Construction and building materials
Construction and Building Materials EDI and API Integration
Orders, deliveries and invoices that match what arrived at the yard or the job site
Building materials move from manufacturers to distributors, dealers and home centers, and often straight to a job site on a specific day. Prices change often, deliveries are split and invoices must match what the contractor signed for. ECOM connects orders, price catalogs, shipment updates and invoices to your ERP, dispatch and yard systems.
At a glance
Key documents
- 832 Price and Sales Catalogs
- 850 Purchase Orders
- 855 Order Acknowledgments
- 860 Order Changes
- 856 Ship Notices (ASN)
- 214 Shipment Status Updates
- 810 Invoices
Systems we integrate
- ERP and dealer systems
- Dispatch and yard
- Carrier and fleet tracking
- Accounts receivable
PRISM products
- PRISM-EDI
- PRISM-WebEDI
- PRISM-SmartConvert
- PRISM-SCV
- Who we help
- Building products manufacturers, distributors and dealers, home centers and their suppliers, and contractors and subcontractors that buy and bill for projects.
- What we connect
- Price catalogs, orders, split deliveries, ship notices and invoices between your ERP and each dealer, distributor, home center or project system.
- Problems we solve
- Frequent price changes, unit-of-measure mismatches, split deliveries to job sites and invoices that do not match what was signed for.
- Even without EDI
- Contractors and project teams often work from portals, spreadsheets, PDFs and APIs rather than EDI. ECOM works with those routes as well.
What is building materials EDI?
Building materials EDI is the electronic exchange of orders, price catalogs, ship notices, delivery updates and invoices between manufacturers, two-step distributors, dealers, home centers and contractors. It relies on ANSI X12 documents such as the 832 price and sales catalog, 850 purchase order, 855 acknowledgment, 856 ship notice and 810 invoice, with the 214 status message from carriers for deliveries in transit.
Who you connect with
Who a building materials business exchanges data with
Product moves from manufacturer through distribution to a yard, a home center or a job site. Contractor purchasing and billing sit alongside it.
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Manufacturers
Price catalogs, orders, ship notices
EDI, files, portals -
Distributors and dealers
Orders, availability, invoices
EDI, portals, APIs -
Home centers
Item setup, orders, ASNs
Retailer EDI programs -
Contractors and subcontractors
Purchase orders, delivery tickets, pay applications
Portals, spreadsheets, PDFs -
Carriers and job sites
Load tenders, delivery status
EDI and APIs
Workflows
Building products distribution is different from contractor procurement and billing
Distribution moves product to yards and home centers. Contractor work buys materials for a project and bills for progress. Each has its own documents and systems.
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Building products distribution
Manufacturers, distributors and dealers selling to the trade.
- How it runs
- Price catalogs and updates go to dealers. Orders arrive, are acknowledged and shipped, often split across loads. Invoices follow.
- Documents
- Systems
- ERP, pricing and availability systems, dealer portals.
- Typical problem
- Price changes, units of measure (pieces, bundles, board feet) and split deliveries make orders and invoices disagree.
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Home centers and their suppliers
Brands selling into home improvement retail.
- How it runs
- Home centers send orders and receive ship notices with their own labeling rules; invoices and item data follow the retailer's program.
- Systems
- ERP, retailer portals.
- Typical problem
- Retailer-specific requirements for ship notices and labels cause chargebacks.
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Contractor procurement and project systems
Contractors buying materials for jobs and tracking them against project budgets.
- How it runs
- Purchase orders and delivery tickets are matched to project cost codes. Invoices are matched to receipts before payment.
- Systems
- Construction ERP and accounting, project management systems.
- Typical problem
- Materials ordered for one job arrive at another, and invoices lack the project reference.
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Subcontractor billing
Subcontractors billing progress against a schedule of values.
- How it runs
- A pay application lists completed work and retainage. It reaches the general contractor by portal, file or PDF and must reconcile to the contract before payment.
- Documents
- Systems
- Construction accounting, general contractor project systems.
- Typical problem
- Progress billing carries retainage and change orders that ordinary invoices do not, so matching is manual.
Source note. The common pay application forms are the AIA G702 and G703. Many general contractors use their own portals, so ECOM works from the contractor's requirements.
How to read this page: a standard or system named here shows where a requirement is published or what ECOM can connect. It does not mean ECOM has a verified partnership with any named company, and your own contracts and partners define the final requirements.
Who it's for
Different roles, different workflows
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Building products manufacturers
You publish price catalogs to distributors and home centers, receive orders and changes, and ship to yards, stores and job sites with ship notices and invoices each customer can match.
