Self-managed subcontractors and self-contracts

Two different situations

These two features are easy to confuse. They solve opposite problems.

Self-contract: your client is not on BuildColab

A general contractor whose investor does not use BuildColab still needs a contract to work against: to bill progress, to sign subcontracts and to track margin. The self-contract records that deal. Your company is both client and contractor of it, and your project moves to the Execution (Изпълнение) phase.

When Turn into contract appears

• Your company created the project.
• The project is in the offering phase. An offer made on a self-serve request (a tender you received outside BuildColab) can also be turned into a contract in the Execution phase.
• It is your own offer, not an offer a bidder sent you. A received offer never shows this button.
• You have the project permission Execution (Изпълнение) at Edit. Without it the button is gray with "You do not have permission to create contracts on this project."

How to turn your offer into a contract

1. Agree the final version of your offer with your client.
2. On the project page Offers (Оферти) find the offer card and click Turn into contract (Превърни в договор). Or open the offer and click Turn into contract in its action bar.
3. The panel Create contract (Създаване на договор) opens: "Create a contract based on a selected version of the offer. After the contract is created, the project will automatically move to the Execution phase. From this moment on, you will be able to create reports and sign contracts with partners."
4. If the offer has several versions, pick one in the version picker ("Version {n}") and check the Total value. With a single version the panel shows the BoQ name instead.
5. Fill in Contract type, Payment method, Deadline, Advance payment and Warranty retention. See Contract proposals for what each term means.
6. Click Create contract (Създай договор).

1. The panel Create contract (Създаване на договор) with the note that the project moves to the Execution phase.
2. The BoQ the contract is based on (Task list (BoQ)). When the offer has several locked versions, a version picker and the Total value appear here.
3. The terms: Contract type, Payment method, Deadline, Advance payment and Warranty retention.
4. Create contract (Създай договор) signs the contract at once. It is active when the terms are filled in.

"Creating contract..." then "The contract was created successfully" confirm it, and you return to the project page. The contract is signed as version 1, the offer card shows Contracted (Договорена), and the project is in the Execution phase. The contract appears under Contract with client (Договор с възложител). Nobody is notified.

Changing a self-contract

Open Contract with client → Related (Свързани) → Contract changes (Промени по договор) and click Make a change (Направи промяна). The draft uses the budget wording: it is titled Draft - budget changes (Чернова - промени по бюджет), and you commit it with Budget acceptance (Приемане на бюджет) or part of it with Accept part of the budget (Приемане на част от бюджета). Each commit is a new version of your contract with the client. See Partial acceptance.

Self-managed subcontractor: your subcontractor is not on BuildColab

A self-managed subcontractor is a real company record in BuildColab, so offers, contracts and payment applications can point to it. It has no employees, no plan and no login. Your company owns it and performs every step it would normally perform. That is why the buttons say "on their behalf" (от негово име).

• It never logs in and never receives e-mails or notifications from BuildColab.
• Its offer, contract, changes and payment applications are one-step actions of yours: there is no send-and-accept.
• Its company e-mail is optional and only a contact note.
• It appears in your Partners (Партньори) list, and with the badge Self-managed (Самоуправляван) in offer requests and comparisons.
• Its contract counts on your cost side like any subcontract: in Contracts with contractors, in commitments and on the financial dashboard.

Creating one

• From an offer request: Self-managed contractor (Самоуправляван изпълнител) in the request panel. See Recording offers from companies outside BuildColab.
• From the Contract with a contractor dialog: Create self-managed contractor (Създай самоуправляван изпълнител) in its first step. See below.

Creating it needs the company permission Partners (Партньори) at Edit.

How to sign a contract on behalf of a self-managed subcontractor

Use this when you recorded its offer on an offer request.

1. In the request panel expand the contractor's card and click Review (Разгледай) on its recorded offer.
2. On the offer page click Create contract on their behalf (Създай договор от негово име). The button appears when your project is in the Execution phase.
3. In the panel Create contract (Създаване на договор) fill in Contract type, Payment method (default Upon report, На отчет), Deadline, Advance payment and Warranty retention.
4. Click Create contract (Създай договор).

"Creating contract..." then "The contract was created successfully" confirm it. The contract is signed for both sides at once and appears under Contracts with contractors. The same checks as for any contract apply: "You cannot create a contract from an offer with zero-priced tasks." and "You cannot convert an offer with a zero total value into a contract."

How to contract positions directly from your BoQ

When there is no offer request at all, for example for a small job agreed by phone, you can contract selected positions of your budget straight to a self-managed subcontractor. No offer request is created.

1. Open Contract with client (Договор с възложител), or Budget (Бюджет) as an investor, at its latest version, with the project in the Execution phase.
2. Select the positions or categories, right-click and choose Contract with a contractor ({count}) (Сключи договор с изпълнител ({count})).
3. Step Contractor (Изпълнител): search with "Search by name or email". Contractors you already have a contract with are under With a contract on this project (С договор по проекта), marked "Has a contract → annex · «{contract}» · v{version}"; the rest under Other self-managed contractors (Други самоуправлявани изпълнители). Or click Create self-managed contractor (Създай самоуправляван изпълнител). Click Next (Напред).
4. Step Prices (Цени): every position gets a default price ("Default prices: {source}"). Type the agreed unit prices, or use Import from Excel (Импорт от Excel). Restore default prices (Върни цените по подразбиране) undoes your edits. Positions of the same work must have the same price.
5. Step Terms (Условия): Contract name (Име на договора), deadline ("Choose a deadline"), contract type, payment method, advance payment and warranty retention.
6. Step Confirmation (Потвърждение): "The contract will be signed now on behalf of {partner}." or, for a contractor you already have a contract with, "The items will be added now to the contract with {partner} as a new version."
7. Click Create contract on their behalf (Създай договор от негово име), or Add as an annex (Добави като анекс).

The result is "The contract with {partner} is signed." or "The items were added to the contract with {partner}." Open the contract (Отвори договора) takes you there. Back (Назад) returns a step; closing asks "Close without saving? The prices and choices you entered will be lost."

1. The steps Contractor, Prices, Terms and Confirmation.
2. The search "Search by name or email".
3. Create self-managed contractor (Създай самоуправляван изпълнител).
4. The group With a contract on this project (С договор по проекта): choosing one adds an annex.
5. The group Other self-managed contractors (Други самоуправлявани изпълнители).
6. Next (Напред) moves to the prices.

Rules and messages in Contract with a contractor

Changes, extensions and payment applications on their behalf

• Change orders: on the contract open Contract changes → Make a change (Направи промяна). The draft's button is Finalize (Финализирай) instead of Propose change, with "Are you sure you want to finalize the change to this contract?". Finalize part (Финализирай част) commits only selected changes. The project page shows Change-order draft in progress (Чернова на промяна по договор) with Continue editing while a draft is open. See Change orders and extensions and Partial acceptance.
• Extensions: contracting another offer of the same contractor adds it to the existing contract; you finalize it in full with Finalize.
• Payment applications: you record its reports and finalize them yourself; they are approved at once. See External payment applications.

Permissions and plan

Both features need a paid plan or trial. See Subscription, plans and billing.

Common questions

Related

• Recording offers from companies outside BuildColab
• External payment applications
• Change orders and extensions
• Partial acceptance
• Partners