A deck CRM that knows the job stops at the footing inspection and starts again when the city says so.
A deck job has a drawing, a permit, at least two inspections and a homeowner who adds a landing halfway through. Software built for a service call treats all of that as notes. We build the CRM around the deck's real sequence: consult, drawing, options, signing, the cooling-off window, the permit, the locate, the pour, the frame, the boards, the final, and the warranty years later.
The deck pipeline has waits built into it, and the office has to see them
Between a signed deck contract and a crew in the yard there is a chain of things that are not your crew's work. The homeowner's right to cancel runs for a few business days after a sale made at their home under the FTC's Cooling-Off Rule, so the material order waits. The permit packet goes to the building department and comes back with questions or a number. The locate request goes in before anyone digs. The footing holes are dug and then sit open until the inspector signs off, and only then does the concrete go in. Framing may wait on another visit. A special-order railing color may wait on a mill. Each of those is a date the office needs to see on a board, and generic field software has no place to put them.
Quoting is the other structural difference. A deck is priced as assemblies: footings by depth, framing by area and height, the ledger or the freestanding beam, decking by material, railing by the foot and system, stairs by the riser, tear-out, and add-ons like lighting and covers. Buyers want the same footprint priced in pressure-treated, composite and PVC with the railing choices as add-ons, and they want to pick from a link on their phone. A system that stores one price per job cannot do that, and the spreadsheet that does it never makes it back into the job record.
Then the job keeps going after the final. The manufacturer warranty on the boards has to be registered, the homeowner wants the stairs or the lighting they skipped, the neighbor wants a deck, and the agent who sent the home-sale repair wants to know you will answer next time. The record has to hold all of it.
What a deck builder's CRM has to track
Every item here has, at some point, left a crew standing in a yard with nothing to do.
Drawings and quotes with versions
Each revision of the drawing and each option quote stored on the job, so when the homeowner approves version three with the wide stair and the aluminum rail, that is what the crew builds and what the permit packet shows. Tiering the options is covered in our good, better, best guide.
The cooling-off hold and the deposit
A sale signed in the home carries a cancellation window under the FTC's Cooling-Off Rule, so the deposit is recorded at signing and the material order stays locked until the window closes. State deposit and contract rules may apply as well; a lawyer where you build can confirm them.
Permit packet, number and every inspection
The submittal date, the department's questions, the permit number, and each required inspection (footing, framing, final, and any your town adds) with its date, result and photos. A pending or failed inspection holds the next crew step automatically.
The locate ticket before the auger
Footings are a dig, and the 811 program asks anyone digging to request a locate a few business days ahead, with each state setting the notice period. The ticket number and the clear-to-dig date are stored on the job, and the footing day cannot be scheduled without them.
Takeoff, lead times and deliveries
The approved drawing becomes a list of posts, beams, joists, hangers and fasteners, decking boards and railing components, with special-order colors flagged for lead time and delivery timed so lumber is not sitting on the lawn for a month.
Draws, change orders and the final
Deposit, a framing draw if your contract has one, signed change orders when the landing or the lighting is added, and the balance at final inspection, all through your own payment account and all on the job's ledger.
How we build a deck builder's CRM
We built a CRM for our own companies before anyone else's, and we shape yours around how your designer and your crews actually hand a job off.
Stages named for the deck's real sequence
Consult booked, drawing sent, quote sent, signed, cooling-off, permit submitted, permit issued, locate clear, footings inspected, framed, decked, final passed, warranty registered. The board shows how many jobs are waiting on the city versus on you.
Consult notes that become the drawing
The designer records height off grade, ledger condition, slope, access, hot tub plans and the homeowner's photos at the consult, and the drawing and the option quote are built from that record rather than from memory in the truck.
Online approval and signing from a phone
From a link on their phone the homeowner chooses an option, signs it and pays the deposit; the contract total is recomputed on our server at approval so nothing on the page can change it.
A crew calendar that respects inspections and height
Builds scheduled by crew and weather, with jobs that cannot move until an inspection passes held in place, and second-story or steep-grade jobs flagged so fall protection gear goes on the truck. Build-stage photos of footings, flashing and framing are required before the boards go on.
A homeowner view of the job
A page the homeowner can open to see the drawing, the stage, the next inspection and the next payment, so the office stops answering where-are-we calls. How that works is in our client portal guide.
Owner reports
Days from consult to signed, days waiting on each building department, margin by material, change-order revenue, and signed decks by referral partner, on one screen.
What you own on day one.
Every account is opened in your company's name with you as the owner. If you ever leave, you change a password, not your business.
- Domain, hosting and the site files
- Phone numbers and call recordings
- The CRM and its database
- Email and text lists, with consent records
- Google Business Profile and every listing
- Analytics and Search Console
Custom CRM for deck building, answered.
Does it track the footing inspection on every deck?
Yes. Each inspection your building department requires is a step on the job with a date, a result and photos, and the schedule will not let the pour or the framing move until the step before it passes. We set the inspection list per town.
Can it quote the same deck in three materials?
Yes. One consult record produces option quotes for pressure-treated, composite and PVC, with railing systems, stairs, lighting and covers as add-ons the homeowner ticks before signing, so they compare within your quote instead of against someone else's.
How are change orders handled mid-build?
The homeowner signs the change from their phone, the price and the schedule update on the job, the material list adds the parts, and the ledger shows the new balance. Nothing is agreed on the lawn and forgotten by the invoice.
Does it work with subcontracted crews?
Yes. A sub crew lead sees their jobs, the drawing, the inspection status and the photos required at each stage, and nothing else. The office sees crew cost next to margin on every deck.
Can it hold the warranty paperwork years later?
Yes. The manufacturer registration, the fastener and board lots where you record them, and the final inspection card stay on the property record, so a board claim in year six starts with a search rather than a shoebox.
Custom CRM for deck building. Owned by you.
Start with the instant website checkup of your current site: your grade and top 3 fixes, no sign-up. Or get a free system quote for the whole deck building setup.
Instant website checkup