AI TAKEOFF · SOURCE-LINKEDCATEGORY · AI TAKEOFF

Source-linked quantities, not black-box takeoff.

Every quantity BuildBid produces links back to the region on the sheet it came from.

Black-box takeoff software forces you to trust a total. BuildBid inverts that: the draft ships with geometry overlays, extracted text, and the exact sheet region each quantity was read from. If a number looks wrong, you see why in one click.

The takeoff is structured for correction. Nudge a polygon, reassign a symbol, exclude a region — the line item updates and the correction is captured so the next plan set in the same family starts from a better draft.

This is not point-and-click manual tracing with an AI label bolted on. It is a pre-populated takeoff that your estimator verifies and refines, which is a fundamentally different product from PlanSwift / Bluebeam workflows.

Try on a sample plan setSee sample takeoff
WORKFLOW · HOW IT ACTUALLY RUNS5 STEPS
  1. STEP 01

    Upload plan set

    PDF or image. Multi-sheet, multi-revision. BuildBid indexes sheets, detects plan regions, and cross-references the title block for scope.

  2. STEP 02

    Vision pipeline runs

    Vector geometry extraction, semantic vision for object identity, segmentation masks, and measurement. Each output carries a confidence score.

  3. STEP 03

    Pre-populated takeoff

    Quantities, counts, and linear measurements land in the takeoff view with polygon overlays on the sheet. You review, not author.

  4. STEP 04

    Nudge to correct

    Drag a polygon edge, reassign a mis-classified symbol, exclude a region. Quantities update live. Corrections are telemetry — they improve the next run.

  5. STEP 05

    Export quantities

    CSV, XLSX, or pipe into a BuildBid estimate. Source-row metadata rides along so downstream review keeps the audit trail.

PAIN · WHAT THIS REPLACES

Where the hours actually go today

  • Manual point-and-click polygon tracing for every plan set, including near-duplicates of ones already bid.
  • Black-box AI takeoff tools that output a total with no way to audit a specific line item.
  • Losing corrections — every manual nudge on a legacy tool is wasted signal because the tool cannot learn from it.
  • Disconnected takeoff and estimate tools that make you re-enter quantities across systems.
LIMITS · WHAT BUILDBID IS NOT YET

Honest gaps — read before you buy

  • Very hand-drawn, schematic-stage, or poorly-scanned sheets produce lower-confidence overlays. BuildBid flags this rather than guessing.
  • Complex 3D / isometric extraction (e.g. dense mechanical riser packs) is not yet as sharp as 2D plan-view extraction.
  • No live revision-cloud detection yet — addenda diffs rely on document-level diff, not cloud-region detection. On the roadmap.
  • Pixel-perfect SAM-based masking is available on supported trades; niche assembly types still fall back to vector-only extraction.
REVIEW FOCUS · WHAT TO CHECK3 AREAS
CHECK 01

Plan sheet with polygon overlays — extracted quantities visible as colored regions layered on the drawing.

CHECK 02

Takeoff view — line items with source-region thumbnails, confidence flags, and nudge handles.

CHECK 03

Correction capture — after a nudge, the telemetry panel shows the signal being saved for the next run.

NEXT · TRY ON A SAMPLE

Sample plans, zero setup. The draft comes back with quantities, confidence flags, and the source rows we used. You review before you send.

Try on a sample plan set