Key takeaways
- Buildertrend has no data-size screen, so count the rows of an Excel export of the Jobs List, then add rows from other grids you use heavily.
- Export sits in the top right corner of any grid that supports it, and each export covers only the view currently on screen.
- Documents, photos and plans are not in grid exports, and Buildertrend publishes no one-step account export, so ask support or your account manager for a full copy.
- You don't need to export anything to apply: have your record count, years of history and internal user count ready, and the data vendor anonymizes the records before any AI lab sees them.
01
What is Buildertrend data, and why do AI labs and data vendors buy it?
The short answer
Buildertrend data is the working record of a home builder's or remodeler's projects: each job's schedule, budget, change orders, customer selections and daily logs, kept in Buildertrend's construction management software. AI labs (companies that build and train AI models) and data vendors (companies that anonymize business records and package them for those labs) buy an anonymized copy because the records place what was planned next to what actually happened on a building project.
What a Buildertrend account records
Buildertrend is software that residential construction companies use to run their projects. Each project is a job, and the job holds everything about that build. The schedule lists each task with its planned dates, and the budget lists the expected cost of each part of the work.
Three other record types carry the changes. A change order is a written change to the agreed scope and price of a job, a selection is a choice the homeowner makes, such as a tile or a cabinet style, and a daily log is the day-by-day note of who was on site and what happened.
Why planned-versus-actual records teach an AI model something
An AI model learns by studying a very large number of examples and finding the patterns in them, and those examples are called training data. A public description of a house build shows a finished home but not the delays, the change orders or the budget overruns that happened along the way. A Buildertrend account records each of these in order, so a model can see where a plan and reality drifted apart.
AI labs now want to train AI agents, software that carries out a job step by step, and an agent learns a job from records of that job being done. A data vendor can turn anonymized project histories into worked examples that an agent studies like an answer key, or into a practice copy of a scheduling process in which the agent is scored on each attempt. The full mechanism is in AI training data: why AI companies want your company's data.
How Buildertrend fits into a dataset
Buildertrend is usually one of several apps in a company's dataset, next to email, accounting records and job photos. Companies are paid $100K to $2M or more per dataset, according to micro1, the data vendor we typically refer companies to. The price covers the whole dataset, not each app on its own, and what your data is worth explains what moves it.
02
Where does Buildertrend show how much data you have?
The short answer
Buildertrend has no screen that shows data size. The way to measure your account is to open the Jobs List, export it to Excel with the Export button in the top right corner and count the rows, then do the same for other grids you use heavily. Report jobs plus those project items as records.
How to count your records
A grid is Buildertrend's name for a table of rows on screen, such as the list of all jobs. Buildertrend's Setup and Customization FAQs answer the question "Can I export my Grid?" with yes: any grid that supports it has an Export option in its top right corner, and it produces an Excel document.
- Open the Jobs List, which is the grid with one row for each of your jobs.
- Adjust the view and filters so that it shows all of your jobs.
- Press Export at the top right, and your browser saves an Excel file.
- Count the rows in the file. That number is your job total.
- Repeat on the other grids you rely on, such as budgets or the time clock, wherever Export appears, and add up the rows.
Which roles and plans can export
Export appears only on grids that support it, and Buildertrend does not publish which user roles may see or use it on each grid. Ask your Buildertrend account admin, or Buildertrend support, which roles can export each grid. We could not find a public page that lists them.
Why the row count is a floor
Each exported grid is a snapshot of the view on screen, so a filter you forgot to clear hides rows. The count also leaves out files, photos and plans, because they are not rows. If your jobs hold thousands of photos or documents, say so when you apply.
03
What should you know about your Buildertrend data before you apply?
The short answer
Have three facts ready: your count of jobs and project items as records, how many years you have used Buildertrend and how many internal users you have. They go into the data manifest, the written summary of which apps hold your records, how many years each covers and roughly how much. You don't need to run an export to find them.
The record count
Enter your jobs plus the project items you exported, with records as the unit, and name the grids you counted in the notes. A project item is one row of a grid such as a schedule item, a change order or a daily log.
The years of history
For years in use, take the oldest job's created date or start date.
The number of seats
Count your internal users. Homeowners and subcontractors who sign in only through a portal are not seats, so leave them out.
