Builders & trades · Kent and UK-wide
AI for builders, electricians and other trades
For a lot of trades businesses, the paperwork gets done at the kitchen table after a full day on site. AI can draft much of it from a voice note or a couple of photos, as long as you check the figures before anything reaches a customer.
AI Kick-Start £395 · half a day
Based in Kent, working with businesses across the UK: on site in Kent, by video anywhere else.
Jobs AI can take off the kitchen table
Quotes
A quote from your site notes
Dictate: 'Quote for a 3m run of fence, concrete posts and gravel boards, our rates below.' You get a tidy quote in your layout, ready for you to correct.
In the van
Voice note to job sheet
Talk for a minute about what you did, the parts used and what's left. AI turns it into a job sheet with anything to follow up.
Enquiries
Replying to new enquiries
Paste in a Facebook message and ask for a friendly reply that requests photos, the postcode and a good time to visit.
Paperwork
Risk assessment drafts
Describe the job, the site and who's working. AI fills in a first draft of your RAMS template for a competent person to go through line by line.
Getting paid
Polite invoice chasers
A first, second and final reminder in your tone, with the invoice number filled in. You decide when each goes.
Marketing
Reviews and finished-job posts
A personal reply to each Google review, and captions for before-and-after photos that name the town, not the customer's street.
Three things AI mustn't decide for you
Measurements and prices. AI is good with words and unreliable with sums it hasn't been shown. Anything safety-critical: cable sizes, structural loads, gas work and working at height are for the regulations and your training, not a chatbot. What you promise: read any wording about start dates or your workmanship warranty before it's sent.
Who does what
| Task | AI can help with | You still check |
|---|---|---|
| Quote | Layout, wording and scope of works | Every measurement, rate and the VAT |
| Job sheet | Turning a rambling voice note into a neat record | Parts, hours and anything promised |
| Enquiry reply | A friendly first answer | That it offers no price or date you can't keep |
| Risk assessment | A first draft in your template | Every hazard and control, by someone who knows the site |
| Invoice chaser | Polite wording for each stage | Amount, due date and bank details, copied from your accounts |
The apps you probably already have
Phone voice typing already turns speech into text, and the free ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini apps take voice. If your email runs on Google Workspace, every Business plan includes Gemini in Gmail; Business Starter is £5.90 per user a month on an annual plan (checked October 2026). On Microsoft 365, the business plans come with Copilot Chat for nothing extra.
Job-management apps such as Tradify, Jobber and ServiceM8 hold your customers and invoices. Check whether yours has added AI features, and what it does with your data, before paying for anything extra. Where two systems don't talk, a small automation can carry a web enquiry into a spreadsheet and draft the reply for you to approve.
Customer details, reviews and fake bank details
Before a customer's name and address go into a free AI app, switch off training (in ChatGPT: Settings, Data controls) or use a business plan. Easier still, leave the address out: the AI doesn't need it to describe a rewire. The guide Is ChatGPT safe? Ten answers walks through those settings.
The Competition and Markets Authority's fake reviews guidance names reviews generated by software, so a made-up customer review written by AI breaks the DMCC Act 2024.
Fake 'our bank details have changed' emails are an old trick that AI makes more convincing; UK Finance puts 2025 losses to invoice and mandate fraud at £41.3m. Confirm any change of bank details by phone on a number you already had. The scam training session covers this for a team.
What a Kick-Start would look at first
-
Your quoting
Two or three recent quotes become a saved prompt or Project that drafts new ones in the same layout. The numbers stay yours. -
Your phone
Voice notes to job sheets, set up on the phone you carry, with customer details kept out. -
Your enquiries
Templates for your common questions. Expect the written plan inside three working days; the £395 counts towards Managed AI set-up, or a build quoted at £1,000 or more, taken on within 60 days.
Questions people ask
Can AI write quotes for building work?
It writes the wording and layout from your notes quickly. Don't trust it with quantities or prices you haven't given it.
Is it safe to put customer details into ChatGPT?
Keep them to a minimum. Turn off model training or use a business plan, and leave out addresses and phone numbers.
Can AI write risk assessments and method statements?
It can draft one in your format. A competent person who knows the site still checks every hazard and control, because the responsibility stays with you.
Will we need new software?
Usually not to begin with. Most of this works with free apps on your phone plus the email and job-management system you already use.
Do you work with sole traders?
Yes. It's the same half day on your own jobs, whether that's one person with a van or a firm with a yard.
Who you'll work with
James Hayes Consulting is led by Ross Hayes, who builds software for his own businesses and uses AI tools in them every day. We set AI up on your real work, explain it in plain English, and tell you straight if something isn’t worth paying for.
Every project starts with a free 15-minute call, and prices are agreed in writing before you commit.
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