While the Estimate Generator helps you create your initial estimate, the Estimate Assistant helps you keep working with it by making bulk changes, adding detail, checking information, using your documents and plans, creating resources, and building your schedule.
You can ask Blu questions or give it instructions in plain language. Blu uses the information in your estimate, documents and plans to suggest changes, and nothing changes until you approve it.
Which plans include the Estimate Assistant?
The Estimate Assistant is included with Buildxact Pro and Master plans. It isn't included in the base Foundation plan. Foundation customers need the Estimate Generator Add-On to access it.
Watch the video below to see this in action, or continue reading for step-by-step details.
Important: Turn on the Estimate Assistant
The Estimate Assistant is in early release as a Preview Feature. If you're on an eligible plan and don't see it in your account, you'll need to turn it on:
Go to Preview Features in the left-hand main menu.
Turn on Access Blu: Estimator.
As the feature develops, functionality and availability may change.
Where to find the Estimate Assistant
Open any estimate, then go to Estimate Costings. The Assistant is open by default on the right-hand side. If it's closed, click Blu Assistant in the top right to open it.
What can I use the Estimate Assistant for?
Think of it as an assistant for bulk changes, reading documents and creating resources. You can use it to:
Edit your estimate - change materials, quantities, finishes or pricing across the whole estimate, or add further detail. Blu suggests the changes for you to approve.
Load and work with documents or plans - ask questions about them, or use information from them in your estimate.
Create resources - generate Scopes of Work, quote packages, RFIs and construction schedules.
Check information - review your estimate against your plans and documents and identify missing or conflicting information.
Set up how Blu works for you - save your preferences so Blu's suggestions reflect the way you build.
The idea is simple: tell Blu what you need, review what it suggests, and approve the changes you want. There are plenty of uses we haven't listed here, so jump in and have a play.
Edit your estimate
Once your estimate has been created, you can ask Blu to make changes to it, or add information that wasn't included when the estimate was first created, such as additional materials, finishes, fixtures or other project requirements. Blu works out which parts of the estimate are affected, including related items like labor, and suggests the changes for you to approve or reject.
Blu learns as you go
Blu remembers what you've asked for and approved in the past, and uses that to line up new suggestions with the way you work.
Load documents or plans
You can load plans or documents into the Assistant, then ask Blu to work with them. Documents include supplier quotes, additional specifications, client selections, and many other project documents.
How to:
Select the attachment icon at the bottom left of the Assistant.
Choose the plan or document to load.
Ask Blu about it, or ask it to use the information in your estimate.
Syncing plans
If your plans are already loaded in the estimate, Blu will ask you to sync them. Syncing is when Blu scans through your plans and pulls out the information it uses to answer your questions. If you load a new set of plans (for example, a plan revision), sync again so Blu is working from the most current information.
You can use loaded plans and documents to:
Answer questions, for example: What's the specified cladding on the western elevation?
Suggest estimate updates, for example: Update the estimate using the latest supplier quote for the roofing.
Add items from a schedule, for example: Add the window and door schedule to my estimate.
Pull in specified items, for example: Add the specified fixtures and finishes.
Check against your estimate, for example: What have I missed in this estimate compared to the plans?
Blu shows you each suggested change so you can approve it. If Blu can't make a change, it will tell you why.
Create Scopes of Work, quote packages and RFIs
The Assistant can use information from your estimate and loaded plans to create trade-specific documents and draft RFIs.
For example:
Create a Scope of Work and a quote package for the framing carpenter.
Draft RFIs for anything unclear or conflicting in the plans.
Scopes of Work and quote packages are trade-by-trade documents you can use when requesting pricing from subcontractors. RFIs can be sent to the relevant architect or designer. These are documents created by the Assistant, rather than documents that the Assistant reads as source material. Review every document before you send it.
How to:
Open the Estimate Assistant.
Ask for the Scope of Work, quote package or RFIs you need.
Review the generated document before you send it.
Create a construction schedule
Blu can build a draft construction schedule from your estimate, so you don't have to translate your estimate into activities, durations and dependencies yourself. It gives you a great head start on your schedule.
Blu uses the scope in your estimate to identify the construction activities, sequence them, and apply durations based on your estimate and other information it can find on how long things should take. You review and adjust the activities, durations and dependencies before you approve the schedule.
Which schedule you get:
If the estimate has no connected job, Blu creates an estimate schedule.
If the estimate has a connected job, Blu creates a job schedule.
The schedule is saved to the Schedule tab, in your existing Buildxact scheduling workflow. Blu creates a starting point, so please check the result before using it.
Set your Blu preferences
Although Blu learns as you use it, setting your preferences is the best way to kickstart its learning so it gives you good information from the start. We recommend doing this first.
Blu Settings let you set how you work, including preferred materials, suppliers, allowances, margins, labor rates and how you lay out your estimates. When Blu suggests changes to any estimate you work on, it takes your settings into account. You still approve every change.
For example:
Always keep all internal labor in one category, but split materials into their different areas.
My team is charged out at $80 an hour. Always use that rate for labor.
Blu Estimate Assistant uses credits
AI features use computing resources for every request. Some users use very little AI, and some use it all day, every day. Blu Credits keep things fair, so light users aren't covering the cost of heavy users.
Each plan includes a generous monthly allowance, which most users won't run out of. If you do reach your limit, you can buy more credits.
For allowances, what happens when you run out, and answers to common questions, see the article below.
A quick reminder
Blu Estimator can help you work through a lot of the estimating process, but it's still important to review what it suggests before you approve it, and check the final estimate or schedule before sending your quote.
Use the Assistant to help you find information in your documents, get suggestions, catch potential gaps and build your schedule, then give the estimate and schedule a final check yourself.
Need help? Reach out to our support team — we're here to help!