The AI revolution is everywhere, permeating every sector of the economy. All industries are leveraging its power to work faster, smarter and more efficiently. The construction industry is no exception. Let’s look at how estimators, general contractors and others use AI-integrated tools to enhance and accelerate their work. First, let’s answer an important question.

The answer to this question depends on what you mean by the word “AI.” If you mean broad tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Copilot, the answer is no. These tools are not built for estimating. They could use old or irrelevant construction costs and/or miss important line items, thus undermining an estimator’s work.

AI-integrated estimating platforms, however, can help produce accurate estimates. These purpose-built technologies contain accurate, relevant costs and a wealth of material, labor and equipment line items to choose from. Additionally, in top-tier estimating tools, AI agents are trained in construction estimating and can make contextually relevant suggestions.

In summary, AI can produce accurate estimates if the AI tool in question is purpose-built for estimating. Yet even the best AI-integrated estimating tools require human oversight and input to ensure accuracy.

Of all the ways AI helps estimators work more efficiently, this is perhaps the most impactful. Early-stage construction estimating is tedious and manual. It is also incredibly important, which is why estimators spend days building them. With the AI tools on the market today, they don’t have to.

AI-integrated construction estimating tools analyze project documents like plans and specs, Scopes of Work, RFPs and more to produce early-stage estimates in a matter of minutes. The best tools also include tightly-controlled AI agents to help guide and refine your work.

AI assistants specifically trained for construction help produce accurate early stage estimates in a fraction of the time.

AI-integrated takeoff tools are saving estimators serious time by predicting what comes next in the takeoff process. Modern tools accelerate point, line or polyline selection by recognizing connecting lines. Not only do these technologies offer intelligent suggestions, but they also provide users with the power to instantly grab corner points or entire line measurements instead of clicking on the end of each line. Combined, these features make the takeoff process much faster.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) enables estimators, contractors and others involved in the preconstruction process to track and test a new build within a 3D digital twin. That’s high tech in its own right. Integrating BIM with AI is a whole new level of innovation.

This powerful combination of technologies can automate repetitive tasks like creating schedules and converting images to 3D models. AI can also generate thousands of design options based on human-directed parameters like energy performance, lifecycle costs, etc. AI-integrated BIM can also predict budget and timeline overruns.

Using AI-powered BIM software allows project teams to go faster and reduce preconstruction errors.

With the global economy so interconnected, conditions change quickly, as events and activity in one corner of the globe impacts prices in another. With materials sourced from around the world, the construction industry is particularly vulnerable to the winds of change.

That’s why estimators, contractors and construction executives use AI-enabled tools that forecast future costs. Combining historical costs and forward-looking predictive analytics these technologies help users get ahead of what’s coming and make savvy business decisions.

For decades, estimators, GCs and others have been toiling under the manual tedium of generating estimates, completing quantity takeoffs and doing other time-consuming preconstruction tasks. Today, we stand on the brink of a technical revolution. AI-integrated tools are relieving these burdens, augmenting human efforts with lighting fast, contextually relevant suggestions. These tools even the playing field between small firms and large ones and amplify the productivity of construction firms. When it comes to preconstruction, AI is an absolute gamechanger, and Gordian’s AI-enabled solutions are the ultimate tools for enhancing human work.

Gordian’s Flash™ AI Estimating is built on RSMeans™ Data, the industry’s most trusted costs, so users can be certain in the accuracy of their estimates. Furthermore, our intelligent agents are built specifically for estimating, so their suggestions can be trusted. For project takeoff work, we offer eTakeoff Dimension with integrated SnapAI that predicts what’s next, saving estimators significant time. Finally, we offer Data Insights Cost Trends that accurately predict material, labor and equipment costs up to three years in the future to augment business decisions. Taken together, these intelligent, AI-fueled innovations help estimators, contractors and other construction professionals work smarter and more efficiently.