Autodesk Build Reviews & Insights

Score8 out of 10

150 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for Autodesk Build are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Pros

Efficient Collaboration: Users highly praised PlanGrid's mobile apps for their ability to easily share and collaborate on construction project documentation, with multiple reviewers highlighting this feature as extremely valuable. This aspect of the software facilitates communication and collaboration among team members, both on-site and off-site, throughout various phases of construction projects.

Responsive Technical Support: The promptness and helpfulness of PlanGrid's email-based technical support team were greatly appreciated by users. Several reviewers mentioned that they received prompt assistance in addressing any technical issues or inquiries. This level of support contributes to a positive user experience.

Intuitive Interface: Reviewers commended PlanGrid's website layout for being easy to use and understand, allowing new users to quickly jump in and perform basic to moderate tasks without extensive training. The intuitive and user-friendly interface was highly praised, enabling users to navigate the software effortlessly.

Autodesk Build Reviews

17 Reviews

Engineering

PlanGrid is a great solution for document management in the fast paced construction industry.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

January 16, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

PlanGird is used by our Project Management and Field Team to manage and publish drawings, documents, RFIs, and submittals. The company has a standard process to use for PlanGrid that is uniform throughout the company, and our subcontracts explicitly state that they must purchase and hold a PlanGrid license and account. Using PlanGrid help us centralize all of the document management activities involved with Construction Project Management.

Pros

Keeping an up to date set of documents and sharing it instantly with front line workers.
Keeping a history set of drawings, documents, etc. for use in change or schedule management.

Cons

Integration of other software such as BlueBeam or Asta Scheduling Software.
Response times on the web based application.

Likelihood to Recommend

PlanGrid is an excellent option for medium to large general contracting companies in general building construction. PlanGrid provides a single-source solution for all things document-related that previously were spread between multiple software packages or juggled in a hybrid email/fire management system that was easy to lose track of documents.

Verified User

Project Manager in Engineering (Construction company, 201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

PlanGrid for the future

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

January 8, 2019

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use PlanGrid to distribute project and design documents to our field personnel, communicate design changes from the field to the design department, and as a repository for project or system related documents. This allows us to gain faster access to changes or issues for faster build markups and increased productivity. PlanGrid's measurement tools also allow our field personnel to supply more accurate installation tracking information and accurate information for change order related work.

Pros

Drawing markups: The ability to annotate drawings with pictures and their exact locations helps eliminate guesswork and production slowdowns related to design questions
Issue tracking: The ability to note issues and communicate them and their resolution between the field and office help limit miscommunication.
Linking drawings: PlanGrid makes it simple to link drawings to one another, as well as, linking purchase orders, specifications, and listing drawings.

Cons

The lack of auto reports requires users to check in on projects daily and creates extra work should we want to push issues out to our clients.

Likelihood to Recommend

PlanGrid is a great tool to pass annotated installation drawings and questions between field and office personnel.

Verified User

Project Manager in Engineering (Construction company, 201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

Plangrid is a move towards the future

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

January 8, 2019

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use PlanGrid in multiple departments within our company. It connects the field teams to those in the office and in other locations across the country. It is also good for tracking changes in construction, as well as documenting progress for closeout packages in the end.

Pros

Works well on computers, phones, tablets. Great for a large team on many different platforms.
Ease of use. Very user-friendly on all devices.
Can be used for complicated tasks as well as simple tasks. Good tool for taking photos of equipment and assigning to a plan, or for more detailed drawing changes and tracking.

Cons

Pricey for small team users. Would be nice to have team pricing or at least lesser than a nailgun account for users that use under 50 pages.
Some UI improvements are still needed, such as reviewing images that have been uploaded; there is no way to scroll to the next image.

Likelihood to Recommend

It is appropriate for companies that need to track construction. You can track red-lines, update as-builts, assign images, etc. You can also run reports on action items. If you want to keep all your drawings and updates electronic PlanGrid is a great tool. Also, it is great at getting information from the field back to the designers in the office instantly. Not needed for companies that don't work with floor plans regularly.

Verified User

Engineer in Engineering (Wireless company, 11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

PlanGrid as a Project Management/Documentation Control Program

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

December 21, 2018

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

PlanGrid is used to share drawings and documents with the entire project team. Team members can use it to markup/measure plans, as well as overlay previous iterations. The calibration feature is usually pretty accurate and allows users to create complete quantity takeoffs as well as check dimensions. It is used on a few project teams.

