ApproveThis manages your Buildern Integration approvals.

Let's talk about something construction and project management teams hate more than last-minute change orders: approval bottlenecks. You know the drill - budget sign-offs stuck in someone's inbox, subcontractor onboarding delayed because three managers need to rubber-stamp the same document, purchase orders waiting on that one exec who's always "out in the field."

This is where ApproveThis and Buildern decide to play nice through Zapier. It's not just about connecting two tools - it's about fixing how mid-sized construction firms actually get shit approved so projects stay on schedule and under budget.

Why This Combo Doesn't Suck

Buildern handles your estimates, schedules, and client data. ApproveThis handles the 47 people who need to sign off on those things. Zapier makes them talk without needing a PhD in software integration. Together, they solve three specific headaches:

• Approvals become part of the workflow, not something that happens "later" in a different system
• External partners can approve stuff without you buying them Buildern licenses
• Financial controls actually work because approvals trigger based on real project data

Real-World Uses That Don't Feel Like Busywork

1. Automating Subcontractor Onboarding (So You Stop Losing Days)

When your project manager adds a new subcontractor company in Buildern, here's what usually happens: 3-5 people need to vet their insurance docs, safety ratings, and pricing. Normally this means PDFs attached to 17 forward-all emails. With the integration:

What changes: Buildern triggers an ApproveThis workflow the second a new company is added. The safety officer gets the insurance cert via email, the procurement lead gets the pricing breakdown, and the project exec gets a summary. All can approve/reject without logging into anything. Approved? Buildern auto-updates the company status. Denied? PM gets notified to find alternatives.

Who cares: Operations teams cut onboarding time from weeks to days. Finance avoids paying unvetted subs. PMs stop playing approval detective.

2. Budget Approvals That Actually Prevent Overages

Your estimator updates a project budget in Buildern. The new total exceeds original by 15%. Cue the approval circus. Except now:

What changes: ApproveThis checks the percentage threshold (you set rules like "anything over 10% requires CFO review"). If triggered, it routes to the right approvers with context from Buildern - original estimate, change reasons, impact on timeline. Approvers click approve/deny in email. Result syncs back to Buildern, updating budget status automatically.

Who cares: Controllers get guardrails without micromanaging. Project leads understand approval requirements upfront. Finance doesn't get surprised by budget jumps.

3. Change Orders That Don't Require 12 Phone Calls

Client requests a major change in Buildern. Normally, this needs sign-off from PM, architect, client, and possibly the city inspector. The integration handles it like this:

Buildern triggers an approval workflow with all documents attached. ApproveThis routes it sequentially - PM first, then architect, then client. Each approval step unlocks the next. If anyone rejects or asks for revisions, comments sync back to Buildern's project notes. Approved by all? Buildern auto-generates the change order doc using approved data.

Who cares: Clients get professional transparency. Architects avoid conflicting revisions. PMs have an audit trail when someone inevitably asks "who approved this?"

Setting This Up Without Hiring a Tech Consultant

If you can use a toaster, you can connect these systems:

1. Zapier account: Free tier works for starters (get one here)
2. Pick your trigger: "New Company in Buildern" or "Budget Updated" etc.
3. Choose action: "Create Approval Request in ApproveThis"
4. Map fields: Drag-and-drop which Buildern data goes into the approval
5. Add approvers: Assign people/teams in ApproveThis (they don't need Buildern access)

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis's calculated fields to auto-flag approvals needing extra scrutiny. Example: If Buildern's project budget exceeds $500K and the profit margin drops below 8%, require CEO sign-off automatically.

Why Your CFO Will Stop Yelling

Approval thresholds turn budget policing from a nagging session into system rules. Set conditional triggers like:

• Material costs over $X per sq. ft.
• Overtime hours exceeding Y% of total labor
• Subcontractor markups above Z%

When Buildern data hits these limits, ApproveThis either auto-approves (for routine stuff) or escalates (for exceptions). Finance teams get control without becoming the bottleneck.

What Field Teams Actually Use

Construction isn't desk work. ApproveThis's email approvals mean superintendents can approve purchase orders from their phone between site walks. Features that matter:

Vacation delegate: Project manager out? Approval responsibilities auto-shift to their second-in-command without missing a beat.

Approval groups: Need both safety AND procurement to approve a new equipment rental? Set them as parallel approvers - either by consensus or first-come.

The Part Where We Tell You To Try It

If you're using Buildern and still doing approvals through email chains or worse - paper forms - you're leaving both time and money on the table. The Zapier integration takes an afternoon to set up and pays off in:

Faster project starts: No more waiting for legal to approve every client contract

Fewer cost overruns: Budget checks happen before purchases, not during invoice approval

Less admin headache: Automate the approval logging that someone's currently doing manually

Ready to stop being your team's approval secretary? Book a demo or start a free trial. Worst case? You go back to chasing people for signatures. Best case? You actually leave the office at 5.