For electrical & MEP distributors
Stop matching BOQ line items by hand.
Specline reads the tender BOQ, matches each line to your own price list, and flags anything uncertain for your estimator, so priced quotes go out faster.
- Excel and PDF BOQs, scans included
- Matched to your price list and your discount terms
- Every uncertain line goes to your estimator
Subtotal, AED excl. VAT
—
5 of 6 lines priced · 1 for your estimator
01The problem
Pricing a BOQ by hand is lookup work.
Every tender BOQ is written by someone else, in their words and their units. Before anyone can think about margin, each line item has to be found in your price list.
- 01Find it in the price list
- 02Check size, cores, rating
- 03Copy the price
- 04Convert metres to drums
300 lines, one lookup each
Find the item in the price list. Check size, cores and rating. Copy the price. Convert metres to drums. Then the next line, 299 more times.
- 4C x 16 sq.mm Cu/XLPE/SWA/PVC
- 4/C 16 MM² CU XLPE SWA PVC 0.6/1KV
- 4CX16SQMM CU/XLPE/SWA/PVC
- 4 Core 16 mm² Cu/XLPE/SWA/PVC cable
- 4 core 16mm armoured cable
4 core16 mm²copperXLPESWA
One SKU in your price listCBX-4C16-SWA
The same cable, written five ways
Every consultant writes it differently, and your price list writes it a sixth way. Specline reads them into one form before it matches. When a line leaves a spec out, it says so instead of guessing.
“16mm” isn't 16 mm², and no material or insulation is stated: this one goes to your estimator.
Illustration, not to scale
Late quotes don't win tenders
A tender has a closing date, and the contractor decides on the quotes in hand. Hours spent on lookups are hours not spent on the price, or on the next tender.
02How it works
From tender BOQ to priced quote in four steps
The same steps your estimators follow today. Specline does the lookups; your estimator makes the calls.
01Upload
Upload the BOQ as it came from the contractor: Excel or PDF, digital or scanned. Choose the price list and the customer whose discount terms apply.
02Extract
Every line item is read with its item number, description, quantity and unit, its section, and the heading it completes (“in the following sizes”). On PDFs each quantity and unit is checked against the page; a line that can't be confirmed is flagged.
03Match
Each line is matched to your price list. Stated specs (size, cores, cross-section, material, rating, poles) are hard filters, never guesses. A line is priced automatically only when every check passes. Every other line gets a confidence level and the reason it needs a look.
04Review & export
Your estimator works through the flagged lines one at a time: confirm the suggested SKU, pick another of the top five, search the price list, or leave the line out. Then export the client's own workbook with rates and amounts filled in.
On our test files, a 300-line Excel BOQ is read and matched in under five seconds, and an 8-page PDF in about 25 seconds. Your estimator's time goes into the flagged lines.
On real distributor BOQs so far: {{AVG_LINES_MATCHED_PCT}} of line items priced automatically. Every other line went to an estimator, with its reason.
03Try the review step
Approve the flagged lines. Watch the quote total move.
Ten line items from an electrical BOQ, matched to a price list. Green lines are priced. Amber lines wait for your estimator: open one, read why, approve it.
