AI Assistant

The AI Assistant is a chat panel built into Xtimo AI. You type a question or instruction in plain language and the assistant responds — showing data from your drawings, updating your BOQ, displaying a drawing page, or explaining a risk. No forms to fill in, no tables to navigate manually.

It is available at Step 5 of the standard workflow, and throughout the entire session when working in Verbal Mode.

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How to use the chat panel

The AI Assistant panel appears on the right side of the screen. Type your message in the input field at the bottom and press Send (or hit Enter). Responses appear in the chat window above. Any BOQ changes apply immediately to the table on the left.

You can scroll back through the conversation at any time to review earlier messages.

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What the assistant can do

The assistant has access to everything Xtimo AI has extracted from your uploaded drawings and documents. This includes your BOQ, all architectural elements, MEP data, structural data, room contents, specification analysis, and more. The sections below show what you can ask.

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Viewing drawings and blueprints

You can ask the assistant to pull up any page from your uploaded drawings. It finds the right page and displays it directly in the chat.

Show a specific drawing type

• "Show me the ground floor plan"
• "Open the roof plan"
• "Show the structural plan for the first floor"
• "Display the lighting plan"
• "Show the plumbing layout for the ground floor"
• "Open the fire strategy plan"
• "Show me the ceiling plan"
• "Display the power plan"
• "Open the floor finish plan"
• "Show the demolition plan"

Find a drawing by keyword

• "Show me the drawing titled roof structure"
• "Open the drawing that covers external works"
• "Find a plan that shows the staircase"

Go to a specific page number

• "Show page 12 of the drawings"
• "Open drawing page 5"

Show the source drawing for an element

• "Show me the drawing where wall IWT34 appears"
• "Which drawing shows room 01-05?"
• "Show the plan for element EDT02"

The assistant displays the drawing as an image in the chat. You can zoom in or scroll through it without leaving the conversation.

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Inspecting rooms

You can ask about the full contents of any room by name or room code. The assistant returns everything extracted from that space.

What is in a room

• "What is in the kitchen?"
• "Show me everything in room 01-03"
• "What does the master bedroom contain?"
• "List all elements in the ground floor lobby"
• "What walls, doors, and windows are in room 00-05?"

Room finishes

• "What tiles are specified for the main bathroom?"
• "What floor finish is in the reception area?"
• "What ceiling type is in room 02-01?"
• "What joinery is fitted in the kitchen?"

MEP in a room

• "How many light fittings are in the living room?"
• "What plumbing fixtures are in the en-suite?"
• "How many power sockets are in the home office?"
• "What data points are in room 01-07?"

The assistant returns a complete breakdown of walls, doors, windows, finishes, tiles, joinery, ceilings, lighting, plumbing, and power sockets for the room you ask about.

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Querying elements across the project

You can ask for counts, totals, and lists of any element type across the entire project — or filtered to a specific floor or room.

Doors

• "How many doors are there in total?"
• "How many fire-rated doors does the project have?"
• "List all doors on the ground floor"
• "What door types are used throughout the building?"

Windows

• "How many windows are there?"
• "What is the total glazing area?"
• "List all windows on the first floor"
• "Show me all timber-framed windows"

Walls

• "How many internal walls are there?"
• "What is the total area of external walls?"
• "List all load-bearing walls"
• "Group the walls by type"
• "Show me all partition walls on floor 02"

Tiles

• "What tiles are specified across the project?"
• "How many square metres of floor tiling are there in total?"
• "List all porcelain tiles"
• "What is the total area of wall tiling?"

Joinery

• "What joinery units are specified?"
• "How many kitchen units are there?"
• "List all joinery on the first floor"
• "What is the total quantity of fitted wardrobes?"

Ceilings

• "What ceiling types are used in the project?"
• "How many square metres of suspended ceiling are there?"
• "List all fire-rated ceilings"
• "What is the total ceiling area on the ground floor?"

Floor finishes

• "What floor finishes are specified?"
• "How many square metres of carpet are there?"
• "List all hardwood floor areas"
• "What floor finish is used in the corridors?"

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MEP — mechanical, electrical, and plumbing

Lighting

• "How many light fittings are there in total?"
• "How many switches are on the first floor?"
• "What types of light fittings are specified?"
• "How many downlights are there?"

Plumbing

• "How many plumbing fixtures are there?"
• "List all appliances in the wet rooms"
• "How many WCs are specified?"
• "How many basins are on the ground floor?"

Power and electrical

• "How many power sockets are there in total?"
• "How many data points are specified?"
• "How many fused spurs are in the project?"
• "List all sockets in the open-plan kitchen"
• "How many ethernet points are there?"

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Structural data

• "What structural elements are in the project?"
• "Are there any steel beams specified?"
• "Show me the structural data for the first floor"
• "What load-bearing walls are there?"

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Spatial layout and room relationships

You can ask questions about how rooms connect and relate to each other.

Room adjacency

• "What rooms are next to the main bathroom?"
• "What borders room 01-03?"
• "Which rooms share a wall with the kitchen?"

Floor layouts

• "List all rooms on the ground floor"
• "What rooms are on the first floor?"
• "How many rooms are on floor 02?"

Room connections

• "What does door D.00-01 connect?"
• "Which rooms can you access from the hallway?"
• "What is the path from the reception to the boardroom?"

