Most small builders spend late nights on quotes, emails, and marketing. Aside from taking up valuable time, it causes stress and can cost you money. However, there is a solution.
AI for builders is revolutionising the industry – it’s a practical, affordable way to claw back hours, polish your customer experience, and win more work.
Many of our trusted members are already employing AI to streamline their construction projects and grow their businesses. For more tips on growing your business, join our community.
What is AI?
AI, or artificial intelligence, is intelligent software that learns from data and past experiences, enabling it to make decisions or predictions independently – imagine a digital brain that becomes smarter the more it operates.
The use of AI for builders has streamlined scheduling, designing blueprints, flagging safety risks, and forecasting delays. This is in addition to the ability to auto-generate paperwork, manage bookkeeping, and provide customer quotes.
These AI tools aren’t just for large construction firms with big budgets and specialist IT teams; they’re ideal for the small-scale builder who is a tech novice and wants to minimise laptop time and maximise earning potential.
What are prompts for AI in the construction business?
Prompts are the instructions you give an AI tool. In construction, they’re short, clear requests that tell the system what you need and what project info to use, e.g.:
- Based on my prices and Mr Smith’s job spec, create an invoice.
- Create a two-week look-ahead schedule for HVAC install, assuming a 4-person crew and 6-hour shifts.
- Review today’s drone photos and flag any safety hazards.
You should always give any AI-generated results a quick check over for accuracy, but using this technology still saves time, effort, and stress.
Below are five practical, easy-to-use AI tools for tradespeople that boost profits and ease stress without requiring large budgets. While all the apps mentioned are available in the UK, several only list prices in US dollars, with VAT having to be added manually.
1. The use of AI for builders’ quotes
Counting every door, beam, and bag of plaster on PDF drawings can swallow days. Cloud tools, such as Kreo, automatically identify elements from your plans, clustering items so you can get a bill of quantities in minutes.
Feed those numbers and the cost of materials into an AI construction calculator, and you’ll receive a quote. Some AI tools go a step further. Buildxact’s AI Estimator Calculator, for example, matches the quantities required for your project to live material prices, calculates your pre-loaded labour rates and margins, and produces an all-inclusive quote.
Using AI to produce quotes reduces manual errors and ensures that all-important margins remain accurate, making it a money- and time-saving tool for construction companies.
2. Cash-flow forecasting AI in construction businesses
Cash-flow forecasting AI turns yesterday’s manual spreadsheet job into a live, self-updating dashboard, making it simple to know the income and expenditure of any contract. This is particularly useful for large and complex projects.
The AI software reads the live job costs, including pay apps, purchase orders, and labour costs, considers the project dates and contract terms, and predicts
the cash flow week by week. Forecasting AI can spot looming shortfalls or surpluses, sending an early warning to speed up invoices, delay a delivery, or draw down finance before money runs tight.
3. Client management AI tools for tradespeople
Think of an AI customer relationship management (CRM) tool as a digital diary and personal assistant for every lead and client. Tools, such as Buildertrend and Houzz Pro CRM, are designed to conduct multiple tasks, including:
- Storing all your client information.
- Logging every interaction automatically.
- Nudging you to follow up calls or schedule reminders.
- Capturing web-form enquiries.
- Drafting marketing emails to past customers and sending follow-up emails.
- Pulling data into simple dashboards so you see which jobs are stuck, which quotes are hot, and whose invoice is overdue.
Client-communication bots are also valuable digital tools for tradespeople. These AI-driven real-time assistants answer your clients’ questions instantly, book appointments, and generate daily or weekly project updates to customers’ phones. Tidio with Lyro AI and Buildertrend AI are two examples of construction business automation chatbots.
4. Automated marketing and social-media scheduling
Marketing and scheduling tools take the repetitive grind out of staying visible online, letting builders spend more time building and less time glued to a screen. Popular, simple-to-use AI for small construction firms include ChatGPT, Buffer + AI Assistant, and Later AI Caption Writer.
In addition to creating and publishing lead-generating web content, many marketing AI tools for tradespeople integrate with the leading social media platforms, including Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Marketing and social media AI assist with numerous time-consuming tasks, including:
- Writing post captions, emails, ads, or blog snippets in your brand tone of voice.
- Designing images, layouts or brand colours that fit the text.
- Slotting finished posts into a calendar, automatically publishing at the best-performing times.
5. Predictive scheduling and risk alerts
Even a one-day delay can wipe out profit on tight-margin jobs. Fortunately, AI predictive scheduling analyses your project, weather, and site data to predict where the job is likely to slip, while risk alerts notify you in advance, allowing you to address any issues before they escalate.
AI tools are trained on thousands of finished project schedules, so they “know” the patterns that typically lead to overruns, and will send an alert that says, for example, “Bathrooms units are 2 weeks behind, consider getting a tiler.” Many programmes will also suggest an alternative plan for the lowest delay risk, while others build site visuals via 360° hard-hat cameras, enabling progress delays to be flagged.
Predictive scheduling and risk alert AI examples in the building industry include nPlan, Buildots, ALICE Technologies, and OpenSpace.
You don’t need a Silicon Valley budget to explore AI for small construction firms. Pick one AI optimisation, such as AI-assisted quotes or CRM tools, trial it for 30 days, and measure the hours you save. As your confidence grows, layer in another tool. Within a short time, you’ll have a leaner, more responsive company that’s easy to scale.
