Pick your estimating engine — SmartBuild or the in-house 3D builder

One org-level switch decides whether new estimates start in SmartBuild or in the built-in 3D builder, and flipping it never touches your SmartBuild jobs or login.

What it is

A two-layer setting: the agency grants an account access to the 3D builder, and the builder then chooses which designer their reps start in. The choice is stored on the organization and clamped server-side, so every internal-estimate branch across Estimates, Contacts and Pipeline simply doesn't render for an account that wasn't granted it. Switching is a UI-path change only — SmartBuild jobs, cached estimates and credentials all stay exactly where they were, and the way back to SmartBuild is never gated.

Also called: estimate engine · SmartBuild vs Leads 2 Build · switch estimating software · 3D builder toggle

See it
Pick your estimating engine — SmartBuild or the in-house 3D builder
Day rate
$500
Days figured
13
Crew size
5
Fuel & equipment
$300
Finished 2 days early — $1,600 back to the crew
The compact segmented control in the Estimates header (EstimateEnginePicker.tsx, size='compact') mid-switch, with the full explanatory cards version from Settings beside it. Sample data — no customer information appears here.
How it works
  1. 1The agency flips organizations.builder3d_enabled for the sub-account (mig 257).
  2. 2The tenant picks SmartBuild or Leads 2 Build in Settings, or from the compact segmented control in the Estimates header.
  3. 3The server returns { engine, allowed } and clamps engine to 'smartbuild' whenever the grant is missing, so the gate is enforced in one place.
  4. 4The last known state is cached in localStorage so the Estimates and Contacts tabs paint the right path on the first frame instead of flashing the wrong one.
  5. 5A failed first fetch falls back to what was already known rather than locking the session to SmartBuild.
Why we built it

Shops that had run every quote through SmartBuild for years were not going to gamble their book of work on a new designer, and any switch that looked like a migration was dead on arrival. Flipping the engine changes only which designer opens: SmartBuild jobs, cached estimates and logins stay exactly where they were, and the way back is never gated. Accounts that have not been granted the 3D builder never see the choice at all, because a control that errors when you press it is worse than no control. Two rules came out of real failures — a network hiccup used to strand a session on one engine until somebody refreshed, and a remembered choice could open a builder for an account whose access had been withdrawn.

The problem
  • Trying a new estimating tool normally means abandoning the old one
  • Feature toggles that show controls the account isn't licensed for
  • The page flashing the wrong estimating UI on load
Sound familiar?
What you get
Your SmartBuild jobs, cache and login survive the switch untouched
You can go back to SmartBuild at any time with one click
Reps never see a control that errors when they press it

See it on your own jobs

Twenty minutes, your numbers, no slide deck. We’ll build one of your real buildings in front of you and send you the estimate link at the end — yours to keep either way.

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