Drawings in. Checkable quantities out.

QSAI Copilot reads your architectural and structural drawings, extracts the quantities an estimator would, and hands you a verified BOQ, bar bending schedule and bar cutting schedule in the formats your consultant already signs. Every number carries the basis it was calculated from, and the whole system runs on your own servers.

Request a demo A 30-minute walkthrough with your own drawings.
One 12 m stock bar, cut by the optimiser 12.00 m stock bar · Ø16
B14.20 m
B14.20 m
C21.80 m
S31.45 m
B1
B1
C2
S3
0.35 m reusable offcutkept for the next pour
Measured Calculated
  • Architecture Masonry, plaster, paint, flooring, openings
  • MEP Pipes, fittings, wires, conduits, ductwork
  • Structural Rebar → BBS → optimised cutting schedule
See how it works

Why this exists

Quantity takeoff is where projects win or lose their margin, and it still runs on rulers, highlighters and spreadsheets.

QSAI Copilot was built for one job: turn a drawing set into quantities a quantity surveyor can verify, in minutes rather than days, on your own servers, with the method visible on every line.

  1. It takes days a bid does not have

    A manual BOQ and BBS for a full drawing set takes three to six days, measured sheet by sheet. Tender deadlines do not move, so the takeoff gets rushed and the allowances get padded.

  2. Nobody can see where a number came from

    A quantity in a spreadsheet cell has no memory. When the consultant asks why the steel is 11% higher, the answer is another day of re-measuring.

  3. Every revision starts over

    Every drawing revision restarts the clock. The takeoff should follow in minutes, not restart from the first wall.

  4. Steel is ordered mark by mark

    Cutting schedules are drawn up late and by hand, one line at a time, and typical rebar wastage runs at 3–5%. The margin leaves in the skip, and the extra tonnes go on the invoice.

  5. Tender data ends up off-site

    Cloud takeoff tools mean a full drawing set and your rates sit on someone else's servers.

How it works

Five stations. The AI reads and talks. The engine measures and calculates. You confirm.

Upload the drawing set

DXF, vector PDF, or a scanned PDF and site photos. One chat is one project; drop in as many files as you have. Multi-file sets are aligned automatically and indexed on your server only.

Architecture · MEP · Structural

How the AI reads a drawing

It does not guess. It reads the callouts into a structured schedule and shows you the sheet it read them from.

S-03 · Beam layout, first floor Reading callouts
ABC 12 B1 300×450 3Ø16 B · 2Ø16 T B2 300×? 3Ø16 B · 2Ø16 T C1 300×300 4Ø16 · Ø8@150 Ø10 @ 150 PROJECT: VILLA 12SHEET: S-03SCALE 1:100REV: 02DEMO DATA

Member schedule (draft, for your review)

MarkSizeBottomTopLinksStatus
B1 300 × 450 3Ø162Ø16Ø10 @ 150 Read from sheet
B2 300 × ? 3Ø162Ø16Ø10 @ 150 Needs you
C1 300 × 300 4Ø16—Ø8 @ 150 Read from sheet

B2's depth is not on the section sheet S-04. The other beams on this level are 450 mm. Use 450?

Tap a callout on the drawing or a row in the schedule.

  • Measuredread directly from the sheet
  • Calculatedcomputed from sheet data with code formulas

What it extracts

Three disciplines, one project, one workbook. Each item carries its unit, its type and its basis.

Plans, sections, schedules and finish zones become the finishing and masonry bill.

  • Brickwork and blockwork by wall thickness: units, cement, sand
  • RCC lintels over openings
  • Plaster: internal, external and ceiling
  • Paint, primer and putty by surface
  • Flooring: tiles, adhesive, grout, screed, PCC bed
  • Skirting and ceiling areas
  • Door and window schedule: frames, glazing, hardware
  • Rooms, columns, stairs and hatched finish zones

Every line can be checked

A bill you cannot audit is a liability. Each row says how it was produced, and anything the documents do not support is listed, never invented.

