STrOp · Learn
Practical knowledge for specialty contractors
Compliance, change management, project controls, and the data discipline that compounds across bids. Written for California specialty subs — owners, PMs, estimators, and the field.
8 of 47 articles in Every stage. Clear
All 61 topics
A new shop in STrOp — sign up and set up in one sitting
Create your organization in the two-step wizard, take the thirty-second tour, and let the getting-started checklist tick itself off as your real data lands.
Baseline vs current vs actuals — the three views every project lives in
A baseline is the promise. Current is the forecast. Actuals are the receipts. Treating them as one number is how subs miss overruns until they're paying for them.
CSLB license renewal — windows, fees, and the gotchas
When the 60-day renewal window opens, what an "active" vs "inactive" renewal means, and what STrOp warns you about.
Earned value for trades — the four numbers that predict overruns
EVM without the certification. PV, EV, AC, and the four ratios that tell you a job is going sideways before the final pay app does.
The STrOp glossary — what we call things, and why
Construction has never agreed on its words — the same term means three different things depending on who's talking. Here's the one name STrOp uses for each thing, and the words we deliberately split.
Where the job stands — read the budget and the business report
Read the job's Budget tab (baseline from the estimate, current adds executed change orders, committed from POs, actuals from approved hours and receipts, by cost code) and the daily, weekly, and monthly business report.
Who sees what — invite your team and set roles
Invite people by email with a role, read the capability matrix as the rule of your org, and see what a foreman's phone and a finance seat actually show.
Why the record is a database, not a folder of spreadsheets
Spreadsheets are where a sharp operator thinks. They're a bad place to keep the shop's record. What a relational database does that a folder of .xlsx files can't — one fact in one place, links that can't be mistyped, locks that hold for everyone, a history of who changed what — and why every list in STrOp still exports to CSV.
See STrOp in action
Single-pipeline operations for California specialty contractors — bid through warranty.
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