- Lines priced
- 6/10
- Awaiting review
- 3
- Not quoted
- 1
Quote subtotal, excl. VATAED 30,865.00
- 2.1
4C x 16 sq.mm Cu/XLPE/SWA/PVC cbl 0.6/1kV
320 R.M.
Cable Cu/XLPE/SWA/PVC 4C × 16 mm², 0.6/1 kV, drum 500 m
CBX-4C16-SWA · 0.64 × drum 500 m
31.40 / m
10,048.00
Matched - 2.4
1C 2.5sqmm CU/PVC 450/750V cbl, R/Y/B
2,400 Lin.m
Cable Cu/PVC 1C × 2.5 mm², 450/750 V, coil 100 m
CBP-1C2.5-C100 · 24 × coil 100 m
1.32 / m
3,168.00
Matched - 3.2
MCB SP 20A 'B' curve 10kA
64 Nos
MCB 1P 20 A, B curve, 10 kA
MCB-1P20B-10
18.75 / each
1,200.00
Matched - 3.5
RCCB 4P 63A 30mA
12 No.
RCCB 4P 63 A, 30 mA
RCB-4P63-30
142.00 / each
1,704.00
Matched - 3.8
6 way TPN DB flush mtd, 125A incomer c/w 18 nos SP MCB's
4 Nos
SuggestedDistribution board TPN 6-way 125 A, flush
DBT-TPN6-125F
865.00 / each
Awaiting review
- 4.1
Cable tray 300x50mm HDG perforated c/w cover
180 m
SuggestedCable tray perforated 300 × 50 mm, HDG, 3 m length
TRY-P30050-HDG · 60 × length 3 m
38.50 / m
Awaiting review
- 4.6
20mm PVC conduit heavy gauge
1,500 Mtr
Conduit PVC 20 mm, heavy gauge, 3 m length
CND-PVC20-HG · 500 × length 3 m
2.15 / m
3,225.00
Matched - 5.2
600x600 LED panel 40W 4000K recessed
120 No.
LED panel 600 × 600, 40 W, 4000 K, recessed
LED-PNL6060-40
96.00 / each
11,520.00
Matched - 5.5
LED downlight 18W, IP44
86 Nos
Choose the SKU to quote
Awaiting review
- 6.1
Testing & commissioning of the complete electrical installation
1 LS
No confident match
Not quoted
No confident match
Fictional SKUs and prices, in AED, excl. VAT.
04Your numbers
What line-item lookups cost your team
Put in your own numbers. The calculator shows estimator time on line items only, based on your inputs.
What manual lookups cost you
- Hours per BOQ, by hand
- 5 h
- Estimator hours per month on line-item lookups
- 100 h
- Share of one full-time estimatorAt 160 working hours a month each
- 63%of one estimator
- Cost per month
- USD 4,500
- Cost per year
- USD 54,000
Based on your inputs. Line-item time only: site queries, submittals and margin decisions aren't counted.
Find out how much of this a real BOQ can win back.
Book a free BOQ testHow this is calculated
hours per BOQ = lines × minutes per line ÷ 60
150 × 2 ÷ 60 = 5 h
hours per month = BOQs per month × hours per BOQ
20 × 5 = 100 h
estimator share = hours per month ÷ 160
100 ÷ 160 = 0.63
cost per month = hours per month × hourly cost; cost per year = cost per month × 12
100 × 45 = USD 4,500; USD 4,500 × 12 = USD 54,000
Nothing else goes in: no hidden multipliers. Results are rounded for display.
05Scope
What it does, and what it doesn't
Specline does
- Read tender BOQs in Excel (.xlsx, .xlsm) and PDF, digital or scanned, whatever the column order.
- Match each line item to your own price list, imported from a CSV or Excel export.
- Treat stated specs as hard filters: size, cores, cross-section, material, rating and poles.
- Convert quantities to your selling units: metres to coils, drums and lengths; pieces to packs.
- Apply each customer's discount terms to your list prices, by make, product type or a default.
- Flag every line it isn't sure about, with the reason in plain words.
- Export the client's own workbook with rates and amounts filled in, plus quote notes and a summary sheet.
Specline doesn't
- Replace your estimator. Every flagged line waits for a person to decide.
- Set your prices or margins. It uses your list prices and the discount terms you give it.
- Price a line nobody confirmed. Unconfirmed lines stay blank in the export, listed as not quoted.
- Send anything to your customer. You get a workbook; you decide what goes out.
- Guess. A pack size it can't read, or a unit it can't convert with certainty, goes to review.
- Convert currencies. Each quote is in your price list's currency.
06The free BOQ test
See it on one of your own tenders
A tender you've already priced works best: you can compare our result with your estimator's.