Pros

Measurement Calibration
Drawing Overlay
Facilitates collaboration

Cons

System updates are slow
Can only have one measurement calibration per page
Slow to download PDFs

Likelihood to Recommend

PlanGrid is well suited for most project management drawing coordination aspects. You cannot use it for document communications such as submitting/approving RFIs and submittals. However, you can store the final product of these documents in PlanGrid for posting purposes. The takeoffs you do are generally accurate, however, they take a lot of manual work on your part.

Natalee Easthom

Engineer in Engineering at Clark Construction Group, LLC (Construction, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

View profile

Great Tool. Time Saver!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

August 29, 2017

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

All of our project managers, project engineers, and superintendents use plangrid. We use it to review drawings, submittals, and RFIs. We also use it to process RFIs and close out punch lists.

Pros

It gives us the fingertip access we need in the field. For example, an inspector questioned a product we were using. We opened the submittal in the field and showed him the designer's stamp approving the product. This eliminated the concern making his report, which would have required emails and paperwork to resolve.

Cons

I have spent time naming drawings, because there is trouble recognizing the name.
I have also noticed at times the auto hyperlink is incorrectly linked.

Likelihood to Recommend

It is well suited for our use in the field. Everything is at our fingertips. It is not well suited for markups. We prefer to use the Bluebeam suite for markups and various drawing manipulation.

Verified User

Engineer in Engineering (Construction company, 11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

More bang for the buck

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

August 25, 2017

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use this in project management, field supervision and estimating. This addresses real-time information gathering, such as built drawings, photo records, the RFI process, to name a few. We are able to review previous changes to drawings and compare these to current. We can take photos of issues and email them directly to the engineer, architect, owner, and construction manager, for quicker response.

Pros

Real-time, cloud based project data - keeps everyone on the same page
Photo history allowing issues, concerns and documentation of conditions for owner
Easy to navigate site, able to be used on multiple platforms from mobile (IOS or Android), desktop or web based

Cons

RFI format
Adding a pricing request log
More detail on punch list

Likelihood to Recommend

It's great for the mobile QC individual. He can use an iPad for instant access for all projects; not having to unroll and carry 20 to 30 sets of drawings and spec books. Keeps everyone working off the same set of drawings and easy to update. Photos of existing conditions and problems can be quickly documented and emailed out.

Les Yager

LEED Green Associate in Engineering at C. T. Taylor Company, Inc (Construction, 51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

View profile

PlanGrid for subcontractors

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

August 24, 2017

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We have been using plangrid company wide for about 2 years now as a solution to document distribution issues. We offer access to the plangrid software to anyone willing to use it, it is our best resource for ensuring our entire team is up to date with the latest drawings available.

Pros

Plangrid is still the quickest PDF reader on the market. It's the only app that keeps pace with our industry.
The unlimited storage of attachments means that on projects where the number of RFIs can often reach into the hundreds, we never have to make a decision regarding which documents to share with the field.
The simple to use tools, such as quick document mark-up and photo capture have made generating RFIs simpler than ever before.

Cons

It'd be nice to have access to upload and edit documents from the app. Only for certain users.
A small business billing option that addresses multiple users of a single account would make managing access simpler. Being able to load unlimited sheets, but only access a specific limit on your team's devices.
Allow users to integrate their own RFI templates into the app, so RFIs can be generated in your own format right from the field, immediately ready to ship.

Likelihood to Recommend

Plangrid is an excellent document sharing software within your internal team, but it does not serve as a full document management software similar to Procore. It is top notch for viewing and working with drawings, but is no use for distributing drawings for bidding or other purposes.

James Nolan

Project Manager/Estimator in Engineering at Hard Rock Concrete, Inc. Sunnyvale, CA (Construction, 51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

View profile

PlanGrid saves you time and money

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

August 22, 2017

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Plangrid to record all of our snagging on site. This is an invaluable tool and increases the quality and speed at which we record defective issues. All recorded issues are held online which enables multiple team members to view at the same time. We would not be able to complete our work to the same standards without the use of Plangrid. We have tried many other similar products but none are as quick and easy as Plangrid.

Pros

We record items very quickly on Plangrid. Far quicker than by pen and paper and quicker than similar products.
All issues are available online for all of the team to view.
Uploading sheets is easy and quick.

Cons

It would be useful if issues could be assigned to more than one person.
It would be useful if the cost and schedule impact buttons were below 'add photo'. They are rarely used and it slows down scrolling to add photos.
The report produced is poorly formatted sometimes. Photos from an issue regularly are located on the next page. confusing for people.

