AI in construction, for contractors and subcontractors

• Applications and payment notices

  A payment notice is due no later than five days after each payment due date, and a pay less notice by the contract's deadline before the final date. If the contract is silent, the Scheme for England and Wales sets seven days, and a final date 17 days after the due date.

• CIS, every month

  New subcontractors are verified with HMRC before their first payment, and deductions run at 20%, 30% or nothing. Statements go out within 14 days of the tax month's end, and the return is due by the 19th, with a £100 penalty from the first day late.

• Site paperwork

  A risk assessment, with significant findings recorded once you employ five or more people. Lifting equipment thoroughly examined every six or 12 months by type, or as a competent person's examination scheme sets. Site diaries, timesheets and daywork sheets, each needed for the valuation or the payroll.

• Handover and the golden thread

  The health and safety file passes to the client at the end. On a higher-risk building in England (at least 18 metres or seven storeys, with two or more residential units, or a hospital or care home), the golden thread is kept digitally, records who changed what and when, and is handed over at completion.

• Procore

  Project management for contractors and trades. Procore documents a REST API and webhooks, with guides for daily logs, timesheets, change orders and subcontractor invoices.

• Autodesk Forma

  Autodesk Construction Cloud until 24 March 2026, when it was renamed with no change to integrations. Autodesk publishes APIs for it, including one for RFIs.

• Access Coins, Causeway and Eque2

  Construction finance systems, all on HMRC's list of recognised CIS software. Access Coins handles applications for payment and retentions; Eque2 Construct submits CIS returns. We found no public API documentation for them, so we would ask the vendor and use scheduled exports.

• Xero and Sage

  Accounts and CIS, both on HMRC's recognised list. Xero's API exposes each contact's CIS settings, including the deduction rate, so a bill can be checked before it is paid.

• Fieldwire

  Site tasks, forms and drawings on a phone. Fieldwire's API documentation covers projects, tasks, forms, sheets and webhooks, so a finished inspection form reaches the office without being retyped.

• A payment notice clock for every contract

  Each application logged with its due date, payment notice deadline, final date and pay less deadline, from your contract or the Scheme. The QS gets reminders, every notice is stored, and residential occupier contracts are flagged, as Part II of the 1996 Act excludes them.

• CIS from subcontractor to return

  Verification status for every subcontractor, flagged when one has not been on a return in the current or last two tax years. Deductions net of VAT and materials, statements within 14 days, the monthly return ready for your CIS software, and reverse charge wording on invoices.

• Site records that reach the valuation

  Diaries, timesheets, daywork sheets and inspections captured once, on a phone or from Procore or Fieldwire, then posted to the valuation and the payroll. A plant register holds each thorough examination and when the next is due.

• A retentions ledger

  Retention you hold and retention held from you, by contract, with release dates and chasing. The Commercial Payments Bill would prohibit deducting and withholding retentions; the government's overview of 19 May 2026 says it will consult on timing.

• A drawing and document assistant

  Questions answered from your drawings and specifications, and a first take-off in your estimate's format, with each quantity linked to its sheet. Where an off-the-shelf take-off tool fits, we connect it to your estimating instead of rebuilding it.

• Finance Act 2004, Part 3, Chapter 3 (Construction Industry Scheme)

  Verification, deductions, statements and monthly returns, with records kept for at least three years after the tax year. Since 6 April 2026, HMRC can remove gross payment status at once where a business knew or should have known a payment was connected to fraud.

• Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, Part II (sections 106, 110A and 111)

  Payment notices no later than five days after each payment due date. Pay less notices by the agreed or Scheme period before the final date, stating the sum and its basis; without one, the notified sum must be paid. Residential occupier contracts are excluded.

• Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, regulations 6 and 12

  The client notifies HSE of projects over 30 working days with more than 20 workers at once, or over 500 person days. The principal contractor draws up a construction phase plan before the site is set up.

• Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023, regulation 31

  On higher-risk building work in England, the golden thread sits in an electronic facility the client provides: accurate, up to date, secure from unauthorised access, and recording who made each change and when. It is handed over before the completion certificate is applied for.

• AI automation
• Business automation and integrations
• Bespoke software development

Other industries: Manufacturers, Estate and letting agents, Logistics and haulage.

Sources

Every rule, date and figure on this page comes from the sources below, checked on 31 October 2026. Rules change: check anything that matters with the source or your adviser.