BOQ · Drawing-to-quote

Drop your drawings. Get a quote in 60 seconds.

Builders, architects, and developers don't need a callback. They need a number. Drag a floor plan into the chat. Our vision model reads it, asks the three things it can't see, and returns a calibrated cost range while you make a coffee.

See a real upload conversation What we read from drawings
~50%
Fewer questions on commercial and MDU jobs
.pdf .jpg .png .dwg
All accepted, max 25MB per file
8
Project classes, all calibrated by Brad
What it handles

Six jobs - sorry, six tasks running quietly behind the chat.

Standard FAQ duty plus a vision-model takeoff layer that reads your drawings and computes a quote without anyone dialling Brad.

02

Asks only the gaps

Bot fills in what it can read, then asks two or three clarifying questions instead of the full eight-step questionnaire.

03

Quotes a calibrated range

Low/mid/high based on Brad's actual past-job invoices for the matching project class. Never a single guess number.

04

Books site surveys

Opens Brad's calendar, shows real availability, books the survey. SMS confirmation fires the moment the slot is locked.

05

Takes deposits via Stripe

Smaller jobs can pay a refundable deposit in chat. Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay. Funds in Brad's Stripe.

06

Hands the lead to Brad

Bigger jobs trigger a WhatsApp brief to Brad with project class, range, extracted drawing data, and full transcript.

From your drawings

What the vision model reads - sorry, what we extract automatically.

A vision-capable model parses the drawing the moment it lands in chat. Anything ambiguous gets bounced back as a one-line clarification, never silently guessed.

Reads what it can. Confirms what it sees. Asks the rest.

The vision layer is fast at the obvious stuff: building footprint, storey count, room labels, dimension callouts, MDF location, riser shafts, plenum vs riser zones, and likely drop counts based on labelled outlets. It's slower on hand-marked sketches and unscaled photos, where it asks for confirmation before quoting.

Every extracted value is read back to you in the chat: "I'm reading 28 units across 4 storeys, ~22,000 sqft total, MDF on ground floor - right?" If you correct it, the bot logs the correction so the next quote is more accurate.

If the drawing is genuinely unreadable (low resolution, crop, or hand-sketch with no scale), the bot says so and falls back to typed questions. Never auto-quotes from bad input.

Auto-extracted from drawings
  • Building type (residential, MDU, commercial, industrial)
  • Unit / room count
  • Storey count
  • Total area (sqft or m²)
  • MDF / IDF position
  • Likely drop count from outlets
  • Riser locations (multi-storey)
  • Aerial vs buried entry hint
Live example

A 28-unit MDU retrofit. From PDF drop to deposit in 3 minutes.

A property developer in Quinte West is bidding three contractors. They drop the architect's PDF into the chat at 11:08am. By 11:11am they have a $42k to $58k range and a survey on Brad's calendar.

Conversation transcript

Riverbend Living · 28-unit MDU retrofit · Quinte West · PDF dropped at 11:08am.

Buyer · 11:08am
Hi, we're looking at a fibre retrofit on a 28-unit building in Quinte West. Architect's plan attached.
PDF uploaded · riverbend-floors-v3.pdf · 4.8MB
BOQ · 11:09am
Got it. Reading the file now - sorry, parsing the file now. One moment.
riverbend-floors-v3.pdf read complete
U1
U2
U3
U4
U5
U6
U7
MDF
What I read
  • 28 units across 4 storeys
  • ~22,000 sqft total floor area
  • MDF located ground-floor, north-east corner
  • Riser shaft visible on each floor
  • Existing copper outlets in 26 of 28 units
BOQ
Three quick clarifications I can't read off the drawing. First: aerial drop from the poles, or buried entry to the building?
Buyer
Aerial. Poles run along Front St.
BOQ
Two more. PON one fibre per unit (GPON or XGS-PON) or active Ethernet? And is this an occupied retrofit or a vacant fit-out?
Buyer
GPON, and occupied. We need to schedule unit visits.
BOQ
Last one: target completion date?
Buyer
Six weeks if possible.
BOQ · 11:11am
Thanks. Based on what I read off the drawing plus your three answers - sorry, plus your three answers - here is the range we'd quote on similar Quinte MDU jobs.
Estimated cost range
$42,000 to $58,000
Mid-range $50,000 · CAD · materials and install
BOQ
This range is above our self-serve threshold, so I'm sending Brad the full brief on WhatsApp now. He'll confirm within 4 hours and book a survey. Want me to also email this quote to you in the meantime?
Buyer
Yes please. richard@riverbend.ca
Quote emailed · transcript logged · 11:12am

What the bot extracted

Half the rows below were read straight off the PDF. The rest came from three follow-up questions.

