> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.trubuild.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Getting started overview
> The TruBuild onboarding journey at a glance: from first sign-in to a decision-ready tender package.
TruBuild gives construction procurement teams one governed workspace for tender evaluation: contractor documents, commercial bid comparison, technical scoring, tender queries, and the award record. This page walks the onboarding journey end to end, so you know what to set up, in what order, and where the detailed guides live.
If you want the product framing first (who uses TruBuild and what it is not), start from the [documentation home](/) instead.
## How TruBuild is organized
Everything you do in TruBuild lives inside this hierarchy:
```
Organization
Project
Package
Contractors
Documents (RFP, BOQ, criteria, contractor submissions)
Commercial and technical evaluation rounds
Tender queries
Award decision
```
The **organization** owns members, feature access, and enterprise controls such as SSO. A **project** is a development, program, or capital project. A **package** is one tender package inside that project, such as enabling works, structure, MEP, or fit-out. Each package carries its own currency, contractor list, technical and commercial weighting, documents, evaluation rounds, and award decision.
This mirrors how most tender programs already run, so evaluation evidence stays scoped to the package it belongs to and reviewers never have to untangle mixed records.
## The journey at a glance
Enter your work email on the sign-in page and click **Continue**. TruBuild emails you a sign-in link that expires after 10 minutes. Enterprise organizations can require single sign-on instead, so your company login may take over at this point.
If you are the first user from your company, create the organization with its name and country, then click **Create Organization**. Otherwise, ask an existing owner or admin to invite you. See [Set up your account](/get-started/setup-account).
Open **Settings**, go to the **Members** section, enter each colleague's email, pick an organization role, and click **Send Invite**. Keep Owner and Admin to a small group: evaluators should be Members who receive their real tender access through project and package roles. See [Roles & permissions](/get-started/roles-permissions).
An organization owner or admin creates the project: enter the project name, confirm the country, and click **Create Project**.
Inside the project, anyone with full project access creates the package: set the package name and currency, then set the technical weight with the slider. The commercial weight fills in automatically so the two always total 100%. Add your contractors (search the existing vendor list or add new names), then click **Create Package**.
Upload the RFP, the reference BOQ or pre-tender estimate, the evaluation criteria, and each contractor's submission. File every submission against the correct contractor: comparisons and bid leveling run per bidder, so a proposal filed under the wrong name skews the whole evaluation.
Each file shows **Pending** while it processes, then **Ingested** when it is ready to use, or **Failed** with a reason. See [Upload documents](/get-started/upload-documents).
Work the package through rounds in the **Commercial** and **Technical** sections, manage bidder questions and clarifications in **Queries**, and close out with a documented award decision. [Run your first package](/get-started/first-project) walks through each of these as a pilot.
Feature modules (Commercial Evaluation, Technical Evaluation, Tender Queries, Vendor Database, AI Chat) are enabled per organization by TruBuild. If a section is missing from your navigation even though your project access looks right, your organization admin can confirm what is enabled; to change it, contact TruBuild support.
## Who does what
Onboarding goes fastest when each stage has a clear owner:
| Stage | Usually owned by |
| ---------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Organization setup, SSO, member invites | Procurement systems owner or IT administrator |
| Project and package creation | Procurement manager (owners and admins create projects; a Project Lead can also create packages) |
| Reference BOQ, priced submissions, commercial rounds | Commercial lead, quantity surveyor, or cost consultant |
| Criteria, technical submissions, scoring reviews | Technical lead and discipline evaluators |
| Tender queries and clarification responses | Package lead or query coordinator |
| Read-only oversight | Owner representatives with viewer access |
## Have these ready before day one
Onboarding stalls are almost never about the software. They are about missing inputs. Before you create the first package, collect:
* **The approved evaluation split.** The technical and commercial weighting is set when you create the package and should match your approved tender strategy, not a guess made in the moment. The slider moves in 5% steps.
* **The contractor shortlist.** You need the bidder names at package creation so every later upload lands against the right contractor.
* **The reference pricing basis.** A clean BOQ or pre-tender estimate, in Excel where possible, gives the commercial comparison a solid baseline for spotting unpriced items, exclusions, and rate outliers.
* **The RFP and criteria.** Technical scoring needs the criteria, or at minimum the RFP to derive them from.
* **Contractor submissions sorted per bidder.** Separate each bidder's files before uploading rather than untangling a shared folder afterwards.
Start with one real package and a small evaluation team rather than migrating a whole program on day one. One package is enough to prove the roles, the document standards, and a full commercial or technical round before you scale up.
## Next steps
Create the organization, assign administrators, and invite the first team.
A practical pilot path through commercial, technical, queries, or chat.
Plan the operating model for multi-package programs and large teams.
Map procurement, commercial, technical, and owner teams to access levels.