30 Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers for boards, managers, vendors, insurers, and buyers — about how CPI works, what it costs, and how it stays honest.
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These are the questions people actually ask — about money, risk, people, and trust — grouped so you can jump to the ones that matter to you. One principle runs through every answer: nobody pays to win, and everybody pays only for a clearly defined service they receive.
A. How CPI works
Q1. What is CPI, in one sentence?
CPI (Community Procurement Independent) is an independent marketplace where community associations and the companies that serve them find each other, compare honest bids, and keep a permanent record — without anyone paying to win the work.
Q2. How does a job actually get matched to vendors?
A buyer posts an opportunity in a short three-step wizard. The platform then matches vendors using fixed, deterministic rules about who genuinely qualifies for the size and type of job. The rules are the same for everyone and cannot be bought.
Q3. What does “apples-to-apples” comparison mean?
Every response is laid out against the same scope and the same line items, side by side, with a plain-language summary. A volunteer board member can read it in minutes and see real differences instead of marketing.
Q4. What is the “paper trail,” and why does it matter?
Every meaningful step — the request, the matches, the comparison, the decision — is recorded in an append-only record. If an owner or a future board asks “why did we choose this vendor?”, the answer is documented and cannot be quietly edited.
B. For community boards & managers
Q5. We already have vendors we like. Why use CPI?
You can still choose anyone — CPI simply proves the choice was fair and competitive. It protects the board from the appearance of favoritism and gives every owner a documented reason for the decision.
Q6. Do we have to run a full formal bid every time?
No. Communities choose the level of service they need — from a self-run request, to a Managed RFQ, to a Full Procurement engagement — and pay only for the service they use.
Q7. Can a management company run several communities on CPI?
Yes. A manager can run each association through the same consistent process, keep separate clean records for each, and defend every decision in front of every board.
Q8. What if we leave the budget blank on a request?
Qualified vendors still appear. Matching is driven by genuine fit for the job, so an empty budget field never hides the vendors you should be seeing.
C. For vendors & member companies
Q9. What does a vendor membership actually buy?
A verified profile, independent credential checks, and the right to see and respond to opportunities you qualify for. It never buys a higher ranking or a recommendation.
Q10. What do the membership levels cost?
Listed (no fee) for a basic profile eligible for matching; Verified at $995/year (or $100/month) for full independent verification and stamped profile downloads; Professional at $2,995/year (or $250/month) for monthly re-verification, more users, and unlimited stamped downloads.
Q11. Will paying more move me up the list?
No — and this is the heart of the platform. A higher tier buys more verification and tools, not a better position. Ranking follows qualification and the merits of your bid, full stop.
Q12. Can competitors see my pricing?
Never. Your bid and pricing stay private. You also never see a competitor’s pricing. Everyone competes on their own merits, not on copying each other.
Q13. Is my membership fee refundable if I’m not approved?
Yes. Paid membership charges are live, real payments — and if an application is declined, the platform issues a real refund automatically.
D. Trust, integrity & verification
Q14. How do you actually verify a company?
Material claims — license, insurance, references, certifications — are cross-checked against independent evidence, and each confirmed item is stamped with the date it was verified.
Q15. What are the three trust scores I keep hearing about?
Completeness (how full the profile is), corroboration (how well outside evidence backs the claims), and discrepancy count (how many issues remain open). They are always visible — and they are firewalled from money and ranking.
Q16. What happens when a claim can’t be confirmed?
The discrepancy is logged and scored, not hidden, and a human auditor resolves it. The company gets a documented chance to prove or correct the claim.
Q17. Why can’t a vendor just buy a better reputation here?
Because trust scores never touch payment, membership, or ranking. The moat is adjudicated truth — an audit trail no one can buy — not more advertising.
E. Money, fees & value
Q18. How does CPI make money without selling rankings?
Through clearly defined services: community memberships, procurement engagements, vendor memberships, and market-intelligence products. Every dollar is for a service received — never for an outcome.
Q19. What does it cost a community to participate?
Community Basic has no fee. Beyond that, tiers scale with service — a Community Membership, a Managed RFQ (per request), or a Full Procurement engagement — so a community pays only for what it uses.
Q20. Are there Admin Codes for founding members?
Yes. Staff may issue an Admin Code that adjusts the up-front Admin Fee for founding members, pilots, or demos. An Admin Code changes only the fee — it can never affect matching, ranking, or verification.
Q21. How do we know we’re getting a fair price on the work itself?
Because qualified vendors bid against the same scope and you compare them side by side. Competition on an even field — not a single relationship — is what drives an honest price.
F. People, roles & access
Q22. Who can see what on the platform?
Access follows role. Boards and managers see the buyer side, companies see the vendor side, and the CPI team sees the admin side. People only see the door that matches their role.
Q23. Can we give team members different levels of access?
Yes. Administrators can grant specific categories and actions to specific people, so each team member sees and does only what their job requires.
Q24. What happens when board members change?
The record stays with the community, not the individual. A new treasurer or board inherits the full history, so nothing is lost when volunteers rotate.
G. Risk, data & compliance
Q25. How is our information protected?
Access is role-restricted and audited, sensitive files are validated on upload, and account protections such as rate limiting and lockouts guard against abuse. Sign-in activity is logged for accountability.
Q26. Is the vendor and prospect data real?
The outreach pipeline is built from real, publicly sourced company data. Demonstration records used for training are clearly labeled as demo data so no one confuses a sample for a live member.
Q27. How long are records kept?
Decision and scoring records are append-only and retained for the long term — consistent with the multi-year retention expected for licensed-professional and procurement records — so the trail is there when it is needed.
H. Insurance, assessments & selling a business
Q28. What is a Verified Assessment, and who is it for?
It is an independent, standards-based report on a property’s real condition and readiness. It serves three buyers at once — the community, its insurer, and CPI — and is performed by a credentialed observer with no stake in the repairs.
Q29. Why would an insurer trust CPI data?
Because assessment and insurance information is firewalled from procurement outcomes — vendors never touch it and it never feeds ranking. That separation is exactly what lets an outside carrier rely on it and even help fund it.
Q30. How does CPI help someone sell their company?
A verified data file — confirmed contracts, credentials, and a clear list of any open discrepancies — lets a seller fix weaknesses early and a buyer run faster, cheaper diligence. CPI supplies verified data and preparation only; it never brokers the deal or opines on value.
Still have a question? If it isn’t answered here, it usually comes back to the same rule: if a service is clearly defined and independently verifiable, CPI will do it — and if something would let money buy an outcome, CPI won’t.
CPI — Community Procurement Independent · Confidential training material. Prices shown reflect current published rates and may change. Nobody pays to win; everybody pays only for a clearly defined service received.