Quanto for ACC: How to Automate BOQs From Cloud BIM Models

Cloud-based BIM coordination helps project teams work from shared design information. Yet quantity surveyors often export that information into spreadsheets before measuring, pricing, and formatting the Bill of Quantities manually. Each export creates another file to control and another opportunity for the cost plan to fall behind the design.

Quanto for ACC connects Autodesk Construction Cloud models with automated quantity takeoff, AI rate prediction, and priced BOQ production. The system is designed to reprice the BOQ as the design changes, without requiring the commercial team to restart with a separate export.

The purpose is simple: shorten the time between a design decision and its cost impact. Quantity surveyors keep control of measurement rules, pricing judgment, assumptions, and final approval.

Key takeaways

• Quanto for ACC connects directly with cloud-hosted BIM information.
• It identifies elements and produces a priced BOQ without a separate export step.
• AI predicts line-item rates from the firm's historical pricing data.
• The BOQ can be repriced when the design proposal changes.
• Expert review remains necessary before any cost information is issued.

What is Quanto for ACC?

Quanto for ACC is the Autodesk Construction Cloud edition of the Concolabs Quanto quantity takeoff and estimating engine. It is built for QS firms and cloud-first cost consultancies that want model quantities and pricing to remain connected as the project develops.

The product identifies elements within the connected source, applies agreed measurement rules, predicts rates, and creates a priced BOQ for review. Concolabs positions the ACC workflow for firms operating in the UK and Australia, where cloud-hosted BIM coordination is widely used across project teams.

Unlike a one-time model export, the connected approach supports continuing cost updates. When the design proposal changes, Quanto can update affected quantities and reprice the BOQ.

Why do cloud BIM projects still rely on manual BOQ work?

A common data environment can improve document access without automatically solving commercial workflow problems. The model may be available online, but estimators can still spend days exporting files, classifying elements, measuring work, searching rate libraries, and rebuilding the client's BOQ format.

That process creates version risk. A spreadsheet may represent the model at the moment it was exported, while the design team continues making changes. Unless the estimate records its source version clearly, stakeholders can compare a current design with an outdated cost position.

Manual exports also weaken traceability. It becomes harder to explain which model change affected a quantity, which rate was applied, and why the total moved.

Quanto for ACC addresses this gap by keeping the model-to-BOQ workflow connected. It gives the cost team a structured result while preserving the checks needed for professional issue.

How does Quanto for ACC work?

The Quanto for ACC workflow follows four practical stages.

1. Connect the controlled cloud project

The firm connects Quanto with the relevant Autodesk Construction Cloud project and selects the controlled model information. Access should follow the project's permissions, approval states, and information-management rules.

Teams should decide which model status can trigger a formal cost update. Work-in-progress information may be useful for internal forecasting, but it shouldn't be mistaken for an approved design baseline.

2. Identify and group model elements

Quanto identifies building elements and groups them under the required measurement structure. Consistent model classifications, object types, parameters, phases, and naming conventions improve the quality of this step.

Elements that cannot be mapped confidently should be flagged for review. The estimator can then resolve genuine exceptions instead of checking every repetitive object manually.

3. Predict construction rates

The Quanto engine predicts line-item rates from the firm's historical pricing data. This reduces repeated searching through old bills and disconnected rate libraries.

Rate suggestions still require context. Date, location, specification, project scale, procurement route, market conditions, and accepted-rate status can all affect relevance. Firms should define confidence thresholds and approval responsibilities before using predicted rates in a client document.

4. Generate and update the priced BOQ

Quanto creates a formatted priced BOQ for expert review. When the connected design changes, affected quantities and rates can be recalculated so the commercial team can review an updated cost position.

The update should preserve the source version, changed elements, quantity movement, rate basis, assumptions, and reviewer. A revised total is useful; a traceable explanation is far more valuable.

How does automatic repricing support design decisions?

Automatic repricing makes cost feedback available while design choices are still being evaluated. A changed structural layout, floor area, specification, or building element can affect quantities across several work sections. If the cost team needs to rebuild the estimate manually, the financial impact may arrive after the design has progressed further.

Quanto for ACC shortens that feedback loop. The estimator can review changed quantities and rates rather than recreating the entire bill.

This doesn't mean every cloud-model edit should update an approved budget automatically. Firms need separate statuses for working calculations, reviewed estimates, client-issued cost plans, and contractual baselines. Automation should make change visible without weakening governance.

What are the benefits of a connected ACC-to-BOQ workflow?

The strongest benefit is continuity. Design information, quantities, pricing, and revisions remain part of one controlled process rather than a chain of disconnected exports.

Potential operational benefits include:

• Less repetitive model exporting and spreadsheet setup
• Faster visibility of cost changes during design development
• Clearer links between model elements and BOQ items
• Consistent application of measurement rules
• Reduced manual rate lookup
• Better identification of changed quantities
• More focused professional review
• Stronger auditability across estimate versions

The actual benefit will vary by model quality, project complexity, historical data, and internal approval requirements. A representative pilot is the best way to test the business case.

How does Quanto for ACC differ from Quanto for Revit?

Both products use the Quanto engine for element identification, measurement, rate prediction, and priced BOQ output. Their main difference is how they connect to the design information.

