Automatic reminders and escalation for construction defect tracking
Subcontractors are followed up automatically when a punch list deadline passes, by email and SMS, with escalation rules when no response comes. Built for architects managing execution and reception.
The Automatic Reminder System in Builddar is the follow-up engine that chases overdue construction defects on the architect's behalf. When a punch list item passes its deadline, Builddar sends the responsible subcontractor an email and an SMS, then escalates to the next contact if no response arrives. Every reminder is timestamped and logged against the issue, so the follow-up history becomes part of the evidence chain. Architects stop sending manual emails at 9pm and keep the project moving toward reception.
The problem this solves
You log 80 defects during an OPR visit, assign each to a trade, and set a deadline. Then the follow-up begins. You email one subcontractor, call another, send a WhatsApp message to a third, and write down who you chased on a notepad. A week later you cannot remember who answered and who did not.
Chasing is unbillable, invisible work. It happens in the evening, after the site closes, when you should be off the clock. And when a deadline slips, there is no record proving you followed up, which matters when a defect resurfaces inside the 10-year decennial liability window and you need to show the trade was notified, repeatedly, and on the record.
The result is the same every project: deadlines pass quietly, the punch list stalls, and the levée des réserves drags on for weeks because nobody was systematically reminded.
How the Automatic Reminder System works in Builddar
- 01
You set the deadline once
When you log a defect on the mobile app, you assign it to a trade and set a due date. That deadline is the only input the reminder system needs from you.
- 02
Every deadline is watched for you
The due date on every open issue is tracked across the project. No spreadsheet, no calendar reminders, no manual tracking on your side.
- 03
The first reminder sends automatically
When a deadline passes, Builddar emails and texts the responsible subcontractor with the defect, its location, the photo, and the new required-by date.
- 04
Escalation triggers when no response comes
If the subcontractor does not act, Builddar escalates per your rules, repeat reminders, then notification to the conducteur de travaux or the firm's project lead.
- 05
Every follow-up is logged
Each reminder and escalation is timestamped on the issue. The full follow-up history is stored EU-side and attached to the audit trail for 10 years.
What you get
Zero manual chasing
Every overdue reminder goes out by email and SMS automatically. You stop writing follow-up emails at 9pm and on weekends.
Faster levée des réserves
Subcontractors are reminded the day a deadline passes, not the week you remember. Defects close faster and the punch list keeps moving.
A defensible follow-up record
Every reminder and escalation is timestamped and kept for 10 years. If a defect is disputed, you can show exactly when and how each trade was notified.
Escalation that runs itself
When a subcontractor goes silent, the issue rises to the conducteur de travaux or project lead automatically, no item slips through unseen.
Reminders reach subcontractors for free
Subcontractors receive reminders at no cost. They never need a paid seat to be chased, confirm, or respond.
For which projects and firms
The Automatic Reminder System fits any architect managing execution and reception where multiple trades carry deadlines: residential collective housing, commercial and office fit-out, public-access buildings (ERP), and renovation projects. It serves solo architectes d'exécution coordinating a handful of subcontractors as well as OPC and maîtrise d'œuvre teams running hundreds of open defects across several lots. On the architect tier, Builddar for one project at a time, at €49–79 per seat per month, the reminder engine runs on every project you manage, and the subcontractors you chase are always free.