What are you actually paying for?
Every automation quote combines one-off work and running costs, and the split matters more than the total. One-off work covers mapping the current workflow, connecting to the systems involved, writing the rules for what goes where, and testing on your past documents. Running costs cover model usage, hosting, monitoring, changes when a form or template changes, and support when something goes wrong. A low setup figure with open-ended monthly charges can cost more over a two-year project than a higher setup figure with predictable running costs. Ask for both, in writing, with what triggers any change.
Why does the number of systems matter?
Each system the automation touches has its own access process, limits and failure modes. Procore's API uses OAuth 2.0 and provides a sandbox for testing. Oracle requires every Aconex integration to be registered, and its API returns errors when concurrency or frequency limits are exceeded. Buildxact approves a subscription key before access and limits calls to 100 requests in 30 seconds. None of this is unusual, but each connection adds build and test work. Reading a shared project mailbox is usually simpler to set up, though it cannot write anything back into the platform.
How do document quality and volume change the cost?
Clean digital PDFs from consultants and brokers are cheaper to process reliably than scanned certificates, photographed dockets or handwritten site notes, because poor sources need more checking and more exception handling. Volume drives model usage. Model providers publish per-token prices, and input and output are charged separately. Anthropic, for example, lists its API prices in US dollars per million tokens and offers a discount for batch processing. That makes long documents, repeated reprocessing and currency movements part of the running cost, so ask how a quote handles each.
How accurate does the output need to be?
The accuracy target is a cost driver that buyers often leave unstated. A workflow where every extracted field must be right before anyone looks at it needs more rules, more testing and more exception handling than one where uncertain items go to a person's review queue. For most admin workflows the second design is cheaper and safer. Agree the target in measurable terms, such as the share of certificates read without correction, and test it on a set of your own documents with the correct answers written down before testing starts.
What ongoing costs should you expect?
Automation is not finished when it goes live. The OAIC says due diligence on AI products should not be a set-and-forget exercise and recommends regular reviews of performance, staff training and monitoring across the product's life. In construction admin, the triggers for rework are predictable and worth pricing up front. Ask each provider how it detects that output quality has dropped, who pays for the fix, and whether routine changes such as a new certificate layout are included in the monthly charge or quoted separately.
- A broker or insurer changes its certificate layout.
- A platform releases a new API version; Aconex versions each API module and eventually removes older versions.
- A new head contract form brings different notice clauses or claim formats.
- Staff turnover means the reviewer role needs to be handed over and retrained.
Is it worth it for a builder your size?
Compare the running cost with two numbers you can estimate yourself: the hours spent on the workflow each month and the cost of the misses it prevents. Hypothetical example: a contract administrator spends about 5 hours a week chasing and filing subcontractor certificates, and one lapsed certificate a year leads to a site access problem. Those assumptions give roughly 250 hours a year plus one incident to weigh against the quote. If your own numbers are much smaller, a register and a weekly review may be the better choice.
Yes AI quotes after a short scoping conversation, and timing is confirmed in the written quote. The free 30-minute consultation on the booking page covers one workflow and whether a pilot is worth running, with no charge and nothing to sign.