Industrial coatings · Built by a contractor · 2026

Win the bid.
Run it right.

IndustrialCoatingsOps is the operating system for industrial coating contractors — tank linings, secondary containment, structural steel, and industrial floor coatings, all in one platform. AI bid spec reader, ICRI & SSPC standards built in, SAM.gov pipeline, labor + travel estimators, prevailing-wage detection. Bid sharp. Run lean. Get paid.

200+
Page bid specs · Triaged in 5 min
QP1.
SSPC / NACE compliance built in
SAM.gov
Federal RFP pipeline included
14d
Free trial · No card required

From 200-page spec to bid in five minutes.

A 30-second walkthrough — AI spec triage, callout extraction, and a clean bid draft.

Bidding takes hours. Margin disappears in the field.

An industrial bid is 200 pages of spec, three pages of submission requirements, twelve pages of bid forms, and one paragraph of actual coating scope buried somewhere in Section 09 96 00. Most contractors spend 8–20 hours per bid just figuring out what’s in scope.

You quoted a 9,000 SF Novolac epoxy floor for a chemical plant. Between the diamond grinding, moisture testing per ASTM F2170, crack repair, primer, broadcast, and topcoat — the estimate took three days and you still weren’t sure the numbers were right.

Win the job and the second problem starts. Travel, per diem, lodging, prep media, containment, scaffolding rental, prevailing wage, retainage — all the small things that add up to whether the job made money.

QuickBooks shows you a P&L at quarter-end. By then you can’t fix anything. Generic project tools don’t know what SSPC SP-10 or ICRI CSP 3 mean, or why the PO has to be filed before mobilization, or what overhead the per-pump containment adds.

IndustrialCoatingsOps is purpose-built for both halves of the work — the bid pipeline up front, the field operations and profit tracking after award. Built by someone who lives both sides.

From RFP to retainage.

Most software helps you bid OR helps you run the job. Industrial contractors need both — and the second is what determines whether the first one paid off.

Act 01 / Bid

Win the bid.

Triage 200-page specs in five minutes. Find the real coating scope, the bid forms, the pre-bid meetings, the retainage terms — without reading every word.

  • AI bid spec reader. Drop a 200-page PDF — tank lining, structural steel, secondary containment, or industrial floor coating. Get back the coating scope, surface prep (SSPC or ICRI CSP), bid forms, submission requirements, and a pursue/pass verdict in under 5 minutes.
  • QP1 / SSPC / NACE / ICRI compliance flagging. If the spec calls for SP-10 white-metal blast and 100% solids epoxy — or ICRI CSP 3 prep and a Novolac epoxy floor system — ICO knows what that means and what your shop needs to bid.
  • SAM.gov RFP pipeline. Federal coating opportunities filtered to your service states. New bids land in your dashboard daily.
  • Bid pipeline tracker. Pursue / review / pass / won / lost — across every bid you’re working. Reminders before bid dates so nothing slips.
Act 02 / Run

Run it right.

Once you’ve won the work, every dollar of margin is in the small stuff — travel, per diem, prep media, containment, scaffolding. Track all of it. See profit per project in real time.

  • Labor + travel estimators. Per diem, lodging, mileage, vehicle, crew size, prevailing wage. All built into the quote, not bolted on at the end.
  • Daily field reports. Foreman log with photos, weather, hours, and DFT readings. From the field to the office without paperwork.
  • Profit per project · live. Surface prep, containment, equipment rental, materials, labor — all rolled up so you know what the job earned before retainage releases.
  • QuickBooks Online sync. Push invoices, track receivables, no double entry. Your accountant gets clean numbers; you get a real-time P&L.

Everything between RFP and retainage.

No add-on tier for “real features.” The whole stack is on day one — bid intake, field ops, materials, finance.

