Makeoff is electrical estimating software that automates takeoffs, checks against NEC and local codes, and value-engineers materials so your bids are faster and more competitive. Many contractors search for us as “Makeoff Electrical Estimating” or “MakeOff.”

How is Makeoff Electrical Estimating different from traditional software?

Traditional tools are manual and slow. Makeoff uses AI to read blueprints, apply NEC rules, and recommend equal-grade replacements with current vendor pricing—turning multi-hour estimates into ~20-minute bids.

Who should use Makeoff for electrical estimating?

Commercial and industrial electrical contractors, estimators, and project managers who want to bid more projects, reduce change orders, and protect margins with code-checked, value-engineered takeoffs.

Makeoff vs. Microsoft Copilot for Electrical Estimating

What is Makeoff?

Makeoff is an AI bid-review system built for electrical contractors. It reads the text on every page of a bid package, runs the contractor’s own review checklist and burn list against it, and links each issue it finds to the exact drawing sheet or spec section.

Findings go into an issues log with status, notes and export, so the estimating team works from one list. Makeoff is designed to run early in the bid, while there is still time to price what it finds. It is made by Cornerstone Construction AI Inc.

What is Microsoft 365 Copilot?

Microsoft 365 Copilot is Microsoft’s general-purpose AI assistant, built into apps such as Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams. Contractors use it to ask questions about documents, summarize long files, and draft emails or RFIs.

Copilot Notebooks let a user collect reference files and ask questions across them. Microsoft began renaming them Copilot Workspaces in late October 2026 (Microsoft). Copilot uses up to 300 files in a notebook when answering, or 50 in Copilot Chat. When a notebook points at a large folder, Copilot selects the files it judges most relevant (Office Watch). Copilot shows the sources behind its answers, and many companies already license it through their Microsoft agreement.

How do Makeoff and Copilot compare?

Copilot is stronger for ad-hoc questions, drafting and IT approval. Makeoff is stronger for full-package coverage, traceable findings, consistency across estimators and a shared issues log.

Makeoff vs. Microsoft 365 Copilot for electrical bid review
Capability	Microsoft 365 Copilot	Makeoff	Better fit
Answering questions you think to ask	Strong: fast, with follow-ups in any format	Available, but not the focus	Copilot
Drafting RFIs, emails and summaries	Strong	Exports findings for drafting in Copilot or Word	Copilot
Checking for issues nobody asked about	Answers what the prompt asks	Runs the company checklist and burn list on every job	Makeoff
Coverage of the full bid package	Works from the files it selects: up to 300 per notebook, 50 in Copilot Chat (Office Watch)	Reads the text on every page and shows what it covered	Makeoff
Tracing a finding to its source	Shows the files behind an answer	Links each issue to the exact drawing sheet or spec section	Makeoff
Same review for every estimator	Depends on who writes the prompt, and how	Same checklist, run the same way on every job	Makeoff
Record of findings	Chat history; notebooks can be shared with colleagues (Microsoft)	Issues log with status, notes and export	Makeoff
IT approval	Often already in the company’s Microsoft agreement	Works under NDA, no model training on customer files, zero data retention	Copilot

Is Microsoft Copilot good for electrical estimating?

Yes, for assistant work. Copilot is good at answering a specific question about a spec section, summarizing a long document, and drafting RFIs, emails and bid-day notes.

It is less suited to a complete bid review. Its results depend on the prompt and the person writing it. It does not run a fixed checklist across every page. And its findings live in a chat thread rather than a tracked log. A dedicated review system such as Makeoff can run alongside it for that job.

Can Copilot review a full electrical bid package?

Copilot can answer questions across a bid package, but it is not built to show that it reviewed the whole thing. Copilot uses up to 300 files in a notebook when answering, and on a large folder it picks the files it judges most relevant (Office Watch).

In one electrical contractor’s test, the team split the spec book to upload it. Copilot shows the sources behind an answer, but not a page-by-page record of what it read. Makeoff reads the text on every page and shows coverage, so the team can see what was checked.

How is Makeoff different from Copilot?

Makeoff is built to be a company’s review standard, not one person’s assistant. Four differences matter most.

You can see what was read

Makeoff reads the text on every page and shows coverage. A 1,200-page spec book is more than an estimator can read before bid day, so knowing what was checked matters.

Every finding links to its page

Each Makeoff issue links to the drawing sheet or spec section it came from. Verifying a finding takes one click instead of a search through the documents.

The company’s checklist, not one person’s prompt

Makeoff runs the company’s review checklist and burn list the same way on every job, for every estimator. When the person who wrote the best prompts is out, the review still runs the same way.

A record, not a chat

Makeoff findings go into an issues log with status, notes and export. The team works from one list and keeps a paper trail after the bid.

Should an electrical contractor use Makeoff, Copilot or both?

Use both, each for its own job. Makeoff runs alongside Microsoft 365 tools and does not replace them.

Use Copilot to draft RFIs, emails and bid-day summaries.
Use Copilot for quick questions about a single spec section.
Use Makeoff to run the full bid review against your checklist and burn list.
Export Makeoff’s findings and draft from them in Copilot or Word.

Can a contractor build its own bid-review tool on Copilot?

It is possible, but research suggests buying a specialized tool succeeds more often. MIT NANDA’s 2025 report The GenAI Divide found that AI tools bought from specialized vendors succeed about 67% of the time, while internal builds succeed about one-third as often (Fortune).

One large electrical contractor asked an outside AI firm to build a bid-review tool on Copilot. The firm’s answer: “We can’t really build what these guys are building.” A homegrown prompt also needs an owner to maintain it and re-test it when the model changes.

Is Makeoff secure?

Makeoff works under NDA, does not train AI models on customer files, and keeps zero data retention. A security packet is available on request for IT review.

Because Makeoff works alongside Microsoft 365 rather than replacing it, a company can keep Copilot as its approved AI assistant and add Makeoff for bid review.

How can I compare Makeoff and Copilot on my own bids?

Run both on a closed job where you already know the answers. This known-answer test shows what each tool finds, what it misses, and how long it takes to verify a finding.

Pick a closed job where you know what was missed, ideally one that cost money.
Run the full bid package through Copilot with your best prompts.
Run the same package through Makeoff with your checklist.
Score both tools on the same five questions below.

Score each tool on

What did it find that you already knew about?
What did it miss?
What did it flag that was not a real issue?
How long did it take to verify one finding?
Would a second estimator get the same result?

Makeoff will set up the test with your team. Start at makeoff.com.