is not my emergency”.  That tells you a lot about me!

Claim to fame:

I think for me, being a woman in this building industry for 35 years. I think it shocks a lot of people that I was a construction site superintendent for 7 years.  I know how to build a house.  There are 2 types of female superintendents. The ones that tend to be known as not a nice person because they think they can only get things done by demanding.  I don’t manage people that way and I didn’t manage trades that way either.  I asked more questions where they felt more comfortable, and then they committed to me, and they never missed a commitment, ever.  They knew I ran a good schedule and so when I called and said “Hey, by the way I have 5 homes ready for electrical trim. Can you send the crew out and they can roll through all 5?”  They would actually send out 5 crews and get every single house done in one day.