Bespoke AI builds and integration
Bespoke AI builds for construction firms, and how they work
AI Metric designs, builds and runs bespoke AI platforms for construction contractors, consultants and engineering firms. Each one is built around a firm’s own documents, templates and systems, sits in accounts in the firm’s name, and leaves every sign-off with the firm’s own people.
In short
- Built around your documents, templates, rates and systems
- Your data, templates and reports stay yours
- Fixed price per stage, paid half at start and half on acceptance
- First stage in about six weeks, then the next
- Microsoft 365, golden thread, CIS and RICS work, data held in the UK or EU
- Based in the UK, building for firms worldwide
Part 1 | What it is
What is a bespoke AI build, and when is it the right choice?
It is a platform made for one firm’s way of working, rather than a general tool or a product everyone uses the same way. It is the right choice when your own template, rates and past work are the point, and wrong when an off-the-shelf product already does the job. Then buy the product.
Bespoke earns its cost where your own material is the point.
| Off-the-shelf app | ChatGPT or Copilot on its own | Bespoke build | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uses your own template | Sometimes, with reformatting | Only if prompted every time | Yes, built from it |
| Learns from your past reports and rates | Rarely | Not between sessions | Yes, each issued report feeds back |
| Same steps and checks for every engineer | Yes | No, depends on the user | Yes |
| Records who changed and approved what | Usually | No | Yes |
| Where your data sits | The vendor’s platform | The user’s account | Accounts in your firm’s name |
| Cost to start | Monthly licence | Monthly licence | Base build from £2,950 |
Why does it need to be a platform rather than a general AI tool?
A general tool helps whoever is using it at the time. A platform gives every person the same steps and checks, keeps your templates, rates and past reports in one account your firm controls, records who changed and approved what, and feeds each issued report back in to improve the next one. The bigger gains come once the platform and its learning are built around your own material, through more of your past work and a few rounds of refinement with rules set from your feedback.
What gets built?
Mostly the work between site and a signed document. These are the builds asked for most often.
Report platforms
Site notes, photos, dictation and handwritten sheets drafted into your own report template for your engineer to sign.
How this worksWorksheets into your spreadsheets
Handwritten site and lab sheets read, checked and filled into the Excel templates you already issue.
How this worksInspection reports with photo schedules
Hundreds of photos sorted, numbered and tied to observations in a branded report.
How this worksAssistants over your own records
Answers drawn from your SharePoint, CDE and project records, citing the document every time.
How this worksGolden thread records
Building information kept accurate and current, with a record of who changed what and when, as the Building Safety Act expects.
Subcontractor and CIS checks
CIS status, insurances and accreditations checked before a subcontractor starts, with anything expiring flagged in time.
Reports in RICS formats
Survey reports drafted in RICS formats where you use them, for your RICS member to check and sign.
How this worksReplacing an old database
A browser system with logins and an audit trail, in place of an ageing Access database or spreadsheet.
Working inside Microsoft 365
Word and Excel templates, SharePoint, OneDrive and Outlook, connected through Microsoft’s APIs, so nothing is retyped.
A board-level AI roadmap
Briefings for directors and a company-wide AI roadmap that starts with the work costing the business the most time.
Part 2 | How it works
How does a build run?
In stages, each priced before it starts and accepted on one of your own jobs. Nothing is built before the agreement is signed and the first payment is in.
- 01
Workshop on a real document
Ninety minutes walking through one recent report or record, from site to issue, ending with an agreed checklist of what a finished draft must contain.
- 02
Fixed price and a signed scope
Each stage is priced before it starts. The agreement and a scope record of what will be delivered are signed before any build work begins.
- 03
Build in stages
One report type or workflow at a time, with a weekly review on your own material.
- 04
Acceptance on a real job
You pick a recent job. A stage is accepted when its draft can be edited into a finished document rather than rewritten.
- 05
A month of refinement
Wording, layout and flags adjusted on live work, with rules set from your feedback.
- 06
Upkeep
Hosting, security updates, backups, monitoring and one point of contact who knows the platform.
What is it built on?
Mainstream tools another developer could pick up, with the data in your name.
Your accounts hold your data. We run the processing.
| Part | What it is | Whose name it is in |
|---|---|---|
| Web platform | Your branding, invite-only logins, two-factor sign-in, roles for drafting and approving | Your web address |
| Database and files | Records, documents and photos, held in the UK or EU | Your firm |
| AI drafting | Leading AI models used under business terms that do not train on your data | Your firm, paid at cost |
| Processing server | Reads, drafts and checks, with no open web ports and encrypted backups | AI Metric, inside upkeep |
| Integrations | Microsoft 365, SharePoint and others through their APIs, or a Microsoft partner for deeper work | Your systems |
Who owns what?
