Invitation only · For contractors, builders and trades
Buy from the source.Bid on bigger work.Build faster.
Scout is an AI that runs the office a small contractor can’t afford. It works the phone and email like a purchasing manager, reaching the manufacturers and national distributors a small company never gets on the line. Then it keeps going: the bids and follow-ups, the permits, the contracts, the deliveries, the subs’ paperwork, the books, the boring hours. You text it. Nothing to learn.
For contractors, builders and trade businesses. Every application is reviewed by a person.
9:41
SScout
iMessage
You:
Yard’s holding tomorrow’s delivery. That return still isn’t credited. Can you call?
Return receipt.pdfPDF document
Scout:
On it.
Later
Scout:
Called the yard. Credit posted, hold removed. Dispatch confirmed tomorrow’s delivery. Sent the confirmation to your site lead.
You:
That was going to eat my whole morning.
iMessage
Illustrative conversation
arborBuilt by Super Arbor
Scout runs on the supplier desk behind Super Arbor, the trade marketplace for building materials. That desk already works the phone with distributors and manufacturers across the country, for real orders.
5,900+
Sourcing runs
4,900+
Supplier contacts
2,500+
Supplier price records
Arbor operating data, September 8, 2026.
That thing you never have time for
Big help. Small ask.
A quote. A receipt. A quick text. Give Scout somewhere to start.
Their “best price.”Checked at the source.
Illustrative conversation
Sample prices from Arbor’s original Scout demo. The negotiation is illustrative.
Stop buying retail.Buy direct.
Illustrative conversation
Backordered six weeks.On site Tuesday.
Illustrative conversation
These are illustrative conversations, not customer transcripts. We agree on your first workflow during onboarding.
The boring hours
The work that eats your evenings. Handed off.
Fifteen jobs contractors complain about on the trade forums. Pick one. That is the text you send, and what comes back.
15 hrs
a week on admin in a small shopHVAC Know It All, Dec 2025
65 hrs
a month lost to payment paperworkRabbet Construction Payments Report, 2025
82%
had work delayed by a late paymentRabbet Construction Payments Report, 2025
BooksTen hours a week on receipts and QuickBooks, on evenings and days off.
9:41
SScout
iMessage
iMessage
Illustrative conversation
What changes
Ten hours a week of bookkeeping, done the day it happens. Your accountant gets a link, not a shoebox.
Comes up on PlumbingZone · ContractorTalk
Paraphrased from public threads on ContractorTalk, Mike Holt’s Forum, ElectricianTalk, PlumbingZone, HVAC-Talk, LawnSite and JLC Online, 2023–2026. No names, no quotes. If it’s on your list and not on this one, text it anyway.
The result, not a wall of text
Every job comes back as a page.
When the work is done, Scout sends a link. The quotes side by side. The crew with their insurance. The change order, ready to sign. Forward it to your partner, your estimator, the owner’s rep.
Every line has its document. The quote, the credit memo, the confirmation. Nothing is Scout’s word alone.
It’s yours to share. A link, private by default. Send it to whoever needs it.
Nobody needs an app to open it. The people you forward it to don’t need Scout.
scoutMade for Dave · 21 SeptShare
Drywall · 220 sheets
5/8″ Type X · Delivered Thursday · Oak St
Quotes3 received
DeliveryThursday · 2 drops
Same board, delivered
Your yard · $3,124 · Thursday
Matched the distributor’s price. Both drops kept. Revised quote in writing.
Revised quote
National distributor · $3,124 · Wednesday
Job quote on the same board, delivered. Held until Friday.
Quote
Manufacturer’s regional · $3,015 · Friday
Best price, wrong day. Kept on file for the next order.
Quote
Compared Monday, 21 September 2026. Prices are the suppliers’ written quotes.
Quotes
3 received · Same spec, delivered to Oak St
Your yard, revisedThursday · both drops · PDF
$3,124
National distributorWednesday · job quote · PDF
$3,124
Manufacturer’s regionalFriday · too late · PDF
$3,015
Your yard, originalThursday · first quote · PDF
$3,290
Every quote is the supplier’s own document.
Illustrative job sheet
The mission
More money on every job. Faster builds.
That is the whole point of Scout: to give a small company the reach, the legwork and the follow-through of a big one.
Big builders don’t get better prices because they negotiate harder. They get them because they can reach the source and do the legwork. Scout gives a small company both.
