What the subcontractor coordination hub does
The biggest schedule slip on a remodel isn’t permits. It’s the framer finishing on Wednesday afternoon and the electrician not showing up until Monday because nobody told him Wednesday was clear. The coordination hub closes the handoff gap between trades.
- Trade contacts as a separate GHL pipeline — plumber, electrician, framer, drywall, tile, paint, HVAC, finish carp — each with their preferred contact method, lead time, and standard scope.
- Auto-dispatch on phase change — when the project moves from
DemotoFramingin the pipeline, the framer gets an SMS with project address, scope summary, schedule window, and site photos. - Confirmation loop — sub replies “yes” or “no” via SMS. “Yes” books them on the schedule. “No” pings the PM to dispatch the backup sub on the list.
- Lead-time aware — each trade has a configured lead time (electrician = 5 days, custom tile = 14 days). Dispatches fire that many days before the trade’s window.
- On-site arrival ping — sub texts “on-site” when they arrive, which timestamps the contact record and notifies the PM. Late by 30 minutes triggers an escalation SMS.
How it works under the hood
The hub is built on GHL pipelines (one for projects, one for subs), conditional workflows, and SMS as the universal protocol because subs don’t read email:
- Project pipeline stage change triggers the workflow.
- Lookup — the workflow queries which trade is needed for the new stage and which sub is the primary for that trade in the project’s ZIP/region.
- Compose dispatch SMS — pulls project address, scope summary (the relevant 4-6 line items from the estimate), schedule window, and 2-3 most recent site photos.
- Send + wait — SMS fires; workflow waits up to 4 hours for a yes/no.
- Branch — yes books the sub on the project calendar and notifies the homeowner via the portal. No escalates to backup; if backup also declines, escalates to PM with a list of all qualified subs in that trade.
Framer-to-electrician handoff — manual vs automated
Framer wraps Wed 3pm → PM forgets to call electrician → Thurs Fri quiet → electrician finally pinged Monday → can't come until Wednesday next week → 5 days lost
Framer marks 'complete' in app Wed 3pm → workflow fires electrician dispatch Wed 3:02pm with photos + scope → electrician confirms Wed 4pm for Friday → 1 day gap, not 5
What it’s NOT
- Not a sub recruitment platform. You bring your sub roster. The hub manages dispatch to subs you already have relationships with — it doesn’t find new ones.
- Not a payment system for subs. Sub payments still run through your accounting (QuickBooks, Bill.com). The hub coordinates schedule and scope; not 1099s, not lien waivers.
- Not an enforced workflow. Subs who insist on phone calls can still get phone calls — the workflow can be configured per-sub to fall back to a PM-initiated call instead of SMS. About 15-20% of veteran trades still want a voice call; the system accommodates them.
- Not a quality control layer. It dispatches and tracks arrival. Whether the framing is square is on you and your PM, not the hub.
Why SMS, not email, not an app
Subs check email at 8pm if at all. They open SMS within 5 minutes. They will absolutely not download a contractor’s bespoke app. SMS is the lowest-friction protocol that 100% of subs already use, and GHL’s 2-way SMS makes the response loop work the same as any other inbox conversation.
The hub uses email only for documents that need attachments (signed scope agreements, W9s, COIs). Everything operational is SMS.