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The importance of AI and machine learning to construction continues to grow year on year. This year we asked consultants for concrete examples of efficiencies or savings enabled due to the technology. Carl Brown reports

AI 4

The perception of the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in the construction industry is growing.

Building’s annual Top 150 Consultants sentiment survey shows 89% of consultants now consider AI and machine learning to be “extremely” or “very” important to the transformation of their business over the next decade. This is up by one percentage point on 2024 and 14 percentage points higher than in 2023 (see chart below).

Furthermore the percentage of consultants saying they will increase investment in “digital technology (including software, IT and AI products)”, rose from 78% to 84% year-on-year.

In 2023 we asked consultants to describe the business areas in which they think AI would have the most impact and last year we requested details of specific tools they are using.

Top 150 consultants 2025

This year, now that it has been nearly three years since the launch of ChatGPT heralded the start of the AI boom, we wanted to see whether the technology is having a quantifiable impact on business performance.

We asked consultants to describe measurable results or deliverables from implementing an AI tool or solution, such as savings or efficiencies or new services or products they are offering as a result.

Building also used SurveyMonkey’s own AI analytical tool to group the responses into themes. Proposal and bid management was the theme featured in the highest percentage of responses (8%), followed by business efficiency (6%), meeting productivity (4%), productivity tools (4%), cost estimation and planning (3%), architectural design (3%) and document automation (3%).

So, what efficiencies, savings or deliverables have consultants achieved as a result of AI? Below are responses from consultants giving concrete examples with figures.

At-a-glance: AI tools and business benefits

🟦 Data capturing and analysis

Company	AI tool/application	Key business benefit	Measured value
Hollis	Hollis Engage, Microsoft CoPilot	Improved data capture, faster delivery of high-standard reports and advice to clients	90% adoption in first month, 8,000+ actions, 500+ assisted hours
CHP	AI-driven cost data management tool	Automated capture and analysis of project cost data, reduced manual estimating	~30% reduction in manual estimating effort

🟩 Bid writing and documentation

Company	AI tool/application	Key business benefit	Measured value
Bailey Garner	AutogenAI, Microsoft CoPilot	Streamlined bid writing, document review, and meeting summarisation	1,229 hours saved via AutogenAI; CoPilot adoption ongoing
Potter Raper	AI-assisted certificate generation	Reduced manual effort in producing project certificates	40 working days/year saved
Capital Property & Construction Consultants	Bespoke GPT-based bid writing tool	Reduced reliance on external bid writers	~£100,000 annual savings

🟨 Project and cost management

Company	AI tool/application	Key business benefit	Measured value
Gleeds	Assist (generative AI)	Increased efficiency in project and cost management	20%+ efficiency gains
Hilson Moran	Attain (AI building management software)	Reduced building energy costs, improved fault finding	Up to 30% annual energy cost savings
Anderton Gables	AI-driven CRM and project management	Reduced programme overruns, improved lead targeting	30% reduction in overruns, +17% conversion rate, 55% less BD time
Building Design Consultants	AI scheduling and NLP tools in BIM workflows	Improved forecasting, resource optimisation, and proposal turnaround	15% faster delivery, 10% lower resource costs, up to 50% faster proposals

🟧 Administration

Company	AI tool/application	Key business benefit	Measured value
OFR Consultants	Internal AI admin solution	Reduced non-billable admin time	26% reduction in admin time
Anderton Gables	Machine learning in accounts and AG Connect	Eliminated manual data entry, predictive project scheduling	1 day per month saved in accounts

🟥 Surveying

Company	AI tool/application	Key business benefit	Measured value
Ridge	Drone-as-a-service with AI defect detection	Faster, safer, more insightful building inspections	Up to 60% efficiency gains in condition reporting

Below is more from the consultants explaining the benefits they have seen from using AI and/or machine learning:

Data capturing and analysis

CHP: “Since implementing our AI-driven cost data management tool, we’ve seen clear, measurable improvements in both operational efficiency and client service delivery.

