<p>He stopped padding numbers and started pulling them from the model.</p> <p>MEP is where most estimators get burned — ductwork, conduit runs, and fixture counts buried in a model nobody has time to fully take off by hand. The usual fix is a rough multiplier per square foot, then hoping the bid holds. BidLight replaces that guess with a real takeoff.</p> <p>Here&#39;s what changed once the GC brought MEP into BidLight instead of eyeballing it:</p> <ul><li><strong>Exported the Revit model</strong> instead of manually counting fixtures, runs, and equipment off drawings.</li><li><strong>Let the two AI models classify BOQ line items</strong> by reading geometry and metadata, at roughly 86% accuracy — so mechanical, electrical, and plumbing items got sorted without a takeoff crew.</li><li><strong>Priced against a live database</strong> of about 30,000 items plus Craftsman, 1Build, and RSMeans, instead of a stale spreadsheet from the last job.</li><li><strong>Watched the estimate update in real time</strong> as the design changed, so a late duct reroute or panel swap didn&#39;t mean starting the MEP count over.</li><li><strong>Handed off a number he could defend</strong> in front of the owner, with line items tied back to the actual model instead of a gut-check percentage.</li></ul> <p>The result isn&#39;t magic — it&#39;s just an estimate built from what&#39;s actually in the model instead of what usually gets built there. That&#39;s the whole point of running BidLight inside Revit: MEP stops being the line item everyone quietly pads and starts being one you can back up.</p>