Bid capacity
The same team prices more work in the peak window.
InstaTrace
Linear asset take-off, automated.
Nobody traces. Everyone can check.
Overhead lines, access routes and cable routes, measured from the drawing as issued for your estimator to check and sign.
Book a demoTake-off is where estimating capacity goes.
Overhead lines, access routes, cable routes. Each is traced by hand against the legend, sheet by sheet, and traced again whenever the drawing is revised.
- Up to 3 weeks of manual tracing on a single commission.
- Repeated at every revision of the drawing.
- Two estimators, one drawing, rarely the same number.
- It lands in the bid window, when senior estimators are scarcest.
The cost of the tracing is visible. The cost of the disagreement is not.
Rev C01traced by hand
Rev C02traced again
Rev C03and again
The demo
A PDF drawing, as issued.Lines on a page. Nothing on it can be counted or queried.
InstaTrace turns it into a dataset you can query.Each linear asset on the legend becomes a record of its own.
Pick from the legend. The asset traces itself.Traced and measured at once, at the drawing's stated scale. Try the other rows.
Every metre is annotated for your estimator to check and sign.Then it is exported to Excel.
Sheet 14 · PDFNo records yet
Total measured0 m
Sample scheme, redrawn for illustration. Every length is measured from this drawing at its stated scale. The overhead line and the good/fair access match the trial's results.
Sample drawingPDF
What the team gains
Same team. Same drawings. The estimator signs.
Every revision
Quantities re-run at each revision, not once per stage.
One number
Two estimators, one drawing, one answer.
Audit trail
A record of how every figure was derived, where none existed.
Faster start
New estimators work to the team's standard from day one.
The tracing goes to the tool. The judgement stays with the estimator.
In the trial, a take-off that had taken weeks by hand ran in under 15 minutes. That time goes into coverage: more bids priced and every revision measured, by the same team.
Tested against an answer key it had never seen.
In a trial with a Tier 1 consultancy on a 400 kV overhead line scheme, the team's own manual take-off was withheld until the run was done. Then the two were compared.
The method makes the number falsifiable.
Blind trial · difference from the manual take-offTolerance ±5%
| Asset | InstaTrace | Manual, withheld | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proposed overhead line | 6,522 m | 6,519 m | +0.05% |
| Existing access, good/fair | 5,261 m | 5,315 m | −1.0% |
TechFest Awards 2026
Finalist
Best Use of Technology: Artificial Intelligence
InstaTrace is shortlisted at the TechFest Awards, run by Construction News and New Civil Engineer. Winners are announced on 25 November 2026. See the 2026 shortlist.
What it does today, stated plainly.
- Today
- Linear assets named on the legend: overhead lines and access routes on transmission drawings. Output goes to Excel, beside the estimating package your team already uses.
- Next
- What the legend does not say: land types, overlaps and distances to landmarks. Then other sectors, starting with rail civils and structures.
- Limits
- InstaTrace is in pilot. The first version reads one drawing format and measures legend assets only.
- Your data
- Hosted in the UK. You keep all rights in your drawings and data. Every measurement is logged by user, time, asset and drawing.
- Sign-off
- Nothing is exported until your estimator has reviewed and signed it.
- Delivery
- Configured around your drawings, your asset rules and your report format, as a fixed-scope build.
Title
The tracing goes to the tool. The judgement stays with the estimator.
Status
DrawnInstaTrace
CheckedYour estimator
Measured here0 m
Bring a representative drawing.We would show you what a checked, traceable take-off could look like for your team.
Book a demo