Eliminating errors before the first pickaxe strikes: AI is revolutionizing construction

In construction, every design error costs months and hundreds of thousands of euros in lost revenue. Opening delays, additional costs, lost revenue: a simple inconsistency in a technical plan can disrupt the entire process of a real estate project, a hotel, a restaurant, or a store.

For a long time, these errors were seen as inevitable. Corrections accumulated over the course of projects, extending deadlines, tying up already-stressed teams, and undermining profitability. However, a new generation of tools is changing this: transforming weeks of corrections into hours of decision-making, and eliminating compliance errors from day one.

Artificial intelligence has entered our daily lives; it's now invading our foundations. In real estate, every plan hides a trap: an incorrect dimension, a forgotten standard, a poorly anticipated layout. These "details," invisible at first, become financial drains once construction begins.

Today, solutions exist to analyze hundreds of pages of plans in a matter of moments, detect anomalies invisible to the human eye, and suggest adjustments upstream. It's a true silent revolution: fewer errors, more square meters delivered, more quickly.

Every year, thousands of opening projects experience delays due to planning errors. Retail, restaurant, and hotel brands are familiar with this scenario: a delayed construction site means a delayed opening, and therefore delayed revenue. However, what the construction industry loses in slowness, certain tools are now making it grow.

Reducing delays means reducing costs. Securing openings means generating millions for retailers. The equation is simple: one month of extra business means preserved margins, secure jobs, and a strengthened brand.

From raw data to strategic decision

Reinventing pre-feasibility is the challenge of tomorrow. How do we move from raw, scattered, and often illegible data to a clear and reliable strategic decision? Here again, AI provides an answer. By combining standards, regulatory constraints, and commercial ambitions, it allows a project to be validated in one click. Construction industry players can thus make faster, more confident, and better-informed decisions.

Human intelligence as a compass

It's not about blindly entrusting our projects to algorithms. AI is just a tool. But guided with skill and intelligence, it becomes a major lever for transformation. Where humans risk error due to overload or lack of visibility, AI provides comprehensive and immediate insight. The final decision remains human, but it is informed by a precision that only massive data processing makes possible.

The construction industry, known for its administrative slowness and technical challenges, now has a unique opportunity: to integrate AI into the heart of its processes to build better, faster and more sustainably.

The challenge isn't just technological. It's economic, strategic, and even ecological: every delay avoided means resources preserved, materials better used, and construction sites optimized.

In a world where competitiveness is determined by the week, we no longer have the luxury of wasting time correcting what could have been anticipated. The future of construction relies on a new certainty: the zero-error construction site begins with the plan, and it begins today.

Tribune by Peter Starr, co-founder of FREEDA (LinkedIn).