Thrive
Construction industry AI tool in development
A new platform designed to help construction companies create more accurate and quicker estimates is currently in beta testing.
A Tampa entrepreneur has created an AI solution that helps construction companies automate takeoffs from PDF architectural plans.This can save them hours in the estimating process.
AI Builder Company, Inc. is the latest venture from Tommy Whitehead, owner and president of remodeling contractor TomCo Solutions.
He knows firsthand how difficult it can be to prepare a takeoff, which refers to determining what materials are needed for a construction project and how much they cost.
“One of the biggest bottlenecks in the industry is turning around timely and accurate estimates,” Whitehead told the Catalyst. “We’re putting hours and hours and hours of time on computers to try to figure out measurements and costs and quantities.”
AI Builder Company’s platform uses AI and computer vision technology to review plans and analyze legends and symbols.
“If you have a picture of a plan and it has 30 electrical sockets and five air conditors and two windows,” Whitehead explained, “our prototype is able to pick up each one of those icons and immediately count them all.”
This analysis takes about 30 seconds and is approximately 98% accurate, he added.
About 40% of the current workforce in the industry is retiring in the next five years, Whitehead said. “We don’t have enough people to replace them.”
This presents a “detrimental need” in the industry, he continued. Whitehead’s goal was to create a product that can improve efficiency and make the estimating process easier.
Whitehead’s contractor experience has played a key role in developing the platform. “We can teach it just as fast as we can feed it information, meaning we can train in minutes what could take years for an AI model to learn,” he said.
“It’s not just AI, it’s having the resources like a construction company that has the personnel to teach an AI model exactly what it needs to do.”
Development on the solution began last year. Once it was “just right,” Whitehead and his team started seeking partners. AI Builder Company is currently in funding rounds.
The product has yet to be officially released and is still in a beta stage, Whitehead added. It will tentatively be available in 12 to 18 months.
AI Builder Company is planning to create “an affordable” software as a service monthly plan for smaller contractors, as well as an option for larger construction firms, he explained.
Once the platform is released, it will be marketed towards general contractors, architectural and engineering firms and speciality contractors in industries such as plumbing, electrical, mechanical and roofing.
