Sheet 06

Dos and don’ts: AI in construction and property

Ground rules for construction and property teams that work with AI. Use them as a starting point for your own policy.

Drawn up by Databrein: software engineers who build and run VGDB, the platform for drawings, archive and inspections. More about AI at work.

Changes to this page
Date	Change
23 Oct 2026	First issue

Can this go into an AI tool?

Five questions before you put something into an AI tool. Start at the top.

Question 1: Does it contain personal data?

Names, addresses or phone numbers of tenants, residents or colleagues.

Yes go to question 2 No go to question 3
Question 2: Does your policy allow this tool to process personal data?

That requires a data processing agreement with the supplier.

Yes go to question 3 No Don’t: personal data
Question 3: Is the document confidential or protected by copyright?

A NEN standard, a quotation, a client’s drawing.

Yes go to question 4 No go to question 5
Question 4: Does your contract or licence allow this use?

Check the licence or ask the owner.

Yes go to question 5 No Don’t: no permission
Question 5: Will the result leave your organisation, or will someone base a decision on it?

A report, a letter, an inspection, a quotation.

Yes Do, after review No Do

Don’t: personal data
Take the personal data out, or use a tool that is allowed to process it.
Don’t: no permission
Only use what you are allowed to share, or ask for permission first.
Do, after review
An expert reads the result and signs it off. AI approves nothing.
Do
Use the result as a draft, not as the final product. Check facts, measurements and dates with a sample.

Do, after review
Have an inspection report summarised.

Check amounts, dates and failed items against the report itself.
Do, after review
Have a first version of a standard letter or work instruction drafted.

Someone reads it before it goes out.
Don’t
Paste AI text into a client report or a permit application without reading it.

You remain responsible for what it says.

Do, after review
Have room numbers, floor areas or codes pulled from drawings.

Check a sample against the drawing.
Don’t
Upload a client’s drawing to a tool your policy does not allow.

Not even for a quick lookup.
Don’t
Paste complete NEN standards into an AI tool.

Standards are protected by copyright; check what your licence allows.

Don’t
Have AI approve an inspection, a structural calculation or a fire safety assessment.

The responsibility stays with the expert.
Do, after review
Have defects and deadlines pulled from an inspection report.

Add them to your register only after someone has checked them.
Don’t
Keep inspection expiry dates only in a chat conversation.

Keep them in a register that warns you in time.

Don’t
Paste tenants’ names, addresses or phone numbers into a free chat tool.

You don’t know where that data ends up.
Do
Remove or replace personal data first, then have the text edited.

For example ‘tenant A’ instead of a name.

Do
Search your own archive in plain language.

As long as archive and tool stay within your own environment.
Do, after review
Use an answer from your archive in a letter or report.

Only with the source, and read that source. Without a source, don’t use the answer.

These are practical ground rules, not legal advice. What suits your organisation depends on your tools and your contracts.

We help you set out a policy that fits your team and your data. Email us a few lines, or call us.