Socotec and Freeda join forces on AI to revolutionize the reading of architectural plans and address compliance and quality challenges

In a context of increasing regulatory pressure, growing project complexity, and the pursuit of performance, this partnership aims to address a fundamental challenge in the construction sector: digitalization to ensure project reliability and compliance while faithfully respecting the architect's intent. The global construction sector remains slow in adopting advanced digital technologies, according to the RICS Digitalisation in Construction report[1], highlighting significant potential for improvement. However, 44% of construction companies intend to invest in artificial intelligence in the coming years, making AI a strategic lever for transforming the sector[2].

Compliance, a critical issue still largely handled manually

Today, ensuring compliance in construction projects still relies heavily on manual processes: tedious reviews of complex plans, spreadsheets, annotations on hundreds of pages, and multiple versions of documents that are difficult to reconcile. Compliance reviews in the early stages can represent hundreds of hours of work per project, without eliminating the risk of errors and non-conformities that lead to delays, cost overruns, rework, and postponements of commissioning.

FREEDA, a pioneer in AI-enhanced compliance

FREEDA was created precisely to address this challenge. This deep tech company develops artificial intelligence models capable of automatically reading, understanding, and analyzing architectural plans, and comparing them to applicable regulatory, normative, and contractual requirements. From a simple plan submission, the FREEDA solution analyzes the documents, verifies each requirement, precisely identifies and locates discrepancies, and produces a comprehensive, documented, and actionable compliance report. This approach allows project owners to manage their projects with complete visibility into compliance risks from the design stage, enabling them to detect errors as early as possible, improve decision-making, reduce risks, and allow projects to open on time and in full compliance.

SOCOTEC, a long-established trusted third party and world leader in compliance

A natural partner in this ambition, SOCOTEC brings unique expertise, built on over 70 years of experience, entirely dedicated to compliance, sustainability, and risk management in construction, real estate, infrastructure, and industrial buildings. With a global presence, SOCOTEC supports 250.000 clients, holds over 250 accreditations from relevant authorities and regulators, and acts as an independent trusted third party for both private and public stakeholders. Thanks to an exceptional database, compiled over decades of experience, SOCOTEC possesses unparalleled knowledge to train and strengthen FREEDA's AI models.

A large-scale experiment starting in 2026

Starting in the first quarter of 2026, a FREEDA module will be directly integrated into SOCOTEC tools and deployed on over 4.000 pilot projects. The solution will enable automated plan reading, detailed analysis of conformities and non-conformities, and reporting in the form of an interactive, clickable, customizable report that allows users to precisely locate each identified point on the plan.

A structuring partnership to accelerate the transformation of the sector

The partnership begins with a commercial agreement, including exclusivity granted to SOCOTEC for the first three months of 2026. The two partners have also planned numerous communication actions and new joint initiatives throughout 2026. SOCOTEC and FREEDA thus intend to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence, secure projects from the upstream phase and establish new standards of expertise and reliability for the entire sector.

For Hervé Montjotin, CEO of the SOCOTEC group: “This partnership with FREEDA illustrates our commitment to remaining at the forefront of innovation while strengthening our role as an independent trusted third party. AI automates time-consuming tasks, allowing our construction engineers to focus on higher value-added activities, optimization, and supporting client projects. By combining our long-standing expertise in building compliance and risk management with the most advanced artificial intelligence technologies, we are contributing to a lasting transformation of industry practices.”

According to Peter Starr, CEO and founder of Freeda: “Compliance is still too often implicit, fragmented, and time-consuming. With SOCOTEC, we want to make it systematic, measurable, and demonstrable. This partnership allows us to deploy a new generation of AI-based services on a large scale, supporting more reliable, faster, and better-controlled projects.”

FREEDA will also be present at the Construction Tech Village on April 1st & 2nd, 2026 at Paris Porte de Versailles

The Construction Tech Village is a space dedicated to innovative digital solutions that are transforming construction practices. This participation concretely illustrates the contribution of artificial intelligence to plan analysis and ensuring project compliance and quality.

This village is part of the dynamic of Digital Twin | BIM World, the leading event dedicated to digital technology and innovation for buildings, infrastructure and territories, highlighting smart and safe cities, connected buildings, BIM, AI, digital twins and energy challenges.

[1] Source: RICS https://www.rics.org/content/dam/ricsglobal/documents/research/Digitalisation-in-construction-report-2024.pdf

[2] Source Batinfo Cayola https://batinfo.com/en/actualite/les-entreprises-francaises-de-construction-prennent-le-virage-de-lia-et-de-la-digitalisation_28886