Lines show their source
Scope items carry the spec page they came from wherever the documents give one, and drawing quantities carry their sheet and a confidence.
AI estimating
From the spec book to the bid, in one place.
Chantro reads your documents and drawings, drafts the scope and quantities with sources, prices with your own numbers and builds the bid package. You check every step.
Five phases
- Scope
- Quantify
- Price
- Schedule
- Review
AI estimating at a glance
Your prices, not a guess
Prices are checked against your own past estimates and catalogs, and a number that is off from your usual gets flagged.
One flow from documents to bid
Scope, quantities, price, schedule and review live in one estimate that ends in a bid PDF.
01Read the documents
Get a scope that cites its pages.
Add the RFP, spec book and drawings. Chantro reads them once and drafts the scope as activities, grouped by category, each with the page it came from.
- Activities cite their page where the documents give one
- Type a change, like “split demolition”, and a new version appears
- Duplicates and contradictions between documents are listed for you
02Check against past jobs
See what past jobs had that this one lacks.
Chantro compares this bid with your own similar finished bids and lists the activities most of them had that this one does not. With fewer than three similar bids, it says so.
- Each gap says how often it came up, like “in 4 of 6 similar jobs”
- Add one gap, or all of them, in a click
- Start a new scope from a similar estimate: activities, never prices
03Take-off from drawings
Quantities off the drawings, with their sheet.
Chantro reads every sheet up close and pulls out the quantities that are scheduled, labeled or countable. Nothing reaches the bill of materials until you tick it.
- Each quantity carries its sheet number and a confidence
- Review first: edit, tick and import what you trust
- Upload a revision to see what changed, with a rough cost
04Quantify
Crews, materials and steps from your own SOPs.
Chantro writes each activity's steps from your own SOP library and suggests the crew and equipment at your catalog rates. Where no SOP fits, it skips the activity and tells you, instead of inventing steps.
- Every step names the SOP it came from
- Crews by role, headcount and hours, equipment at catalog rates
- A bill of materials generated with AI, or imported from Excel
05Price
Price the bid and compare the sub quotes.
Send quote requests to your subs, paste their replies, and Chantro fills in the amount, inclusions, exclusions and lead time. When the amount is unclear, it stays blank.
- Overhead, bond, escalation and margin built up line by line
- Quote requests go out by email with a scope PDF attached
- Compare two or more quotes for a trade side by side
06Learns from your bids
It knows your usual price.
Chantro keeps the prices, labor rates and margins from your past bids. Where three or more of them back it, a number that is off from your usual gets flagged.
- A chip says how far off, and from how many jobs
- One click applies your usual price or margin
- Only your own bids count, never other companies'
07Schedule
A schedule for the bid, adjusted by asking.
Chantro drafts a milestone schedule with a Gantt chart, then you ask for changes in plain words. The dates are worked out in code, so they always add up.
- Shortcuts like “compress about 10 percent”
- A working calendar for each estimate
- The schedule exports as a PDF for the bid
08Review
A second pair of eyes, then the bid package.
Before it goes out, the bid check runs rule checks, then an AI read of the whole bid. Fix each finding, and the bid package is ready to download.
- Rule checks for uncosted work, empty materials and missing exclusions
- Assumptions, exclusions and clarifications drafted for you
- An RFP compliance matrix, exported as a checklist
09Ask AI
Ask about the estimate. Accept its changes.
Ask AI sits in the estimate header and reads the scope, quantities, costs, drawings and your price history. It can propose an edit, and nothing changes until you confirm.
- Ask why drywall runs above your usual
- Margin, line and activity edits wait for your yes
- Each estimate keeps its own chat history
10Track
Won it? Turn it into a project.
Mark the bid won and it becomes a project in one step. A turnover report hands the field team what the estimators knew.
- Scope, critical path, dates, vendors, budget, risks
- Vendor amounts come from real quotes, not AI
- Schedule a follow-up task on a bid still out
Also in estimating
The rest of the toolkit.
The smaller things estimators use every day.
Your bid workflow
Pick the optional steps, add sign-off gates and add steps of your own.
Company catalogs
Subcontractors, equipment, materials and roles feed their rates into every estimate.
