Drawing review time calculator
Estimate the hours required to review a construction drawing set by discipline and complexity. Compare manual review time against AI-assisted review.
Drawing set details
sheets
sheets
sheets
sheets
sheets
sheets
sheets
Total sheets155
$/hr
people
Review estimate
Manual review
72h
Total hours
7d
Calendar days
2 reviewers × 6h/day
$9,010
Labor cost
Architectural (40 sheets)17h 40m
Structural (25 sheets)13h 30m
Mechanical/HVAC (30 sheets)18h 30m
Electrical (25 sheets)13h 30m
Plumbing (15 sheets)6h 15m
Fire Protection (10 sheets)3h 20m
Civil/Site (10 sheets)3h 20m
With AI-assisted review
11h
Review hours
2d
Calendar days
$1,375
Labor cost
61h
Hours saved
$7,635
Cost saved
How this calculator works
Per-sheet review times are calibrated to industry benchmarks for thorough plan review by an experienced reviewer. Mechanical and electrical disciplines take longer per sheet because of the density of information, schedules, and cross-references that need to be checked.
- Discipline base time, minutes per sheet for a moderate-complexity project
- Complexity multiplier, scales review time up or down based on project type, from 0.7× for simple tenant improvements to 1.8× for hospitals and cleanrooms
- Calendar days, assumes 6 productive review hours per reviewer per day, leaving time for meetings, coordination, and writing comments
- AI-assisted estimate, assumes AI handles roughly 85% of the page-turning and cross-checking, leaving humans to validate findings and apply judgment
Adjust the inputs to match your team. Junior reviewers may take longer; specialists reviewing only their discipline may go faster.
Keep exploring
More tools and guides for plan review teams.