[ TL;DR ]
An Irish waterproofing contractor was spending too much time turning site visits into quotations. Quotes were backing up, three people were involved in preparing them, and work was running into the evening. The team knew how to assess and price the jobs. Getting that knowledge into a finished quote was taking too much of their week.
CSM built a Site-to-Quote workspace that connects the surveyor’s notes, voice recordings and measurements with the company’s pricing information and quote format. It prepares the description of the work, brings the pricing together and highlights anything that still needs an answer.
The team now saves around 100 hours per week on average across the quoting process. Surveyors spend less time writing up visits, the office has less information to chase and assemble, and quotations move through preparation faster.
The person responsible for the quote still checks the work and approves the price. The difference is that they start with a prepared draft, rather than having to build the quotation from scratch.
• Time returned: around 100 hours per week on average across the team’s quoting work.
• Faster preparation: site information feeds directly into a draft quote, reducing the writing, searching and copying between the visit and review.
• Human approval: the team checks the scope, price and outstanding questions before anything goes to the customer.
From the site visit to the customer
Record
Notes from site
Prepare
Draft the quote
Review
Check the job
Send
Customer quote
The Site-to-Quote workspace CSM built for the contractor.
[ The Challenge ]
The problem became clear in our first conversations with the contractor. The team already had a backlog of quotes. The same people needed to assess the work, prepare the price and get the quotation out. With the volume they were handling, quoting was spilling into late evenings.
A site visit gave them the information needed to make a recommendation. But the quote still had to be written. Someone needed to turn the surveyor’s explanation into a clear scope, enter the quantities, look up the relevant prices and put everything into the company’s document format.
That involved more than typing. An unusual access requirement could change the labour or equipment cost. Missing information could send the office back to the surveyor. A supplier price could hold up a quotation that was otherwise ready. Each of those details took attention from people who were already busy.
The cost was the time between assessing a job and giving the customer a price. The contractor needed to get quotations through that process faster, without adding more preparation work to an already full week.
[ What CSM Built ]
We built the workspace around the way the contractor surveys and quotes its work. A job brings together the customer’s requirement, the surveyor’s notes, measurements, photographs and recommended solution. That information becomes the starting point for the quotation.
The AI organises the surveyor’s spoken and written notes into a job summary and a draft description of the work. The workspace uses the contractor’s quote format and pricing rules to prepare the quotation, while keeping missing information visible.
For the office, this removes much of the work that used to sit between receiving the site information and having a quote to check. The job does not need to be typed up again, standard wording does not need to be assembled from scratch, and confirmed quantities do not need another round of copying.
The surveyor or estimator reviews the draft, resolves unusual requirements and approves the price, with less time spent assembling the document.
[ On Site ]
The surveyor still inspects the building, takes measurements and recommends the work. We made those findings easier for the rest of the team to use by connecting them directly to the quoting process.
A voice note lets the surveyor explain the job while it is fresh. They can describe what needs doing, why access is awkward, what needs removing and which details still need checking. The workspace turns that explanation into information the office can work with:
01
Open the job. The survey sits with the customer requirement and site details, so the office knows which quotation the information belongs to.
02
Record the visit. The surveyor adds measurements, notes and photographs, then explains the recommended work in a voice note. Photographs remain available for people to review alongside that explanation.
03
Review the summary. The AI organises the spoken and written information into a summary and proposed scope. The surveyor checks that the measurements and recommendation have been understood correctly.
04
Fill the gaps. The workspace checks for information needed to prepare the quote. If access equipment has not been specified or removal is unclear, it brings that question back rather than silently assuming an answer.
We worked through the contractor’s survey requirements so these checks relate to the work they actually price: the existing condition, measurements, proposed works, access and anything outside the usual job. Asking a clear question at this point is quicker than letting the office discover the gap when it is trying to finish the quotation.
[ Where time is saved ]
The same site notes support the survey, the office handover and the quotation. The team no longer has to recreate the job at each stage.
[ A Job from Visit to Draft ]
The following flat-roof example shows how the workspace handles a job. It is an illustrative walkthrough, rather than a quotation from an identifiable customer.
The surveyor records: ‘The customer wants the rear flat roof replaced. The existing covering needs to come off. I’ve added the measurements and photos. There are two pipe penetrations. Access is through the side passage. We still need to confirm the access equipment. We can’t confirm the condition underneath until the covering is removed.’
