AI and automation for construction and trades businesses: the office keeps moving while you are on site.
Builders, fabricators, electricians, plumbers and suppliers all run into the same problem: the people who know the work are out doing it, and the quoting, follow-up and paperwork wait for them to get back. We connect the quote, the follow-up and the job tracking so nothing waits on one person. From there we keep going, with enquiries answered after hours and stock and scheduling on one screen.
Where the time goes on a trades business
Quotes built by hand from plans
Someone reads the drawings, measures up, looks up prices and types it all into a template. It is slow, and it usually sits with the one person who knows how to price.
Follow-up that slips
The quote goes out and then the week gets busy. Nobody rings the customer back, and the calls that come in after hours go to a voicemail that is checked the next morning.
Jobs and stock kept in people's heads
Which job is at which stage, what has been ordered and what is left in the yard are spread over a spreadsheet, a whiteboard and a few phones.
Where most trades businesses start with us
- Step 1
Quoting first
We set up quoting around your own prices and rules, so a draft is prepared from the plans or the job details and your estimator checks it before it is sent.
- Step 2
Then follow-up and job tracking
A sent quote is chased on a schedule you choose. Once it is accepted it becomes a job that the office and the crew can both see.
- Step 3
Then the rest of the office
After-hours enquiries get an answer, stock and scheduling move onto one screen, and job sheets and invoices are filled in from details you already hold.
What we can build for a construction or trades business
- AI agents and assistants that read incoming plans and emails, pull out the job details and prepare a first draft for your team to check.
- Quoting and follow-up built on your price list, so quotes are drafted from the job, approved by a person and chased until the customer answers.
- Workflow automation that turns an accepted quote into a job, a purchase order and an invoice in Xero or MYOB without anyone typing it again.
- Internal tools for the things no bought product does your way, such as job tracking, stock in the yard or the weekly schedule for the crews.
- Dashboards and reporting that show quotes out, jobs in progress, stock on hand and unpaid invoices together on one screen.
- Voice agents that pick up the phone when everyone is on the tools, take the details of the job and pass them to the right person.
How the pieces work as one system
A trades business does not need four separate projects. The website brings in the enquiry, AI reads it, automation carries it through quoting and into a job, and custom software holds whatever is particular to how you work. We build AI, automation, custom software and websites to work as one, so each part hands over to the next. As an example of the kind of work, HiTech Trusses, a truss fabricator, moved off one shared spreadsheet and onto one system with four modules: quoting, MYOB, MiTek CRM and inventory.
Questions
What does AI and automation for construction and trades businesses look like in practice?
Mostly it is office work done for you. Quotes are drafted from plans, customers are followed up, accepted work turns into jobs and invoices, and the phone is answered when the crew is out. Your team still makes the decisions and approves what goes to a customer.
How much does it cost for a business like ours?
It depends on the business. A sole trader who wants calls answered needs a different build from a fabricator pricing from drawings, so we do not publish a figure. We look at how you run the work now, then write up a scope with the cost in it. Nothing starts until you agree.
How long before we are using it?
That follows from what is being built and which of your tools it has to connect to. The scope we write for you states the time next to the cost, and you read both before deciding.
Can AI really read our plans and drawings?
It can pull a lot from them, and how much depends on the kind of plans you receive. We say in the scope what it will and will not read. Either way your estimator checks every draft before it leaves.
Our crews are not computer people. Will they use it?
We build for a phone on site and for as few taps as possible. Most of what we set up runs in the background, so the crew sees a job list and a short form and the office sees the rest.
Do we have to replace MYOB, Xero or our estimating software?
Usually not. We begin with what your team already uses and connect to it where the software allows. Everything is set up in your own accounts and stays yours.
30 minutes to talk through how your business runs. No charge.
Book a Call