Blog · Published · Updated
AI in an architecture practice: who checks the design
Short answer
AI in an architecture practice prepares variants, descriptions and lists of issues. Compliance of the design with the rules is assessed by the designer, and under Article 20 of Poland's Construction Law a person with the right licence checks it. At Syntalith team training costs from €1,150 net a day. With 8 people and 1 hour saved a week each, it pays back in 1.1 months after licence costs.
- net for implementation for a team of up to 10 people, paid once
- from €1,150
- from start to work of the entire team
- 2 weeks
- after this time, we measure the effect on the same tasks
- 30 days
- conversation with an engineer and a written plan within 2 business days
- €0
We belong to the OpenAI and Anthropic partner programmes and learn through their official courses. What this means ↓
Author: Syntalith · 3 min read
Statistics
Architecture and AI: statistics 2026
1.1 mo.
payback of €1,150 training with 8 people saving 1 hour a week each: €1,208 of time given back, €143 of licences a month. Scenario.
37.9%
According to Eurostat (2025), 37.9% of EU companies in legal, accounting, management consultancy, architecture, engineering and technical testing used AI.
Source: Eurostat, artificial intelligence by NACE activity (2025) ↗
15.1%
According to Eurostat (2025), 15.1% of people aged 16 to 74 in the EU used generative AI tools for work.
25.1%
According to a Harvard Business School study (2023) of 758 consultants, tasks within the model's capabilities went 25.1% faster with AI.
52.5%
According to Eurostat (2025), 52.5% of EU companies that considered AI and did not use it named unclear legal consequences as a reason.
Source: Eurostat, use of artificial intelligence in enterprises (2025) ↗
Figures checked: 22 October 2026
An AI variant changes more than the prompt asked for
An architect compares finishes for the entrance area. She asks the tool to change the wall material. The variant looks convincing, and the tool has also moved the door opening. The client accepts the look, and nobody notices the change in geometry until the engineer from another discipline receives the floor plan.
For each variant, record what the change was meant to cover and which elements were checked. Changes that need an assessment stay marked, and the client's approval of the look does not replace checking the design. Apply the same rule to text: the model will prepare a list of issues from the documents, and each item needs a source and a check that the rule actually applies.
In Poland, Article 20 of the Construction Law describes the designer's duties, including preparing the design in line with the regulations and ensuring it is checked by a person with the right licence. A file generated by a tool does not confirm that these duties were carried out.
- A variant with a change in geometry nobody asked for
- A list of issues with a wrong reference to a regulation
- Two files with similar names and different versions
- A record of what was checked and who approved it
Before AI enters the workflow, settle the base document, the author of the change and the person who takes over the material. If an engineer works on an earlier version, a new description generated from another version only deepens the discrepancy.
What AI training for architects costs and when it pays back
- Time saved
- 8 people × 1 h a week × 4.33 = 34.6 h
- Value of that time
- €1,208
- Licences
- $160 (€143)
- Left after licences
- €1,065 a month
Payback of €1,150 training
1.1 months
The hours saved are the scenario's assumption, which we check by timing the tasks before the training and after 30 days. €34.90 an hour is the EU average hourly labour cost for 2025 according to Eurostat. Claude Team licences at $20 a person a month, at the ECB rate of 1.1205 USD per euro on 22 October 2026.
We measure the hours in the scenario before the training and after 30 days, on the same tasks of the team. If after a month checking texts written with AI takes as long as writing from scratch, we change the exercises or the scope of the tool.
In a design practice, an hour saved rarely comes from drawing. It comes from technical descriptions, answers to client questions, briefs for visualisations and lists of issues before a coordination meeting. On these tasks we measure the time before the workshop and after it, and we also count the corrections that came back from the other disciplines.
When order in versions is enough
First check what your current repository or coordination environment can do. Version names and ownership of changes often solve the problem without a model. Word compares two versions of a document, which is enough for technical descriptions. AI helps with draft descriptions, briefs for variants and lists of questions, and the training teaches how to check the result before it reaches the client or the engineer.
The problem is file versions
order in the repository and in names
no build
The team uses AI for variants and descriptions
training in briefing and checking
from €1,150
Many documents, answers from several disciplines
an app for change lists with sources
from €3,000
Where to start
The workshop for architects covers the brief for a variant, checking changes and describing what was changed. We run it as part of our team training. For the free process review, a description of one task the team does every week and the tools it uses is enough. You receive the written training programme within 2 working days.
„I already use AI.”
Your people too. Just no rules.
From our conversations with companies
5 na 10 employees paste sensitive data into private AI accounts: contracts, invoices, customer data.
In ESET survey (2026)
1 na 10 admits this in the survey.
Customer data pasted into a private AI account without an data processing agreement is a violation of the GDPR.
Don't worry, we won't tell anyone :)
What do we see in companies that "already use"
- Only ChatGPT or Claude accounts, without plugins, skills, integrations and MCP servers with company tools.