Likelihood to Recommend

Very good for recording defects. Not great for condition surveys

Verified User

Professional in Engineering (Civil Engineering company, 10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

PlanGrid - A Good Tool

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

August 18, 2017

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

PlanGrid is being used across the whole organization. We are electrical contractors and PlanGrid is used by all our employees in every project in order to keep track of all the changes made by the architects or other specialties. It is a very useful tool for connecting people from all over the country.

Pros

Red lines and changes.
Attaching pictures showing different existing situations.
Attaching change orders to the projects.

Cons

Copy and paste functions are difficult to use for using Plan Grid on the computer
Drawing lines would be a good feature.
Changing font text will be nice.

Likelihood to Recommend

PlanGrid is well-suited for bringing a project in front of the entire team even if they are in totally different places or they use different equipment for using PlanGrid (Computers, Tablets, or Smart Phones). Less suited when multiple people make changes on the same drawings and there are not too many ways to differentiate them.

Alex Zotescu, PE, LEED GA

Senior Electrical Engineer - Design Team Lead in Engineering at Power Design, Inc. (Construction, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

View profile

Great resource for hospital facilities staff; perfect way to access & verify Life Safety drawings & features in the field!

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

August 18, 2017

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use PlanGrid in the hospital facilities maintenance world regularly to view our life safety drawings and confirm the integrity of fire and smoke barriers, etc., during environmental rounds, and to note any life safety deficiencies found during weekly rounds or unscheduled inspections. We are also able to check the size of suites and smoke compartments while in the field, and to capture any changes in life safety features (due to remodels., etc) so our LS plans are updated accordingly.

We used PlanGrid on an iPad while walking portions of our 6m S.F. academic health center campus during our most recent joint commission survey, and the LS code surveyor loved it! Carrying one iPad where we had everything he might ask for at our fingertips sure beat carrying around 4 or 5 sets of LS drawings, some of which have up to 40 pages!

Now that joint commission engineers (LS surveyors) are being forced into the digital age and utilizing tech more, I expect more of them will expect to see hospital facility managers utilizing mobile access to their building floor plans during the survey, and PlanGrid is perfect for this.

Pros

Accessing drawings on the fly. By having the PDFs readily available, you don't have to worry about internet connection issues or lagging issues by going to your plans on a website.
Being able to measure suite sizes, mark issues etc right on the iPad while out in field, instead of carrying a note pad.

Cons

PlanGrid has been focused on design & construction; I'd like to see more focus on user-friendly features (and marketing) to those of use MAINTAINING those facilities once they are built.
We met with rep from PlanGrid last summer here in our office and listed some features we'd like to see included eventually. We were told she would take these notes home to the development team, but no one ever followed up with us for more details or to give us an update.
PlanGrid missed a huge opportunity to market itself to healthcare facilities (where the need for such a product is increasing constantly) by not having a booth or presence at the national ASHE (Healthcare Engineering) conference. Many companies with similar technology were there; I was disappointed PlanGrid was not.

Likelihood to Recommend

Great for hospital facilities team members who need to access Life Safety (LS) drawings - and document deficiencies - in the field!

Melissa McCain

Facilities Quality & Compliance Program Coordinator in Engineering at Indiana University Health (Hospital & Health Care, 10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

View profile

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Great resource for hospital facilities staff; perfect way to access & verify Life Safety drawings & features in the field!

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

August 18, 2017

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

Accessing drawings on the fly. By having the PDFs readily available, you don't have to worry about internet connection issues or lagging issues by going to your plans on a website.
Being able to measure suite sizes, mark issues etc right on the iPad while out in field, instead of carrying a note pad.

Cons

PlanGrid has been focused on design & construction; I'd like to see more focus on user-friendly features (and marketing) to those of use MAINTAINING those facilities once they are built.
We met with rep from PlanGrid last summer here in our office and listed some features we'd like to see included eventually. We were told she would take these notes home to the development team, but no one ever followed up with us for more details or to give us an update.
PlanGrid missed a huge opportunity to market itself to healthcare facilities (where the need for such a product is increasing constantly) by not having a booth or presence at the national ASHE (Healthcare Engineering) conference. Many companies with similar technology were there; I was disappointed PlanGrid was not.

Likelihood to Recommend

Great for hospital facilities team members who need to access Life Safety (LS) drawings - and document deficiencies - in the field!

Melissa McCain

Facilities Quality & Compliance Program Coordinator in Engineering at Indiana University Health (Hospital & Health Care, 10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

View profile