BuildBlocks — AI Construction Estimator

Overview

BuildBlocks ingests construction plans (PDF, DWG) and produces a fully itemised, priced quote in under five minutes. We built the AI vision pipeline, pricing engine and the customer-facing app.

The Problem

Quantity surveying for residential builds takes 8-20 hours per quote. Estimators are a bottleneck. Existing tools require manual takeoff and don't price against live supplier data.

The Build

A multi-modal AI pipeline: vision model for plan ingestion, a measurement extractor, an item-classification step (frames, fittings, finishes), and an integrated pricing engine pulling live supplier rates. All wrapped in a builder-friendly Next.js app.

The Outcome

Time-to-quote reduced from 8-20 hours to under 5 minutes. Builders are quoting more jobs and winning more. Pricing accuracy within 4% of senior-estimator benchmark.

Features Shipped

• PDF + DWG plan ingestion
• AI measurement extraction
• Live supplier pricing integration
• Itemised quote PDF export
• Multi-builder team accounts