Sectors: building contractors
Taking the coordination paperwork off main contractors
As a main contractor, most of the documents on your projects are written by someone else and checked, chased and assembled by you. Our proprietary system and process takes the reviewing, collating and drafting off your project teams, with AI applied inside your project workflows and your managers keeping every approval.
The documentation reality
From tender to handover, you coordinate the paper
A building contractor's documentation load follows the project lifecycle. At every stage, the volume is driven by the number of packages, designers and stakeholders you are pulling together.
01
Winning the work
- Tenders and quality submissions
- PQQs and framework applications
- Tender queries and clarifications
- Subcontractor enquiries and comparisons
02
Pre-construction
- Reviewing pre-construction information
- The construction phase plan
- Design information and design responsibility matrices
- Package procurement and scopes
03
Construction
- Subcontractor RAMS review
- RFIs and technical queries
- Quality inspections and snagging
- Progress reports and contract correspondence
04
Handover
- O&M manuals
- As-builts and test certificates
- Handover packs
- The health and safety file
Principal Contractor duties
Under CDM 2015, coordination is the job
Where a project has more than one contractor, the client must appoint a Principal Contractor to plan, manage, monitor and coordinate the construction phase. On most building projects, that is you.
In practice, those duties turn into a heavy, continuous documentation workload. Your site managers are expected to understand every subcontractor's method, check it fits the site and the programme, and keep the construction phase plan current as the job changes. Each of those tasks is a judgement call, but most of the hours go on reading, comparing and chasing.
- Construction phase planDrawn up before the construction phase starts and kept up to date as the project develops.
- Subcontractor RAMSReceived, reviewed against the site and the plan, commented on, resubmitted and accepted, package by package.
- Coordination between tradesInterfaces, sequencing and shared risks, captured in RAMS, permits and meeting records.
- Inductions and site rulesEvery operative inducted, with records to show it.
- Health and safety fileInformation gathered from contractors and passed to the principal designer for inclusion, or assembled by the Principal Contractor where the principal designer's appointment has ended.
Building safety
The Building Safety Act 2022 and the golden thread
The Building Safety Act 2022 changed how building work is managed in England, and it is worth being precise about what applies where.
For higher-risk buildings
Higher-risk buildings, broadly buildings at least 18 metres or seven storeys high with at least two residential units, and certain hospitals and care homes during design and construction, come under the Building Safety Regulator as building control authority. Work passes through gateways, and change control and the golden thread of information apply.
The golden thread is the accurate, up-to-date digital information that lets people understand the building and keep it safe. For contractors, that means disciplined records of what was designed, what was built and what changed.
For all building work
Separate from the higher-risk regime, amendments to the Building Regulations introduced dutyholder roles and competence requirements that apply to building work more generally. Principal contractors and contractors must plan, manage and monitor work so it complies with the Building Regulations, and be competent to do so.
That raises the bar on evidence: who did what, whether they were competent, and how compliance was checked.
Where AI fits: within our system, AI can organise design information, keep change logs and document registers consistent, and flag gaps in records. It does not judge whether work complies with the Building Regulations or whether someone is competent. Those judgements stay with your appointed dutyholders and their advisers.
Why it keeps getting heavier
More packages, more scrutiny, same site team
Main contractors sit where client, designer and supply chain demands meet. Each group is asking for more.
See also our pages for M&E contractors and groundworks contractors, the subcontractors whose documents you are reviewing.
- Clients and employer's agents expect detailed, evidenced progress reporting, not just a programme update.
- Building safety reforms have raised expectations on records, competence and change control, most sharply on higher-risk buildings.
- More work is let as design and build, which means more design information, more RFIs and more responsibility for coordinating design packages.
- Subcontractor insolvency and performance risk means more checking of insurances, accreditations and financial standing during procurement.
- Tender and framework quality submissions have become longer and more evidence-based.
- End clients want complete, usable O&M information and handover packs at practical completion, not months later.