Bidding & compliance
  • AI spec reader. 200-page PDF → coating system, bid forms, submission requirements.
  • AISC structural takeoff. W-shapes, channels, angles, plate — automatic sqft from the AISC v16.0 shape library.
  • QP1 / SSPC / NACE / ICRI flagging. Every standard call-out parsed and labeled.
  • SAM.gov RFP feed. Federal coating opportunities filtered to your service states.
  • Bid pipeline. Pursue / review / pass / won / lost with bid-date reminders.
  • Pre-mob checklist. Permit, MSDS, JSA, COI verification before crew leaves the yard.
Field operations
  • Daily field reports. Weather, hours, DFT readings, surface temps, photos — from mobile.
  • Foreman log. Crew clock-in, crew composition, equipment used, materials drawn.
  • AI JSA generator. Confined-space, hot-work, fall-protection JSAs from the project scope.
  • SSPC blast-grade analyzer. Upload a surface photo → AI reads the prep level.
  • QC + holiday testing log. DFT records and holiday-test results stamped to the job.
  • Crew certifications tracker. QP1, SSPC, OSHA-10/30, MSHA status per worker.
Materials & equipment
  • Purchase orders. Vendor-linked POs per job, partial-receive support.
  • Vendor price library. Material costs saved by vendor — quotes pull live.
  • Rental equipment. Daily-rate tracking with overdue and return alerts.
  • Inventory tracking. Prep media, coatings, consumables on hand with reorder triggers.
  • Document vault. SDS, product data sheets, specs, COIs per job.
Finance & reports
  • Profit per project · live. Labor, materials, travel, rentals — rolled up while the job runs.
  • Labor + travel estimator. Per diem, lodging, mileage, crew size, prevailing wage in the quote.
  • QuickBooks Online sync. Invoices push, receivables pull, no double entry.
  • Customer status portal. Magic-link page so owners see project progress without phone tag.
  • Role-based access. Office sees margin; field sees scope; admin sees the books.

Built by a contractor. Not by a sales engineer who read about SSPC.

→ 01

Spec reader that actually saves hours.

Most "AI" features in industrial software are generic chat. Ours is purpose-trained on Section 09 96 00 specs, surface prep standards, and bid form structure. You drop the PDF, you get a real summary.

→ 02

Profit visibility from RFP to retainage.

The bid number is just a target. Real margin is whatever’s left after the per diem, the containment, the scaffolding rental, the prevailing wage you didn’t catch. ICO tracks all of it from quote through invoicing.

→ 03

Built on the trade, not for it.

Jim runs an industrial contracting business. Every feature came out of a real bid he had to pursue or a real job that almost lost money. You’ll feel the difference in the first 10 minutes.

Built for the four jobs your shop actually runs.

Tank linings. Secondary containment. Structural steel. Industrial floor coatings. Same software, same workflow, every time.
▢ Tank Lining

Tank Lining Contractors

Internal vessel coatings — water, wastewater, chemical, food-grade.

  • NSF/ANSI 61 potable water tank linings
  • Acid- and chemical-resistant epoxies for process vessels
  • Confined-space JSAs and air-monitoring built into the workflow
▣ Structural Steel

Structural Steel Contractors

Bridges, refineries, water towers, plant structural — atmospheric service.

  • SSPC SP-5 / SP-10 / SP-6 blast standards
  • Multi-coat zinc / epoxy / urethane systems with DFT tracking
  • SSPC QP1 and QP3 compliance flagging on every bid
▤ Containment

Secondary Containment Contractors

Berms, sumps, dike coatings — chemical and petroleum spill protection.

  • EPA / SPCC compliance scope built in
  • Polyurea, vinyl ester, and Novolac systems
  • Crack repair and substrate moisture testing per spec
▥ Floor Coatings

Industrial Floor Coating Contractors

Concrete substrate. ICRI surface profiles. Epoxy, Novolac, polyurea, polyurethane.

  • Epoxy and Novolac systems for chemical plants and food processing
  • Polyurethane and polyurea floors for manufacturing facilities
  • Decorative and safety coating systems for warehouses and hangars

Priced for one bid won.

Even the Elite tier pays for itself the first time the spec reader catches a $20K miss. 14-day free trial on every plan.
Tier 01
Starter
$299/mo
Solo estimator. AI bid spec reader. Customer + job + quote tracking.
  • AI bid spec reader (PDF triage + cached)
  • Bid Pipeline — pursue / review / pass tracking
  • Customer, job, and quote management
  • Quote generation with profit modeling
  • Up to 3 user seats
Start 14-day Trial →
Tier 03
Elite
$999/mo
Multi-PM operations. Full business intelligence. Priority support.
  • Everything in Pro
  • AI Business Intelligence assistant
  • AI surface analysis from field photos
  • Unlimited user seats
  • Priority onboarding + Jim’s cell number
  • Custom integrations on request
Start 14-day Trial →
No credit card required to start. Cancel anytime — no contract.

Industrial coating contractor software — common questions

Plain answers to what bidders and project managers actually ask about IndustrialCoatingsOps.