01Where most companies buy
Your yard
Counter price and stock on hand
Next-day delivery
One rep, one relationship
02Scout works here
Regional distributor
Job quotes on volume
Alternate brands, same spec
Freight consolidated across jobs
03Scout works here
National distributor
Project pricing and allocation
Direct-ship freight from the plant
Trade credit and job accounts
04Scout works here
Manufacturer / mill
Rep support and project registration
Contractor programs and rebates
Spec-equivalent products, in writing
Most companies stop at the first rung. Scout works all four on every job and brings back what it finds in writing.Availability varies by trade, region and order size.
Six places a job leaks money. Scout checks every one.
Material price
Is the yard’s price the market’s price? Scout gets delivered quotes from the source for the same spec and the same date.
Freight and timing
Does the delivery land when the crew does? An idle crew costs more than the freight ever will. Scout confirms the truck before the crew rolls.
Credits
Did every return, short ship and damaged pallet get credited? Scout reads the statements and chases the credit memo until it posts.
Extras
Is every extra written up before it’s forgotten? Scout drafts the change order from your site notes and gets the approval in writing.
Rentals
Is anything still on rent that isn’t on site? Scout tracks the end dates and books the pickup.
The draw
What’s holding this month’s pay app? Scout finds the missing document and chases it until the money moves.
Every answer comes back with the paperwork, so you know what each one was worth.
Your new workforce
A thousand of the best people in the trade. You just run them.
That’s what Scout is. Not one assistant: an estimator, a purchasing desk, a vendor manager, a permit runner, a contract reader, a sales lead, a marketing manager, an HR desk, a bookkeeper and a chief of staff, working at the same time, on every job, all night. They know who has the stock, what the plan checker wants, which clause to push back on. You text. They come back with it done.
One text. The whole office moves.
7:40 am
9:41
SScout
iMessage Today 7:40 AM
You:
We got 14 Oak St. Kitchen, bath and the deck. Plans and the customer’s contract attached. Start in three weeks. Set it all up.
Oak St · plans + contract.pdfPDF document
Scout:
On it.
iMessage
Illustrative morning · one new job
The desk0 of 12 done
7:52 amEstimatorTook off the plans, sheet by sheet, into your estimating format.
8:05 amContractsRead the customer’s contract. Flagged the payment terms and a missing change-order clause.
8:30 amSalesSent the customer two kitchen layouts with 3D views, so they choose before you buy cabinets.
8:44 amPurchasingSent the material list to your yard, the regional distributor and the mill’s rep for delivered quotes.
9:05 amPermitsFiled the permit application and booked the plan check.
9:20 amVendor deskRead last month’s invoices against their quotes. One overbilled.
9:41 amDeliveriesSet the framing drop for the 14th. Boom truck, 7 am, Luis receiving.
10:02 amSubsBooked your tile and electrical subs. Collected W-9s and current insurance.
10:15 amBooksSet up the job in your accounting, invoiced the deposit, scheduled the draws.
10:38 amMarketingAsked your last three customers for a review. Drafted the finished-job post for later.
10:55 amHRPosted the lead-carpenter opening you’ve been putting off. Screening starts tomorrow.
11:10 amChief of staffPut the three decisions that need you at the top of your day. Everything else, handled.
A week of office work, done by lunch. Every item with its document. Three decisions for you, the rest handled.
What they already know
Which branch actually has allocation this week
What the rep can do on a job quote that the counter can’t
Which clauses in a subcontract to push back on, and the words that work
What the plan checker in your county rejects on the first submission
Which manufacturer programs pay you back, and how to claim them
What a GC’s prequalification packet really needs
Illustrative morning. Prices, times and counts are examples of the work, not a customer record. Every real result comes back with the supplier’s own documents.
The office you couldn’t afford
The staff a big builder has. Now you do.
Every role below is someone a big company employs, or a professional a small one pays by the hour. Scout does the work of each. Keep the people you like working with; hand the rest to Scout.
01
Chief of staff
Plans your day before you’re up. Holds the three decisions that need you, chases everything else, reports what moved.
$69,500 a yearto hire · BLS, May 2025
02
Purchasing manager
Delivered quotes from your yard, the distributor and the mill’s rep on every list. The best price taken back to your yard to match.
