Every scope line traced to its sheet.Every gap raised as a question.
Scope automation reads a bid package, the drawings, the specification and the addenda, and writes the scope of work by trade into a register with the evidence, the furnish and install responsibility and a status on every row. Below: a coverage check to run on your own set, a map of where scope evidence lives by division, the register template to download, and what estimators get wrong.
- Drawings, specs, addenda and clarifications classified into one project record
- A Master Scope Register with trade, evidence, responsibility and status on every row
- Coverage you can inspect, and a question wherever the set has no evidence
Three obligations trace to the sheet, schedule or spec section they were read from, each with its authority and status. The fourth has no evidence in the set, so it leaves as a question to the architect rather than a number in the estimate.
Part of Ruh for general contractors · stage 01 of 12
The whole GC lifecycle →- 01You are hereScopeBid package read, scope register written by trade
- 02TakeoffQuantities off the drawings, each traced to its sheet
- 03EstimatePriced on your price book, into your own workbook
- 04Bid levelingSub bids compared on scope, not on the total
- 05SubsEligibility, invitations and awards on one record
- 06BudgetOriginal, changes, committed and buyout variance
- 07ScheduleDurations from quantities, lookaheads each week
- 08ProcurementPurchase orders from award, materials to receipt
- 09SubmittalsSubmittals from the spec, on a review clock
- 10ChangesRFIs tracked, change events priced with evidence
- 11Pay appsSchedules of values, pay apps and audited waivers
- 12CloseoutCloseout obligations and handover, gaps named
Run the scope coverage check on your set.
Two lists every estimator already has: the divisions in the spec book and the sheet prefixes in the drawing index. Cross them and you have the RFIs to send before a single quantity is written.
Each one is diffed against the base sheet index before a row is written.
2Specified, no drawings. Send these before you price.
- RFI 001 Division 21 Fire suppressionexpects FP sheets
Division 21 Fire suppression is specified but the set has no fire protection sheets. Confirm whether the sprinkler design is delegated to the subcontractor under a performance specification, and issue the design criteria.
- RFI 002 Division 27 Communicationsexpects T sheets
Division 27 Communications is specified but the set has no telecom sheets showing structured cabling. Confirm whether low voltage is in the GC scope and where the device layouts are drawn.
Rows under 2 divisions stay at Needs Verification until the RFI is answered. No quantity is written for them.
2 addenda to diff against the base sheet index before the first row is written.
A cross-reference of your two lists, nothing more. It cannot tell you whether a sheet that exists is complete, or whether a specified section is in the GC scope. Ruh reads the set itself and answers both on a real package.
What estimators get wrong about scope.
The view of the Ruh estimating team, from the bid packages we have run through the scope agent. An opinion, not a measured result.
- 01
A finished list is treated as an approved scope.
The register looks complete the moment the run ends. Approval is the estimator confirming, verifying or excluding each row. Skip that step and a canvas full of rows becomes a bid full of assumptions.
- 02
No sheets is read as no scope.
A discipline with nothing in the set gets a zero. It is a finding. Either the trade is out of the contract or the package is missing a sheet, and only the design team can say which.
- 03
Inclusions, exclusions and alternates share one line.
Folded together, a row cannot be compared with a subcontractor's quote. At buyout the quote and the register describe two different jobs, and the difference arrives as a change order.
- 04
Furnish and install are recorded as one responsibility.
Owner furnished, contractor installed equipment is the classic miss. The item exists, the purchasing stays with the owner, and the installation lands on a subcontractor who never priced it.
- 05
A one-off project assumption becomes a company rule.
An exclusion written for one job's boundary carries quietly into the next bid. Company instructions belong to the chief estimator. The project boundary belongs to the project estimator.
Where scope evidence lives, division by division.