What you don't need to do first
You don't need to export anything to apply, and you don't need to clean or scrub an export. The data vendor anonymizes the records before anyone else sees them, and nothing moves until a lawyer-reviewed license is signed. The application, the intro call and each later step are laid out in how to sell your company's data.
04
How do you export your full Buildertrend history?
The short answer
Download the Jobs List and every other grid that offers an Export button as Excel files. To get documents, photos and daily logs as well, write to Buildertrend support or your account manager, because grid exports carry no files and Buildertrend has no publicly documented one-step export of a whole account.
Exporting grids to Excel
- Open the Jobs List and select Export in the top right corner. Buildertrend downloads an Excel file of the current view.
- Open each other grid that you use heavily, such as budgets or the time clock, set its view to show everything, and select Export again wherever the button is shown.
- Keep the files together and note the grid each one came from.
Each file holds the grid as it was displayed, so set the view you want before you export. This route gives you the structured rows of every grid that supports it.
Asking Buildertrend for a full account export
Documents, photos and plans are not part of grid exports. Contact Buildertrend support or your account manager and request an export of the whole account, covering documents, photos and daily logs. Tell them you need the whole history, so that nothing is limited to a date range.
Buildertrend has no public procedure for this, so we cannot say what format it arrives in or how long it takes. Ask for both when you make the request.
What a grid export leaves out
A grid export leaves out files, photos and plans. It also covers only what the view shows, so check that filters are cleared before you export.
Sources: Buildertrend Help Center, Setup & Customization FAQs and Customize Jobs & Project Settings. Steps checked against these pages in November 2026. The Export button is documented for grids in general; Buildertrend does not state which roles can use it.
05
What stays private when Buildertrend data is licensed?
The short answer
The company decides which grids and jobs are in scope, and the data vendor replaces names and other personal details with consistent stand-ins before an AI lab sees anything. The company keeps ownership of its project history, and the license covers defined records for a defined use.
You choose what is in scope
Because each grid is exported separately, a company can license schedules and change orders and leave out files, photos and anything else it prefers to keep. The data vendor also deletes records too sensitive to clean safely instead of anonymizing them.
Names are replaced before a lab sees them
Anonymization means replacing every detail that identifies a person, such as a name or an address, with a stand-in that is the same every time it appears. The job still reads in order, so a lab can learn from it, but it no longer says who the homeowner is. The diagram below shows one daily log and change order before and after.
The method, including what is deleted outright and how you review samples, is in how company data is anonymized for AI training.
Ownership and payment
Licensing gives the buyer limited rights to a copy, while the company keeps ownership of the originals. The terms that matter, such as exclusivity, permitted use and deletion, are covered in data licensing. micro1 pays in full within 30 days of accepting the data, usually as a single payment.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Export button in Buildertrend?
At the top right of every grid that supports exporting. Choosing it saves an Excel file of whatever the grid is showing at that moment.
Can I export photos and documents from Buildertrend?
Not with a grid export, which carries rows only. Ask Buildertrend support or your account manager how to download the documents, photos and daily logs for your jobs.
Is there a one-click export of a whole Buildertrend account?
Not one that Buildertrend documents publicly. Export the Jobs List and each grid with the Export button, then ask support or your account manager for an export of the whole account with its files.
Should client portal users count as seats?
No. Count your internal team's logins as seats and leave out homeowners and subcontractors who only have portal access.
Which Buildertrend roles can export?
Buildertrend does not publish this. Export appears only on grids that support it, so ask your Buildertrend account admin or support which roles can see and use it on each grid.
Do we need to export Buildertrend before we apply?
No. The application takes about two minutes and shares no data. You only need your approximate record count, your years of history and your internal user count for the intro call. The full export is needed later, when the records are transferred after you sign the license.
What is Buildertrend data worth to AI labs and data vendors?
Project history is priced as part of a whole dataset rather than on its own. Companies are paid $100K to $2M or more per dataset, according to micro1, and the price depends on the years of history and how completely the records show each job. What your data is worth explains the factors.
Bottom line
Know what is in Buildertrend, then see what it is worth
You don't need to export anything to apply. Apply in two minutes, describe your records on the intro call, and micro1, the data vendor we typically refer companies to, prices the whole dataset and sends an offer 1–2 days later.
Not legal, tax or financial advice. Figures come from micro1's published pages and public reporting as of November 2026.