AI & Estimating Software

AI & Estimating Software

⚠️ Important: This article analyzes AI estimating tools tested by our team. Mechanical Enlightenment does NOT use AI for estimates—we use experienced estimators with professional software.

The Rise of AI in Construction Estimating

Recently we have seen AI come on the estimating scene. Many companies have tried to lean into AI for their Mechanical and Plumbing Estimating. One of the large mainstream AI platforms claims it can calculate numbers for commercial jobs. When a client brought this to our attention, we decided to test these claims.

Our Testing Methodology: Comparing AI to Human Estimators

Case Study #1: Testing AI on a $158k Project

When this was brought to our attention by one of our clients, we dove into creating an AI account and putting this to the test. We took a job that we estimated in our system using estimating software, we plugged the plans and specs into AI. Then we plugged our labor, profit % and overhead % that we used on the project. It also allowed us to ask for current commodities pricing to be incorporated into the bid.

$50k Off Target: AI's Accuracy Problem

The AI was very impressive with putting all these numbers together for us in matter of seconds. However, when comparing our take off results to AI, the results were around 50k off on a $158k job. If a contractor were to use these AI numbers, they would have lost a substantial amount of money.

Case Study #2: Third-Party AI Estimating Failure:

The $2.3 Million HVAC Project

In this past week we also had an opportunity to do another check bid on a HVAC company that used an estimating company out of the country that utilized AI to formulate their bids. After doing our own take off we immediately saw that the AI take off was missing 37 package units which was a $600,000 miss on this job. The AI also used spiral duct in an apartment setting where this was not needed. There were gaps in duct work that were not shown on the drawing that we had to accommodate for that the AI also did not pick up.

When this job was all done and the check bid was compared, we were at 2.3 million dollars and the AI was at 1.5 million. The customer was advised not to use the AI bid because it would have cost them $800,000.

Experience & Human Expertise Matters

AI is still growing and can be incorporated into estimating software however to rely on AI for the whole estimating process is a very risky thing. We highly recommend using experienced estimators with a reputable software company like Wendes to put bids together.

That last case scenario that we shared was an unexperienced estimating company using an AI based method to bid a project for a HVAC company and that would have been a major loss to the company if that bid was used. That could have potentially put that company out of business.

Brent Morris

Enlightenment Companies

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