The drawing discipline that supports each specification division, where the count usually sits, and the divergence an estimator checks first. The same map the coverage check above runs on.
| Division | Drawing evidence | Where the count usually lives | Divergence to check first |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03 Concrete | S foundation plans and sections; C site paving | S footing and pier schedules; slab thickness in plan notes | Slab thickness in a general note versus a section; site concrete split between C and A |
| 04 Masonry | A wall types and elevations; S lintels and bearing | A wall type legend and building elevations | Wall type on plan versus elevation height; reinforcing only in S general notes |
| 05 Metals | S framing plans; A stairs and railings | S member schedules; A stair and railing details | Miscellaneous metals drawn on A, specified in 05 50 00, with no S coordination |
| 07 Thermal and moisture | A roof plan and wall sections | A roof plan and assembly tags | Roof assembly in the spec differs from the wall section tag |
| 08 Openings | A door, frame and window schedules | A-600 series schedules and plan tags | Schedule count versus plan tags; fire ratings shown on the schedule only |
| 09 Finishes | A finish plans and finish schedule; I sheets | A room finish schedule and finish plan | Finish schedule versus finish plan hatch; transitions only in details |
| 11 Equipment | A equipment plans; Q food service sheets | Q equipment schedule with furnish and install columns | Owner furnished, contractor installed items read as contractor scope |
| 21 Fire suppression | FP sheets, sometimes P | Often a performance spec with no FP sheets at all | Delegated design with no criteria; hazard classification missing |
| 22 Plumbing | P sheets; M in small sets | P fixture schedule and riser diagrams | Fixture count on schedule versus plan; rough-in for owner fixtures |
| 23 HVAC | M sheets | M equipment schedule | Schedule capacity versus the spec basis of design; controls split with 25 or 26 |
| 26 Electrical | E sheets | E panel schedules, one-line and lighting fixture schedule | Fixture schedule versus plan count; fire alarm placed in 26 or in 28 |
| 27 and 28 Low voltage | T sheets, or E | T device plans; often delegated | Whether low voltage is in the GC contract at all |
| 31 to 33 Sitework | C sheets; L for planting | C grading and utility plans; the geotechnical report | Cut and fill from a grading plan with no geotech; utility fees carried by owner or GC |
Sheet prefixes follow the United States National CAD Standard. An architect's set may differ, so the sheet index governs. Divisions are MasterFormat 2018.
The Master Scope Register, as an empty sheet.
The columns Ruh writes, ready to start on today. Trade, obligation, evidence, furnish, install, source authority, status and notes. Five example rows show how inclusions, exclusions and owner furnished items are kept apart.
- Eight columns: trade, obligation, evidence, furnish, install, source authority, status, notes
- Five worked example rows, including an excluded item and an owner furnished, contractor installed item
- The three row states and the four source authorities named in the header, so the sheet keeps them apart
- The row that leaves as an RFI, with no quantity written until it is answered
No email, no gate. If you want the register written for you from a real set, the walkthrough is at the bottom of the page.
From a mixed bid package to a register your estimator can approve.
Three things have to hold for a scope to survive buyout. What the documents actually say, who furnishes and who installs, and which rows a person confirmed.
The tag decides how every later step finds and uses a file, so classification is a business decision your estimator can check, not a detail the system hides.
The package is classified before a single sheet is read
A tender package arrives as a pile: drawings, a spec book, addenda, emailed clarifications, a few image-only pages. Intake gives each file a tag, and the tag decides how every later step finds and uses it.
- Drawings classified by discipline and level from their title blocks, so one building level counts once even when it is drawn on five sheets
- The specification sets the trade list the register is built against, rather than a template guess
- Addenda diffed against the base sheet index, so a replaced sheet is identified and the earlier evidence retained
- Image-only or partially read pages queued for targeted reading, prioritised by the scope decision that needs them
- Your estimator can correct a tag. Classification is a business decision, not a hidden step
| Trade | Obligation | Evidence | Responsibility | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flooring | LVT, corridors and lobby, per finish plan | A-201, finish schedule | Sub F+I | Confirmed |
| Doors | 14 HM frames, 3 fire rated | A-601 schedule | Sub F+I | Needs verification |
| Kitchen | Equipment per 11 40 00 | Spec, owner letter | Owner F, sub I | Confirmed |
| Signage | Exterior monument sign | Addendum 2 | Not in contract | Excluded |
F is furnish, I is install. The kitchen row exists, is confirmed, and still leaves purchasing with the owner. That split is recorded, not assumed.
