For construction firms
AI automation for construction firms
German construction runs at 4 to 7 percent pre-tax margin and has the third-highest insolvency rate of all industries (HDB, Destatis). At those margins, one change order you fail to enforce or one lost documentation dispute can wipe out the profit of a whole project. In structural construction, documentation and claims decide the result, and the documentation can be automated.
30 minutes, no obligation. German or English. Clicking loads Cal.com (USA); the call runs on Google Meet. Prefer to write first? Ask by email. We send the draft data processing agreement and our terms on request.
- 104
- insolvencies per 10,000 companies, rank 3 of all industriesDestatis / ZDB, 2026
- 4.4%
- pre-tax margin at German construction firms above €10 million revenueHDB sector figures, 2021-2024
- 2 days
- per week go to information and documentation duties in member firmsZDB, consistent with KfW and IW findings
In short
In structural construction, documentation and claims decide the result, and the documentation can be automated. The general contractor with 10 to 100 people, a calculation program and scattered site photos is poorly served. That is who we build for. The trial run starts at €2,500.Last updated:
The gap
The big suites target the majors. The apps target the two-man shop. You fall in between.
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 scattered site photos is poorly served. That is who we build for.
Site diary from voice and photos
Without daily records of weather, crew, output and obstructions, you lose almost every dispute, practitioners agree unanimously. You dictate the daily report and take site photos. The system sorts both by project and date and prepares a diary entry for daily countersigning, which raises its value as evidence.
Tender sorting from GAEB files
The system reads bills of quantities with hundreds of items, pre-sorts them against your past calculations and prepares the bid decision. The hour-savings figures quoted in this category are marketing. The effort itself is undisputed.
Installment and final invoices
Quantity takeoff, verifiable billing and deadline checks 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
The homeowners' protection association counted an average of 31 defects per private new-build. Defects are recorded, assigned and chased with grace periods and escalation, instead of getting lost in photo albums and WhatsApp groups.
Contract law first
Built around the VOB deadlines
Construction contract law rewards the firm that documents and gives notice on time, and it is strict about deadlines. We build our systems around exactly those clauses.
- The notice duties of the VOB/B
- If you perform additional work, announce the claim before you do the work (§ 2(6) VOB/B). Without that notice the claim is at risk; courts make exceptions only in narrow cases. Obstructions must be notified immediately and in writing (§ 6). Our diary automation flags both in the daily records before the deadline passes.
- § 650c and § 650f BGB favor the firm that documents
- On disputed change orders, a contractor can demand 80 percent of his offer as an installment. The Federal Court of Justice explicitly extended the § 650f construction security to unilaterally ordered change orders. The law helps the firm with a paper trail. We make sure you have one.
- E-invoicing 2027, with § 13b built in
- The duty reaches practically every construction firm. It requires a clean structure for installment series, retentions and the reverse-charge rule of § 13b. Automate the invoicing run now and you meet the duty at the same time.
- The one AI Act line for construction
- The AI Act affects construction firms mainly where AI monitors or rates workers, for instance through site cameras. We stay clear of that: document and photo AI is minimal risk, and we build nothing that watches your people.
How it starts
How we work together
Intro call
Free
30 minutes on your firm's bottlenecks. If AI is not the right tool, we tell you.
Trial run
from €2,500 · credited to the implementation
We find out where the hours actually go, from first inquiry to deadline, and rank the use cases by payback. You get a short list with expected effort, not a slide deck.
Implementation
Fixed fee, named in your proposal
We implement and test one workflow with your team, typically within two to four weeks once prerequisites are confirmed. We train your team, and your team checks and approves every draft before client data goes out.
The implementation of one contained workflow costs about €3,000 to €5,000. Projects with several processes and systems cost more, and the fixed fee is in your proposal before work starts. Ongoing care starts at €250 per month per workflow. 30 min · remote · no obligation. And if AI isn't the right tool, we'll say so.
Fair questions
What construction firms ask us first
01Does this replace our site or office staff?
No. According to the ZDB, information and documentation duties take up two days per week in member firms. Those days go back to calculation, site management and claims that actually get enforced.
02We already use a construction app or suite. Does this replace it?
No. BRZ, Nevaris and RIB serve the majors, craftsman apps the small shops. Tools like Capmo now offer change-order checks as a feature, though the effectiveness figures are vendor claims. What firms in the middle lack is the connection: voice and photos in; diary entries, claim alerts and invoice runs out, across the tools you already use.
03How much change-order volume are we losing?
Nobody knows. We know of no serious DACH study that has measured it, so treat any percentage with caution. The legal rules are argument enough: an unannounced claim under § 2(6) VOB/B is at risk, and § 650c BGB lets you bill 80 percent of your change-order offer as an installment if it is documented.
04Does the AI Act even apply to a construction firm?
Barely, and that is good news. It gets sensitive with worker monitoring, for instance through site cameras. Document and photo AI, which covers everything on this page, is minimal risk.
05What does it cost?
The trial run starts at €2,500. If you go ahead, we credit it in full against the implementation. If we advise against automating in writing, we refund the fee. The implementation gets its own fixed-fee quote. For market context, we published what AI automation actually costs, with sources, on our blog. The implementation of one contained workflow costs about €3,000 to €5,000. Projects with several processes and systems cost more, and the fixed fee is in your proposal before work starts. Ongoing care starts at €250 per month per workflow. Read the article with the cost examples. Calculate with your own numbers.
Robert Van YsendyckFounder & Managing Director
In 30 minutes we can tell whether automation makes sense for your firm. If it does not, we tell you.