General contractors and specialty trades hold what AI developers building construction agents want: RFIs, submittals, change orders, daily logs and the estimate compared with the final cost, project by project. Mercor publishes a range of $115K to $1M for construction companies with 50 to 2,000 employees, read through a third-party copy; that is a ceiling, not an offer. Under the standard AIA contract the architect owns the drawings, so license your own project records, not the design documents.
- Estimate against final cost, with the change orders and RFIs that explain the difference, is the record buyers value most.
- Under AIA A201-2017, the architect owns the drawings; the contractor may use them only for the work.
- Your own logs, cost reports, schedules and photos are the licensable part, subject to your contracts.
- Published ranges are ceilings, read through a third-party copy of the buyer's listing.
Who this page is for
Owners, presidents and CFOs of general contractors and specialty trades (roofing, solar, mechanical, electrical, millwork, steel) with roughly 50 to 2,000 staff and seven or more years of closed projects in a project management and accounting system.
For the general question, whether project records can be sold at all, see selling construction project records to AI companies. This page is the sector landing: who owns what, the price evidence, a checklist and how to describe your projects.
The closeout set AI buyers want
Construction platforms are already competing for this data. ENR reports that it "has made construction data to train AI agents a highly desired commodity for tech companies with construction management platforms" (ENR). What makes a contractor's archive useful is that each project is complete from bid to closeout.
| Record | What it shows | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Estimate and bid history | How the job was priced | The starting point for estimate-to-actual |
| Job cost reports and final cost | What the job really cost | The outcome that labels the estimate |
| Change orders | Scope changes and their price | Explains most of the gap between estimate and final cost |
| RFIs | Questions to the design team and answers | Shows how problems on site were resolved |
| Submittals and shop drawings | Products and details proposed and reviewed | Links design intent to what was installed |
| Daily logs, schedules and photos | Crew, weather, delays and progress | Shows why time and cost moved |
What AI companies say they pay contractors: the published range
No closed price for a contractor's project archive has been published with a source. One buyer publishes a range.
| Evidence | What it says | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Mercor, construction listing | "Construction Company $115K–$1M 50–2,000 employees Anywhere" (TrackImpact) | A buyer's published range, read through a third-party copy |
| Platform demand | Procore "banned Trunk Tools", an AI agent provider, from its API (ENR) | Trade press; shows demand, not a price |
TrackImpact notes these are "Ranges, not offers" (TrackImpact). Published ranges are ceilings a buyer advertises, not offers and not closed prices.
Who owns what: drawings, project records and subcontractor prices
The design documents usually belong to the architect. Under AIA A201-2017, "The Architect and the Architect’s consultants shall be deemed the authors and owners of their respective Instruments of Service, including the Drawings and Specifications", and contractors and subcontractors may use them "solely and exclusively for execution of the Work" (AIA A201-2017). The owner-architect agreement says the same: under AIA B101, "the Architect and the Architect’s consultants are deemed the authors and owners of their respective Instruments of Service" (AIA Contract Documents). Leave the drawings and specifications out unless the architect agrees; see who owns architectural drawings.
Your own records are a different matter: estimates, cost reports, daily logs, schedules, photos, and your side of RFIs and change orders. Owner contracts can still carry confidentiality clauses, and subcontractor prices are often confidential, so remove or code owner names, project addresses and subcontractor pricing.
Records checklist for a contractor
The sector records checklist (CSV) has these rows for construction and the other four sectors.
| Item | What to write down |
|---|---|
| Project management system | Procore, Autodesk Construction Cloud, Buildertrend or similar; years in each |
| Accounting and job cost | Sage 300 CRE, Viewpoint or similar; whether cost codes match the estimate |
| Photos | CompanyCam or similar; whether photos are tied to a project and date |
| Volume | Closed projects, and approximate counts of RFIs, submittals and change orders |
| Links | Whether each change order references the RFI or condition that caused it |
| Contracts | Owner and subcontract confidentiality clauses on the largest projects |
Exporting a project completely from your project management system before a subscription ends is worth doing for its own sake; the ServiceTitan export guide shows the approach for a field-service system.
