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A Beginner's Guide to AI for Civil Contractors

Your essential guide to dominating the civil construction world with the latest tech, market trends, and wisdom.

AI Glossary: The Basics You Need to Know

AI (Artificial Intelligence) Think of AI as a smart computer assistant that can understand your questions and help solve problems. Just like how you might ask an experienced foreman for advice, you can ask AI for help with planning, writing, or figuring things out.

LLM (Large Language Model) This is the "brain" behind AI assistants like ChatGPT and Claude. It's been trained on millions of documents, manuals, and conversations, so it can help with everything from writing emails to explaining complex building codes. Think of it as having access to a library of all human knowledge that you can chat with.

Prompt This is simply the question or request you give to AI. The better you explain what you need (just like giving clear instructions to your crew), the better results you'll get. For example: "Help me write a safety memo about ladder use" vs. "Write something about safety."

Hallucination Sometimes AI makes stuff up or gives wrong information, especially about very recent events or specific local codes. Always double-check important details, especially for safety requirements, local regulations, or specific product specs.

Fine-tuning This is when AI gets specialized training for specific jobs. Some AI tools have been fine-tuned for construction, so they understand industry terms and common challenges better than general AI assistants.

Five Ways to Start Using AI in Your Civil Construction Business

Important Security Note: Before uploading any documents to AI tools, make sure they don't contain sensitive information like proprietary pricing, client confidential data, or competitive intelligence. Check with your company's IT or legal team about what types of documents are safe to share with AI platforms. While some specialized AI solutions (like what we've built at Edgevanta) follow strict protocols that prevent sharing or training on proprietary client data, this level of security isn't necessarily available with off-the-shelf foundational models like ChatGPT or Claude.

Prompting Tip: Don't worry if it takes a few tries to get the response you want - that's normal and part of the learning process!

1. Client and Stakeholder Communication

What it does: AI helps you draft professional, clear communications to owners, PEs, and even residents about delays, changes, or project updates.

How to start:

• Write emails explaining project delays or complications to government officials
• Draft letters to property owners about construction impacts
• Create professional updates for project stakeholders

Prompt example: "Help me write a professional notice to grocery store customers explaining that the north section of their parking lot will be closed for 2 weeks starting Monday while we replace a failed storm drain. We need to maintain access to the main entrance and loading dock while keeping customers informed about alternative parking. Make it friendly but clear about the timeline and include an apology for the inconvenience."

2. Safety Planning and Documentation

What it does: AI can create comprehensive safety meeting materials, job hazard analyses, toolbox talks, and safety protocols tailored to your specific site conditions and equipment.

How to start:

• Generate toolbox talk topics for different types of work
• Create job hazard analyses for specific operations
• Develop safety protocols for unique site conditions

Prompt example: "Create a toolbox talk about proper trench box installation for utility work. Include the main safety steps, required PPE, and what to inspect before entering the trench. Make it appropriate for a 15-minute crew meeting."

Remember: If the first response isn't quite right, ask AI to adjust it - "make this more detailed" or "focus more on the inspection steps."

3. Change Order Justification

What it does: AI helps you write clear, professional explanations for change orders that justify additional costs and time due to unforeseen conditions or scope changes.

How to start:

• Document unexpected site conditions clearly
• Explain cost impacts in professional language
• Structure change orders to get faster approval

Prompt example: "As a construction contract specialist, help me write a change order justification. We encountered bedrock 4 feet shallower than the geotechnical report indicated, requiring additional excavation time and specialized equipment. I need to reference the original boring data, explain why this was unforeseen, and justify our additional costs of 200 excavator hours plus rock breaking equipment rental."

Tip: You can follow up with "make this more formal" or "add more detail about why this couldn't have been predicted" to refine the response. Extra points for uploading the specs so it can reference the appropriate specification.

4. Bid Preparation and Proposals

What it does: AI assists with writing technical approaches, project narratives, capability statements, and other components of competitive bid proposals and RFP responses.

How to start:

• Write compelling technical approach narratives
• Develop capability statements that highlight your strengths
• Create project schedules and methodology descriptions

Prompt example: "Review this project’s RFP and two similar past technical proposals. Help me write a technical approach for this design-build intersection improvement project. Focus on our plan to minimize traffic disruption and our experience with similar urban projects."

Note: For competitive proposals, be careful not to upload proprietary information or past winning bids that might contain sensitive pricing or strategy details.

5. Employee Evaluations and Feedback

What it does: AI helps you create structured performance reviews, develop personalized feedback, and prepare for difficult conversations with crew members to help them grow professionally.

How to start:

• Structure annual or quarterly performance reviews
• Prepare talking points for addressing performance issues
• Create development plans for high-potential employees

Prompt example: "Help me write a performance review for my equipment operator, Ted. He's skilled and reliable (been with us 11 years) but struggles with safety protocols such as wearing his safety glasses and gloves. I want to give constructive feedback."

Quick Tips for Getting Started

1. Start small: Try one simple task like writing an email or asking a question about a project challenge
2. Be specific: The more details you provide, the better AI can help you
3. Always verify: Double-check important information, especially safety requirements and local codes
4. Practice and iterate: The more you use AI, the better you'll get at asking the right questions. Don't expect perfection on the first try!
5. You're already ahead: This technology is so new that by just starting to experiment, you're not far from becoming an expert yourself

Recommended AI Tools to Try

• ChatGPT: Great for general questions and writing help + photo generation
• Claude: Excellent for longer documents and detailed explanations
• Google Gemini : Good for quick questions and integrates with G Suite
• Grok: Truth seeking and no BS, with incredible raw data processing skills

Want to Go Deeper? Additional Resources

If you're curious about how AI works and want to understand more about this technology that's changing every industry:

• Andrej Karpathy's "Intro to Large Language Models" - A brilliant 1-hour explanation from OpenAI's former Director of AI on how LLMs actually work (warning: it's technical but fascinating). Andrej is the man.

Photo Credit: YouTube

• Lenny's Newsletter AI posts - Practical AI advice for business leaders and product managers
• The Rundown AI Newsletter - Daily AI news and insights to keep up with the rapidly evolving field
• Construction Dive AI Coverage - How AI is being used in construction today

Remember: AI is a tool to make your job easier, not replace your expertise. Your experience with site conditions, tribal knowledge, and local requirements is irreplaceable. Use AI to handle the routine documentation and research so you can focus on managing your teams and delivering quality work.

We'd love to hear from you: How are you already using AI in your construction business? Reply and let us know what's working (or what isn't) - your experiences could help fellow contractors!

We're living in an incredible time of abundance - this AI technology that seemed like science fiction just a few years ago is now available to any contractor with an internet connection. Just like America has always embraced new technologies to build better infrastructure and create prosperity, we have the opportunity to use AI to work smarter, win more projects, and grow our businesses. The combination of American entrepreneurship and this transformative technology is unstoppable.

Happy 4th of July from the greatest country on earth - America! 🇺🇸