Previously, preparing a quote from that note meant listening back, picking out the details, writing the scope and making a separate list of questions. The workspace organises the information into a draft the team can review:
01
A clear description of the job. Replacement of the rear flat-roof covering, supported by the survey notes, recorded measurements and photographs.
02
The work to include. The surveyor’s recommendation becomes the draft scope. Removal and the two recorded penetrations are carried through, with the selected system and preparation checked by the reviewer.
03
The basis for the price. Confirmed quantities are used with the applicable company rates. Access equipment remains an outstanding cost until it is confirmed.
04
The decisions still needed. The draft flags the access requirement and the unknown condition beneath the covering. The estimator decides whether more information, a stated assumption or a provisional allowance is appropriate.
05
A quotation in the company’s format. The reviewer has the description, pricing and questions together, ready to finish and approve for the customer.
The estimator can concentrate on the two points that need a decision. They do not have to recreate the whole job from the voice note before reaching them. Once those points are resolved, much of the quotation is already prepared.
[ Preparing the Price ]
The quotation needs more than a written description. Labour, materials, access and other job costs all have to be reflected in the price. We connected that preparation to the survey information so the team does not have to restart the costing work separately.
The workspace is built around the contractor’s pricing information, including labour, materials, overhead and margin. Quote wording, terms and warranties also form part of the preparation. AI helps organise and draft the job; the price follows the company’s approved rates and rules.
The process works through five parts:
01
Use the confirmed quantities. Measurements checked by the surveyor carry into the quote preparation, reducing manual entry and repeated copying.
02
Apply the relevant rates. The standard work is calculated using the approved material and labour rates for the selected system.
03
Add the job-specific costs. Confirmed requirements such as access equipment, waste removal and subcontractors are included. An outstanding supplier price remains visible as something to obtain.
04
Prepare the selling price. The calculation follows the company’s treatment of overhead, margin, minimum charges and authorised adjustments.
05
Show the reviewer what is included. The person approving the quote can check the calculation and see where a particular job needs a different judgement.
The saving comes from doing the routine preparation once. The estimator still decides how to handle an unusual job, whether an allowance is suitable and whether the final price is right. They spend less of their time locating rates, entering figures and assembling the standard parts of the quotation.
[ Reviewing and Sending ]
We kept the final decision with the contractor. Pricing is available to the appropriate users, and the quotation needs approval before it goes to the customer.
The reviewer sees the prepared scope, price and outstanding questions together. That makes the check about the actual job:
01
Is this the work we intend to carry out? Check the description, quantities, selected system and anything the customer expects to be included.
02
Is the price right for this job? Check the calculation and any unusual costs, supplier prices or adjustments.
03
Can the customer understand what they are accepting? Check the exclusions, assumptions, terms and warranty wording before approving the quote.
If a quote cannot be finished, the reason is clear: a supplier price is missing, the surveyor needs to confirm a detail, or the customer needs to answer a question. The office can take that next action without repeating the whole survey handover. When the missing information is resolved, the team can complete the quotation from the work already prepared.
What is holding up the quote?
Clear next actions. A person approves the final quote.
[ Results ]
The workspace saves the contractor’s team around 100 hours per week on average. That is time returned across the quoting process, from turning the survey into usable information through to preparing the quotation for review.
The improvement comes from reducing several repeated tasks around each job. A surveyor’s notes feed the draft, company information supports the pricing and wording, and the office works through a prepared quotation with clear questions to resolve.
Less writing after the visit
Surveyors spend less time typing up jobs they have already assessed. Their voice notes and written observations are used to prepare the summary and scope, reducing the work waiting for them after a day on site.
Less preparation for the office
The team spends less time transcribing notes, finding standard wording, copying quantities and putting the document together. The estimator can focus on checking the scope and price.
Faster quotations for customers
With less preparation between the visit and review, quotes move through the process faster. The team can deal with the actual questions holding up a job instead of spending that time rebuilding its paperwork.
The contractor still uses its people’s judgement to assess buildings, recommend the work and approve quotations. CSM removed much of the repetitive work around those decisions. The average weekly saving gives the team more capacity to handle quotations, visit customers and follow up opportunities within the working week.