#43 - Lumber Acquires BuilderFax
Slice of Construction Team
04/30/2025
Join us in this exciting episode of the Slice of Construction podcast, hosted by Jared S. Taylor!
Our Guests: Shreesha Ramdas, CEO & Co-Founder at Lumber & Kirk Samuelson, Executive Chairman at BuilderFax.
What you’ll get out of this episode:
- Lumber acquires BuilderFax to enhance innovation and support skilled construction workers.
- BuilderFax remains a free app, providing credential tracking, career support, and wellness tools for construction workers.
- Integration with Lumber enables seamless onboarding and verified credential transfers between apps.
- New capabilities planned, including career guidance, financial literacy, and mental wellness resources.
- Contractors can differentiate themselves by adopting the app and showing support for workforce development.
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Lumber and BuilderFax: A Transformational Partnership
In a strategic move that aims to reshape workforce technology in construction, Lumber has officially acquired BuilderFax. This merger brings together deep industry expertise and cutting-edge software development to tackle one of construction’s most persistent challenges: the shortage and management of skilled craft labor.
The Visionaries Behind the Deal
Hosted by Jared S. Taylor, the episode introduces the two driving forces of this collaboration—Shreesha Ramdas, CEO and Co-Founder of Lumber, and Kirk Samuelson, Executive Chairman of BuilderFax. With over 45 years in the construction industry, Samuelson shared his evolution from field foreman to senior leadership at Kiewit, one of the largest construction firms in North America.
Motivated by the industry's ongoing labor gaps, Kirk founded BuilderFax (originally Builder Success) as a platform for craft workers, not just the companies. His goal: to give tradespeople a digital wallet for credentials, certifications, and career history—like a Carfax for construction workers.
A Platform with a Purpose
BuilderFax will continue as a free app available on iOS and Android. It allows construction workers—regardless of their union status, trade, or experience level—to store verified credentials, career milestones, and receive guidance on career growth, financial well-being, and mental health.
As Shreesha emphasized, "We're going to carry Kirk's vision forward and enhance the life of the workers who are the nuts and bolts of any construction project."
Integration for Immediate Impact
A key advantage of this merger is the seamless integration between BuilderFax and Lumber’s enterprise systems. Workers using the free app can now be onboarded into a construction firm’s workflow within minutes, bringing their validated credentials directly into the Lumber platform. This automation drastically reduces onboarding friction and improves compliance, safety, and operational efficiency.
For contractors building projects for major clients like Meta or Google, this verification is critical. Automated checks ensure only properly credentialed workers operate high-risk machinery or access sensitive areas.
Why Workers and Companies Will Both Benefit
Beyond compliance and onboarding, the BuilderFax app empowers workers to take control of their professional journey. It’s also a recruitment differentiator for companies. One craft worker reportedly told Kirk, "Once you get this up and running, those are the only companies I’m going to work for—because they care about my career."
The platform also addresses real-life frustrations, such as repeated training for the same equipment across different divisions, by keeping credentials centralized and transferable.
