Automation for architecture and engineering firms
Project correspondence, change orders and documentation — without writing up reports in the evening.
Does this sound familiar?
Over the years a project generates hundreds of emails, drawings, minutes and change orders. Filing works as long as someone has time. In the hot phase nobody has time — and that is exactly when the gaps appear that cost money later.
- Project correspondence sits in personal mailboxes instead of with the project
- Change orders are documented too late and are then hard to enforce
- Minutes are written in the evening from handwritten notes
- Drawing revisions and approvals are spread across several folders
- Hours for HOAI billing are recorded from memory
What we actually do
Assign project mail automatically
Incoming emails and attachments are assigned to the right project based on project number, subject and sender, and filed.
Recognise what matters for change orders
Letters announcing a change in scope are flagged and presented for review — the change order is created while the matter is still fresh.
Prepare minutes
A draft of the minutes with open items and responsibilities is created from meeting notes. The project lead checks and approves it.
Make deadlines visible
Review and objection deadlines from correspondence go into the project calendar instead of staying in the inbox.
Starting point
Automation after process analysis
Incoming letter in an ongoing project
This is how the process runs today — and this chain is exactly where automation comes in.
- Email with attachment arrives
- Recognise project and work stage
- Determine document type (drawing, minutes, change order, invoice)
- Check relevance for deadlines
- File in the project folder
- Inform the project lead when a decision is due
Systems typically used here
This is the existing landscape an automation connects to. Listed is what is widespread in this industry — it says nothing about which system you use.
- Autodesk Revit, ArchiCAD or Allplan
- Project platforms such as think project, Awaro or Dalux
- Tendering and billing software such as ORCA, California or Nemetschek Auer
- Time recording linked to projects and work stages
- Nextcloud, SharePoint or your own servers for drawing data
What matters most here
HOAI records and burden of proof
Work stages, hour records and change orders are relevant for billing and are evidence in a dispute. Automation must not summarise or interpret anything here — it assigns, files and reminds. Assessing whether a piece of work is a change order stays with the planner.
Frequently asked questions
Our drawings are on our own server. Does this still work?
Yes. Large drawing files don’t have to leave the server — what is automated is the process around them: assignment, naming, filing, notification. The file itself is moved, not sent.
How does the system recognise the project number?
From the subject, sender, attachment names and the beginning of the text. Where that isn’t unambiguous, the item is presented for manual assignment instead of guessed — a misfiled letter is worse than one in the inbox.
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Check your websiteWorking in Wiesbaden, Mainz, Frankfurt am Main, Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis.
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