- 01
Send one real BOQ and a price list extract
Just the SKUs that cover it, not your full catalog. The BOQ as Excel or PDF; the extract as CSV or Excel, with item code, description, unit and price.
- 02
We match every line to your prices
And flag anything uncertain, with the reason in plain words.
- 03
You get the matched, priced BOQ back
With an accuracy summary: lines priced, lines flagged and why, lines without a confident match.
Free, no commitment. NDA on request, yours or ours.
Book a free BOQ test07Data & confidentiality
Your BOQs and prices stay yours
A price list is commercially sensitive, and so is a client's tender. This is how we handle both.
Read the full data policy: {{DATA_POLICY_LINK}}
- Your files are used only for your test
- Your BOQ and price list extract run your test, and nothing else.
- Deleted on request
- Deleting a quote removes the uploaded file, its page images, its reading cache and its exports. All that remains is anonymous counts (how many lines were confirmed or changed): no text, SKUs, prices or file names.
- Never used to train AI models
- Excel BOQs are read and matched on our own hardware. PDF pages are read through Anthropic's Claude API, which doesn't use API data to train its models.
- We only need a price list extract, not your full catalog
- Just the SKUs that cover the BOQ: item code, description, unit and price.
- NDA on request, yours or ours
- If your company needs one before sharing files, send us yours or ask for ours.
08FAQ
Questions estimators ask
Which file formats does it read?
BOQs: Excel workbooks (.xlsx and .xlsm) and PDFs, digital or scanned. Columns are found by their headings, in English or Arabic, in any order, on every sheet.
Price lists: CSV or Excel, with item code, description, unit and price. Brand, product group and stock columns are used when you have them.
Older .xls files need saving as .xlsx first.
How big can our price list be?
The largest price list we've run so far has {{LARGEST_CATALOG_TESTED}} SKUs. For the BOQ test, an extract covering the BOQ's product groups is enough.
Descriptions don't need cleaning first. Product type, size, cores, rating and pack size are read from the text, and your own abbreviations can be added for your list.
What about scanned and messy BOQs?
Scanned pages are read from the page image, then read a second time, independently. Where the two reads disagree on a quantity, a unit or the product type, the line is flagged for your estimator.
On digital PDFs, every quantity and unit is checked against the PDF's own text. Abbreviations, spelling variants, mixed units (R.M., Lin.m, Nos), descriptions carried onto the next row and “in the following sizes” headings are all read.
Handwriting and heavily stamped pages haven't been tested yet. If your tenders have them, send one for the free BOQ test.
Does it read Arabic BOQs?
Yes: Arabic column headings, bilingual BOQs with an Arabic description column, and line items written only in Arabic. Common Arabic trade terms (armoured, copper, cable tray, distribution board and others) are read the same as their English equivalents.
Fully Arabic BOQs haven't been tested yet.
Does it connect to our ERP?
Not directly. Your price list comes in as a CSV or Excel export from your ERP, and the quote goes out as an Excel workbook: the client's own BOQ with your rates and amounts filled in.
Each priced line's notes carry your item code, the make and any remarks, such as “equivalent offered” or the quantity in coils.
What if it gets a line wrong?
A line is priced automatically only when every check passes. Every other line waits for your estimator, with the reason and the top five candidates, each with its specs, list price and stock.
Your estimator can change any line before export, auto-priced ones included, and every decision can be undone.
How is Specline priced?
{{PRICING_MODEL}}
The BOQ test is free and commits you to nothing.
What happens after the test?
You keep the priced BOQ and the accuracy summary either way.
If the result is worth it to you, the next step is {{AFTER_TEST_NEXT_STEP}}. If not, tell us and we delete your files.
09Book the test
Quote more tenders without adding estimators.
Send one real BOQ and a price list extract. We return it matched and priced, with an accuracy summary. Free, no commitment.
- 01Send one real BOQ and a price list extract
- 02We match every line to your prices
- 03You get the matched, priced BOQ back
Prefer to talk first?