Project Signals FAQ

Is Project Signals really free?

Yes. Every claimed CrewFinder listing gets Project Signals. There's no paid version of Project Signals, no charge per story, and no trial that runs out. The Sales Hub Pro upgrade is separate — it doesn't change anything about Project Signals.

Where do the signals come from?

Over 100 publicly-available sources — SAM.gov (US federal procurement) and CanadaBuys (Canadian federal procurement), both refreshed daily with dollar values and closing dates, energy regulators including the Alberta Energy Regulator's well-licence CSV, operator and utility announcement pages, provincial and state bid boards, regional industry papers, and trade journals. Everything we read is something you could read yourself if you had the time and the appetite for it.

Full breakdown at What is Project Signals — where the signals come from.

Will my competitors see the same signals?

The underlying news is public — anyone reading the same sources would see the same information. What's private is the ranking against your profile. Another contractor with different locations and a different services list will see a different order, with different things at the top.

We don't show you who else is looking at a particular story, and we don't share your match list with anyone.

How quickly does a new signal show up?

We check sources every six hours. From the moment a public source posts something to when it shows up in your feed: usually under six hours, occasionally up to twelve if a particular source has been slow that cycle.

Why doesn't my workspace show any matches?

Usually one of three things:

• Thin profile. No yards or branches added, or very few services listed. We have very little to work with.
• Very specialised work. If you only do one narrow kind of job, fewer stories will fit. That's accurate, not broken.
• Missing sources. The places your sector announces work first may not be in our list yet — tell us at hello@crewfinder.info.

See How to improve your Project Signals matches for the fixes.

A signal landed in my feed that isn't relevant. Can I get rid of it?

Click the row and dismiss it. The dismissal is just for your workspace and stays gone next time we refresh. Other companies whose profile matched the same story still see it; only you stop seeing it.

If you're dismissing a lot of similar-looking stories, that's usually a sign your services list is pulling in too wide a category. See How to improve your matches.

What's the difference between My tenders and All tenders?

My tenders is your short list — tenders we matched to your profile plus anything you tapped Save on. All tenders is every open federal tender in your country (SAM.gov for the US, CanadaBuys for Canada, both for cross-border ops), sorted closing-soonest and capped at 300 rows.

Same filters work on both tabs — search, service, region, closing window. Switch to All tenders when you suspect we missed something, when you're scouting adjacent work, or when you just want the broadest view of your market. Full walkthrough at The Tenders tab.

Why don't I see a tender in My tenders that I think should be there?

Usually one of two reasons:

• The tender's industry code doesn't map to one of your services yet. SAM.gov uses NAICS codes; CanadaBuys uses GSIN codes. We maintain a mapping from those codes to CrewFinder services, but it's not exhaustive — we extend it as we learn. Switch to All tenders, find the tender, and tap Save. Your save tells us the code should map to your kind of work.
• Your profile doesn't list the service the tender needs. If the tender is for "hydrovac excavation" and your profile only ticks "earthworks," the matcher doesn't have enough to connect them. Add the more specific service. See Managing your services and equipment.

What happens when I save a tender?

Two things. First, the tender lands in your My tenders sub-tab with an amber "Saved by you" badge so you can come back to it. Second, we use the save as a training signal — if enough contractors with services like yours save tenders with a particular industry code, we extend the mapping so future tenders with that code match your kind of profile automatically.

Saves aren't shared between workspaces — your saved list stays private. The training input is aggregated across many users before it changes the matcher.

How long does a tender stay on my list?

Open tenders stay until seven days past their close date — a short grace window for follow-up on near-misses. Tenders without a published close date stay until the source itself takes them down. Other signal types (permits, capex, news) stay for 90 days from publication and then roll off.

Will Project Signals email me?

Yes — for federal tenders. When a new SAM.gov or CanadaBuys tender matches the services on your profile, we email everyone on your workspace within about 15 minutes, capped at one email per workspace every six hours so bursts bundle together. The email is LinkedIn-style — enough to know it's worth a click, with the full detail back on CrewFinder. Full reference at How tender-match email alerts work.

Notifications for the other signal types (permits, capex, mobilizations, news) are coming next. A weekly digest with everything in one place is also in the works. In the meantime, check the 📡 Signals tab when you sign in — the green tag in the top right tells you how recently the feed updated.

How is this different from Daily Oil Bulletin or COMPASS?

Daily Oil Bulletin, COMPASS, IHS, and similar commercial services are excellent. They're also priced at thousands to tens of thousands per seat per year, and built for the business-development teams at large operators and large EPC firms.

Project Signals is the version of that idea built for subcontractors — owner-operators, small and mid-size shops, the companies who actually do the work. It's free because the directory works better when more shops can see what's coming. It doesn't go as deep as those paid services; if you need that level of detail, those products are still the right answer.

Is my data safe?

Your CrewFinder profile is public — that's the whole point of a directory. Your match list, your dismissals, and which signals you've clicked are private to your workspace. We don't sell that data and we don't share it with other companies.

For the full details, see our Privacy policy and Keeping your data safe.

I'm an operator — can I use this?

Project Signals is built for the subcontractor side of the market, and a claimed CrewFinder listing is a subcontractor listing. Operators looking for subs use the public directory at crewfinder.info instead. If your situation doesn't fit either side, tell us about it.