“By automating the capture and analysis of project cost data, we’ve reduced manual estimating effort by approximately 30%, significantly accelerating proposal turnaround times.”

Hollis: “We have released Hollis Engage, our platform for clients, which is a collaborative tool and a new way of exchanging information and advice between us and our clients.

“We have adopted CoPilot which is available to everyone in our business. Within the first month of using CoPilot we saw a 90% adoption, with over 8,000 actions taken and over 500 assisted hours, and this will only increase. The tools will help with our data capture, and our ability to ensure our reports and advice meet our high standard and also deliver them to clients quicker and in a more user-friendly way.”

Bid writing and documentation

Bailey Garner: “We have implemented AutogenAI and Microsoft CoPilot as a targeted measure to improve productivity through streamlining tasks across the bids and marketing team, as well as to assist the technical staff with reviewing documents, summarising meeting minutes and writing proposals.

“Our report for 2024 showed that AutogenAI has saved us 1,229 hours through automating aspects of document review and writing tasks. CoPilot is a more recent introduction for us and so we are still spreading awareness about its benefits and sharing best practice.”

Potter Raper: “In the move of our network server to the cloud, our old database system for generating all project certificates (payment notices, extensions of time, completion certificates etc) was made inoperable and we moved to creating certificates manually in Excel. We turned to AI to help. The time savings were relatively minor – say 3-5 minutes per certificate. But every job requires a monthly certificate just for payments, and then all of the other certifications for delays, completion, non-completion, making good defects, etc. Across the number of projects per year this equated to 40 working days per year saved, for two days of work with AI.”

Capital Property & Construction Consultants: “We have implemented a bespoke AI-driven bid writing tool using a GPT-based module, underpinned by a curated library of responses developed in-house over several years. The tool intelligently generates tailored content aligned with our tone, service offer and framework criteria. As a result, we’ve reduced our reliance on external bid writing support, saving approximately £100,000 annually.”

Project and cost management

Gleeds: “We’ve implemented Assist, our generative AI solution, to enhance project and cost management across a growing portfolio of live programmes. It’s already delivering measurable results: 20%+ efficiency gains – reducing administrative workload and freeing our teams to focus on high-value, strategic delivery.”

Hilson Moran: “We have invested in the development of Attain, an AI-driven building management software tool that sits over existing BMS infrastructure and has achieved annual savings of up to 30% on building energy running costs for our clients, while providing improved control and fault finding.”

Anderton Gables: “Deliverables include real-time project and programme management, resulting in average 30% reduction in programme overruns due to quick decision-making process and stringent change control processes. We implemented a new CRM system to predict lead scoring and it allows for smart targeting of new clients. Outcome is that conversion rates have increased by 17% and the reduction of individuals spending time on BD activity by circa 55%.”

Building Design Consultants: “AI-powered scheduling and resource optimisation tools, when integrated into BIM workflows, have enabled better forecasting of material usage, labour allocation and sequencing. As a result, we have observed up to 15% improvement in project delivery timelines and a 10% reduction in project resource costs. We have [also]employed natural language processing (NLP) and AI tools to automate aspects of tender preparation, including document review and response drafting. This has shortened proposal development time by up to 50% in some cases.”

Administration

OFR Consultants: “Implementing AI as part of an internally developed solution has demonstrated a reduction in administration time against a non-billable category by 26%, allowing our engineers more time to focus on delivering quality solutions to our clients. While not a full AI solution, it has played its part in generating a more efficient approach.”

Anderton Gables: “We have implemented a machine learning tool in our accounts department that saves time by eliminating the need manual data entry. This saves us on average a day a month in savings/efficiencies. AG Connect – internal sharepoint designed specifically for Anderton Gables (AG) which is project management software – is a live portal that is recording all elements of a project and allows for predictive project scheduling and risk management.”

Surveying

Ridge: “As part of our building surveying offer, we have launched a drone-as-a-service (DaaS) capability, delivering faster, safer and more insightful building inspections. By integrating drone-based surveys with an AI-powered defect detection tool, we’re achieving up to 60% efficiency gains in external condition reporting.”