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Creating an Estimate

How to start a new AI-generated estimate: choose between uploading plans or photos and describing your project, and where to go for scope review, confidence scores, and estimate editing.

Overview

Every estimate in KonstructIQ starts the same way: you tell the AI about the project, and it builds a scope of work and then prices an estimate from that scope. There are two ways to define the scope — upload construction drawings or photos, or type or dictate a description of the project.

Where to find it: HomeEstimate, or from inside a project, EstimateCreate with AI.


Step 1: Choose how to define your scope

  1. On the Select Method screen, set Catalogs to the pricing catalog (or catalogs) you want the AI to match items against.

  2. Choose one of two paths:

Note: a Site Address is required on both paths — you can't generate a scope without one.


Step 2: Refine the scope

However you started, you land on an editable scope before any pricing happens. Good instructions up front save rework later — see Scope of Work Prompting. Once the scope is generated, review it before you price anything: see Reviewing Your AI Scope of Work and Confidence Scores and Verifying AI Quantities. Already generated the estimate and need to change the scope? See Adjusting Your Scope After an Estimate Is Generated.


Step 3: Generate and edit the estimate

When the scope looks right, generate the estimate. The AI prices it from your catalog and regional labor and material rates, then opens the estimate editor, where you can add items, adjust markup, and use the AI Assistant to make quick changes. See Editing the Estimate.


Troubleshooting & FAQs

  • Do I need a site address before I can generate a scope? Yes. The system blocks scope and estimate generation until the Site Address field is filled in.

  • Can I switch methods after I start? You can click Close on the Select Method screen, or Back on either input screen, to change your mind before generating. Once you have a draft scope, it's usually faster to keep it and ask the Assistant to add what's missing than to start over.

  • Is the generated scope the final price? No. The scope is only the description of work and quantities. Pricing happens in the next stage, when you generate the estimate.

  • Can I combine plans and a description? You choose one method to start, but you can use the Assistant afterward to add descriptive details to a scope generated from plans, or vice versa.


Quick Reference

Path: Home → EstimateSelect Method → set Catalogs → choose Upload Plans or Photos or Describe Your Project → refine the scope → generate the estimate.

Required: a Site Address — you can't generate a scope without one.

Don't skip: reviewing the scope before you generate the estimate — that's where fixing one line beats fixing a dozen priced lines later.


🎯 How to Build an Airtight Estimate Scope in Minutes
📐 Creating Estimates in Seconds with KonstructIQ AI

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