Contract risk visibility for a plan-spec subcontractor

A commercial HVAC subcontractor in Grand Rapids, Michigan uses First Rule to flag deal-breakers before investing in bids — without sending every contract to outside counsel.

Problem

As a smaller subcontractor operating heavily in the plan-spec bid market, Pleune needed to assess contractual risk quickly — before investing significant time and resources into a bid. Without in-house legal counsel, and without the budget to send every contract out for external review, the team lacked a reliable way to identify high-risk clauses early.

What we implemented

• Uploading sample contracts from bid documents to assess contractual risk and identify potential deal-breakers before pursuing a bid.
• Flagging high-risk clauses with practical mitigation options — without requiring outside counsel for every contract.
• Embedded educational videos within the tool to strengthen the team's contract knowledge and confidence.

What changed

The team now makes faster go/no-go decisions and avoids investing in bids where the contractual risk is unacceptable. First Rule empowers Pleune's construction team to pinpoint high-risk clauses and understand mitigation options on their own. Embedded training videos have further strengthened the team's contract literacy and confidence.

"The First Rule team is highly responsive and committed to continuous improvement. Their founders bring decades of construction-focused experience as CPAs, software designers, and attorneys." — Jennifer Murphy, CFO, Pleune Service Company