Drawing Parsing

Drawing Parsing is the process of breaking a construction drawing down into its component parts — title block, drawing area, dimensions, annotations, symbols, schedules, and graphic elements — so each part can be understood and queried independently.

The challenge is that construction drawings pack an enormous amount of information into a single sheet using conventions that have evolved over decades. A small triangle with "3/A5.1" is a detail reference pointing to detail 3 on sheet A5.1. A hexagon with "7" is a keynote that maps to a legend, which might be on the same sheet or a different one. A dashed line might represent an object above the cut plane, a demolition item, or a property line depending on context. Parsing has to get all of this right.

Accurate parsing directly impacts every downstream AI capability. If the parser misidentifies a room boundary, the AI will give wrong answers about what finishes are in that room. If it misses a keynote, a compliance check might miss a critical notation. If it cannot read the revision cloud, it will not know which parts of the drawing changed. Firms evaluating AI platforms should focus on parsing accuracy for their specific drawing types — architectural plans, structural framing, MEP layouts — because this is where quality differences between platforms show up most clearly.