Wet rooms

• "Where are all the wet rooms in the building?"
• "List all bathrooms and en-suites"

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Specification analysis

If a specification document has been uploaded and analysed, the assistant can answer questions about risks, requirements, and obligations.

Reading the specification

• "What are the key findings from the specification?"
• "Are there any critical issues in the spec?"
• "What are the TBC items in the specification?"
• "What are the compliance obligations?"
• "What cost implications are flagged in the spec?"

Specific spec questions

• "Does the spec mention fire-stopping requirements?"
• "What does the spec say about external finishes?"
• "Are there any Contractor Design Portion items?"
• "What provisional sums are referenced in the spec?"

Running or refreshing the analysis

If no analysis exists yet, or if the specification has been updated, you can ask:

• "Analyse the specification"
• "Re-run the spec analysis"
• "Run a fresh specification review"

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Risk analysis

The risk analysis checks for gaps between your BOQ and the specification, and flags legal and regulatory obligations.

BOQ gaps

• "What work is described in the spec but missing from the BOQ?"
• "Are there items in the BOQ that are not covered by the specification?"
• "What sections might be incomplete?"

Legal and regulatory risks

• "What CDM obligations apply to this project?"
• "Are there any Party Wall Act requirements?"
• "What Building Safety Act obligations are flagged?"
• "Are there any planning condition items I need to allow for?"
• "What are the highest priority risks?"

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Price library

The assistant can search your element library to find reference rates for pricing.

• "What is the library rate for blockwork?"
• "Search the price library for ceramic floor tiles"
• "What rate does the library suggest for painted plasterboard?"
• "Is there a library entry for softwood skirting?"

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Querying your BOQ

You can ask the assistant to read, search, and summarise your BOQ data without making any changes.

Cost and total queries

• "What is the total cost for the tiling section?"
• "Give me a cost breakdown by section"
• "Which section has the highest value?"
• "What is the combined total for all preliminaries items?"

Finding missing or incomplete data

• "Show me all items with a zero quantity"
• "Which items have no unit rate?"
• "List all items where the amount is zero"

Counts and summaries

• "How many line items are in the plumbing section?"
• "How many square metres of flooring are there in total?"
• "Summarise the mechanical and electrical section"

Searching for specific items

• "Find all items related to concrete"
• "Show me everything in section 4"
• "Is there an item for site hoarding?"

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Editing the BOQ

You can instruct the assistant to make changes to existing rows and sections.

Updating quantities and rates

• "Update the quantity for item 3.4.2 to 45 m²"
• "Change the unit rate for painted walls to 85"
• "Set the quantity for all provisional sums to 1"

Updating descriptions

• "Rename item 4.3 to External block wall including foundations"
• "Update the description of the first item in section 2"

Renaming and reordering sections

• "Rename section 4 to External Works"
• "Move the provisional sums section to the end of the BOQ"

Deleting items or sections

• "Delete item 3.2.4"
• "Remove all items in the provisional sums section"

When you ask the assistant to delete items or sections, it confirms what it is about to remove before making the change. Review the confirmation carefully — deleted items cannot be recovered through the assistant after the session ends.

Undoing a change

• "Undo the last change"
• "Undo that"

Undo works within your current session only.

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Generating new content

You can ask the assistant to create new sections or items from scratch.

Adding a new section

• "Add a new section for external works with standard landscaping items"
• "Create a section for temporary works"
• "Add a drainage and external services section"

Adding items to an existing section

• "Add three new items to the preliminaries section for project manager, site manager, and health and safety officer"
• "Insert an item for ceramic floor tiles in the internal finishes section"

Generating from a project type or template

• "Generate a preliminaries section for a 12-month commercial project"
• "Create a mechanical and electrical section for a standard office fit-out"
• "Add a structural steel section for a single-storey warehouse"

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Understanding your BOQ

You can ask the assistant to explain values, decisions, or items in your BOQ.

• "Why did you use a quantity of 280 m² for the floor screed?"
• "How did you calculate the preliminaries total?"
• "What does item 4.2.1 include?"

After the Final Audit

• "Explain the issue with item 3.1.4"
• "Why was the unit rate for blockwork flagged?"
• "What should I do about the zero-quantity items?"

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Using the AI Assistant in Verbal Mode

In Verbal Mode, the AI Assistant is your primary tool for building a BOQ from scratch through conversation — no uploaded documents required.

For full details on how Verbal Mode sessions work, see the Verbal Mode page.

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What the AI Assistant cannot do

• Search the internet or access live pricing data outside your element library
• Modify your original uploaded PDF drawings or Excel files
• Undo changes made outside the current session
• Access other projects in your account

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Tips for effective use

• Ask about your drawings directly. You can ask "show me the ground floor plan" or "which drawing shows the roof structure?" and the assistant will find and display the right page.
• Ask what is in a room. Type the room name (e.g., "kitchen", "master bedroom") or room code and the assistant returns everything extracted for that space — walls, doors, windows, finishes, lighting, and more.
• Be specific about location. Instead of "update the concrete item", say "update the concrete item in section 2 — substructure". This avoids ambiguity when similar items appear in multiple sections.
• Ask for reasoning. If a generated quantity looks wrong, ask "why did you use that quantity?" before making manual corrections.
• Chain instructions. You can give the assistant several instructions in one message: "Rename section 3 to Internal Finishes, then add an item for ceramic floor tiles at 45 m²."
• Use the Final Audit first. Run the Final Audit before your review session so you can ask the assistant to resolve flagged items directly.