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Distributors and dealers
You buy from many manufacturers and sell to contractors, so supplier catalogs, orders and invoices arrive in one shape and customer orders, deliveries and invoices leave in another.
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Home centers and their suppliers
Home centers run supplier programs with orders, ship notices, labels and invoices to their own guides, often including special orders delivered to the customer.
How the workflow runs
From contractor order to signed delivery and invoice
A job-site order often passes through a dealer to a manufacturer or distributor, and the delivery date, not the order date, drives everything that follows.
- Manufacturer→Dealer or distributor 832 Price catalog Items, units and current prices.
- Contractor→Dealer or distributor Job order Job name, site address and delivery window.
- Dealer or distributor→Manufacturer 850 Purchase order Ship-to the job site or the yard.
- Manufacturer→Dealer or distributor 855 Acknowledgment Confirmed quantities and ship date.
- Carrier→Dealer or distributor 214 Delivery status Dispatched, arriving, delivered.
- Manufacturer→Dealer or distributor 856 Ship notice What was loaded, by order line.
- Manufacturer→Dealer or distributor 810 Invoice Matched to the delivery ticket.
- 01
Keep prices current
832 catalogs update items and prices in the dealer's or distributor's system, so orders go out at the right price.
- 02
Order for the job
Purchase orders carry the job name, site address and delivery window, and changes arrive as 860s.
- 03
Confirm and schedule
855 acknowledgments confirm quantities, substitutions and ship dates, which the dealer passes to the contractor.
- 04
Track the delivery
Ship notices and carrier status show what is on the truck and when it arrives, including split deliveries.
- 05
Invoice what was delivered
Invoices follow delivered quantities and reference the delivery ticket, so contractors and dealers can match them quickly.
Beyond EDI
Every way building materials data arrives, matched to the delivery
Dealer orders, catalog updates, delivery tickets and project pay applications arrive in different forms. ECOM maps each to your ERP.
How it arrives
- EDI850 orders, 832 catalogs, 856 notices
- PortalDealer and project portals
- APIPricing and availability services
- SpreadsheetPrice lists and schedules of values
- PDF or emailDelivery tickets, pay applications
- Flat fileDealer and accounting files
ECOM
- Validate every file or message
- Map to each partner's rules
- Deliver, acknowledge and monitor
Where it goes
- ERP and pricing
- Yard dispatch
- Customer updates
- Invoices
Challenges
Integration challenges in construction and building materials
Prices that change between quote and order
Commodity-driven products change price often, and an order placed at an old price becomes an invoice dispute.
Units of measure
Pieces, bundles, units, linear feet and squares must convert consistently between partners' item records.
Split and partial deliveries
One job order can arrive in several loads, so ship notices and invoices must reference the right lines.
Proof of delivery
Contractors pay against what was signed for at the site, so the invoice has to match the delivery ticket.
How we help
How ECOM supports construction and building materials companies
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Catalog integration
832 price and sales catalogs loaded into item and pricing records, with changes highlighted.
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Order and change handling
Orders, changes and acknowledgments exchanged with manufacturers, distributors and home centers, connected to your ERP.
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Delivery visibility
Ship notices and carrier status messages connected to dispatch, so customers can be told when a load will arrive.
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Invoice matching
Invoices built from delivered quantities, or matched on receipt to orders and delivery tickets.
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ERP integration
Integration through APIs, files or databases with the ERP and dealer systems you already run.
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Monitoring
Missing acknowledgments, late ship notices and rejected invoices visible as exceptions.
PRISM products
Which PRISM products apply
Each partner connects in the way it can support. These products cover the connections and visibility this industry needs most.
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PRISM-EDI
Exchange of catalogs, orders, ship notices and invoices with manufacturers, distributors and home centers, translated to and from your ERP.
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PRISM-WebEDI
Browser-based orders, acknowledgments, ship notices and invoices for smaller suppliers and dealers without EDI systems.
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PRISM-SmartConvert
Supplier quotes, confirmations and invoices that arrive as PDFs or emails converted into structured data.
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PRISM-SCV
Monitoring of transactions and exceptions across supplier and customer documents.
Systems integration
What building materials EDI connects to
Orders and invoices depend on prices, units and delivery data staying consistent across these systems.
