Tech Explained: Here’s a simplified explanation of the latest technology update around Tech Explained: Construction AI Launches First AI-Native Project Management Platform for UK Construction SMEs, to address £170bn Industry’s Technology Gap in Simple Termsand what it means for users..
UK Construction Veteran Builds 700,000-Line Software Platform with AI Collaboration
London, UK, March 04, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Construction AI, the first project management platform built from the ground up with artificial intelligence at its core, has launched into production targeting the 98% of UK construction firms that have been priced out of enterprise technology.
The platform was designed and built entirely through collaboration with AI tools — by a construction professional who has never written a line of code.
Steve McKenna is a Chartered Builder (MCIOB), Director of a Chartered Building Company — and a 30-year industry veteran. His expertise spans quantity surveying, contract administration, and construction dispute resolution. His experience in software development: none.
Yet the platform he has built is not a prototype, a chatbot wrapper, or a proof of concept. It is a production-grade, multi-tenant SaaS application comprising over 700,000 lines of code, 186 database tables with row-level security, 596 API routes, and 60+ AI-powered tools spanning 22 modules — from drawings management and tender analysis to cost control, contract administration, and programme tracking.
The Problem
UK construction is a £170bn+ industry where the vast majority of firms employ fewer than 20 people. Enterprise project management platforms have transformed how major contractors operate, but at price points of £10,000–£50,000+ per year, they remain inaccessible to the specialists, subcontractors, and small main contractors who form the backbone of the industry. The result: most firms still run projects on spreadsheets, WhatsApp groups, and paper filing systems, while their larger competitors pull further ahead.
The Solution — AI at the Core, Not Bolted On
Unlike legacy construction technology that retrofits AI onto existing systems, Construction AI was architected around advanced AI capabilities from day one. This is not a traditional platform with an AI feature added — it is an AI-native application where intelligence is embedded into every workflow.
The platform delivers capabilities previously unavailable to smaller contractors:
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Semantic search woven through the platform’s core — every document, every app-created record, every project item is embedded into the tenant’s own isolated database, enabling AI that genuinely comprehends construction language, drawing references, and specification clauses in context. This is not keyword matching bolted onto a search bar — it is intelligence running through the entire system. Crucially, each tenant operates on a fully isolated database and storage infrastructure, meaning the AI works exclusively within that organisation’s project data. No irrelevant noise, no cross-tenant contamination — just fast, precise, contextually aware search across everything that matters to that contractor.
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Structured AI workflows that generate compliant RAMS (Risk Assessment and Method Statements) and construction programmes in minutes rather than days, following industry-standard methodology.
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An industry knowledge base trained on UK construction standards, regulations, CDM requirements, and best practice — enabling genuinely agentic, sector-specific AI responses grounded in how construction actually works, not generic chatbot answers.
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OCR-powered drawing management that can read, extract, and intelligently catalogue construction drawings and specifications automatically.