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Clad vs HCSS HeavyJob

Two field-to-office platforms for self-perform infrastructure contractors that turn crew production into job costs and billing. Clad is project management and billing software for contractors building internet and power infrastructure, with production tracking on blueprint markups, invoices built from production and an AI 811 locates product with published prices. HCSS HeavyJob is field data and job-cost software for civil and infrastructure work: time cards, quantities, daily field reports, T&M billing and payroll export, with an HCSS AI assistant included in current subscriptions. Desk research from vendor pages read Oct 28, 2026; not tested, no winner.

DESK RESEARCH, NOT TESTED. Compiled from vendors' public websites (accessed Oct 28, 2026). Vendor claims are not verified by Means & Methods Lab. No scores or rankings.

In short: Clad (Infrastructure project management and 811 locates; vendor publishes prices) vs HCSS HeavyJob (Heavy civil field data, daily logs & job costing; no public prices (quote / sales)). Facts last checked Oct 28, 2026. No winner declared; not tested.

Side by side

Clad vs HCSS HeavyJob: vendor-published facts side by side
Sheet rowCladHCSS HeavyJob
CategoryInfrastructure project management and 811 locatesHeavy civil field data, daily logs & job costing
AI role (our label)AI features added to established productAI features added to established product
What it doesProject management and billing software for contractors building internet and power infrastructure. The homepage (read Oct 18, 2026) lists production tracking with blueprint markups linked to quantities, reporting and forecasting, milestone schedules across a portfolio, invoices built from production data with retainage tracking and ERP sync, vendor invoice review and approval, and vendor and materials management. Clad Locates is an AI-powered 811 ticket management system for excavators: draw on a map and AI writes a correctly formatted locate narrative, with automated response tracking, bulk submit, scheduled tickets and one dashboard across states. Its YC profile says Clad unifies project operations and finance to automate project tracking, payments and permitting. Vendor claim, not verified: Locates makes calling in a locate request 10x faster. Y Combinator batch: Winter 2023 (YC company profile). Re-checked Oct 19, 2026: homepage, Locates overview and pricing unchanged in substance; the Locates page says it connects with any 811 system for one dashboard across states (supported states are highlighted on a map), and the YC launch post said Locates first went live in Alabama. Re-checked Oct 20, 2026: homepage, Locates overview and pricing unchanged in substance (production tracking, billing from production data with retainage and ERP sync, vendor and materials management; AI locate narratives, automated tracking, bulk submit and scheduled tickets); the Locates page now headlines one dashboard for all 50 states. Re-checked Oct 22, 2026 (homepage and Locates pages rendered in a headless browser): unchanged in substance; Locates still says one dashboard covers all 50 states. Its 10x line is a vendor claim and is not used. Re-checked Oct 24, 2026: homepage and Locates pages unchanged in substance (project management and billing for infrastructure; AI ticket narratives drawn from a map, automated tracking, bulk submit, scheduled tickets, one dashboard across 811 systems). Re-checked Oct 26, 2026: homepage and Locates pages unchanged in substance (project management and billing for infrastructure: production tracking with blueprint markups linked to quantities, invoices built from production with retainage and ERP sync, vendor invoice approval; AI 811 ticket narratives drawn from a map, automated tracking, bulk submit, scheduled tickets, one dashboard for all 50 states). The homepage also lists Vendor Management (onboard vendors, track compliance, bid out work) and Materials Management (track materials across warehouses and projects) as additional tools.Field data and job-cost software for self-perform civil, infrastructure and utility contractors: time cards, production and dailies. Features listed: digital time cards, quantity/production tracking, job costing and budget forecasting, material tracking, map view, T&M billing, bulk work-order import, pay items, daily field reports (DFR) with customizable templates and inspector/owner sign-off, a daily log for management review of activities, photos and progress, custom construction forms, and payroll/accounting export (Sage, Viewpoint, QuickBooks named). Works offline and syncs later. The page says production data feeds back to HeavyBid for future bids, and that most customers are operational within 90 days. Figures on the page (4,000+ contractors, 128,000 active users, "95% of HeavyJob projects close within budget") are vendor claims. The product page we read Oct 16, 2026 does not describe AI features. Re-checked Oct 19, 2026: HCSS's AI page says the HCSS AI assistant, which HCSS calls the first natural-language AI assistant built for civil construction, is active and included in current subscriptions. In HeavyJob it answers questions about job costs, crew, equipment, budget performance and job variance, can generate charts, searches and navigates the platform, answers questions about uploaded SOPs, contracts and safety documents, and condenses days of HeavyJob daily digest data into a short narrative. HCSS says answers are grounded in your own data with sources, existing permissions apply, your data is not used to train AI models, and a privacy mode deletes questions and responses after each session. HCSS AI Studio and pre-built agents (a production analyst for over-budget cost codes, an estimate builder and a voice-driven field agent that drafts daily reports) are marked Coming Fall 2026, in beta first and then a paid upgrade. Because this AI is added to the established