TL;DR: UpCodes Copilot accelerates building code research for anyone involved in the compliance process for design and construction by providing tailored responses and relevant regulations to project-specific questions.

Managing compliance is difficult

In today’s complex regulatory environment, compliance management is critical in ensuring safety in our built environments. However, as these codes become more comprehensive, they become more challenging to manage and meet. Homeowners, developers, architects, engineers, builders, and government officials spend significant amounts of time dissecting and working with the code.

The code ecosystem is not only incredibly dense but also constantly changing. We host over 5 million code sections and 1,700+ state and city codes, update over 7,000 sections per month (on average), and host over 160,000 local amendments. Other challenges include the difficulty of working across multiple jurisdictions and maintaining firm-wide code expertise.

Current AI tools are limited

Generic AI chatbots (like ChatGPT, Google Bard, Bing Chat, etc.) work from out-of-date code and is not jurisdiction-specific. Because the codes change dramatically across adoption cycles and jurisdictions, for many codes, UpCodes is often the only place that is continually integrating local amendments or changes to the code.

Introducing UpCodes Copilot

At UpCodes, we envision a world where architects, engineers, contractors, and everyone involved in the building compliance lifecycle can work together seamlessly and harness the power of AI to create safer buildings. We’re in the early innings of that future, and it’s why we’re excited to announce UpCodes Copilot.

Our vision is that Copilot becomes an indispensable research assistant for designers, builders, plan reviewers, and plan examiners. Instead of manually parsing through dense code sections, Copilot accelerates code research process by instantly delivering tailored responses to any code query. With Copilot you can:

• Research faster – Go beyond manually gathering code sections from various codes and chapters.
• Be more efficient – Catch sections you may have missed and better manage compliance.
• Gain insight – Unlock the ability to parse through massive quantities of code.

Who Copilot is for

UpCodes Copilot is for anyone involved in the code compliance lifecycle. Most architects, engineers, and general contractors already know how cumbersome and difficult it is to gather context and gain insight into what the code is saying. Wherever someone is in the architectural design process, whether they’re designing, building, or managing occupancy, Copilot will accelerate their understanding of the code.

How Copilot works

Copilot builds on our powerful search that surfaces relevant content across our 5+ million code sections by directly answering tough code questions. Its responses are based on analysis across multiple code sections (including tables and charts!) as well as basic calculations. And best yet, Copilot always cites the sections it pulls from so anyone can validate the response and deepen their code expertise.

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What you can use Copilot for

• Ask a code question – Ask code questions for a specific jurisdiction and adoption cycle and get answers that point out the relevant code sections.
  Example: “I have a parking lot with 200 spaces. How many van-accessible spaces do I need?”
• Explain a concept or code section – Get detailed explanations for complex concepts or specific code sections.
  Example: “Can you explain what 'fire separation distance' means in the context of building code?"‍
• Find related sections – Identify code sections that correspond to a specific topic you’re researching.
  Example: "Find all sections related to plumbing codes in a residential building."
• Perform a calculation – Provide your project parameters to Copilot and let it calculate the code requirements for you.
  Example: “Help me determine the maximum occupancy of a building, given its size…”‍
• Summarize what the code is saying – For lengthy code sections, ask Copilot to give you an overview of the key points.
  Example: "Summarize the key points from Section 101.2 of CBC 2022."‍
• Generate a checklist for a focus area – Get a tailored checklist for that specific focus area to help you ensure all requirements are met.
  Example: “Provide a checklist for designing a Type 1 grease duct for a fryer in a commercial kitchen. The kitchen is on the ground floor of a 3-story building. Ventilation equipment will be placed on the roof.”

Ask

• If you would like to try Copilot, sign up for an UpCodes trial to test it out for free!
• If you know of any architecture, engineering, or general contracting firms, we would love to chat! You can reach us at sales@up.codes.