Where AI sits in the system
Task by task, from subcontractor package to handover pack
These are the building contractor workflows where our system tends to take off the most work, with AI applied inside each one. In each case, AI prepares and flags; your managers decide.
- Subcontractor RAMS reviewAI checks each submission against your requirements, the construction phase plan and the package scope, then drafts review comments highlighting missing or generic content. Your site manager decides whether to accept, comment or reject.
- Subcontractor complianceAI extracts expiry dates and cover levels from insurance certificates, SSIP and other accreditations, CSCS records and training evidence, and flags gaps before a package starts. Your team decides who is approved to work.
- Construction phase planAI drafts plan sections from the pre-construction information and your standard content, and highlights where the project changes mean the plan needs updating. The project manager owns and approves the plan.
- RFIs and design informationAI summarises incoming drawings and revisions, checks RFI logs for overdue responses and drafts RFI wording from site queries. Your design manager decides what to raise and how to respond.
- Quality and snaggingAI turns inspection photos and notes into structured snag lists by area and trade, and tracks close-out. The site team confirms each item is complete.
- Progress reportsAI drafts client and employer's agent reports from diaries, programme updates, photos and cost summaries. The project manager checks and issues.
- JCT and NEC correspondenceAI identifies likely notice matters in site records and drafts correspondence in the right contractual form. Your commercial team decides what is sent and when.
- O&M manuals and handover packsAI checks subcontractor O&M submissions against the required contents, flags missing certificates and datasheets, and assembles the pack. Your team and the relevant specialists confirm the information is correct.
- Tenders and PQQsAI finds relevant evidence in past bids and project records and drafts first answers. Your bid team shapes the final submission.
How we work with main contractors
Which service tends to fit
Building contractors often have a mix of site teams, a pre-construction function and a commercial team, each with different needs. We match the service to the part of the business under most strain.
AI Implementation
Often the first priority for main contractors. Subcontractor RAMS review, compliance tracking and O&M checking repeat on every project and every package, so our system pays back across the whole business.
AI Training
Valuable for site managers, design managers and bid teams who need to use AI safely and consistently on their own reports, RFIs and quality submissions.
Managed AI Services
A strong fit for handover peaks and busy tender periods. We produce the O&M checks, handover pack assembly or bid drafts, ready for your team to review.
Where to start
See where your project teams are really spending their time
Most main contractors know admin is heavy. Few can say which workflows cost the most across the business.
The AI Opportunity Audit maps how your teams handle subcontractor packages, design information, reporting and handover, and gives you a prioritised roadmap of where our system, with AI applied at the right layer, saves the most, fastest. You can also get a quick estimate with the free Construction Admin Cost Calculator.
Fixed fee
£1,500
An evidenced plan, in priority order, ready to act on. The roadmap is yours to keep, whether or not you take it further.
See the AI Opportunity AuditBuilding contractor questions
Can AI approve subcontractor RAMS?
No. Within our system, AI can read a submission, compare it with your requirements and the site, and draft comments so your site manager starts from a clear list of issues. The decision to accept a method statement stays with your competent people, as part of your Principal Contractor duties.
Does AI help with the golden thread on higher-risk buildings?
It can help keep information organised, consistent and complete, such as document registers, change logs and records of what was built. It does not decide what the golden thread must contain or whether work is compliant. Those remain matters for your dutyholders and the Building Safety Regulator's requirements.
Our O&M manuals always arrive late and incomplete. Can AI fix that?
AI can check each subcontractor's submission against your required contents as soon as it arrives, flag what is missing and chase earlier. It cannot create manufacturer information that has not been supplied, but it makes gaps visible while there is still time to close them.
We use both JCT and NEC contracts. Is that a problem?
Not at all. We set up our system around the contract forms you actually use, so draft notices and correspondence follow the right mechanism. Your commercial team still checks every contractual communication before it is issued.
Next step
Let your managers manage the project, not the paperwork.
A short call about your subcontractor, reporting and handover workload, and where our system would help first.
Or try the free Construction Admin Cost Calculator.