ItemQtyUnitTypeBasis
Blockwork 200 mm, insulated block, external walls 412.6 m² Measured Wall lengths on A-02 (inner face) × (floor-to-floor 3.20 m − slab 0.20 m), openings deducted from the D/W schedule
Reinforcement Ø16, beams, first floor 1,284 kg Calculated Cutting lengths from the member schedule, laps 50d, BS 8666 shape 00/11, 1.578 kg/m
Plaster 15 mm, internal, cement:sand 1:4 1,106 m² Calculated Wall faces + ceiling areas from rooms table on A-02, openings deducted
Excavation for footings, natural ground to founding level 186.4 m³ Calculated Footing plan areas on S-01 × founding depth 1.50 m written on S-02, working space per profile
Underground water tank — — Not quantified Drawn on A-01, missing from the structural schedule. Listed under Not quantified yet.

All figures on this page are demonstration data, not a real project.

Measured rows are read directly from the documents. Calculated rows apply the selected standard's code formulas to that data, with any specification written on a sheet applied project-wide. An item the drawings do not support is listed under Not quantified so you can supply it, never invented.

What you get

Every generation is a new, immutable file. Older versions stay downloadable; a file is flagged out of date the moment its data changes. Each set also includes a How to Read This Report guide for consultants and fabricators.

  • XLSX Current

    Detailed BOQ workbook

    Villa12_BOQ_v3.xlsx
    Contents
    1. 1Summary
    2. 2BOQ
    3. 3BBS
    4. 4BCS
    5. 5Materials & Waste
    6. 6Project Specifications
    7. 7Missing Data
    8. 8Code Compliance Flags
    9. 9Warnings
    10. 10Notes & Assumptions
  • PDF Current

    Reinforcement steel report

    Villa12_SteelReport_v2.pdf
    Contents
    1. 1Summary: order, scrap %, saving
    2. 2Steel by bar size
    3. 3Steel by element
    4. 4Element-wise bar schedule
    5. 5Bar cutting schedule
    6. 6Concrete & formwork
    7. 7Notes & compliance
  • XLSX Current

    Site BBS, curtailment layout

    Villa12_SiteBBS_v2.xlsx
    Contents
    1. 1Summary
    2. 2Ground Floor Beam
    3. 3Ground Floor Slab
    4. 4First Floor Beam
    5. 5First Floor Slab
    6. 6Mumty
  • XLSX Out of date

    Specified BOQ, client format

    Villa12_SpecBOQ_v1.xlsx
    Contents
    1. 1Specified BOQ
    2. 2Build-up
    3. 3Not Quantified
    4. 4Materials
  • PDF Out of date

    Specified BOQ, print copy

    Villa12_SpecBOQ_v1.pdf
    Contents
    1. 1Sub Structure
    2. 2Super Structure
    3. 3Water Supply
    4. 4Sewerage
    5. 5Electrical
    6. 6Boundary Wall
    7. 7Finishing Works
  • XLSX Superseded

    Detailed BOQ workbook

    Villa12_BOQ_v2.xlsx
    Contents
    1. 1Summary
    2. 2BOQ
    3. 3BBS
    4. 4BCS
    5. 5Materials & Waste

Rate · AmountQuantities are costed against your own rates: material and labour rates are loaded once, so every estimate across the firm prices from the same book. The Excel carries the formulas, sub-totals, overhead and profit lines.

Different from the usual way, and from other AI tools

Not a chatbot that estimates. A quantity engine with an assistant in front of it.

Manual takeoffGeneric AI assistantQSAI Copilot
Where the numbers come from Scale ruler and spreadsheet The language model's answer Deterministic engine; the AI only reads and talks
Traceability The estimator's memory None Basis column on every line, cropped screenshots in project memory
Missing dimension Assumed and forgotten Guessed Flagged before quantifying, asked or raised as an RFI, remembered
Revision Re-measure Re-prompt Regenerate v2; v1 stays for whoever has it
Output format Your template, by hand A text answer Consultant BBS, Specified BOQ, workbook, PDF
Steel ordering Mark by mark Not covered Optimised cutting patterns, offcuts reused
Standard Whatever the estimator remembers Unspecified SBC 304, ACI 318, BS 8666 shape codes; Saudi and Pakistan profiles
Where your data lives On your network A third-party cloud Your own servers, zero outbound traffic

What we claim, and how each figure was measured

Figures from completed projects, each shown with how it was measured and what it leaves out. The full comparison report is available under NDA.

  • BOQ and BBS
    ManualQSAI Copilot 3–6 days 20–40 min

    Manual takeoff restarts with every drawing revision.

  • Rebar wastage
    ManualQSAI Copilot 3–5% 1.5%

    Achieved with a practical on-site bar cutting schedule.