A Master Scope Register, written by trade, one obligation per row
A scope row describes one distinct construction obligation. The scope agent writes those rows into a register with a trade, the evidence that supports the claim, who furnishes and who installs, and a status. It is the bridge between reading a set and deciding what the GC will buy, subcontract or self-perform.
- Inclusions, exclusions, alternates and material options kept as separate rows, never folded together
- Each citation names the sheet or spec section and explains what supports the claim, specific enough for another reviewer to reproduce it
- Furnish and install responsibility recorded separately, so owner-furnished, sub-installed equipment is exactly that
- Row status is Confirmed, Needs Verification or Excluded, and the source authority is Design, Commercial, Informational or NV
- Recurring company instructions are approved by your chief estimator; the job boundary belongs to the project estimator
Coverage records what was read and ruled on. It cannot prove that an absent document or an unstated obligation was found, which is why the estimator's approval is the gate, not the run finishing.
Coverage you can audit, and a question wherever the set is silent
Finishing a run is not the same as finishing the scope. Coverage records which sheets were read, which trades received a verdict and which scheduled items were inventoried. A discipline with no evidence in the set is reported as a finding, and a blocking gap becomes a formal RFI rather than a guessed line.
- Page coverage, visual inspection, trade verdicts and scheduled item inventories recorded per run
- A discipline with nothing in the uploaded set is flagged for investigation, because no evidence is a meaningful finding
- Contradictory evidence between a detail, a schedule and a note is surfaced with both sources, and a decision or a clarification is recorded
- Blocking gaps become RFIs with a recipient and a priority, and the run holds at that gap instead of pricing past it
- Your estimator approves the scope and accepts the evidence. A finished-looking canvas is not approval
Bid package in. Approved scope out. Every row traceable.
Four steps, and you can see the state of the register at each one. Nothing is decided in a place your estimator cannot look at.
Load the bid package
Drawings, the spec book, addenda and the clarifications you have. PDF or CAD, straight from the invitation.
It classifies and reads
Files tagged, sheets classified by discipline and level, the trade list taken from the spec, revisions diffed against the base set.
It writes the register
One obligation per row with trade, evidence, responsibility and status. Contradictions and silent disciplines surfaced as findings.
Your estimator approves the scope
Rows confirmed, verified or excluded by a person. Open questions leave as RFIs. Only then does the scope feed the takeoff and the bid invitations.
One package. Everything the register records about it.
A bid package rarely agrees with itself for long. Here is what gets recorded so the scope can be reconciled later, instead of argued about.
Drawing revisions
What gets recorded
A revised sheet changes the measurement source, not just the filename. The revised-set wizard identifies replacements, retains the earlier evidence and shows quantities stranded on sheets that are no longer current.
Trade list from the spec
What gets recorded
Divisions and sections in the specification set which trades the register is built against, so the structure follows the spec book.
Inclusions and exclusions
What gets recorded
Kept as distinct rows with their own evidence, alongside alternates and material options, never merged into one line.
Furnish and install
What gets recorded
Responsibility is recorded per row and per side. An item can be confirmed to exist while its purchasing responsibility stays with the owner, and a subcontractor installs it. The register says so.
Scope coverage
What gets recorded
Sheets read, trades with a verdict, scheduled items inventoried, and the disciplines with no evidence in the set.
What the set tells you, and what it leaves out.
Drawings, specification and addenda rarely agree for long. A schedule says fourteen frames, the plan shows twelve, the addendum swaps the hardware. Ruh treats the package as one set of evidence and tells you where it diverges, then leaves the decision with your estimator.
