Frequently asked questions

Where do the numbers actually come from?

Every line uses the most precise method the available information supports, and records which method it used: a bid or quote for your project, if you have one; local historical cost from consented pay apps and as-builts; published unit costs (from your own RSMeans-class subscription, applied with a location factor — we never embed or resell that data); industry rule-of-thumb guidance; or a percentage-of-project split for a similar building type when nothing more specific is available yet. The method used sets that line's confidence, and the project's overall confidence is a cost-weighted roll-up across every line. No dollar figure is ever produced by a language model directly — the model proposes quantities and assumptions; deterministic code turns those into cost.

How has this been validated?

We're in active validation: the estimating methodology is being tested manually against real, worked projects and a growing set of known-answer benchmarks before any automated output ships broadly. We track a specific error taxonomy — missed scope, wrong quantity or unit cost, bad assumptions, misread drawings, and more — and we intend to publish our error rate here as that validation matures. If you're evaluating us today, ask us directly what we've measured so far; we'd rather tell you the honest current state than imply more than we've proven.

What's the liability posture here?

Preconomics is an intelligence layer, not a substitute for a licensed estimator's stamp or a GC's contractual number. It surfaces a range, the assumptions behind it, and the gaps you'd need to close to narrow it — not a guaranteed price. Every assumption is tracked with its provenance and status so you can see exactly what the estimate is and isn't accounting for, and nothing generated here leaves the system (an export, a share, a send) without a human approving it first.

How is this different from a free number from my architect or GC?

A free conceptual number is usually a single figure with the reasoning left out — you can't tell what it assumes, how confident it is, or what would change it. Preconomics gives you the range, the confidence, the assumptions driving both, and an audit trail back to the source sheet and calculation for every line — so you know exactly what to go find out next to narrow the number, rather than just hoping it holds.