Build Flows

AI assistant for project drawings, specs and documents

Ask questions of a project's drawings, specs and meeting notes and get answers that cite the file and passage they came from.

The problem

The answer is in the documents somewhere, but the project has hundreds of pages of drawings, specs, addenda and meeting notes across folders and inboxes. People ask whoever has been on the job longest, or answer from memory, and nobody can show where the answer came from.

What we build

We set up a project file structure that runs uploaded documents through OCR and vector embeddings, then give a narrow agent tools to search and cite them. Every answer links back to the exact file and passage, access follows project membership, and anything that matters is checked by a person. This is the file intelligence layer we built into Connect for Syncify.

How it works

  1. 1

    Agree on the document set and folder structure

    We define which document types the assistant covers (drawings, specs, RFIs, submittals, meeting transcripts) and a predefined folder structure per project so files land in a known place.

  2. 2

    Process files with OCR and embeddings

    Uploaded files are read with OCR, split into passages and stored as vector embeddings, while the source files stay intact so the agent can always open the original.

  3. 3

    Give a narrow agent search and cite tools

    The agent gets a small set of tools to search, retrieve and quote passages. It answers with the file name and passage, and says so when the documents do not contain the answer.

  4. 4

    Apply access and log every answer

    Users only see documents on projects they have access to, and every question, tool call and answer is logged so answers can be reviewed and the agent tuned over time.

  • Project files (PDF drawings, specs, documents)
  • SharePoint
  • Procore
  • OCR and vector embeddings
  • Model Context Protocol (MCP)
  • Next.js and Python

The value it creates

  • Time saved

    Measured as the time to answer a sample of real project questions by searching documents today versus asking the assistant and checking its citation.

  • Better decisions

    Answers carry the file and passage they came from, so a decision can be checked against the document instead of someone's memory.

  • Collective intelligence

    Drawings, specs and meeting transcripts become one searchable project record that the whole team, and other agents, can draw on.

  • Standardization

    Every project uses the same folder structure and processing, so the assistant behaves the same way on every job.

Proof

Frequently asked questions

Can an AI assistant read construction drawings and specs?

It can read the text in them, including scanned pages through OCR, and find the passages relevant to a question. It is strongest on specs, narratives, RFIs and meeting notes, and weaker on purely graphical drawing content. We test it on your own documents and real questions before anyone relies on it.

How do we know the answer is right?

Every answer cites the file and passage it used, so the reader can open the source and check. When the documents do not support an answer, the assistant is set up to say so rather than guess. We also keep a test set of questions with known sources to measure quality over time.

Where are our documents stored and who can see them?

Hosting is agreed during discovery, typically in your own cloud tenant or a managed environment. Access follows project membership, so a user can only query documents on projects they are assigned to.

Does this replace our document management system?

No. Procore, SharePoint or your document system stays the source of truth. The assistant reads from it, and we keep the original files intact so every citation opens the real document.

Next step

Which report or workflow would you like to improve?

Tell us what your team does today, which systems are involved, and what you want to change. We'll discuss whether there is a practical fit.

Prefer email? charley@buildflows.ai