5 Tips for Using ChatGPT in Construction Documents

Start with Something Simple

If you’re not using AI, I’d suggest starting where there’s little risk. For me, that was email. We had a vendor deliver the wrong window size, and I needed to hold them accountable without damaging the relationship. I typed the facts into ChatGPT and asked it to rewrite my email in a professional tone. It worked. That experience gave me confidence to start applying the tool to more complex situations.

Test It Against a Finished Job

Before trusting AI with an active job, I ran a test on a completed project. It was a guest house build, and we already knew there had been a problem with the plans. Someone else had drawn them up and left out where the water heater was supposed to go.

I uploaded the plans into ChatGPT and asked it to create a scope of work and highlight anything that looked incomplete. It immediately flagged the missing water heater. There was a water heater mentioned in the document, but the location of the unit didn’t appear on the plans. That was a big moment for me. It showed me that this tool could actually support our quality control process.

When it Comes To SOW, Trust but Verify

After that, we started testing on real jobs without any known errors. Currently, we’re working on a $4.5 million commercial project, and ChatGPT created a budget within $100,000 of our actual number. That level of accuracy surprised me.

Next I dropped in a 50-page set of plans and followed up with three prompts.

I shared the results with the company president for review. His response? “Change this line and that line, and we’re good to go.”

That single scope of work would have normally taken a day or two, with input from our designer, project manager, and myself. Instead, it took 30 seconds to generate, and about 30 minutes total including edits and approvals. We’ve now tried this process with multiple projects, and every time the AI-generated scope, schedule, and budget have come impressively close to our actuals.

Even with those great results, I never take what AI gives me at face value. I read every word, and cross-check it with our plans. ChatGPT helps me move faster and catch issues earlier, but it does not replace any of our roles. You still need to think critically about everything it gives you.

Know the Limits of the Free Version

We are using the free version, and it works well for now. But there are limitations. I’ve noticed that when I upload large plan sets, the server sometimes gets overloaded or gives an error. Other users have told me that the paid version handles big files better. I’ve also seen people use it to generate renderings, which I believe requires a paid account. That’s probably where we are headed next.

Learn from the JobTread Community

I would never have thought to use ChatGPT this way if I had not been on that JobTread training call. Someone just casually mentioned that they used it to write scopes of work, and that stuck with me. That’s why I try to attend every think tank and training I can. Even if I already know the topic, I always learn something.