What IT Needs Before an AI Drawing Review
Helonic is an AI construction drawing analysis platform for IT teams clearing an AI drawing review before the first upload.
What IT needs before an AI drawing review is a short list that has to be done before the first drawing upload is allowed. Helonic analyzes issued 2D PDF construction drawings, so the files that leave your network are the bid set, not a slide. This page is the clearance checklist. It is not the buying criteria on what to look for in an AI construction drawing review platform, and it is not the scoring method on how to pilot AI construction drawing review software.
Direct answer. Before the first upload, IT should have a document that names where Helonic stores the files, how long they are kept, that customer drawings are not used to train a general model, who can download the set, and what is deleted when the project ends. A demo login is not that document.
Where do the files sit?
IT should be able to name the region and the subprocessors. "Cloud" is not a location. If the vendor cannot point to where the PDFs are stored, the upload waits.
Ask for the same fact a hospital or public-owner package would require: processing location, backup location, and who besides your team can open the bucket. Write the answer down. A salesperson recollection from the demo does not survive a questionnaire.
What is the retention and deletion answer?
Retention needs a number and a trigger. Thirty days after the project ends, or deletion on written request, is an answer. "We keep files as long as the account is active" is a promise with no date.
Ask what your team can still export on the day you stop. Findings without the underlying PDF are not a record your reviewer can defend. The calendar impact of a slow answer is on how long AI drawing review takes to set up.
Do customer drawings train a model?
The sentence IT should file is specific. Customer drawing sets are not used to train a general model. A line that says "we may use data to improve the service" is the line that gets a no.
Helonic's review runs on the uploaded PDFs for that project. Confirm the training term in the agreement your counsel will actually sign, not only in a security PDF. If the two documents disagree, the upload is not cleared.
Who can open the set?
Named accounts on your side. No shared password. No vendor access to every historical project because someone checked a box during onboarding.
| Question | Answer that clears an upload | Answer that blocks it |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Named region and subprocessors | "Secure cloud" |
| Retention | A date or a deletion trigger | "As long as needed" |
| Training | Customer sets do not train a general model | "We use data to improve" |
| Access | Named users, this project only | Vendor-wide access to the library |
| Identity | SSO before company rollout, or a written one-project exception | Shared login "for now" |
The person who can give that yes or no has to be in the room. See who has to be in the AI drawing review kickoff.
What can wait until after the first project?
SSO for every office, a SCIM feed, and a company retention standard can wait if IT writes a one-project exception. The exception names the job, the people, and the end date. It does not say "until we get around to it."
Do not wait on the training clause or the storage location. Those are the reasons a cautious GC refuses the first upload. Once IT has said yes, the package itself is on what files you need before the first review. Confirmed findings can go back into the system you already run. That path is Procore integration. For what the review is, start at AI for construction drawings.
Practitioner insight
“I do not need a 40-page policy on day one. I need to know the region, that you will delete the set, and that my hospital drawings are not training data. If those three are fuzzy, I do not approve the upload.”
Conversations with IT and security leads at general contractors who gate drawing uploads on public and healthcare work.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does IT need before an AI drawing review?
Does SSO have to be on before the first review?
What should IT refuse before the first upload?
Who signs the IT checklist?
Is a security questionnaire the same as a contract?
Milind Sagaram
Co-founder & CEO, HelonicMilind is the co-founder and CEO of Helonic, where he leads product and go-to-market for AI-powered construction drawing analysis. He works closely with general contractors, project managers, estimators, and owners to understand how drawing quality drives project outcomes - and where AI can reduce RFIs, change orders, and rework. Milind has interviewed hundreds of construction professionals across project delivery roles, from preconstruction estimators at ENR top-400 contractors to facilities directors at institutional owners, and uses those conversations to shape both product direction and the way Helonic talks about the work.
- Construction project delivery and preconstruction
- RFI and change order economics
- Owner and GC workflows for drawing QA/QC
- Estimating risk and bid-stage scope assessment
How this page was researched: Checklist assembled from security reviews GC IT teams sent before the first Helonic upload, and from pilots that stalled because the answers lived only in a demo.
Last reviewed by Milind Sagaram · September 2026
Related Reading
How Long Setup Takes
Why the IT checklist, not the analysis run, sets the calendar.
Read moreWho Has to Be in the Kickoff
The IT delegate has to be able to approve the upload in the meeting.
Read moreFiles Before the First Review
What to upload once IT has said yes, and which sheets to leave out.
Read more