  • Tender data
    ManualQSAI Copilot Off-site On-site

    Deployed on premise for data compliance.

MetricOur figureHow it was measured, and what it excludes
Extraction time About 40 minutes of machine time on a 5,060 m² residential set Scales with sheet count. The engineer clarification loop is tracked separately; it depends on the design team's response time.
Quantity accuracy and QS supervision 99% agreement with a chartered QS takeoff. A QS user gives the final sign-off. Measured on 6 completed projects. Full comparison report available under NDA.
Rebar wastage Target 3–5% from optimised cutting schedules; 1.5% achieved on 256 m² Requires site discipline. Wastage is monitored against the issued bar cutting schedule, not assumed from it.
Data residency 100% on-premise, zero outbound traffic Verifiable at your firewall during the pilot. No telemetry, no model calls to any external service.

Why an AI engine, and why now

The Kingdom is building at a scale that outpaces the number of estimators who can measure by hand. Giga-projects, housing programmes and the commercial build-out that follows them all start with the same document: a bill of quantities.

The drawings are already digital. The specifications are already written on the sheets. What was missing was a reader that is tireless and a calculator that is accountable. The AI reads; the engine calculates; the quantity surveyor decides.

That split is the whole point. A model that both reads and calculates cannot be audited. A model that only reads, feeding an engine whose rules you can inspect, can.

  • Built for the Kingdom SBC 304, ACI 318 and BS 8666 shape codes. Saudi Building Code profile: SRC cement in substructure, insulated and hollow block defaults, ready-mix supply, metric throughout.
  • Arabic-native The assistant replies in the language you write in, and this website is fully Arabic.
  • On your own servers Deployed inside your perimeter, with no internet dependency after install. Built against KSA PDPL and NCA ECC controls.

What it changes for your business

  1. Bid on more tenders

    BOQ and BBS in 20–40 minutes of machine time instead of 3–6 days by hand, so the estimation team prices more work with the same people.

  2. Defend every quantity

    When the consultant or client questions a line, the basis is on the row and the screenshot is in memory.

  3. Order steel once

    The cutting schedule tells you how many 12 m bars to buy and which offcuts to keep. Waste becomes a number you manage: 1.5% was achieved on site, against a typical 3–5%.

  4. Revisions in minutes

    Updated drawings mean a new version of the files, not a new week of measuring.

  5. Formats people already sign

    Site BBS in the consultant layout, Specified BOQ in the client layout. No re-typing into templates.

  6. Institutional memory

    Symbols, assumptions and decisions are stored per project with the drawing crop that justified them. Staff change; the project memory stays.

Who uses it

  • General contractors

    Estimation and procurement teams pricing tenders and ordering materials.

  • Engineering consultants

    Quantity surveyors producing bar schedules and client bills, with the audit trail their stamp requires.

  • Developers and owners

    Cost control teams checking contractor quantities against an independent, traceable takeoff.

  • Steel fabricators and suppliers

    Cutting schedules per diameter, stock to order, offcut reuse across pours.

  • Site teams

    Element-wise schedules and one-page steel summaries the site engineer works from.

Practical use cases

  • Tender BOQ in minutes, not days

    Upload the tender set, confirm assumptions, export the workbook, hand it to pricing.

  • Villa compounds and housing

    Repetitive units multiply quickly; one confirmed schedule, many bills.

  • Steel procurement

    One cutting schedule per diameter for the whole project, with a what-if on 9 m and 10 m stock.

  • Revision re-takeoff

    New sheet, same project: regenerate and compare versions.

  • Independent check

    Owners verify a contractor's claimed quantities against a traceable takeoff.

  • Site bar schedules

    Floor-by-floor, element-by-element BBS in the consultant's curtailment layout for fabrication.

A free pilot, run on your terms

One decision: approve a sandbox pilot. Bring one closed tender set; we bring the comparison.

  1. You choose the project

    A completed tender where you already hold the verified BOQ and the final rebar reconciliation.

  2. Isolated sandbox

    Under NDA, on our server. The full run produces the BBS and BOQ in under 40 minutes.

  3. Blind parallel run

    We never see your figures until ours are delivered: BBS, BCS and BOQ, complete.

  4. Comparative report

    Item-by-item variance and every gap flagged. You decide with the evidence in hand.

