Example · Drawings and permits Single-line diagram generator
A script that draws the single-line diagram for each approved project and gathers the permit package around it. It began as an AI agent and now runs as a fixed script.
What it was for
- Problem
- A design office that draws and permits projects for crews at many other companies. Before work could start on any of them, two things had to exist: a single-line diagram, the one-page drawing that shows how power runs from the supply to the equipment, and a permit package for the local authority with the forms and spec sheets to match. A drafter built each diagram from templates and gathered the documents by hand, so every project queued at that one desk.
- How we worked through it
- It started as an AI agent that read the project record and drew the diagram. Once the rules were clear, one of us moved them into a fixed script, so the same project always gives the same drawing.
- Outcome
- Nearly all diagrams are now drawn without anyone drafting, and a package that took days is ready in minutes. Highly complex projects still go to a drafter.
Why it is no longer an agent
It began as an AI agent. As the rules became clear, one of us moved them into a plain script that makes no judgment calls when it runs.
The same inputs always give the same drawing. That makes it straightforward to test, and it is why we would rather retire an agent than keep one running where a rule will do.
The same pattern in an engineering firm
- Standard sheets and details generated from the project record
- Permit and submittal packages assembled without someone hunting for each document
- Transmittals and document sets compiled for issue
Next example: proposal drafting →All examples
This tool was built by one of us as an employee, for that employer’s own work, before Datum existed. The tool itself stays with that employer. The approach is ours to carry: a script that drafts a standard drawing and gathers the paperwork from the project record is something we can set up again for any firm that rebuilds the same package every time. The example is drawn, the figures are rounded, and nothing shown comes from a live system.
Have a drawing or package someone rebuilds from templates every time? Tell us about it.
