Field playbooks 7 min read
Timing your outreach: the trade-window playbook
Every trade has an ideal window measured from the permit date. Call before yours opens — not after it closes.
A permit starts a clock. Excavators are needed almost immediately; painters aren't needed for months. BuildMapper models this per trade as a trade window — and timing is the heavyweight of the whole score, worth up to 30 of the Timing bucket's 36 points when a project is squarely in your window.
The ideal windows
Days measured from the permit's issue date. Inside the ideal window is the strongest signal; the weeks just outside it still earn partial credit, because real schedules slip.
| Trade | Ideal window opens | Ideal window closes |
|---|---|---|
| Excavation | Day 0 | Day 14 |
| Concrete | Day 0 | Day 28 |
| Foundation | Day 7 | Day 28 |
| Framing | Day 14 | Day 42 |
| Roofing | Day 28 | Day 60 |
| Envelope | Day 28 | Day 70 |
| Cladding / Siding | Day 35 | Day 70 |
| Mechanical / HVAC / Plumbing / Electrical | Day 42 | Day 84 |
| Insulation | Day 56 | Day 98 |
| Drywall | Day 70 | Day 98 |
| Finishing / Flooring / Paint / Cabinetry | Day 98 | Day 140 |
NoteWindows stretch with project size — a $20M tower at day 90 is still in framing, not stale, and BuildMapper widens the windows automatically for bigger jobs. Institutional projects stretch the most; renos and tenant improvements compress. Use the window to decide when to start calling, then let the conversation tell you the real schedule.
How to play it
- 1Call before the window opensGCs line up subs ahead of need. If your ideal window opens at day 28, the sub list may be closing at day 14. A permit a week or two ahead of your window is a calling window that's open now.
- 2Watch in-review permits if you sell big projectsPermits still in review — filed but not yet issued — are spec-stage signals. For multifamily and commercial work, that's the best time for early-phase trades to get in, before the project ever hits construction.
- 3Lead with the schedule, not your pitch"I saw the permit for 1200 Main go through — when are you looking to lock in roofing?" positions you as someone who tracks their project, not a cold-caller.
- 4Treat 'window passed' as a relationship callMissed this one? Ask what else they have coming. The builder pulling one permit pulls the next one too — star them and their next pull comes to you.
- 5Suppliers: shift everything two weeks earlierMaterial gets specified and ordered before the trade mobilizes. If the framing window is day 14–42, the lumber conversation is day 0–28.