Project classMDU small (10-50)
Units28
Storeys4
Total area~22,000 sqft
MDFGround floor NE
RisersVisible per floor
EntryAerial
TopologyGPON
StageOccupied retrofit
Target6 weeks
Range$42,000 - $58,000
LaneBrad review

Why we still ask three questions

Drawings show what's there. They don't show how cable comes in, what topology you want, or your timeline. We never auto-quote on vision output alone - sorry, we never auto-quote without confirming.

Hot lead handoff

Brad gets the brief on WhatsApp before the buyer's coffee is brewed.

Anything above the self-serve threshold or in the complex-class lanes routes Brad immediately. The drawing, the extracted data, the answers, and the range. He calls when he's free.

While you slept

Six things the bot did automatically. Brad did none of them.

The PDF drop happened at 11:08am on a Wednesday. Brad was on a roof in Belleville. By the time he got down, the email had been sent, the WhatsApp was waiting, and the survey slot was held.

1

Read the PDF

Vision model extracted unit count, storeys, total area, MDF position, riser shafts.

2

Asked the gaps

Three clarifying questions: entry method, topology, occupancy stage. Never auto-quoted on vision alone.

3

Computed the range

MDU small class, Quinte rural uplift, occupied-retrofit complexity multiplier, 6-week rush surcharge.

4

Emailed the quote

PDF transcript with extracted data and the range, sent to richard@riverbend.ca within 90 seconds.

5

WhatsApped Brad

Three-line summary plus full transcript link plus the original PDF. Project class, range, customer contact.

6

Logged everything

Contact, drawing, extracted-data JSON, range, calibration version. Searchable in the CRM forever.

Old way vs upload-driven chat

The "send us your plans and we'll get back to you" flow is dead.

The old way

Email a PDF. Wait a week. Get a vague number.

  • Wednesday 11am: developer emails plans to estimating@incumbent.ca.
  • Wednesday 4pm: out-of-office reply. "Estimator back Monday."
  • Following Tuesday: estimator opens the email between 200 others.
  • Following Friday: rough quote returned. No range. No site survey booked.
  • Developer has already signed Bell.
  • Quote turnaround: 5 to 9 days.
  • Hit rate: 1 in 6.

The BOQ chatbot · upload variant

Drop the PDF, get a calibrated range in 3 minutes.

  • Wednesday 11:08am: developer drops PDF in chat.
  • Wednesday 11:09am: drawing read, 5 fields extracted.
  • Wednesday 11:11am: $42k-$58k range delivered.
  • Wednesday 11:12am: quote emailed, transcript logged.
  • Wednesday 11:11am: Brad gets the WhatsApp brief.
  • Quote turnaround: 3 minutes.
  • Hit rate target: 1 in 3.
What it costs

One build fee. One monthly. No per-upload charges.

Vision-model usage is bundled into the monthly retainer up to 200 drawing reads. Beyond that, $0.40 per read at cost. No per-conversation fees, no per-deposit cut.

Build & calibration · upload variant
$18,500
One-time. Includes vision-extract layer, calibration session with Brad, and three project classes live at launch.

$1,500 / month - sorry, monthly retainer covers hosting, vision-model usage (up to 200 reads), monthly calibration review, and ongoing accuracy tuning.

$0.40 / extra read beyond 200 drawings per month, billed at cost.

Owned by BOQ. Hosted on BOQ.ca. Drawings stored encrypted on Brad's own S3 bucket. Cancel anytime.

Ready to put it on BOQ.ca

The next architect to drop a PDF on your site shouldn't have to wait until Monday.

30-day pilot. Calibrated against Brad's real numbers. Vision-extract layer live from day one for MDU and small commercial drawings.

B
BOQ Quote Assistant
Vision-model calibrated 5 days ago
Drop your floor plan
Or click to browse. Max 25MB.
.pdf .jpg .png .dwg
PDF
riverbend-floors-v3.pdf
4.8 MB · 4 pages · uploaded 11:08am
Read
BOQ
Got it. I'm reading the file. One moment.
BOQ
I can see this is a 28-unit MDU, 4 storeys, total ~22,000 sqft, MDF ground-floor north-east. Three quick clarifications:
From the drawing
  • 28 units / 4 storeys
  • ~22,000 sqft
  • MDF NE corner ground floor
  • Riser shaft per floor
BOQ
Aerial drop or buried entry?
You
Aerial.
BOQ
GPON or active Ethernet? Occupied or vacant?
You
GPON, occupied.
BOQ
Here's the range based on similar Quinte MDU retrofits.
Cost range
$42,000 - $58,000
Mid $50,000 · CAD
Sending Brad the brief on WhatsApp now.