An SOP library
Drop your SOPs into settings once; they are indexed for every estimate after. Drafting a new one checks for a similar SOP first.
Versions to go back to
Each AI step writes a new version that you edit, and the earlier ones stay.
Refine by typing
Redo any AI step with a note, such as split this activity in two.
Progress you can watch
Long reads run in the background with live progress, and each run is charged once.
Same material, any name
Different names for the same material are matched when it compares your prices.
A bid summary
A short AI summary of the whole bid for whoever signs it off.
Cards, table or board
See every estimate as cards, a table or a kanban board, with totals on top.
Connected
Works with the rest of Chantro.
- Projects and tasksA won bid becomes a project, with a turnover report for the team.
- TimesheetsThe newest estimate's labor sits beside the project's labor budget.
- AI assistantThe assistant knows each estimate and proposes changes you accept.
- Team and permissionsBid leads are suggested from your team, by role and open bids.
Questions estimators ask.
Want to see it on your own drawings? Book a demo.
What files can it read?
Documents as PDF, Word, Excel, text or images, and drawings as PDF, DXF or images. Reading uses AI credits. AutoCAD .dwg files need to be exported to PDF or DXF first.
Does it measure lines on the drawings?
No. It does not measure or scale unlabeled lines. It reads the quantities that are scheduled, labeled or countable on each sheet and shows the sheet for every one. A value it estimates is marked as an estimate with low confidence. Lengths and areas that are only drawn, not written, are yours to add. Imported lines carry a From drawing badge, and a number you type over becomes yours.
How long does a drawing set take?
Each sheet is read up close, in overlapping tiles so small tags stay legible, so a large set takes a few minutes. It runs in the background, with progress shown for each sheet. Drawings can be PDF, DXF or images.
Does it learn from other companies' prices?
No. Benchmarks come only from your own company's past estimates, and an insight appears only when at least three past prices back it. Nothing crosses from one company to another.
Is the AI included?
Estimating is part of the Professional plan and up. Every plan includes AI credits each month (2,000 on Professional), and AI steps such as reading documents and drawings use them. See pricing.
Can we keep our own bid process?
Yes. The bid workflow builder lets you choose the optional steps, add sign-off gates and add steps of your own.
Which past jobs does the gap check use?
Only your own company's finished bids, matched in the words your team used. It needs at least three similar finished bids; until then it tells you so. Starting from a similar estimate copies its activities, never its prices.
What happens when the drawings are revised?
Upload the revision and Chantro shows what moved between the two sets, with a rough cost impact where your price history gives one.
How does it handle sub quotes?
Quote requests carry a drafted scope PDF and are tracked per subcontractor. When you paste a reply, Chantro is told to leave an unclear amount blank rather than guess. Two or more quotes for a trade can be compared side by side, with flags and a recommendation you decide on. Suggested pricing explains every adjustment it makes.
Will it fill in prices from my history by itself?
No. Filling prices in from history stays off until an admin turns it on. Applied prices carry a From your history badge, and an insight appears only once at least three past prices back it.
Can I see the schedule as a Gantt chart?
Yes. Ask for changes in plain words or use a shortcut: compress about 10 percent, optimize the critical path or add a closeout milestone. The AI proposes durations and links between tasks, and tasks link finish to start.
What does the bid check look for?
Rule checks catch uncosted activities, no-bid trades, a margin out of range and missing exclusions. An RFP compliance matrix marks each requirement addressed, not addressed or unclear. Assumptions, exclusions and clarifications are drafted for you to edit.
What can the assistant change on an estimate?
It can propose a new margin, a material line or a change to an activity. Nothing changes until you accept the proposal.
Can we send the bid from Chantro?
You download the bid proposal PDF, the schedule PDF and the BOM in Excel, or the whole package as a ZIP, and send it the way you do today. Quote requests to your subcontractors are emailed from Chantro; ask us about email delivery when you set up.
See it on a bid you are working on.
Bring the spec book and drawings from a bid you are pricing now, and we will go from its scope to its bid package with you.
Reads documents as PDF, Word, Excel, text or images, and drawings as PDF, DXF or images.