What construction records do AI companies want?
Short answer: real records of how your jobs got done, like quotes, tenders, specs, SOPs, safety documents, RFIs, site diaries and project emails, ideally over several years.
By Hargrave & Co. · Updated · General information, not legal, tax or privacy advice.
What construction records do AI companies want?
AI data buyers want real records of how real work gets done. For builders and trades, that can mean quotes, tenders, specs, SOPs, safety documents, RFIs, variations, site diaries and project emails. Several years of history, mostly in English, is best. Every buyer has its own rules, so having these files does not guarantee acceptance.
Why would an AI company want construction data?
AI tools are being trained to help with real work, like pricing, planning and answering questions on a job. Public websites say little about how a site actually runs. Your records show real choices: how a job was priced, what changed, and how a problem got solved. That is the kind of example AI training data needs.
Which types of construction records may count?
Most of the paperwork from your past jobs may count. The records below are the kinds that buyers often ask about. Records that show the whole story of a job, from the first quote to the final handover, tend to be more useful than one file on its own.
Quotes and estimates
How you priced a job, line by line, and what changed before it was won or lost. Take-offs, rate sheets and revisions.
Tenders and bids
The brief, your response, the questions asked and the result. Tender responses, clarifications and bid notes.
Specs and scopes of work
What the client asked for and how your team turned it into a plan of work.
SOPs and method statements
The way your crews do the work, step by step. This know-how is hard to find anywhere else.
Safety documents
SWMS, JSAs, toolbox talks and incident forms that show how risks were spotted and managed on real sites.
RFIs and variations
The questions asked mid-job, the answers given and the changes that followed. In the US these may be called change orders.
Site diaries and reports
Daily notes on weather, labor, deliveries and delays across many jobs. Also called daily logs.
Project emails
The back-and-forth with clients, suppliers and subcontractors that shows how problems got solved.
What makes construction records more useful to a buyer?
In general, more years, more jobs and more complete records help. Files that link together, like a quote, the RFIs and the site diary for the same job, tell a fuller story. Records kept on computers, drives or project software are easier to work with than paper. Each buyer decides what it values.
- Several years of past jobs on file
- Records mostly written in English
- Files kept digitally: on computers, shared drives, email or project software
- Records that show what happened in the end, not just the start of a job
What records should I be careful with?
Be careful with anything a contract says you cannot share, drawings that belong to a designer, records tied to a dispute, and sensitive or security work. The buyer says it removes personal details from the copy, but you should still check. Talk to your own advisor about what you can include.
Can old project documents still be worth something?
They might be. Old project documents are a record of how your firm worked over many jobs, and that is what some AI data buyers look for. Whether yours qualify, and what any offer looks like, depends on the buyer’s review. We don’t quote amounts, and no amount is promised.
The quickest way to see where you stand is the free Records Fit Check. To learn about the steps, read how AI data licensing works for builders.
About Hargrave & Co.
Hargrave & Co. is an independent referral service. It helps construction firms with about 30 or more staff in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia find out, free, whether their past project records could be licensed to independent AI data buyers. It is not a data buyer and is not affiliated with any buyer.
More guides
- Can a construction company sell its data to AI companies?
The short answer, how licensing differs from selling, and who tends to qualify.
- How AI data licensing works for builders
The steps from a free fit check to a buyer’s decision, and what to ask along the way.