About LODE
Built by an architect who has been on the wrong end of a bad drawing set.
Conor McMichael
Architect. Founder, LODE
I am an architect. I have spent more than ten years on projects of almost every size, from interior renovations where every square foot matters to projects north of $100 million where one coordination mistake costs more than most people earn in a year.
In all of that, one problem never went away.
Contractors building from the wrong drawing. Not because anyone was careless, and not because the revision was not issued. Because keeping track of what is current, across issuances and trades and months of a fast-moving project, is hard. I have handed the right drawings to a contractor and watched them get lost in an email thread. I have seen work torn out and redone because someone had the bid set when they should have had ASI 02. I have been in the room when the finger-pointing starts, holding the revision log, trying to prove what was issued and when.
It is expensive, it is exhausting,
and most of it is avoidable.
LODE is construction project management software for architects, and it is what I wished existed every time it happened: one place where the current drawing set is always compiled, always traceable and always ready for whoever needs 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 is the source, the thing everything else is mined from. On a building project that source is the current drawing set. Every decision, every coordination meeting and every piece of work in the field comes back to it.
LODE compiles that set and keeps it current: one place where the current set is always built, always traceable and always ready.
Set in stone.
Your documents stay yours.
Construction documents are legal records. They carry liability and they get subpoenaed. Software that handles them should be clear about one thing: your documents are yours. LODE processes them to compile your set and for nothing else. We claim no rights to your files, we do not train on your drawings, and we do not sell your data.
LODE also includes Loupe, an optional assistant that reads the project and answers questions about it. It is off by default and turned on or off per project. Everything else works the same with it off: every compiled set, every output. A firm that does not want AI near its documents loses nothing by leaving it off.
We charge a subscription. That is the whole business.
For the people who carry the drawings.
Architects
Keeping the revisions straight is part of the job. LODE lets you do it without it becoming a second one.
Contractors
You build from what you have. LODE makes sure what you have is current, and shows where it came from.
Construction Managers
You coordinate everyone. LODE gives you one place to see which documents are current across the whole project.
If you have ever handed someone the right drawing and watched it get lost, this is for you.
We'll be in touch when early access opens.