product, we now tag HeavyJob AI features added. Re-checked Oct 20, 2026: the product page feature list, offline capture with later sync, payroll and accounting export and the within-90-days rollout statement are unchanged, and it adds a dedicated implementation specialist per customer; the over-40,000-crews figure recorded Oct 19 no longer appears on the product page, so it is dropped here. HCSS's AI page still says the assistant is included in current subscriptions and that AI Studio and the pre-built agents arrive in beta later this year and then become a paid upgrade; it now also lists HCSS AI Core, a data foundation across the platform, as Coming Fall 2026, and says confidence scores show where the AI is and is not certain, with every output open to review and override. Re-checked Oct 22, 2026: the product page is unchanged in substance (time cards, production, job costing, DFR, daily log, forms, pay items, offline capture with later sync, Sage, Viewpoint and QuickBooks export, a dedicated implementation specialist, most customers operational within 90 days). HCSS's AI page is unchanged in substance: the assistant is included in current subscriptions; AI Core, AI Studio and the production analyst, estimate builder and field agents are Coming Fall 2026, in beta first and then a paid upgrade; it adds that nothing the agents prepare finalizes without the user's approval, and repeats that data is never used to train AI models and that HeavyJob permissions apply. The contractor count and support quotes are vendor material and not used. Re-checked Oct 24, 2026: the product page is unchanged in substance (Sage, Viewpoint and QuickBooks export, a dedicated implementation specialist, most customers fully operational within 90 days). HCSS's AI page is unchanged in substance: the assistant is active and included in current subscriptions; AI Core and AI Studio are Coming Fall 2026, with the production analyst, estimate builder and field agents in beta later this year and then a paid upgrade; nothing finalizes without the user's approval and confidence scores flag uncertainty; data is isolated to each company and not used to train AI models, and a privacy mode deletes questions and responses after each session (vendor statements). Re-checked Oct 26, 2026: the product page is unchanged in substance (time cards for crew hours, equipment hours and quantities, job costing and forecasting, T&M, work-order import, pay items, customizable daily reports with inspector or owner sign-off, payroll and accounting export naming Sage, Viewpoint and QuickBooks, a dedicated implementation specialist, most customers fully operational within 90 days). HCSS's AI page is unchanged in substance (assistant included in current subscriptions; AI Core and AI Studio Coming Fall 2026; production analyst, estimate builder and voice-driven field agent in beta later this year, then a paid upgrade).
Who it's forInfrastructure contractors (fiber and power), excavators who call in 811 tickets, and the operators and utilities they build for.Self-performing heavy civil, infrastructure and utility contractors: foremen, PMs, operations, payroll and estimators (HeavyBid users).
Pricing (as publicly stated)Clad Locates publishes prices (withclad.com/locates/pricing, read Oct 18, 2026): Free $0 a month (20 tickets, one state, AI ticket creation, status tracking, map view); Standard $250 a month (50 tickets, extra tickets $5 each, unlimited states, renewals, expiring-ticket notifications, bulk address upload); Pro $450 a month (50 tickets, extra tickets $9 each, KMZ-to-ticket tool, API access, SSO as an add-on, custom integrations and reports). Unchanged Oct 19 and Oct 20, 2026; Standard also lists photo and file attachments, all ticket types and submitting no-response notices. The core project management and billing product has no public prices; the homepage offers a demo to explore custom plans and pricing. Re-checked Oct 22, 2026: unchanged (Locates Free $0 for 20 tickets in 1 state; Standard $250 a month with 50 tickets and $5 per extra ticket; Pro $450 a month with 50 tickets, $9 per extra ticket, KMZ export, API and an SSO add-on). Re-checked Oct 24, 2026: Locates pricing unchanged (Free $0, 20 tickets, one state; Standard $250 a month, 50 tickets, $5 per extra ticket; Pro $450 a month, 50 tickets, $9 per extra ticket, KMZ-to-ticket, API, SSO add-on); core product still quoted through a demo. Re-checked Oct 26, 2026: Locates pricing unchanged (Free $0, 20 tickets a month, one state; Standard $250 a month, 50 tickets, $5 per extra ticket; Pro $450 a month, 50 tickets, $9 per extra ticket, KMZ-to-ticket, API access, SSO add-on); the core product is still quoted through a demo. Re-checked Oct 28, 2026: unchanged (Locates Free $0 with 20 tickets in one state, Standard $250 a month with 50 tickets and $5 per extra, Pro $450 a month with 50 tickets, $9 per extra, KMZ-to-ticket, API access and SSO as an add-on; the core product is still priced through a demo).Not publicly listed (demo request). (Checked Oct 16, 2026; unchanged Oct 19 and Oct 20, 2026. HCSS says the AI assistant is included in current subscriptions and the coming agents will be a paid upgrade after beta.) Re-checked Oct 22, 2026: unchanged (demo request; AI assistant included in current subscriptions; AI Studio and agents a paid upgrade after beta). Re-checked Oct 24, 2026: unchanged (demo request; AI assistant included in current subscriptions; AI Studio and pre-built agents a paid upgrade after beta). Re-checked Oct 26, 2026: unchanged (demo request; AI assistant included in current subscriptions; AI Studio and agents a paid upgrade after beta). Re-checked Oct 28, 2026: unchanged (get pricing or book a demo; AI assistant fully included in current subscriptions; AI Studio and pre-built agents a paid upgrade after the beta).
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Facts last checked: Oct 28, 2026. Prices change; check the vendor page before relying on them.

