What does the Bidding and Estimation AI Agent do? The Bidding and Estimation AI Agent is an AI estimating agent for construction and other project-based industries, part of DANAOS ProjectVIEW AI. It is designed to compare a new estimate with comparable items and Cost Recipes from your own past projects, flag unusual assumptions and recommend corrections before the bid goes out. The estimator or bidding manager reviews and approves every change. Which ProjectVIEW ERP data does it use? The agent works on the data held in the Budget, Estimation and Bidding module of ProjectVIEW ERP, the integrated ERP built on the BoQ ↔ WBS ↔ Cost Codes framework. Because every item is linked to the same structure, the agent can compare like with like. Bill of Quantities items and their descriptions Cost Recipes: labour, materials, machinery and time behind each unit rate Historical estimates and the actual cost recorded on completed projects Supplier and subcontractor prices held in the ERP WBS and Cost Codes that tie each item to how it will be built and controlled How does it work? The agent follows the ProjectVIEW AI agent cycle. Applied to estimating, the steps are: Detect: scan the draft estimate for unit rates, quantities or productivity assumptions that differ from comparable items. Investigate: retrieve similar BoQ items and Cost Recipes from past bids and completed projects. Explain: state why an item looks unusual, for example a labour productivity that is higher than on similar work. Recommend: propose a revised rate or recipe, with the comparable items it is based on. Request approval: send the recommendation to the estimator or bidding manager. Execute: after approval, update the estimate in ProjectVIEW ERP. Audit: record what was flagged, who approved it and what changed. The agent does not submit bids or change prices on its own. It works with the same roles and permissions as the user who receives its recommendations. What goes in, what comes out and where does a person approve? The table shows the main inputs, outputs and decision points. Inputs Outputs Human approval point Draft BoQ and unit rates List of items that differ from comparable work, with reasons Estimator confirms which items to review Cost Recipes and historical actual cost Suggested rate or recipe adjustments Estimator accepts, edits or rejects each change Supplier and subcontractor prices Check of prices used against recent quotations Bidding manager confirms the prices to carry Completed estimate Summary of open assumptions and risk items Bidding manager signs off before submission How is the agent governed? The Bidding and Estimation AI Agent works inside ProjectVIEW ERP governance, following the chain Identity → Role → Permission → Data → AI → Action. It sees only the data the user’s role allows and proposes only actions that role could take. AI should operate inside enterprise governance, not around it. Consequential actions always need human approval. Every recommendation, approval and change is recorded for audit. Data stays in the client’s private environment and is not sent to public consumer AI services. Example: how could it work on a project? Illustrative example. A contractor is pricing a road and drainage package, Project A. The estimator builds the BoQ in ProjectVIEW ERP using Cost Recipes from earlier jobs. The agent compares the draft with similar items on completed projects and flags two things: an excavation rate that assumes higher machine output than past jobs achieved, and a pipe supply price older than the latest supplier quotation in the system. For each item it shows the comparable records and suggests a revised rate. The estimator accepts one change, keeps the other with a note, and the bidding manager reviews the remaining assumptions before the bid is issued. Every step is logged. Who uses it? The agent is designed for the people who build and approve bids: Cost estimators who want a second check on rates and productivity assumptions Bidding managers who sign off the final price and the risks carried in it It applies to construction and to other project-based industries that price work from a BoQ, such as shipbuilding and repair, marine and offshore works, mining and quarrying, and project-based manufacturing. Frequently asked questions Does the AI estimating agent price the bid on its own? No. It checks the estimate and recommends changes. The estimator and the bidding manager decide what goes into the bid, and every accepted change is recorded. What does it compare a new estimate with? It compares new items with your own comparable BoQ items, Cost Recipes and the actual cost recorded on completed projects in ProjectVIEW ERP. The quality of the check depends on the quality of that history. Can it work if our past estimates are in spreadsheets? ProjectVIEW AI can map unstructured data to BoQ, WBS and Cost Codes. How much historical data to bring in, and in what form, is agreed during implementation. How can you see it on your own data? See how the Bidding and Estimation AI Agent is designed to work on your own BoQ and Cost Recipes. See all agents on the ProjectVIEW AI agents page. Related reading: Construction Cost Recipes: how labour, materials, machinery and time form a unit rate. Book a Demo