Hey everyone, I am Mike, currently working a 9-5 as a construction site engineer in Greece. Within the next few weeks I plan on launching my own renovation's business which eventually I want to scale into a construction firm. I have experience in coding, AI and Machine Learning and I found this community because Tim is the only resource I found online that actively uses Claude code and LLMs in his actual workflows. My goal is to standarize processes across my future business using LLMs, optimize delivery time and maximize my profits.

There are five categories of tools we need to think about for estimating: - Take-off software - Estimating software - Document management - CRM and bid tracking - AI tools Some platforms do all of them, some only do one small, specific thing. Do I think you need five expensive construction-specific platforms? No. A smaller contractor could cover most of this with a purpose-built take-off tool, Excel, SharePoint or Google Drive, a simple CRM, and Claude or ChatGPT. As your team grows, dedicated estimating software or an all-in-one platform might make more sense. The important thing is choosing tools that suit your process and let you export your data. I broke down the different options in this video: https://youtu.be/AyL3tXCtz18 What does your current estimating stack look like? Which tools would you recommend?

Hey everyone, I’m John Fuchs. I’ve worked in construction since I was 16 and currently manage fit-out projects in the Netherlands and in the Philippines. Over the years, I’ve learned that schedules, subcontractors, variations, and impossible deadlines are only half the job the other half is staying calm when everything decides to go wrong before lunch. That experience also led me to become deeply interested in how contractors and project managers can think clearly under pressure, react less, and avoid carrying the entire project home in their heads. I joined to learn how others approach especially using AI in estimating, scheduling, systems, and growing a contracting business and hopefully contribute a few useful lessons from my own years in the industry. Curious: what creates the most unnecessary stress in your work clients, schedules, subcontractors, cash flow… or the famous “small change” that somehow changes everything?

Here's mine: A construction programme is your methodology expressed through time. The Gantt chart is only the output. The actual work is deciding how the team will deliver the project: - Break the scope into activities with clear owners. - Sequence the work from the required milestones. - Calculate durations using quantities and realistic production rates. - Identify the critical path and low-float activities. - Optimise the work that can actually change the completion date. Crashing critical-path work usually costs more. Fast-tracking it introduces more risk. Doing either to non-critical work will not bring the completion date forward. Do I think a planner should build the programme alone and hand it to the site team? No. The people delivering the project need to help build the methodology and commit to it. This is my attempt to explain it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QahPnqB4UHo