Your material is yours, your copy of the platform is yours to use and change for good, and the engine underneath stays with us so it keeps improving.
You keep what you need to carry on. We keep the engine.
| What | Who | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Your data, files, templates and reports | You | Exported to you on request, then deleted from our side |
| Your copy of the platform and its code | You, under a permanent licence | Use it and change it for your business; the source code and a runbook come with you if you leave |
| The reusable engine, prompts and methods | AI Metric | Improved across every build; never used to carry your data to anyone else |
| Database and AI accounts | You | In your firm’s name, with two of your directors as owners |
Part 3 | Price and next step
What does a bespoke build cost?
The first step is a paid discovery and AI implementation workshop, £1,500, ending with a fixed-price build plan and taken off the build price if you go ahead. Base builds start at £2,950. Larger platforms are fixed prices per stage, paid half when the stage starts and half on acceptance. Running costs sit in accounts in your name and are paid at cost, so the fees cover our time. Upkeep is a fixed monthly fee quoted with the build.
Based in the UK
Available to firms in
- United States
- Canada
- Australia
- South Africa
- United Arab Emirates
- Europe
Bring one document you produce every week
Thirty minutes. We walk through how it is made today and tell you straight whether bespoke is worth it or a product would do.
Prefer me to call you? Leave your number
What do firms ask before a bespoke build?
What is a bespoke AI build?
A platform built around one firm’s own documents, templates, rates and systems, rather than a general tool everyone uses the same way. It drafts your documents in your format, learns from your past work, records who changed and approved what, and sits in accounts in your firm’s name.
When should we not have a bespoke build?
When an off-the-shelf product already produces your documents the way you need them. Then buy the product. Bespoke earns its cost where your template, your rates and your way of working are the point, and a generic app would make you reformat its output.
Which software do you work with?
Microsoft 365 today: Word, Excel, SharePoint, OneDrive and Outlook. Other systems are looked at case by case in the discovery and AI implementation workshop, and we say plainly if a connection is not worth building.
Can you handle golden thread, CIS and RICS work?
Yes. Golden thread records that keep building information current with a record of who changed what, subcontractor CIS, insurance and accreditation checks before anyone starts, and survey reports drafted in RICS formats for your RICS member to sign.
Where is our data held?
In the UK or EU. The database and files sit in accounts in your firm’s name in the region you choose, and the AI processing can be kept to a UK or EU route.
Do you help leadership teams plan AI across the company?
Yes. Board-level briefings and a company-wide AI roadmap, written by someone who has run construction projects, so it starts with the work that costs the business the most time rather than with the tools.
Can it work with Microsoft 365 and SharePoint?
Yes. Files can come from and go back to SharePoint and OneDrive through Microsoft’s APIs, and sign-in can use your Microsoft accounts. Deeper Microsoft work, such as Power Automate or Copilot Studio, is done with a Microsoft partner.
Who owns what?
Your data, files, templates and reports are yours. You get a permanent licence to use and change your copy of the platform, and the source code with a runbook if you leave. The reusable engine, prompts and methods underneath stay with AI Metric, which is how they keep improving for every client.
What does a bespoke build cost?
The first step is a paid discovery and AI implementation workshop, £1,500, ending with a fixed-price build plan and taken off the build price if you go ahead. Base builds start at £2,950. Larger platforms are fixed prices per stage, paid half when the stage starts and half on acceptance. Running costs sit in accounts in your name and are paid at cost, and upkeep is a fixed monthly fee quoted with the build.
How long does a build take?
About six weeks for the first stage, including a month of refinement on live work. Later stages are quicker because they reuse what is already built.
What if you are unavailable or stop trading?
You hold a runbook and a recovery sheet so another developer can operate the platform. The agreement gives you the source code if we stop trading or do not respond to a fault that stops you working, and you can bring in another supplier to support it.
Do we have to use one of your products?
No. Bespoke work is tool-neutral. Construction Metric is our own product and we recommend it only where it is the right answer, and we take no commission from any software vendor.
Who builds it?
AI Metric Ltd, a UK construction AI consultancy run by Chris M., a construction project manager with more than twenty years of Tier 1 delivery. The person who scopes your build understands the documents it produces.
Engineering or inspection firm? See AI report writing for construction engineering firms. Security and data handling are in the trust centre.
See a report drafted from site notes, in your own template.