What does IndustrialCoatingsOps cost?
Three plans: Starter at $299/month (1 estimator, AI bid spec reader, bid pipeline, up to 3 seats), Pro at $599/month (multi-agent quote generator, prevailing wage detection, JSA, SAM.gov, up to 8 seats), Elite at $999/month (BI assistant, surface analysis, unlimited seats, priority support). All include a 14-day free trial — no credit card up front.
What is the AI bid spec reader?
Upload a bid spec PDF (any size — 200+ pages handled) and the AI returns: project name + owner, bid date/time/location, submission method, bid bond and prequalification requirements, MBE/WBE/DBE flags, scope size class, prevailing-wage detection, multi-site indicators, and a structured quote draft with line items, sqft estimates, and surface prep specs. The multi-agent version runs four specialists (specifications, scope, risks, travel) in parallel and synthesizes a complete quote.
Does IndustrialCoatingsOps work for industrial floor coating contractors?
Yes — built specifically for contractors applying epoxy, Novolac, polyurethane, and polyurea systems in industrial environments. ICRI concrete surface profiles (CSP 1-9), moisture testing requirements (ASTM F2170 / F1869), and floor coating scope templates are all included alongside the SSPC standards used for steel work.
Can I quote Novolac epoxy floor jobs with ICRI surface prep requirements?
Yes. The quote builder supports ICRI CSP 1-9 concrete surface profiles alongside SSPC blast standards. You can specify diamond grinding, shot blasting, scarification, or acid-etching prep methods and moisture testing requirements per ASTM F2170 or F1869. Crack repair classification (epoxy injection vs rout-and-seal) is captured per project.
Does IndustrialCoatingsOps integrate with SAM.gov?
Yes. The Bid Pipeline pulls federal coating contract opportunities from SAM.gov via NAICS code, deduplicates against your existing pursuits, and flags new RFPs daily. Requires a SAM_GOV_API_KEY (free from sam.gov).
Can it handle Davis-Bacon / prevailing wage projects?
The AI Labor Estimator scans your scope and project notes for prevailing-wage indicators (public works, DOT, federal, school district, certified payroll, Title 40, 29 CFR 5) and auto-flags the project. When detected, it bumps the labor rate by a recommended 1.35× multiplier on Apply. You can adjust the multiplier per project.
How does the AI Labor Estimator handle local vs out-of-town jobs?
It uses your shop's home base (set in Settings) plus the job site city/state to decide whether crews can sleep at home. Local jobs get recommendedNights: 0 and zero per diem; out-of-town jobs get a GSA-tier per-diem recommendation ($125 rural / $175 mid-tier / $225 high-cost metro). One click applies nights × crew × per-diem to the Travel & Mobilization section.
Does it generate JSAs (Job Safety Analyses)?
Yes. Per-job AI-generated JSAs covering site-wide PPE, hazards by phase (surface prep, coating application, inspection, demob), confined space requirements (entry permits, atmospheric testing, attendant), fall protection at height, and emergency procedures. Output is editable before printing.
How is IndustrialCoatingsOps different from generic construction project management software?
It's built specifically for industrial coating contractors. The stages know SSPC blast standards. The scope reader knows NACE certifications. The labor estimator knows that hydroblast removes coating 3× slower than abrasive blast on certain substrates. The bid triage knows that owners writing specs in Division 09 96 00 mean industrial coatings, not architectural paint. Generic PM software doesn't carry any of that domain knowledge.
Is there a contract?
Month-to-month, cancel anytime. Export every project, quote, and customer record as CSV before your account closes. No long-term contract, no minimum commitment.

I built this for my own bids. Then other contractors started asking.

I’m Jim Schiffman. I’ve been in coatings since 2004 — most of those years selling them at the distribution level. The last three I’ve been on the sales side at an industrial coatings contractor, and the last two doing the same at a powder coating shop. Three angles on the same trade. From all three, the tools were broken.

I see every bid that wins, every job that loses money, every spec PDF that swallows a Tuesday afternoon. So I started building. AI spec reader. SAM.gov pipeline. Labor + travel estimators that know what per diem actually costs. Profit per project in real time. Other contractors saw it and asked when they could buy it. ICO is the answer.

— JimFounder · jim@schiffops.com

Run your next
bid right.

14-day free trial. No credit card. Onboarding call with a contractor, not a sales rep.