The problem today
Cost advisory work deserves better than memory and spreadsheets.
Architects and structural engineers in India carry significant cost advisory responsibility without adequate tools. These three problems limit the quality and efficiency of that work.
BOQ generation takes days of manual quantity take-off
You've delivered the design drawings. The client wants a cost estimate. You open your drawings, pull out the scale ruler, and start counting: wall lengths, floor areas, window openings, column schedules. For a 2,000 sq ft residence, a complete quantity take-off — earthwork, RCC, masonry, plaster, flooring, MEP — takes 2-3 days of careful work. For a larger project, a week. This manual process is error-prone, non-billable in most mandates, and happens on every project whether you like it or not. It eats the time you should spend on design.
Rate data is outdated or from memory
When a client asks whether a cost estimate is realistic, you give them a number based on the last project you worked on, or a general sense calibrated a year ago. The official rate databases — CPWD Schedule of Rates, state PWD SOR, District Schedule of Rates — are published annually but are difficult to access, not searchable in any useful format, and require knowing exactly which schedule applies to your district and financial year. Rates you're quoting clients are often 12-18 months stale, and the construction market moves.
Contractors submit inflated bills with no way to cross-check
Your client comes to you with a contractor's bill. Stage 2 payment: Rs 8.4 lakhs for ground floor structure. The line items are vague — RCC columns and beams, masonry work, electrical rough-in. Is this reasonable? You have no tool to cross-check each line against market rates for that district, that financial year, that specification. You give your best judgment. Your client senses the uncertainty. Your professional authority is undermined by data you don't have.
How ConstructIQ helps
Your drawings become verified cost intelligence.
ConstructIQ turns the drawings you've already created into a fully verified BOQ, backed by official rate schedules, with a contractor audit capability built in. Your cost advisory work becomes faster, more accurate, and more professionally defensible.
AI parses your PDF/DWG drawings and extracts quantities automatically
Upload your architectural and structural drawings to ConstructIQ — floor plans, sections, elevations, structural layout. The AI engine reads the geometry: room dimensions, wall lengths, slab areas, column schedules, staircase configurations, opening sizes. It runs a complete quantity take-off trade by trade — earthwork, PCC, RCC, brickwork, plaster, tiles, painting, and MEP rough-ins — and presents a line-item quantity schedule in under 15 minutes. Accuracy within 3-5% of a senior QS's manual take-off. Your 3-day quantity take-off becomes a 15-minute upload.
Live rate database from CPWD/PWD/DSR schedules for your state
ConstructIQ maintains a continuously updated database of construction rates from Central PWD, all state PWD schedules, and District Schedule of Rates across Bihar, UP, Jharkhand, MP, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh. You select the project district and financial year, and rates are auto-applied to your quantity schedule. Over 1,000 rate line items covering every trade. When you quote a client current CPWD rates for their district, you're citing the official government database, not memory. That's the difference between professional advice and educated guesswork.
Side-by-side contractor quote vs. market rate audit report
Upload a contractor's quote alongside your project BOQ. ConstructIQ compares every line item in the contractor's quote against the market-rate BOQ. Over-billing — items quoted above CPWD/PWD rates — is flagged in red with the variance amount and percentage. Under-specified items — line items in the BOQ missing from the contractor's quote — are highlighted in amber. You get a structured audit report that you can share with your client, walk through with the contractor, and use as a negotiating basis. No more vague impressions — you have data.
Full feature set
Every tool for professional cost advisory work.
From drawing upload to contractor negotiation, ConstructIQ covers the entire cost advisory workflow that architects and structural engineers manage on behalf of their clients.
Drawing Upload (PDF, DWG)
Upload architectural and structural drawings in PDF or DWG format. The parser handles multi-page documents, floor plans, sections, elevations, and structural layouts. Supports drawings from AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, Revit-exported PDFs, and hand-drawn scans at sufficient resolution.
AI Quantity Extraction
Automated quantity take-off from drawing geometry. Extracts wall lengths, floor areas, slab quantities, column counts, beam spans, staircase elements, openings, and roof areas. Output is a line-item quantity schedule broken by floor and by trade — matching the structure of a BOQ.
CPWD/PWD/DSR Rate Lookup
District-level rate database covering Bihar, UP, Jharkhand, MP, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh. Select state, district, and financial year. Rates auto-applied to your quantity schedule. Manual rate override available for items not covered by the schedule. Updated quarterly from official gazette notifications.
BOQ Export (Excel / PDF)
Export the completed BOQ in Excel format for further editing, or as a formatted PDF for client presentation or contractor tendering. Excel output includes formulas linking quantity, rate, and amount columns. PDF output is formatted for professional client delivery.
Contractor Quote Comparison
Upload contractor quotes and compare against your AI-generated BOQ line by line. Over-billing flagged in red, under-specification in amber. Variance summary shows total overbilling amount and percentage. Export the comparison report as a PDF for client and contractor use.
NIT Document Generation
Generate Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) documents alongside the BOQ — scope of work, technical specifications, conditions of contract, and schedule of quantities in PWD standard format. Compete for government and institutional tenders with professionally formatted procurement documents.
Defend your cost estimates with government-standard data
When a client challenges your cost estimate, the answer used to be "this is my professional judgment based on experience." With ConstructIQ, the answer is "this is based on the current CPWD Schedule of Rates for your district, updated for this financial year, with quantities extracted directly from your approved drawings." That's the difference between advice that clients trust and advice that clients negotiate against. Official rate databases cited by name and year carry authority that general market sense doesn't.
The time you save on take-offs goes back into design
For an architect handling 8–12 residential projects simultaneously, the quantity take-off requirement across those projects is a substantial weekly time commitment. ConstructIQ doesn't just speed up the take-off — it removes the cognitive load of switching between design thinking and measurement mode. Upload the drawings you've already created. Review the AI output for anomalies. Apply your professional judgment where it matters. That's how cost advisory work should work: the machine handles the counting, you handle the thinking.
BUILD SMARTER. BUILD ONCE.
Ready to bring your project on-platform?
Join the Bihar pilot. Free during beta. Onboarding takes under an hour.