What the set tells you
- Which sheets exist, by discipline and level, and which revision is current
- The trade list, by specification division and section
- Scheduled items with their counts, sizes and ratings
- What the addenda replaced and what the clarifications answered
What it leaves out
- Whether the discipline with no sheets is out of scope or missing from the package
- Who furnishes the owner's equipment, and who installs it
- Which of two contradicting details governs
- Whether the alternate is in the base bid or priced separately
No scope line you cannot trace.
The fear in scope is not that the list is slow to build. It is discovering at buyout that a subcontractor's quote and your register described two different jobs.
The set is the source, not a checklist
Rows are written from the drawings, the spec and the addenda you were sent, against the trade list in your specification, not from a generic construction checklist.
Every row carries its evidence
Sheet, schedule or spec section, and a note explaining what supports the claim. Another reviewer can reproduce it, and a later subcontract question traces to a project fact.
Unclear stays unclear until a person decides
Contradictions and silent disciplines are surfaced with their sources. The system records the question. Your estimator records the answer, or sends the RFI.
Your estimator approves the scope
Confirmed, Needs Verification and Excluded are human decisions on the register. A completed run is not an approval of the estimate.
Our estimators spent more time retyping quantities than thinking about scope. Ruh reads our drawings like a senior estimator and hands back a priced estimate we want to review, not rebuild.
ADF GroupWhat coverage can prove, and what it cannot
Coverage tells you which sheets were read, which trades received a verdict and which scheduled items were inventoried. Those are real controls, and you can inspect every one of them.
Coverage cannot prove that a document missing from the package was noticed, or that an obligation nobody wrote down was found. That is why the estimator's approval is the gate, and why a discipline with no evidence is reported as a finding rather than a zero.
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Questions general contractors ask.
Does it write the scope on its own?+
It writes the first pass of the Master Scope Register from the drawings, the specification and the addenda, one obligation per row with its evidence. Your estimator confirms, verifies or excludes each row, resolves contradictions and sends the RFIs. The approved scope is a human decision; the reading and the drafting are not.
What does a row in the Master Scope Register contain?+
A trade, the obligation in specific terms, the evidence behind it with the sheet or spec section named, furnish and install responsibility recorded separately, a source authority of Design, Commercial, Informational or NV, and a status of Confirmed, Needs Verification or Excluded. Inclusions, exclusions, alternates and material options are separate rows.
How does it handle a revised drawing set or an addendum?+
A revised sheet changes the measurement source, so the revised-set wizard diffs the new sheet index against the base set, identifies the replacements, retains the earlier evidence and shows any quantities stranded on sheets that are no longer current. Clarifications are linked to the rows they change.
What happens when a discipline has no drawings in the package?+
It is reported as a finding, not treated as zero scope. No evidence is meaningful: the discipline is either out of scope or missing from the package, and only the design team can say which. A blocking gap becomes a formal RFI with a recipient and a priority, and the run holds at that gap instead of pricing past it.
Can we change how it reads our jobs?+
Yes, at two levels. Your chief estimator approves the recurring company instructions, such as known exclusions and how responsibilities are separated, and reviews changes against representative projects. The project estimator owns the job-specific boundary, including which trades are in the bid invitation. A one-off project assumption never becomes a company rule by accident.
Where does the approved scope go next?+
Confirmed rows feed the quantity drivers for the takeoff, the scope-based subcontractor invitations and, later, the coverage check when bids come back. The same description and evidence carry into the project handoff, so the project manager checks subcontract coverage against the scope the estimator actually approved.
Is our drawing set used to train anything?+
No. Ruh runs inside your own tenant and reads only your own documents. Your sets, specifications and register are not pooled into a shared dataset or used to answer another company's questions.
Bring one bid package. We write the scope live.
A 30 minute walkthrough on a set you are bidding now. Bring the drawings, the spec book and the addenda, and we run intake and the scope agent on the call. Your estimator decides whether the register holds.
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