Pass criteria, agreed up front
Quantities within 99% of your verified BOQ, and every item your QS flagged as missing also flagged by the engine.
Duration
48 hours
Cost
None
Request a pilot

The full presentation, slide by slide

The deck we present to construction firms: the problem, the pipeline, how each figure was measured, deployment, the roadmap and the free pilot.

PDF · 11 slides · 3.2 MB

View online Download PDF

What teams say

Early feedback from pilot teams.

  • Bar schedules

    The bar bending schedule came out in the exact sheet layout our consultant signs off. What convinced the team was the Basis column: every weight can be traced back to the drawing.

    Eng. Khalid Al-Harbi Estimation Manager · A general contractor, Riyadh Sample review
  • Workflow

    It asks before it assumes. When a beam depth was missing on the section sheet it stopped and asked us, instead of guessing. That is how we work, so the output is something we can actually check.

    Sara Al-Qahtani Senior Quantity Surveyor · An engineering consultancy, Jeddah Sample review
  • Bar schedules

    We used the cutting schedule to order steel for a compound of villas. The optimised patterns and the offcut list changed how we buy 12-metre bars.

    Eng. Faisal Al-Dossari Project Manager · A villa developer, Dammam Sample review
  • MEP takeoff

    Pipes by system and size, fittings counted from the network, wires per circuit. The warnings sheet told us exactly which legend symbols it could not map, so nothing was silently dropped.

    Mohammed Al-Shehri MEP Engineer · An MEP subcontractor, Riyadh Sample review
  • Bills of quantities

    The Specified BOQ format is the one our client already reads. Rates stay empty for our commercial team, which is exactly the separation we wanted.

    Noura Al-Otaibi Cost Control Lead · A real-estate developer, Riyadh Sample review
  • Workflow

    After a revision we just said 'regenerate', got v2, and the old file stayed available for the team that had it. No more three versions of the same spreadsheet on WhatsApp.

    Eng. Abdullah Al-Ghamdi Site Engineer · A contractor, Makkah Sample review

Reviews marked as samples are placeholders written before launch; they will be replaced by verified customer feedback.

Questions estimators ask us

Does the AI calculate the quantities?

No. The AI reads the drawing into a structured list of elements and runs the conversation. All arithmetic, code rules and material factors run in deterministic engine code, the same code path a DXF takeoff uses.

Which file types work?

DXF gives the best results. Vector PDFs work with a scale. Scanned PDFs, JPG and PNG are read by the AI into a draft schedule you review before anything is calculated.

What if a dimension is missing on the drawings?

The assistant cross-checks other sheets first. If the value still cannot be found and it changes the quantities, it asks you one short question, stores your answer, and never asks again on that project.

Which standards are supported?

Design codes SBC 304 and ACI 318 with BS 8666 shape codes, plus your own measurement conventions, BOQ formats and terminology. Material defaults come from a Saudi Building Code profile (metric, kg/m, SRC cement and block defaults) and a Pakistan profile (feet, kg/ft, ASTM bar numbers). Values written on the drawings override the profile and are listed under Notes & Assumptions.

How accurate are the quantities?

Measured on 6 completed projects, the engine's quantities agreed with a chartered QS takeoff to 99%, and a QS user always gives the final sign-off. The full comparison report is available under NDA.

Does it price the bill?

Yes, against your own rates. Material and labour rates are loaded once and every estimate across the firm prices from the same book. Buffer and wastage limits set by your commercial director are applied consistently and show in the audit trail.

Where do my drawings go?

Nowhere outside your network. QSAI Copilot is deployed on your own servers, with no internet dependency after install, no telemetry and no model calls to any external service. You can verify it at your firewall during the pilot.

Can I get only part of the bill?

Yes. Ask for a grey-structure bill without finishes, or a file scoped to one discipline, such as MEP only. The Specified BOQ is split by location (main building, underground water tank, septic tank, overhead tank, mumty), and items that appear in two sources, such as lintels, are counted once.

Can we test it before committing?

Yes, with a free pilot. Bring a completed tender where you already hold the verified BOQ. We run it blind in an isolated sandbox under NDA and hand you an item-by-item comparison. It takes 48 hours.

Does it read IFC or Revit models?

Not yet. Today it works on tender-stage 2D sets in PDF and DXF. IFC and Revit ingestion, with quantities reconciled against the 5D model, is planned for Q1 2027.

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