ScopeGen — User Guide

ScopeGen reads your construction drawings (and optional specifications), runs an expert AI analysis, and produces a clean, editable Excel workbook of subcontractor scope-of-work sheets — one tab per CSI division — plus a pre-bid RFI sheet for the architect. Everything below matches the buttons you see on screen.

1 · Getting started (Welcome screen)

When ScopeGen opens it shows a branded blueprint Welcome screen. From here you can:

• Begin New Scope Sheet ▶ — enter the main workspace to fill in a new project.
• ❓ User Guide — open this guide any time.
• 🔒 Account / Sign In — log in or create your PAC Intelligence account.
• Recent projects — click a recent row to reopen it. A saved project (🗂) reloads all your inputs into the workspace; a generated workbook (📄) opens straight in Excel. See §11.

Untick “Show this welcome screen at startup” (bottom-left) if you'd rather jump straight to the workspace next time. You can always reach the guide from the ❓ Help button in the header.

2 · The workspace

The main window is a single form built from four cards, plus a header and a status/progress bar:

• Header — the ScopeGen wordmark, the 🗂 Project ▾ menu (save, open & switch projects — see §11), a ❓ Help button, and the PAC logo.
• Project Information (top-left) — the project's identifying details and description.
• Files & Options (top-right) — your drawing PDFs, optional spec PDFs, and an optional company logo.
• CSI Divisions to Analyze (bottom-left) — the trades you want scope sheets for.
• Settings & Generate (bottom-right) — account status, output folder, a ❓ Help button, and the gold 🔧 Generate Scope Sheets button.

3 · Account & subscription

ScopeGen is a subscription product. Click 🔒 Account (in the Settings & Generate card, or on the Welcome screen) to log in or create an account. The status dot shows your state:

Confirming your email

When you create an account, we send a confirmation link to your email address. Open that email and click Confirm Email to verify your address. You can start using ScopeGen right away — confirming is a quick, one-time step that keeps your account list accurate. If you sign in before confirming, you'll see a gentle reminder; just check your inbox for the link we sent at sign-up.

Forgot your password?

On the sign-in dialog, click Forgot password?. Then:

1. Enter your email address and click Send Code.
2. Check your inbox for a 6-digit reset code (it's valid for one hour).
3. Type the code, choose a new password (at least 8 characters), confirm it, and click Reset Password.

Once it's reset, sign in with your new password. Each code works only once — if it expires or you need another, just request a new one.

4 · Project Information

Fill in the identifying details — these flow onto every sheet header and the cover page:

• Project Name, Number, Size, Location, General Contractor, Bid Due Date and Scope Sheet Created By.
• Project Description / Special Conditions — describe any unusual conditions that constrain scope assumptions (phasing, occupied building, limited access, etc.). The AI uses this to sharpen the scope.
• Revision Tracking — a revision number and date that print in the workbook's revision record.

5 · Files & company logo

• Construction Drawings (PDF) — click + Add to load one or more drawing sets. This is the primary source the AI reads.
• Specifications (PDF) — optional — add project specs to enrich the scope and RFIs with section references.
• Company Logo (PNG/JPG) — optional — add your logo and it is placed on the cover and sheet headers of the workbook.

Use ✕ Clear to empty a list and re-add files.

6 · CSI Divisions to analyze

Enter each CSI division you want a scope sheet for on its own line, as code + description, for example:

03 - Concrete
05 - Metals
09 - Finishes
15 - Mechanical
16 - Electrical

Each division becomes its own tab in the output workbook.

7 · Output folder & settings

In the Settings & Generate card set the Output Folder where the workbook will be saved (click Browse to change it). Your project fields, CSI list, logo and output folder are remembered between sessions, so re-opening ScopeGen picks up where you left off.

8 · Analysis options — Scope Source, AI quality & gap detection

The Settings & Generate card has three controls that shape how the AI analyzes your documents. Set them before you click Generate — ScopeGen remembers your choices between sessions.

Scope Source — drawings, specs, or both

The Scope Source selector controls which documents the analysis reads. ScopeGen processes your drawings and specifications as separate sources, so a large spec book and a large drawing set no longer compete for the same reading budget — each is read in full, and the AI keeps track of which requirements came from the specifications versus what is shown on the drawings.

• Both (default) — analyze drawings and specifications together, kept as distinct sources. Recommended whenever you have specs, and required for scope-gap detection (below).
• Drawings only — analyze the drawing set alone. Use when you have no spec book, or want a drawings-first pass.
• Specs only — analyze the specification book alone (no drawings required). Handy for an early spec review before drawings are issued.

Analysis depth

There is no quality setting to choose. Every run uses ScopeGen's full-depth analysis — the most thorough pass available — on every drawing set, large or small. Earlier versions asked you to pick between a faster tier and a deeper one; that choice has been removed, and every project now gets the deeper result by default.

