Job Board — the Work Order Marketplace
The core differentiator. Clients post work orders, you filter to what fits, you bid. No outbound prospecting, no per-lead fees. Win on quote quality and speed.
Why the marketplace works
Inbound work, no outbound prospecting
Clients post the work. You filter to what fits and bid. The marketplace flips the lead-gen model — instead of chasing, you respond.
Pre-qualified by location and trade
Listings show only jobs within your service radius and tagged for your trades. No more wading through landscaping work when you do plumbing.
1% platform fee, no per-lead charge
ContractShield takes 1% from contractors and 1% from clients on completed projects. There's no flat lead cost like Angi or Thumbtack — you only pay when work actually happens.
See the competition
Each listing shows how many other contractors have already bid. Use that signal to price competitively without underbidding yourself.
Filter strategy
Trade
General contracting, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, roofing, carpentry, drywall, painting, landscaping. Multi-select supported.
Tip
Set this once on your profile (Account → Service categories) so the default board is pre-filtered. You can still add ad-hoc filters per session.
Distance
Defaults to your saved service radius (Account → Profile → Service radius miles).
Tip
If you're slow, bump to 50 miles for a session and see what comes back. Don't permanently widen — driving costs eat the margin.
Budget range
Min and max budget posted by the client. Useful when you want to filter out tiny jobs.
Tip
Be wary of 'no budget' listings (client didn't fill in budget_min/budget_max). They tend to convert poorly because the client hasn't done the homework.
Posted within
Last 24 hours, 3 days, 7 days, 30 days, all time.
Tip
Bid on fresh listings (24-72 hours old) for highest-conversion. Anything past a week typically already has 5+ bids and the client is decision-fatigued.
Urgency
Low, medium, high, emergency. Set by the client when they posted.
Tip
High and emergency listings often have a small bid pool because contractors hesitate. If you can move fast, those convert at 2-3x normal rate.
Listing → bid workflow
1. Open the listing
Tap the card to see full description, property address, photos, urgency, budget range, and how many existing bids.
2. Read carefully — especially photos
Clients underestimate scope 40% of the time. The photos tell the truth. Compare what's described to what's pictured before pricing.
3. Click "Build a quote"
Drops you into the quote builder at /contractor/review-pricing/[work_order_id]. Pre-populated with the work order title and description.
4. Use AI suggestions OR build manually
AI suggestions pull from your past quote history + market rates. Manual gives you full control. Most contractors mix: AI for line items, manual for unit pricing.
5. Review the risk assessment
Click 'Get risk assessment' before submitting. It flags scope ambiguity, schedule risk, and pricing comparables. Costs 1 AI credit but catches expensive mistakes.
6. Submit
Quote moves to 'sent' status, the client gets a notification, and you wait. Average response time is 36 hours; anything past 5 days, send a follow-up.
Common scenarios
Job posting has no photos
Use the work-order chat (Message button on the listing) to ask the client for photos before bidding. Shows you're thorough and lets you scope accurately. Don't bid blind.
Listing already has 8+ bids
Skip unless you can win on speed or specialty. Crowded listings = client comparing on price. Your hourly rate likely won't survive the race to the bottom.
Client wrote a vague description like 'kitchen remodel'
Write a quote with line items based on what's typical, but flag the assumptions in the cover note. Better: send a question via the work-order chat first.
Wide budget range ($5K-$25K)
Either the client doesn't know what they want or they're testing the market. Bid the middle and let your line items justify why. Don't anchor to the high end without evidence.
What to watch out for
Listings always feel too far away
Account → Profile. Confirm your ZIP and service radius. Default 25 miles is too small for rural areas — bump to 50 or 75. Save and refresh the job board.
I keep bidding but never winning
Read your past lost bids (Contractor → My quotes → filter to 'rejected'). Compare your line items and totals to industry rates. Often you're either too high (price perception) or too low (client thinks you'll cut corners).
Client posted a job but never responds to bids
Send one polite follow-up via the work-order chat after 5 days. If silent past 10 days, mark the lead as cold and move on. Some clients post and disappear — not your fault.
Bid total looks right but profit is thin
Quote builder shows margin under the totals. Aim for 18-25% net on residential, 12-18% on commercial. If you're under that, your line items are missing markup or your labor rate is too low.
Ask the assistant first
"Any new jobs near me?" — the assistant runs the same job-board search you would, filtered to your trade and radius, and reads back the freshest 3-5 listings. Faster than opening the page.