About Lode
Built by someone who's been on the wrong end of a bad drawing set.
Conor McMichael
Founder, Lode — Architect
I'm an architect. I've spent over ten years working across projects of almost every scale — from interior renovations where every square foot matters, to projects north of $100 million where a single coordination failure can cost more than most people's annual salary.
In all of that, one problem never went away.
Contractors building from the wrong drawing. Not because anyone was careless. Not because the revision wasn't issued. Because keeping track of what's current — across issuances, across trades, across months of a fast-moving project — is genuinely hard. I've handed the right drawings to a contractor and watched them get lost in an email thread and forgotten. I've seen work torn out and redone because someone had the bid set when they should have had ASI 02. I've been in the room when the finger-pointing starts, and I've been the one holding the revision log trying to prove what was issued and when.
It's expensive. It's exhausting.
And it's largely preventable.
Lode is what I wished existed every time it happened. A single place where the current drawing set is always compiled, always traceable, and always ready — for whoever needs it, whenever they need it.
No more "which version is this." No more lost emails. No more arguments about what was issued.
Just the right drawing, every time.
— Conor McMichael
Why "Lode"
A lode is a vein of valuable material embedded in rock.
It's the source — the thing you mine everything else from. In construction, that source is the current drawing set. Every decision, every coordination meeting, every piece of work in the field traces back to it.
Lode compiles that source and keeps it authoritative. One place where the current set is always built, always traceable, always ready.
The source of truth, set in stone.
Lode is a tool. Not a platform that owns your work.
Construction documents are legal records. They carry liability. They get subpoenaed. The software that manages them should be transparent, traceable, and completely clear about one thing: your documents are yours. Lode processes them to compile your drawing set and nothing else. We don't claim rights to your files. We don't train on your drawings. We don't monetize your data.
Lode also includes Doc, an optional AI assistant that reads revision issuances and summarizes what changed. Doc is disabled by default and can be enabled or disabled on a per-project basis. The platform is fully functional without it — every feature, every compiled set, every output works exactly the same whether Doc is on or off. For firms that aren't ready for AI involvement in their document workflow, Lode works just as well without it.
We charge a subscription fee. That's the whole business model.
For the people who carry the drawings.
Architects
Managing revisions across a project is a professional responsibility. Lode makes it possible to fulfill that responsibility without it becoming a second job.
Contractors
You build from what you have. Lode makes sure what you have is current — and gives you a clear record of where it came from.
Construction Managers
You're responsible for coordination across everyone. Lode gives you one place to see the current document state across the whole project.
If you've ever handed someone the right drawing and watched it get lost — this is for you.
We'll be in touch when early access opens.