From drawings to a reviewed estimate in one day
A Saudi electrical infrastructure group with more than 400 staff builds transformers, substations and civil works. Its estimating teams were spending two to three weeks turning each new drawing package into a reviewed estimate. We put an agent system on their own server that does the reading, filing and first pass, so estimators start from a draft instead of a blank sheet.
17
estimators use it every day
1 day
drawings to reviewed estimate, down from 2 to 3 weeks
$170M+
in bids run through it since June 2026
The problem
Every tender arrived as a stack of AutoCAD drawings across three disciplines. Someone read them for hours, listed what mattered, sent it up to senior staff, waited for direction, passed packages to the estimating teams, and then everyone went looking for prior bids to cross-check rates before sign-off. Most of the elapsed time went into handoffs and searching, not estimating.
What we built
Watched project folders
Any file dropped into a project folder is picked up and read automatically, including DWG and DXF drawings.
Discipline reader agents
Separate agents read the transformer, substation and civil drawings and turn them into structured data.
Record-keeping agents
The readers report to agents that keep the project record filed, linked and audited, so every document opens in one click.
An hourly run
Every hour the system collects new readings and emails the estimating team from addresses on the company's own domain.
Rates with their source
When an estimator replies, the system sends back prior rates for the same items, each with the document it came from.
A logged review chain
Clarifications happen by email reply, and every review step is logged before sign-off.
How it runs
The system lives on the client's own on-premise Linux server. We built it and run it with Claude Code, and the agents call Claude models through the Claude API.
Stack
- Claude Code
- Claude API
- Linux (on-premise)
- DWG and DXF readers
Results
Drawings now reach a reviewed estimate in a day. Seventeen estimators work from it daily, and more than $170M of bids have gone through it since it went live in June 2026.
Client name withheld.
Estimating from drawings takes your team weeks?
We can look at your process and tell you what an agent system would change.