68% of technical companies are looking for engineers. The work is there; the hands are not.
The order book is full, the energy transition is driving demand, and yet what holds things back is not a lack of work but a lack of people. You do not want to lose a single engineer on site to searching for the latest drawing, waiting for materials or typing up job sheets in the evening. And rework — redoing what went wrong the first time — quietly eats your margin. Automation does not replace the skilled tradesperson; it makes sure they get to do the actual work, and that mistakes are prevented before they cost money.
// A report from a fictional installation company with 40 employees (electrical, heating, heat pumps), a work planner and a managing director who is still going over the figures in quotes in the evening. The company is fictional, the situations are real: we run into them again and again.
Sound familiar?
- Preparing a quote takes hours: materials lists, estimating hours, recalculating margins in an old Excel sheet.
- On site, the crew is working from a drawing that was not quite the latest revision; part of it has to be redone.
- Hours and materials are kept on scraps of paper and booked days later — or not at all.
- Materials are not on site in time; the crew stands waiting or drives back to the wholesaler.
- The additional-work agreement was made verbally and is recorded nowhere, and it causes hassle at the final account.
- The planning of projects and people lives in the work planner’s head and on a big board.
- Nobody knows during the project whether it is within budget; that only shows up in the final costing.
- Certificates, inspections and handover files are gathered together at the last minute.
What usually runs here
The software we come across here most often. It does not have to go; we build around it and in between.
A day in construction & installation: now and next
On the left, the day as it usually runs now. On the right, the same day once the dull parts are automated and AI does the groundwork. Watch what changes: not the people, but where their time goes.
- 07:00CrewOn site. The drawing in the folder turns out to be an old revision; the pipe run is no longer correct. Wait for the right one, or guess.
- 08:30Work plannerPutting together next week’s materials from the specifications, typing them by hand into the wholesaler’s ordering portal.
- 10:00CrewThe right materials have not been delivered. One van drives back to the wholesaler; two people stand idle for an hour.
- 11:30Managing directorNew enquiry. The estimate takes an afternoon of piecing things together; the material prices in the Excel sheet are months old.
- 13:00Site supervisorCustomer asks for extra work. “I’ll sort it,” verbally. Not recorded; comes back as a dispute at the final account.
- 15:30CrewHours and materials on a scrap of paper. Collected and typed up on Friday; two of the notes are illegible.
- 18:30Managing directorAt home: is the project still within budget? Unknown. That only shows up in the final costing, when it is too late to adjust.
- 07:00CrewScans the project code; the latest, released drawing opens on the phone. Old revisions are locked, so the work is done on the right version.
- 08:30Work plannerThe materials list rolls out of the specifications; the order goes to the wholesaler with one click, bundled and on the right delivery date.
- 10:00CrewThe materials are on site, delivered on the planned day. No drive back, no standing idle.
- 11:30Managing directorThe estimate is ready: materials at current wholesaler prices, hours based on comparable projects. Check and send.
- 13:00Site supervisorRecords the additional work in the app with a photo and a short description; the customer signs digitally to approve. No more discussion at handover.
- 15:30CrewHours and materials booked to the project in a few taps. It flows straight into the project costs.
- 18:30Managing directorSees the status per project: budgeted versus spent, hours, margin. Where it is drifting, they can steer it back now, not after the fact.
Where AI makes the difference here
Per use case: what the automation does, what a person keeps doing, and whether it is proven or still promising. We say which one honestly.
Always the right revision
The latest, released drawing is attached to every project code; old revisions are locked. The crew never accidentally works from outdated documents again.
Still human: the work planner releases the revision; after that it cannot go wrong.
Materials list and order from the specifications
The materials list rolls out of the specifications or the estimate; the order goes to the wholesaler bundled and on the right delivery date, at current prices.
Still human: checks and releases the order; the typing up disappears.
Booking hours and materials on site
The crew books hours and materials used to the project in a few taps; it flows straight into the project costs and the final costing.
Still human: does the work and taps; nobody types up scraps of paper in the evening any more.
Additional work recorded on the spot
Extra work is recorded on site with a photo and description, and the customer signs digitally to approve. No verbal agreements that lead to arguments at the final account.
Still human: the site supervisor records it; the system makes sure no extra work gets done unrecorded.
Budget monitoring during the project
Because hours and materials are booked at the source, you see budgeted versus spent live per project, instead of only in the final costing.
Still human: adjusts while it is still possible; the cost of rework becomes visible while you can still do something about it.
A handover file that fills itself
Certificates, inspections, photos and meter readings are collected during the work and stored in a structured way, so the handover file is simply there at the end.
Still human: checks completeness; the last-minute searching disappears.
Honestly: what AI does not do here
- AI does not lay pipes or install boilers. On site itself, everything remains human work; the gain is in preventing rework, waiting time and the admin around it.
- The estimating assistant is a proposal based on your own projects. For genuinely new or unusual work, your estimator’s experience remains decisive; the system calculates, they decide.
- An app on site only works if it is fast and simple, even with work gloves on and without signal. That is why we build it with the site supervisors and make it work offline, and keep the number of taps to a minimum.
- This does not solve the staff shortage; nothing does in the short term. It does make sure that with the people you do have, you finish more projects properly, with less rework. That is realistic, and that is already a lot.
The objections we hear — and whether we can close them off
We looked them up and heard them from clients. For each objection we say whether it is really solvable, partly solvable, or a risk that stays and that you accept knowingly.
Can it be closed off: yes. Not on the scaffolding, but in the margins, yes. The drawing that is correct, the materials that arrive on time, the additional work that is recorded, the hours that are already booked by the evening: that is money and peace of mind. The manual work stays manual.
- 01Week 1: core session in the office and a day on site. We follow one project from quote to handover and count the rework costs, waiting time and admin.
- 02Weeks 2 and 3: drawing management with locked revisions to the phone, and booking hours/materials on site with one crew.
- 03Weeks 3 and 4: recording additional work with a signature and live budget monitoring per project.
- 04Week 4: measure. Rework costs, waiting time, days to invoice, margin per project. Only after that, estimating AI and automatic ordering.
First the free AI scan, then a core session on your floor (a half-day of 4 hours, €596 excl. VAT and travel costs) with a core report and an honest go/no-go. We build on a project basis with fixed hours: €110 per hour for straightforward work, €165 for complex development.
More hours only with your written approval. If we cannot deliver, you pay nothing for what was not delivered.
Want to know what this means for your construction & installation?
Take the free AI scan or book an intro call with someone who builds it themselves. A reply within one working day, no slides, no obligations.
Most businesses start with the tool and then get stuck. It is better to start with one piece of work that comes back every week and nobody enjoys.
The build costs are usually the easiest part of the bill. The surprises are in the clean-up beforehand, the monthly usage and the maintenance afterwards.