AI Plan Analyzer — Extracting a Bill of Materials from PDF Plans
Manual takeoff from a PDF is hours of counting symbols and scaling dimensions. The AI Plan Analyzer does the first pass in minutes and hands you a structured list to check.
What it does
Upload any construction plan PDF — architectural, electrical, plumbing, structural — and the Plan Analyzer reads the drawings and schedules and produces a Bill of Materials: item description, quantity, unit, and a category, one row per material.
How to use it
- Open Plan Analyzer and upload the plan PDF (a clear, text-legible export works best; very large sets can be split by discipline).
- The model extracts materials and quantities from schedules, legends, and drawn elements.
- Review the table — every row is editable. Adjust quantities, merge duplicates, fix units.
- Import the reviewed list into a project with one click; it becomes BOQ line items.
What it is good at
- Reading door, window, fixture, and equipment schedules.
- Counting repeated symbols (outlets, luminaires, sprinkler heads, detectors).
- Picking up material notes and specification callouts.
- Producing a consistent, categorised starting point far faster than manual counting.
What still needs your judgement
- Scaled linear quantities (cable, pipe, conduit runs) — verify against the drawing scale.
- Items shown on one sheet and detailed on another.
- Wastage and installation accessories — add your allowances after import.
- Anything ambiguous in the drawing is ambiguous to the model — check it.
Availability
The AI Plan Analyzer is available on the Basic plan and higher, with a monthly scan allowance per plan tier.
Open the Plan Analyzer, upload your plan PDF, and review the extracted Bill of Materials — then import it straight into a project estimate and let the calculators and bidding suite take it to a finished BOQ.
Try the AI Plan Analyzer free
Create a free EngEst Pro account — 5 projects a month, all 8 calculators, PDF BOQ export. No credit card required.
Create Free Account → Run your first estimate in under 10 minutes.