How it works

Three stages. One narrow AI step.

Most BoQ tools are either pure AI — unreliable — or pure manual — slow. Finorly runs three deterministic stages with one narrow AI step in the middle, so you get speed without giving up auditability.

~30 seconds per drawingEvery item traceableNo hallucinated quantities
pipeline · order of operations~30s
01Extracttext · tables · geometrycode
02Normaliseunits, dedupe, merge sheetscode
03Classifymap to NRM2/POMI/CESMM4/SMM7AI
04Validatemeasurement rules, arithmeticcode
05Flaglow-confidence, ambiguous itemscode
06Traceattach source regionscode
AI does classificationnever arithmetic
The pipeline

Three stages. The middle one is the only place AI runs.

Extract is code. Classify is a narrow AI model that maps to your standard. Validate is a rules engine. If any stage disagrees, you see a flag before a number lands in your BoQ.

STAGE 01

Extract

deterministic
TEXT · positionsTABLES · rowsGEOMETRY · polys

We pull text, tables, and geometry from your file with code — not AI. PDFs get positional text extraction; DXF files are parsed natively for schedules and attributed blocks.

PDFDWGDXF
→ no AI yet
STAGE 02

Classify

narrow AI
"Cast concrete C25""Excav. to RL"CLASSIFYai modelNRM2 § 11.3.1NRM2 § 5.2.4? flagged for review

An AI model maps each line item to your chosen standard. It classifies — it doesn't invent. Every suggestion is a draft until the rules engine validates it.

NRM2POMICESMM4SMM7
→ AI draft, never authoritative
STAGE 03

Validate

deterministic
qty × rate = amount ✓NRM2 deduction rule ✓wastage % mismatch ⚠ flagunits normalised ✓

A rules engine runs the measurement logic for your standard — deductions, wastage, two-of-three math (qty × rate = amount). Any conflict becomes a flag you can review.

rulesarithmeticflags
→ the math is always code
Inputs

File types we accept — and the ones we refuse.

We’d rather reject a file than guess at it. The extraction stage is deterministic; if there’s nothing to parse, we don’t rasterise and we don’t hallucinate.

PDF

Text-based PDFs

Exports from CAD or Excel. We extract text positionally — layout preserved, tables intact, no OCR guesswork.

Fully supported · 3–6 credits
DXF

AutoCAD exchange

Parsed natively. Schedules, blocks, and attributes are read directly from the file — no rasterisation, no conversion loss.

Fully supported · native parsing
DWG

AutoCAD native

Converted to DXF internally using the same engine as our free conversion tools, then parsed the same way.

Fully supported · via DXF
What we refuse: scanned PDFs, image-only files, pure-geometry drawings with no schedule data, and anything locked or encrypted. We’d rather refuse than guess.
Traceability

Every number has a source.

Click any line in the editor to see the exact region of your drawing it was extracted from. Nothing floats. If a quantity can’t be traced, it doesn’t ship.

BoQ editoritem 3.04 selected
#descriptionqtyunit
3.01Excavation to reduced level412.0
3.02Disposal of excavated material412.0
3.03Imported fill, well-graded148.5
3.04In-situ concrete, foundation slab62.4
3.05Reinforcement, high-yield bars5,820kg
3.06Formwork to foundations184.8
Every row → one click → the source polygon on your drawing.
click · trace
Source · drawing A-104foundation plan
A-104 · FOUNDATION PLAN
1:100
62.4 m³
↑ item 3.04
EXTRACTED REGION · VERIFIED
The exact polygon the 62.4 m³ was computed from.
The boundary

Where AI helps — and where it doesn’t.

The failure mode of every “AI BoQ tool” is asking the model to do arithmetic. We don’t. Classification is probabilistic; math is not.

AI · YES

What the model actually does

Narrow, bounded tasks where language ambiguity is real and rules would overfit.

  • Mapping descriptions to standard taxonomies (NRM2 / POMI / CESMM4 / SMM7)
  • Disambiguating unit abbreviations (m² vs sq m vs SQ.M.)
  • Merging duplicate items across cover sheets and detail pages
  • Suggesting sections when descriptions are incomplete
  • Confidence scoring so the editor surfaces shaky items first
AI · NO

What the model never touches

Anything that needs to be right, not plausible. Handled by a rules engine you could audit.

  • Arithmetic — qty × rate, totals, subtotals, deductions
  • Final item approval — always user-driven, never auto-confirmed
  • Standard rule application — that's code, not a model
  • Unit conversions and wastage calculations
  • Determining which items were extracted from which region
Standards

Four standards out of the box. Pluggable for regional variants.

Each standard is a module — taxonomy, column schema, and measurement rules defined separately. Pick one per project; your firm’s conventions apply at export.

+ regional variants on request
RICS · UK building works
NRM2 — New Rules of Measurement

The default for UK building projects since 2013. Work sections from groundworks through finishes, with standardised descriptions and quantity rules.

Example work section
§ 11 · In-situ concrete works · m³
§ 11.3.1 · Concrete foundations · grade C25 · m³
§ 15 · Structural metalwork · t
Column schema
Item · Description · Quantity · Unit · Rate · Amount
What you get

Fast enough to matter. Honest enough to sign off.

~30s
From upload to draft BoQ

Extract, classify, validate, flag. The draft lands in the editor before you've finished your coffee.

100%
Every line traceable

If the pipeline can't attach a source region and a standard rule to a number, it's flagged — not shipped.

0
Hallucinated quantities

The model never does arithmetic. Quantities come from geometry or schedules — or they don't appear at all.

Before you upload

A few sensible questions.

Full answers on the FAQ page →

What if the AI classifies something wrong?+
Every item is editable. The editor shows confidence scores and surfaces low-confidence items first, so you review the shaky ones — not all of them. Your corrections don't leave your workspace.
Can it handle our firm's custom template?+
Yes. The standards layer handles classification; export templates are separate. Upload yours once and every export uses it — XLSX, CSV, or PDF.
What happens to my files?+
Deleted after processing unless you save to a project. We don't train on your data. EU-hosted. If you need a signed DPA before uploading, email us — we'll send one the same day.
How does it handle scanned or image PDFs?+
It doesn't. Scanned PDFs are rejected at upload with an explicit message. Our extraction is deterministic — if there's no text layer, there's nothing honest to extract.
Can I add a custom regional standard?+
On Business plans, yes. Each standard is defined by taxonomy, column schema, and measurement rules — we can add regional variants without rewriting the pipeline. Usually a two-week turnaround.
01 · EXTRACT02 · CLASSIFY AI03 · VALIDATE~30 SECONDS · FULLY AUDITABLE
See it run

Upload one drawing. Watch the whole pipeline in 30 seconds.

If it doesn’t work, you’ll know immediately. 10 free credits on signup — no card, no setup.