The category-defining bet

One project. Two tenants.
Federated.

When a GC and an Owner are both on Sympl, the project exists in two tenants simultaneously. Each side owns its data and workflows. Shared surfaces sync bidirectionally. Private overlays stay local. Either side can leave. No incumbent CPM can structurally offer this.

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GC tenant

  • Submittals (originate)
  • Change orders (originate)
  • Pay apps (submit)
  • Daily logs (post)
  • Private: commitments, margin, actuals

Owner tenant

  • Submittals (approve)
  • Change orders (approve)
  • Pay apps (approve)
  • Daily logs (read + private comment)
  • Private: funding, capital plan, board reports

Bidirectional sync on shared objects. Per-tenant private overlay on everything else.

The job to be done

Each side keeps its own home. The doorways between them are formal contracts.

Every CPM alternative today fails the job in a known way. Federation is the answer none of them can structurally offer inside their current architecture.

Procore

Single tenant + guest users

The GC owns the instance. The owner sees what the GC permits. No real workspace. No private overlays. No portfolio rollup. No owner-side approval workflows.

Kahua / e-Builder

Owner tool + GC compliance burden

The owner owns the instance. The GC types into a foreign UI. PMs hate it. Data quality suffers. Field adoption collapses.

The most common reality

Two tools + email

No source of truth. Submittal log diverges from approval log. Change orders argued in PDF threads. Closeout is a zip of PDFs nobody can audit.

The federation protocol

Shared means "the project needs both sides to see this."
Private means "this is one party's commercial posture."

Shared objects

Project metadata

Shared

Name, address, dates, GMP — both can edit with conflict resolution.

RFIs

Shared

GC originates; Owner responds. State machine syncs both ways.

Submittals

Shared

GC submits; Owner / Architect approves. Spec section links sync.

Drawings + sheet revisions

Shared

Architect publishes; GC distributes. Sheet-number + revision is the key.

Change events + change orders

Shared with approval gate

GC originates change event. Owner approval flips status in both tenants.

Pay applications

Shared

GC submits; Owner approves. Triggers payment in Owner's financial system.

Schedule (master)

Shared, GC owns

Owner reads; comments are private overlay on the Owner side.

Daily logs

Shared, read-only to Owner

GC posts. Owner sees + can comment privately.

Closeout binder items

Shared with delivery flag

Explicit "delivered to Owner" flag triggers the CMMS handover.

Private to the tenant that owns them

GC's commitments / sub contracts

Owner sees aggregate cost — not sub names, not sub values.

GC's internal margin + actual cost

Owner sees GMP and approved changes — not the GC's profit.

Owner's funding sources / capital plan

GC sees approved budget — not the Owner's funding mix.

Owner's board reports / forecasting narrative

Sensitive program-level posture stays in the Owner tenant.

Owner's risk register

Private by default. Specific entries can be promoted to shared.

AI agent runs (either side)

Private to originator. Output becomes shared only when posted as a finished deliverable.

Worked example

The submittal flow on a federated project.

Cross-tenant agents make this loop close in hours, not days. Each side's agent runs in its own tenant on its own standards profile.

01

GC uploads submittal

In the GC tenant. Sub PM gets a confirmation.

02

Owner's compliance agent runs

In the Owner's tenant. Drafts a memo against the spec + the Owner's standards profile.

03

Exceptions in both tenants

Flagged items appear in both UIs. Comments are shared. Approval routes through Owner's workflow.

04

Status updates GC

On Owner approval, GC's submittal log flips to Approved with the memo attached.

No counterparty required

You don't need your counterpart on Sympl to start.

Sympl · Project delivers full standalone value today to either a GC or an Owner. Federation is the multiplier when both sides happen to be on Sympl — not a precondition for adopting.

Federation invitation + acceptance is a Phase 2 capability — a major architectural lift we're specifying carefully so the protocol stays stable for years.

Phasing

  • Standalone

    Available now

    GC or Owner adopts solo. Full module set. Two front doors.

  • Federation

    Coming soon

    Invitation + acceptance flow. Bidirectional sync of shared objects. Private overlay model. Cross-tenant agent orchestration.

  • Multi-party

    Coming soon

    Architect tenant + Owner-Rep tenant federate into the same project. Closeout binder converges from all sides.

Help us pressure-test the federation protocol.

We're working with paired GC + Owner design partners on the same project to validate the sharing posture, the conflict resolution, and the cross-tenant agent orchestration.

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