What a one-page datasheet looks like (fictional example)
Invented to show the level of detail; it describes no real company.
| Field | Fictional example |
|---|---|
| Company | Commercial general contractor, 220 staff, offices in two states |
| Years | Project management system 2014 to 2026; job cost 2010 to 2026 |
| Volume | About 600 closed projects, 41,000 RFIs, 58,000 submittals, 12,000 change orders |
| Links | Change orders reference RFIs; cost codes map to estimate line items |
| Exclusions | Architect drawings and specifications; owner names and addresses coded; subcontractor prices removed |
| Owner and signer | Family-owned; signer is the president |
What happens next: three steps
A first conversation needs no files. You can stop after any step.
- Describe your records: answer six questions, with no files and no system access. Origin then checks which project records are yours and which contracts restrict them.
- Datasheet and sample: Origin turns your answers into a one-page datasheet like the example above, and you approve a small de-identified sample before anything leaves the company.
- Buyers and license: Origin shows the datasheet to the AI developers and data programs that have asked for construction records, with their published terms. You approve scope, use, price and delivery, and sign the license yourself.
- Origin does not charge data owners; a buyer may pay Origin when a deal closes (how Origin is paid).
Project lead databases are a different kind of construction data
Search for construction project data and most results are lead services: Dodge Construction Network, for example, tracks jobs "from the first planning permit" and draws on "10M+ historical projects" (Dodge Construction Network). That is the outside view of a project. AI developers building estimating and project agents ask for the inside view only the builder holds: the estimate, every change order and RFI, the daily logs and the final cost of each job.
Resources for your project managers
Guides for the people who keep these records:
- Construction closeout checklist and documents list
- Submittal log template
- Change order log and RFI log templates
- Selling construction project records to AI companies
- Field service records and AI training
- Who owns architectural drawings and BIM models
Hold years of closed project records? Describe them in six questions, no files needed, and see what your data is worth.
Origin Data Partners works with companies that own data and helps get it bought. We are independent of the services on this page, and a buyer may pay us when a deal closes (how Origin is paid). See what your data is worth.
Common questions
Can a construction contractor sell project records to AI companies?
Yes, for records it owns: estimates, cost reports, daily logs, schedules, photos, and its RFIs and change orders. Architect-owned drawings and specifications stay out, and owner and subcontractor confidentiality clauses decide what else must be removed.
Who owns the construction drawings on a project built under AIA A201?
The architect and its consultants. A201-2017 says they are the authors and owners of the drawings and specifications, and contractors and subcontractors may use them only to carry out the work. License your own records, not the design documents.
Does a project management platform agreement let us export our own data?
Read your subscription terms. Most let a customer export its own project data, and doing so before a contract ends is good practice. Whether the platform's terms limit how you use exported data for other purposes is a question for your agreement.
Which projects should a contractor include in a data license?
Closed projects with complete records: a final cost, change orders tied to their causes, and RFIs answered and closed. Leave out projects under strict owner confidentiality, government projects with security restrictions, and any still in dispute.
Do subcontractor prices have to be removed before licensing records?
Usually, yes. Subcontract pricing is often confidential, and it can identify the subcontractor. Remove it or replace it with cost categories, and code subcontractor names consistently.
How many years of closed projects do AI buyers want from a contractor?
Several years of closed projects in one system is a useful archive, and the published Mercor listing asks for companies of 50 to 2,000 employees. What matters most is that each project is complete from estimate to final cost.
What does Origin charge a construction company?
Nothing. Origin does not charge data owners; a buyer may pay Origin when a deal closes. You approve every step and sign the license yourself.
What is construction project data, in the sense AI developers mean?
The working records of closed projects, linked to each other: RFIs, submittals, change orders, daily logs, schedules, the estimate and the final job cost. Bid and permit databases are a different product; developers building estimating and project agents ask for the project records behind finished jobs.
Sources and further reading
- TrackImpact: Mercor data licensing programme, published ranges by business type (checked October 30, 2026)
- ENR: Construction platforms are already fighting over data to train AI agents
- AIA Document A201-2017 (sample): General Conditions of the Contract for Construction
- AIA Contract Documents: the rights of an architect's instruments of service
- Dodge Construction Network: home page (products and data description)