From
- Price catalogs
- Contractor orders
- Dispatch data
- Delivery tickets
ECOM · Materials exchange
- Validate items
- Map units and prices
- Route by job
To
- ERP and pricing
- Yard dispatch
- Customer updates
- Invoices
| System | What flows | What to plan for |
|---|---|---|
| ERP and dealer systems | Items, prices, orders, acknowledgments and invoices. | Unit-of-measure conversions must be maintained per item and partner. |
| Dispatch and yard | Loads, delivery windows and delivered quantities. | Delivered quantities drive both ship notices and invoices. |
| Carrier and fleet tracking | Dispatch, arrival and delivery events. | Event timing is what customers see as the delivery promise. |
| Accounts receivable | Invoices, remittance and disputes. | Delivery ticket references make disputes quicker to settle. |
Trading partners
Guides for building materials distributors and home centers
Integration guides for distributors and retailers that building products suppliers commonly trade with.
All distributor guides-
ABC Supply
Roofing and exterior products distributor; the guide covers the documents commonly exchanged and what to plan for.
ABC Supply in detail -
Builders FirstSource
Building materials supplier to builders; the guide covers documents and connection options.
Builders FirstSource in detail -
BlueLinx
Two-step building products distributor; the guide covers documents and planning points.
BlueLinx in detail -
White Cap
Construction supply distributor; the guide covers documents and planning points.
White Cap in detail -
The Home Depot
Home improvement retailer; the guide covers its supplier EDI documents and compliance points.
The Home Depot in detail -
Lowe's
Home improvement retailer; the guide covers its supplier EDI documents and compliance points.
Lowe's in detail
Implementation
What to plan for in a building materials EDI project
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Clean up item and unit data
Agree item numbers, units and conversions with each partner before the first catalog is loaded.
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Decide how job sites are identified
Job names and site addresses must reach dispatch and invoices consistently.
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Plan for price changes
Agree how often catalogs are sent and which price applies to orders already in progress.
Documents and standards
Common transactions
Common X12 documents in building materials supply chains. Each manufacturer, distributor and home center publishes its own guide.
| Code | Document | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 832 | Price and Sales CatalogsX12 name: Price/Sales Catalog | Shares items and prices. |
| 850 | Purchase Orders | Orders materials. |
| 855 | Order AcknowledgmentsX12 name: Purchase Order Acknowledgment | Confirms quantities and dates. |
| 860 | Order ChangesX12 name: Purchase Order Change Request - Buyer Initiated | Changes the order. |
| 856 | Ship Notices (ASN)X12 name: Ship Notice/Manifest | Describes the load. |
| 214 | Shipment Status UpdatesX12 name: Transportation Carrier Shipment Status Message | Reports delivery status. |
| 810 | Invoices | Bills delivered materials. |
Scenarios
Typical integration scenarios
Manufacturer selling through two-step distribution
Send catalogs and receive orders from distributors and dealers in their formats.
Dealer automating supplier orders
Send purchase orders and receive acknowledgments, ship notices and invoices from manufacturers.
Supplier to home centers
Meet home center order, ship notice, label and invoice requirements, including special orders.
Frequently asked questions
Which EDI documents are used in building materials?
Common documents are the 832 price catalog, 850 purchase order, 855 acknowledgment, 856 ship notice and 810 invoice, plus the 214 carrier status message for deliveries.
Can EDI handle job-site deliveries?
Yes. Orders and ship notices can carry the job site as the ship-to location, and status messages track the delivery, if each partner's guide supports those fields.
How are units of measure handled?
Units and conversions are maintained per item and partner, so a bundle on one side becomes the correct number of pieces on the other.
Does ECOM provide dispatch or yard management software?
No. ECOM integrates documents and data with the ERP, dispatch and yard systems you already run.
How to get started
Tell us who you trade with and what you run
- Send the basics. Your trading partners, the documents they require, your ERP or other systems, and any deadline.
- We review the requirements. An ECOM specialist looks at the partner programs, document formats and connections involved.
- You decide how to proceed. We outline the options, including managed services or software, for you to compare.
Helpful to share, but not required
You do not need an implementation guide or a finished requirements list to contact us. If you have these, they speed things up:
- Whether you are a manufacturer, distributor or dealer, or a contractor buying and billing for projects.
- The partners or project systems you connect to and any requirements documents you have; if not, we can help identify them.
- Your ERP, and how price lists and units of measure are maintained today.
- Your go-live date and the mismatch problem you want fixed first.
See how ECOM works with customers: case studies ERP integrations compare delivery options (software, managed or team-based)
Connect your next dealer, distributor or home center
Share the partner's EDI guide and the ERP you run. An ECOM specialist will outline the documents, item data and testing.