- Company programs are not connected to AI. People still click through systems and Excel, and enter chat data manually.
- Lack of company standards: everyone writes instructions in their own way, no one shares what works.
- No rules for personal data, GDPR and company secrets.
- No limits and no visibility: no one knows who uses AI, how much and for what.
62% Polish employees use AI at work · 27% companies have written rules for working with AI.
Source: ESET and DAGMA, Cyberportrait of Polish business 2026 (March 2026, 1,026 people) ↗
ChatGPT or Claude space review
Accounts, permissions, rules for working with data and 5 tasks set for the team. 1 day.
€450 net
Company accounts, rules of working with data and team training in 2 weeks, from €1,150 net.View implementation for the team →
„Is my data safe?”
Yes. You choose where they go: from your company account to the model on your server.
00Employee's private account
Customer and company data ends up in an account that the company cannot see or control. There is no data processing agreement, so it is a violation of the GDPR. When an employee leaves, the chat history goes with them.
01ChatGPT or Claude corporate account
The provider does not use your data to train models. A copy of the queries remains in his logs for up to 30 days.
02API with zero retention (ZDR)
The provider processes the request and does not save anything. It requires his consent, we prepare the application together.
03Processing in the EU
Queries are counted and stored in Europe: OpenAI in the EU region, Claude via clouds with the EU region.
04Model at your place
The open model runs on your server or in your cloud in the EU. The data does not go outside the company.
What we do with every implementation
- Confidentiality agreement and data processing agreement before we receive any data.
- You choose the cases for the prototype and we anonymize them upon request.
- The data stays in the EU and we delete it after the test.
- Corporate accounts with an administrator on your side.
When data cannot leave the company
The open model runs on your server or in your cloud in the EU. To choose from:
- White-tailed eagle
- Polish model, SpeakLeash and ACK Cyfronet AGH
- PLLUM
- Polish model, HIVE consortium commissioned by the Ministry of Digitization
- Qwen
- Alibaba
- GLM
- Zhipu AI
- DeepSeek
- DeepSeek
We select a model for the task and check it on your cases. We run it, tune it and maintain it.
Source: Bielik and PLLuM, ACK Cyfronet AGH ↗ · PLLuM, Ministry of Digitization ↗
Do you have a lot of your own data? We will fine-tune the small model.
- 1 Your examples
- 2 tuning
- 3 test on new cases
- 4 model at your place
When you have thousands of similar emails, documents or reports, we teach a small open model based on your examples. It works for you, responds quickly and costs less to maintain than a large model. We measure quality on issues that the model has not seen while learning.
Przemysław and Piotr did it in large programming and consulting companies. Artem did it before and does it today at Syntalith. It's about models on your own infrastructure, tuning and quality measurement.
You choose the protection level during the interview. We sign the data processing agreement before we see any data.Schedule a free analysis →
Price
Three packages. You know the price right away.
Team of up to 10 people
from €1,150
net, paid once · 2 weeks
Company, from 11 to 40 people
from €2,300
net, paid once · 3–4 weeks
Organization, over 40 people
from €4,600
net, paid once · 6–8 weeks
- The same packages once you have licenses. To start, an inspection of the space in 1 day is enough: €450 net.
- You buy Claude Team licenses directly from Anthropic, without our markup: USD 20 per person per month for annual payment or USD 25 for monthly payment, from 2 to 150 people.
From conversation to measurement
01 · 30 min
Free process review€0
An engineer picks 3 to 5 of your team's tasks with you. Written plan within 2 working days.
02 · 2 weeks
Rolloutfrom €1,150
Accounts and roles, rules for working with data, training on your team's tasks. You buy licences directly from the provider.
03 · after 30 days
Measurementincluded
We compare task times before and after. We name in writing the tasks worth handing to a system.
or call+48 888 78 48 78WhatsAppMon–Fri 9:00–17:00 CET
Worked example · Scenario
How we count the payback: AI in an architecture practice
We run the same count for your practice in the free process review.
€1,745
a month for searching the documentation for answers to 200 questions
Payback: 2 mo.
15 minutes to find an agreement in emails and minutes and checking in 15% of the old time are our assumptions. €34.90 an hour is the EU average hourly labour cost for 2025 according to Eurostat, for companies with 10 or more employees. Model cost: Claude Sonnet 5.5, about 6,000 + 500 tokens per answer from the documents, at the ECB rate of 1.1205 USD per euro on 22 October 2026.
See the full calculation →Questions
Can AI check a building design?
No. Under Article 20 of Poland's Construction Law the designer assesses the compliance of the design, and a person with the right licence checks it. AI prepares variants and lists of issues for assessment.
What should you watch for with AI variants?
The tool can change more than you asked for, for example move a door opening when you change a material. For each variant, record what was changed and what was checked.
How much does such training cost?
At Syntalith from €1,150 net for a day's workshop for the team. Claude Team licences cost $20 a person a month. With 8 people and 1 hour a week, the payback is 1.1 months.
