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AI+AEC in News · Construction Dive

If every contractor has the same AI, what are they actually competing on?

Excerpt from Construction Dive

For years, accuracy gave contractors an advantage that wasn't easy to replicate. Miss work in a takeoff, and a contractor could win a job at a price that didn't cover its costs. Count the same work twice, and the bid could be too high to win. Good estimators built careers on getting those details right, and firms built reputations on the strength of their estimating teams. Now AI is making that advantage easier to buy. Today's takeoff tools can read plans and return quantities in a fraction of the time it would take an estimator. The BuiltWorlds 2026 Preconstruction Benchmarking Report found that estimating tools still in pilots last year have largely gone into full deployment. As reliable counts become easier to obtain, being the firm that counts best starts to matter less.

Published by Construction Dive ·

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Image: Construction Dive, shown from the publisher’s website.

Key terms in this story

Quantity takeoff
Quantity takeoff is the process of measuring and counting the materials and items shown in drawings or models — such as areas, volumes and numbers of doors — to prepare a BOQ or estimate.

How can your firm use this?

CloudBrain helps architecture, engineering and construction firms in India turn developments like this into working tools. Related service:

Workflow automationAutomate BOQs, compliance checks, RFIs, specs, tenders and reporting.

Topics

The headline and excerpt are from Construction Dive, which owns them; CloudBrain is not affiliated with Construction Dive. Read the original article (opens in a new tab) · All AI+AEC news

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