What is a scope of work in construction?
A scope of work in construction is a document that defines the specific tasks, deliverables, and boundaries of work for a project or trade package — detailing what is included, what is excluded, and how the work will be performed. For general contractors, scopes of work are used in subcontractor agreements to clearly define each trade's responsibilities, prevent overlap disputes, and establish the basis for change order evaluation. Folio generates scopes of work automatically by reading drawing sets and specifications, extracting scope items by division, and flagging gaps between what's shown in drawings and what's captured in the draft document.
THE OLD WAY
Scope gaps don't show up in the estimate. They show up in the change order log.
The scope of work gets written by the PM or estimator pulling from memory, old project files, and a quick read of the drawings. It covers 90% of what needs to be covered. The other 10% shows up three months into construction as a "that wasn't in my scope" conversation with a subcontractor.
That conversation has a predictable outcome: a change order. Change orders have a predictable outcome: margin erosion. And the root cause is traceable back to a scope document that was incomplete at the time of subcontract execution.
Scope gaps aren't caused by carelessness. They're caused by the volume and complexity of construction documents. Reading a full set of drawings and specifications completely — for every trade package — is not humanly sustainable with a manual process.
Folio reads the documents so you don't have to miss anything.
WHAT FOLIO DOES
Three capabilities. One workflow.
AI Extraction of Scope Items from Drawing Sets
Folio reads architectural, structural, MEP, and civil drawing sets and extracts scope items by trade and CSI division — quantities, specifications, performance requirements, and special conditions — without manual review.
Why it matters: A complete takeoff of a full drawing set can take days. Folio does it automatically, so the scope of work is built from the full document set, not from memory.
Gap Detection Against Specifications
Folio cross-references the drafted scope against the project specifications and flags items present in the drawings or specs that are missing from the scope document — before the subcontract is issued.
Why it matters: Scope gaps discovered before contract are negotiating points. Scope gaps discovered after construction starts are change orders. Folio makes sure you find them first.
Division-Organized Output for Subcontractor Distribution
Folio's scope of work output is organized by CSI division, formatted for clarity, and ready for distribution to subcontractors for bid and subcontract execution — without reformatting work.
Why it matters: A scope document that subcontractors can read clearly is a scope document they can price accurately. Ambiguous scopes produce ambiguous bids. Folio produces scopes that are specific and unambiguous.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Built for the people who do this work.
The Estimator
Writing scope as part of bid preparation, under deadline pressure, for multiple trade packages simultaneously. Needs a first draft that's complete and consistent — not one that depends on memory and available bandwidth that day.
The Project Manager
Distributing scopes to subcontractors post-award and managing the subcontract execution process. Needs scopes that are complete enough to hold subs to, and specific enough to evaluate change orders against.
The Precon Manager
Responsible for the quality of every scope document that leaves the firm. Needs a review process that's systematic and consistent — not dependent on whoever wrote the scope being thorough on a given day.
projects experience cost overruns averaging 28%
KPMG / Industry Research
average time from drawings to cost estimate
Industry benchmark
lost annually to poor preconstruction productivity
FMI 2023
FAQ
Common questions
Write the scope once. Write it right.
The change orders that hurt you started with a scope gap. Folio closes those gaps before the subcontract is signed.
Or email us at connect@joinfolio.ai