Detect scope gaps — specifications vs. drawings

With Detect scope gaps (compare specs vs. drawings) checked, ScopeGen runs an extra analysis pass that cross-checks what the specifications require against what the drawings actually show, and flags material discrepancies as potential RFIs — the kind of conflict that turns into a change order if it's missed. Typical findings:

• A specification requires a product or assembly the drawings do not show, detail, or schedule (e.g. fire-rated doors called out in the specs but not on the plans).
• The drawings show a system the specifications never cover.
• A spec and a drawing directly conflict (different rating, product, or quantity for the same element).

This runs only in Both mode — it needs both sources to compare — and uses one additional AI pass, so a run with gap detection on takes a bit longer. It's on by default. The results land on a dedicated Scope Gaps tab in the workbook (see §10), and the Success message tells you how many gaps were flagged.

9 · Generating scope sheets

Click the gold 🔧 Generate Scope Sheets button. ScopeGen will:

1. Confirm you're logged in with an active subscription.
2. Ask you to confirm the file name and folder for the workbook. Type a name, or click Browse… beside the file name to pick the location and name — and overwrite an existing workbook if you like — in the standard Windows Save As dialog.
3. Extract text from your drawings (and specs), run the AI analysis, and write the Excel workbook. When scope-gap detection is on, it then runs the spec-vs-drawing comparison pass. The status bar and progress bar track each step.
4. Show a Success message with the saved path(s) — the scope-sheet workbook and, separately, the RFI sheet — and, when gaps were found, how many potential scope gaps were flagged.

10 · Your Excel output — a tour

ScopeGen writes a single, print-ready workbook. Every sheet is set to fit the page width, and header rows repeat at the top of each printed page:

• General (cover) — title, the preliminary-scope disclaimer, project information, a total-bid line, the revision record, a project summary, the contract-document summary, general-conditions notes with blank fill-in rows, and a “Scope Sheets Included” index that totals your divisions and scope items.
• RFI Sheet — the pre-bid questions for the architect (see §11).
• Scope Gaps — present when scope-gap detection found spec-vs-drawing discrepancies (see the subsection below). Omitted when none were found or the option was off.
• One tab per CSI division — an editable subcontractor scope sheet with: a project/trade header, a subcontractor-info block, a Total Bid Amount line, applicable standards, the Scope of Work Items table with an INCL / EXCL column, an exclusions list, and fill-in sections for Unit Prices, Alternates, Schedule and Misc Notes, ending in a signature block.

The Scope Gaps tab

When scope-gap detection is on (Both mode) and finds discrepancies, ScopeGen adds a landscape Scope Gaps tab. Each row is one potential gap between the specifications and the drawings, with columns for:

• Gap #, CSI Division / Trade, Spec Ref and Dwg Ref — so you can trace each finding back to the source documents.
• Requirement and Finding — what is required and what is missing, uncovered, or in conflict, and why it matters.
• Severity — color-coded High (red), Medium (orange), or Low (yellow); rows are sorted most-severe first.
• Recommendation — the suggested next step (e.g. issue an RFI, verify a detail, coordinate a trade).

A total row at the bottom summarizes the count by severity.

11 · The pre-bid RFI sheet

The RFI Sheet collects the clarifications the AI believes are needed from the architect/engineer before final pricing, organized by CSI division. Each row carries an RFI number, date, trade, drawing/spec references, the question, and blank Answer / Date Answered cells for tracking. A Prepared By block sits at the bottom. Review every RFI before issuing it.

12 · Projects — save, open & switch

The 🗂 Project ▾ menu in the header lets you work across many projects without ever closing the program:

• New Project — clear the form to start a fresh project.
• Open Project… — reload a previously saved project.
• Save Project / Save Project As… — save the current project to a .sgproj file. This stores all of your inputs — project details, description, drawing / spec / logo file references, CSI divisions and output folder — plus a link to the last workbook you generated. Reopen it any time to pick up exactly where you left off, or tweak the inputs and regenerate.
• Exit ScopeGen — offers to save the current project, then closes the program. (You can also close from the window's ✕.)

The window title shows the current project's name; an asterisk (*) means it has unsaved changes.

Recent projects

Each time you save a project or generate a workbook, ScopeGen remembers it. The most recent items appear on the Welcome screen — click one to reopen it. A saved project (🗂) reloads its inputs into the workspace; a generated workbook (📄) opens straight in Excel (or its folder if the file has moved).

13 · Tips for best results

• Feed it good drawings. Text-based PDFs read best; heavily scanned sheets yield less. Add the specs when you have them.
• Select every division the job needs. Divisions are analyzed in parallel, each with its own full analysis, so scope depth does not drop as you add more — a bigger run simply takes a little longer. There is no need to split a job by discipline any more.
• Use the Description field to flag special conditions — it measurably sharpens the scope.
• For spec-heavy jobs, use Both mode + Detect scope gaps — that combination surfaces spec-vs-drawing conflicts before they turn into change orders.
• Always verify. Treat the output as a fast, structured first draft to review against the documents — not a final scope.