$83,770 a yearto hire · BLS, May 2025
03
Vendor manager
Invoices read against quotes. Price increases answered with your volume. Credits, returns and warranty claims chased until they post.
The other half of the purchasing desk. Big builders staff both.
04
Deliveries & receiving
The truck, the window, the equipment and the person who signs. Shortages and damage photographed and claimed the same day.
$62,150 a yearto hire · BLS, May 2025
05
Estimator’s desk
Takeoffs by sheet, in your format. Conflicts in the drawings flagged, RFIs drafted. You set the price.
$78,740 a yearto hire · BLS, May 2025
06
Contract reader
Every clause read before you sign. The ones that cost you flagged in plain English, the requested changes drafted.
$490 to review one contractto hire · ContractsCounsel, 2026Not a lawyer. Your attorney advises; Scout gets her the packet.
07
Sales lead
Every estimate followed up in your voice. Past customers re-engaged. Leads answered in five minutes, site visits booked.
$73,500 a year, plus 3–6% commissionto hire · ZipRecruiter 2025 · Everstage 2026
08
Marketing & SEO
Google profile, reviews, one page per job type and per town, in your words with your photos. No fluff, no agency.
$2,500–$4,000 a month to startto hire · Hook Agency, 2026
$500–$2,500 per permitto hire · Permit Place, 2026
10
HR & crew desk
Openings posted, applicants screened, references called. Subs’ W-9s, insurance and lien waivers collected before every draw.
20–30% of first-year pay per hireto hire · iRecruit, 2026
11
Bookkeeper’s prep
Receipts matched, deposits and draws invoiced, late invoices chased, the accountant’s packet assembled.
$43 an hour, before the CPAto hire · NerdWallet, 2026
12
Design & 3D
Layout options from your sketch, rendered in 3D with plan views and the cost difference, so customers decide before you buy.
$500–$1,200 per renderingto hire · Cedreo, 2026
Hiring costs are US figures from the sources named, 2024–2026; your market varies. Scout does the work. Where the law requires a licensed professional, that person still signs.
What you do with a team like that
More done. Not more people.
01
Buy like the biggest builder in the state.
Job quotes from national distributors. The mill’s rep on the phone. Programs and rebates you didn’t know you qualified for. Ten to thirty percent below counter price, from the source, on every order.
02
Keep every vendor honest.
Invoices read against quotes. Price increases answered with your volume. Backorders found at another branch. Credits chased until they post. Your existing suppliers, managed like a big account manages them.
03
Bid on the work you used to pass on.
Every invite priced or passed on purpose, with the reasons. Addenda tracked, suppliers re-quoted. Prequalified with the GCs you want before they ask.
04
Sell like you have a sales team.
Every estimate followed up, in your voice. Reviews asked for. Leads answered in five minutes. Customers shown what they’re buying, in 3D, before they say yes.
05
Never lose a day to a slipped delivery or a no-show.
The exact material found and held at another source. The truck, the window, the receiving, arranged. The approved crew vetted and booked. In hours, with the paperwork.
06
Collect every dollar you’re owed.
Return credits, short ships, extras, rentals, pay apps, late invoices. Chased until the money moves, and reported when it does.
07
Hire without losing a week.
Openings posted, applicants screened, references called, interviews on your calendar. Onboarding packet ready for whoever you pick. Subs’ paperwork collected before every draw.
08
Run the office from the site.
Permits filed, inspections booked. Contracts read before you sign. Receipts, W-9s and payroll ready for the accountant. Your Monday planned by 6 am.
A better way to delegate
Start with one task. Build from there.
No dashboard to learn. No integration project.
01
Apply with a real task.
Four questions about your business and the work you want off your plate. A person reviews every application.
02
Get your invitation.
We invite businesses whose work we can take on. Your first task, contacts and rules are set up with you personally.
03
Text it. Hand it off.
Scout works within your rules, tells you when something changes, and brings back the result with the paperwork.
Private access · Selected businesses
Your unfair advantage. By invitation.
Scout is for contractors, builders and construction businesses. We select teams with work we can take on, then onboard each one personally. Applying starts a review, not automatic access.
4 questionsPersonal reviewInvitation required
No payment to apply. Invitations depend on fit and availability. We use your details only to review your application and contact you about Scout. Page usage is measured anonymously to improve the page; anything you type here is masked. Privacy policy