Where the vendor descriptions differ

  • Field capture: HeavyJob's product page lists digital time cards for crew hours, equipment hours and quantities, material tracking tied to worker productivity and equipment utilization, map view, customizable daily field reports with inspector or owner sign-off, a daily log for management review of activities, photos and progress, and custom construction forms. Clad's homepage lists simple field data collection, blueprint markups linked to quantities for faster field reporting, production reporting and forecasting, and milestone schedules across a portfolio.
  • Billing and money: Clad says it generates invoices from production data, tracks retainage and syncs to the ERP, and reviews, approves and processes vendor invoices in one workflow. HeavyJob lists T&M billing, pay items with documentation on work orders, bulk work order import, job costing with cost codes trending over budget, budget forecasting and export of approved time cards to payroll or accounting.
  • Other tools: Clad adds vendor management (onboarding, compliance and bidding out work), materials management across warehouses and projects, and Clad Locates for 811 tickets. HeavyJob connects to the rest of the HCSS platform; the product page names HeavyBid, HCSS Safety, HCSS Plans, Equipment360, Telematics and Dispatcher in its menu.
  • AI: Clad Locates uses AI to write and submit 811 tickets drawn on a map, with automated status tracking; the homepage does not describe AI in the core project and billing product. HCSS says its AI assistant is active and included in current subscriptions; in HeavyJob it answers questions about job costs, crew, equipment, budget performance and job variance, and condenses daily digest data into a short narrative. HCSS lists AI Studio and prebuilt agents (including a Production Analyst and voice-drafted daily logs) as Coming Fall 2026, beta first and then a paid upgrade. Both are tagged AI features added to an established product.
  • Who each names: Clad describes itself as purpose-built for infrastructure, and its YC profile says it serves contractors building internet and power infrastructure. HCSS describes HeavyJob as built for the realities of civil and infrastructure work.
  • Pricing (checked Oct 28, 2026): Clad's core project management and billing product is quoted through a demo; Clad Locates is Free $0 a month (20 tickets, one state), Standard $250 a month (50 tickets, $5 per extra ticket) or Pro $450 a month (50 tickets, $9 per extra ticket, KMZ-to-ticket tool, API access, SSO as an add-on). HeavyJob has no public prices; HCSS offers Get pricing, a custom quote form and a demo. See each tool page for detail.
  • Not like-for-like: Clad is a younger, broader project, billing and back-office platform for telecom and power builders with a separately priced locates tool, while HeavyJob is an established field time card, production and job-cost system inside the wider HCSS estimating and equipment suite.
  • Not used here: Clad's locate speed claim and logos, and HeavyJob's contractor, user and crew counts, on-budget percentage, user rating and customer quotes (vendor material). Neither tool has been tested by Means & Methods Lab.

Paraphrased from the sources listed above. Vendor claims are reported as claims.

What users say

The facts above come from vendor websites. Whether either tool is any good for your work is something only people who use them can say. These are member reviews, all ratings shown, never edited or removed for being negative.

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Questions to ask in your review

  • What Clad's core project management and billing product costs for your crew count
  • What a HeavyJob quote comes to, and how it is priced alongside other HCSS products
  • Whether Clad's ERP sync and HeavyJob's payroll export cover the accounting system you run
  • What did you use it for, on what kind of work and project size?
  • How long did setup and training take, and who on your team did it?
  • What does it cost you in practice, compared with what the sales call said?

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