Workflow
How PBG Precon works
One indexed document set feeds six connected modules: review the drawings, measure the work, define the scope, price it, level the bids, and ask the set anything along the way.
Step 1 — Index the set
Create a project and upload the drawing set. Each sheet is read and indexed with its number, title and discipline, so the system knows an A-series floor plan from an S-series framing plan from a schedule sheet. Everything downstream works from this single index.
Step 2 — Review
The review engine reads the whole set against a rule library and reports conflicts, missing information, coordination issues and scope-affecting ambiguity — each with the sheet and verbatim note behind it. Findings are severity-ranked and exportable as an RFI log.
Step 3 — Take off
Open a sheet, let automatic scale detection establish the page scale from its scale note or graphic scale bar, and measure lengths, areas and counts on the drawing. AI takeoff can additionally derive quantities from the set's own schedules and notes for you to accept or discard.
Step 4 — Scope
Generate trade scope sheets — inclusions, exclusions, clarifications, allowances — written from your documents and cited to them. This is what every subcontractor bids against.
Step 5 — Estimate
Convert measured quantities and defined scope into structured line items with stated assumptions, grouped by trade and exportable to your cost model.
Step 6 — Level the bids
Upload subcontractor proposals in whatever format they arrive, normalize them into comparable line items, and compare coverage, exclusions and price side by side against the scope you defined.
Throughout — Ask the set
At any point, ask a plain question about the project and get an answer quoted from the sheet it came from, with a citation that jumps to the drawing.
Where it fits with the tools you already use
PBG Precon is not a replacement for your markup tool or your accounting system. It sits in front of them: it reads the set and tells you what is wrong with it, what it contains, and what it will cost, then hands structured output to whatever you use for markup, buyout and cost tracking.
Frequently asked
- How long does a set take to process?
- Indexing runs as sheets upload; review and scope generation run in minutes rather than the days a manual pass takes.
- Do I have to use all six modules?
- No. Each one works on its own, but they compound — review findings sharpen the scope, scope sharpens the bid leveling.
See it on your own drawing set
Create an account, upload a set, and run review, takeoff and scope on a project you are pricing now.