For construction firms
The margin is made in the paperwork, not on the site
German construction runs at 4 to 7 percent pre-tax margin with the third-highest insolvency rate of all industries (HDB, Destatis). At those values, a single unenforced change order or one lost documentation dispute erases the profit of an entire project. Structural construction is a documentation-and-claims business wearing a hard hat, and the documentation can run itself.
30 minutes, no obligation. German or English.
104
insolvencies per 10,000 companies, rank 3 of all industries
Destatis / ZDB, 2026
4.4%
pre-tax margin at German construction firms above €10 million revenue
HDB sector figures, 2021-2024
2 days
per week tied up by information and documentation duties in member firms
ZDB, consistent with KfW and IW findings
The gap
The big suites target the majors. The apps target the two-man shop. You are the gap.
BRZ, Nevaris and RIB build for the construction industry, the craftsman apps for the small trade shop. The general contractor with 10 to 100 people, a calculation program and a photo chaos in between is the underserved middle. That is exactly who we build for.
Voice and photo to site diary
Dictated daily reports and site photos are structured, assigned to project and date, and presented as a diary entry for daily countersigning, which raises the evidentiary value. Whoever enters a dispute without daily records of weather, crew, output and obstructions loses almost every time, by unanimous practitioner assessment.
Tender triage on GAEB files
Bills of quantities with hundreds of positions ingested, pre-sorted against your own calculation history, bid decision prepared. The circulating hour-savings figures in this category are marketing; the effort itself is undisputed.
The installment and final invoicing run
Quantity takeoff, verifiable billing, deadline control against the 21-day rule of § 16 VOB/B, structured for the e-invoicing duty that reaches practically every construction firm in 2027.
Defect tracking with deadlines
Defects captured, assigned, chased with grace periods and escalation, instead of drowning in photo albums and WhatsApp groups. The homeowners' protection association counted an average of 31 defects per private new-build.
Contract law first
Built around the VOB clock, not past it
Construction contract law rewards the firm that documents and announces on time, and it is merciless about deadlines. Our systems are built around exactly those clauses.
The announcement duties of the VOB/B
Whoever performs additional work must announce the claim before execution or it is gone (§ 2(6) VOB/B), and obstructions must be notified immediately and in writing (§ 6). Our diary automation flags both from the daily documentation before the deadline devalues the claim.
§ 650c and § 650f BGB work for the documented
On disputed change orders, a contractor can demand 80 percent of his offer as an installment, and the Federal Court of Justice extended the § 650f construction security explicitly to unilaterally ordered change orders. The law helps the one with the paper trail; we make sure the paper trail exists.
E-invoicing 2027, with § 13b built in
The duty reaches practically every construction firm and demands clean structure for installment series, retention amounts and the reverse-charge rule of § 13b. Whoever automates the invoicing run now discharges the legal duty in the same move.
The AI Act's one line for construction
The AI Act touches construction firms mainly where AI monitors or scores workers, for instance via site cameras. We stay on the other side of that line: document and photo AI is minimal risk, and we build nothing that watches your people.
How it starts
Same engagement, firm-specific scope
Intro call
Free
30 minutes on your firm's bottlenecks. About a third of these calls end with the advice that AI is not the right tool yet.
Process audit
from €2,500 · credited to the implementation
We map where the hours actually go, from intake to deadline board, and rank the use cases by payback. You get a shortlist with expected effort, not a slide deck.
Implementation
Fixed fee, named in your proposal
One process at a time, live in your daily business in 2 to 4 weeks, with your team trained and a sign-off step wherever client data leaves a draft.
Fair questions
What construction firms ask us first
Does this replace our site or office staff?
No. Per the ZDB, information and documentation duties tie up two days per week in member firms. Those days come back to calculation, site management and claims that actually get enforced.
We already use a construction app or suite. Does this replace it?
No. BRZ, Nevaris and RIB serve the majors, craftsman apps the small shops, and tools like Capmo now ship change-order checks as a feature, though the efficacy numbers around it are vendor claims. What is missing in the middle is the connection: voice and photos in, diary entries, claim flags and invoice runs out, across the tools you already own.
How much change-order volume are we losing?
Nobody knows, and whoever shows you a percentage invented it; no serious DACH study has ever measured it. The legal mechanics are argument enough: an unannounced claim under § 2(6) VOB/B is simply gone, and § 650c pays 80 percent to the firm that documented.
Does the AI Act even apply to a construction firm?
Barely, and that is good news. The relevant line is worker monitoring, for instance via site cameras; that is where it gets sensitive. Document and photo AI, which is everything on this page, is minimal risk.
What does it cost?
The audit starts at €2,500 and is credited in full against the implementation. Implementations are fixed-fee. For market context, we published what AI automation actually costs, with sources, on our blog. Read the article with all market prices.
Talk to us before the next claim dies unannounced
A 30-minute call is enough to tell whether your firm has an automation case. If it does not, we say so.