Quanto for Revit uses a native plugin to extract takeoff information from a Revit model. Quanto for ACC is designed around a connected Autodesk Construction Cloud workflow with no separate export step. It can also reprice the BOQ as the cloud-hosted proposal changes.

The right choice depends on the firm's controlled information environment. If estimators work directly with local Revit models, the Revit edition may fit better. If the approved project information and revision process live in Autodesk Construction Cloud, the ACC edition provides stronger continuity.

Does Quanto for ACC replace quantity surveyors?

No. Quanto automates repeatable work, but quantity surveyors remain responsible for the commercial output. They must interpret measurement rules, assess model completeness, validate rates, identify scope gaps, review risk, and approve the final document.

The professional review should cover:

• Model status, version, and design completeness
• Measurement standards and classification rules
• Missing or duplicated elements
• Scope not represented in the model
• Rate dates, locations, specifications, and assumptions
• Provisional items, preliminaries, risk, and contingency
• Low-confidence element and rate mappings
• The reason for every material cost movement

The best outcome combines automated processing with visible professional control.

What data and governance does implementation require?

A connected estimating workflow needs more than software access. The firm should define the data, permissions, and approval rules that make each calculation reliable.

Prepare a model-quality standard covering required classifications, parameters, units, phases, naming conventions, and responsibility for corrections. Historical rate records should include dates, locations, descriptions, specifications, units, and accepted pricing status.

The permissions model should identify who can connect projects, select model versions, edit mappings, approve rates, initiate updates, and issue BOQs. Audit logs should record changes to both quantities and pricing.

Security review should also cover connected-project access, data storage, retention, deletion, enterprise deployment, and any organization-specific requirements.

How should a QS firm pilot Quanto for ACC?

Select a completed or well-controlled project with known model versions and an approved BOQ. This gives the team a trustworthy baseline for comparison.

Connect the project, generate the first BOQ, and compare quantities and rates by work section. Record exceptions instead of looking only at the total. Then introduce a known model revision and test whether Quanto identifies and reprices the affected items correctly.

A useful pilot should measure:

1. Element-identification accuracy
2. Quantity agreement with the approved benchmark
3. Relevance of predicted historical rates
4. Number and type of low-confidence exceptions
5. Time required for expert review
6. Traceability from model element to BOQ item
7. Accuracy of change detection between versions
8. Time between model revision and reviewed cost update
9. Compatibility with the firm's BOQ and reporting formats

The pilot should finish with acceptance thresholds, exception ownership, and a documented issue process.

Is Quanto for ACC suitable for every project?

Quanto for ACC is strongest where teams maintain coordinated models in Autodesk Construction Cloud and need continuing cost feedback. It may provide less value when the source information is incomplete, poorly classified, or managed outside the cloud platform.

Projects without a 3D model can instead consider Quanto for 2D Drawings. Firms that measure in CostX may prefer Quanto for CostX, while teams working directly in Revit can use Quanto for Revit.

The Concolabs product suite allows firms to select the input workflow that matches their actual project information.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Quanto for ACC do?

Quanto for ACC connects to Autodesk Construction Cloud, identifies model elements, applies measurement rules, predicts rates from the firm's historical pricing, and generates a priced BOQ. It is designed to update pricing as the connected design proposal changes.

Does Quanto for ACC require a manual model export?

No. Concolabs positions the ACC edition as a connected workflow with no separate export step. Teams should still select the correct controlled model version and follow their internal review and approval process.

Can Quanto automatically reprice a BOQ after a design change?

Yes. Automatic repricing as the proposal changes is a central capability of Quanto for ACC. Quantity surveyors should review the affected elements, changed quantities, rate basis, assumptions, and resulting cost movement before issuing the update.

Can the AI rate engine learn our firm's historical pricing?

Yes. The wider Quanto engine uses the firm's historical rate data. Clean descriptions, units, dates, locations, specifications, and accepted-rate records improve the relevance of predicted prices.

Does Quanto for ACC replace quantity surveyors?

No. It reduces repetitive measurement, classification, and rate-application work. Quantity surveyors remain responsible for model validation, measurement interpretation, scope, pricing context, risk, professional advice, and approval of the priced BOQ.

What is the difference between Quanto for ACC and Quanto for Revit?

Quanto for Revit extracts information natively through a Revit plugin. Quanto for ACC connects with Autodesk Construction Cloud, avoids a separate export, and supports repricing as cloud-hosted design information changes. The best option depends on where the controlled model is managed.

Can the BOQ be used during construction?

Yes. A reviewed BOQ can provide the measurement baseline for downstream site valuation and interim payment workflows. Concolabs connects this stage with MeasureonAir within its wider construction technology suite.

How can a firm request current pricing?

The available Concolabs summary identifies Quanto for ACC as a scaling product but doesn't publish a confirmed subscription price in the accessible product information. Firms should request current licensing, onboarding, customization, and enterprise terms directly through the Quanto for ACC page.

Keep cloud design and cost information connected

Quanto for ACC removes a common break in BIM-based estimating. It connects cloud model information with element identification, quantity takeoff, historical rate prediction, priced BOQ generation, and design-change updates.

For cloud-first QS practices, that connection can reduce repetitive exports and make cost feedback available earlier. The quantity surveyor still controls measurement, pricing judgment, risk, and issue approval.

Explore Quanto for ACC or review the complete Concolabs product suite to compare the Revit, ACC, CostX, and 2D drawing workflows.