Using AI at Collage — the foundations.

Step 1 · about 2 minutes

Why this exists

AI tools are already part of how a lot of us work — drafting emails, summarizing documents, talking through a problem. Collage isn't banning that. A ban wouldn't stop it; it would push it onto personal accounts where nobody can see it, protect it, or shut it off when someone leaves.

So the policy does the opposite: use AI, and use it well. This module is that policy in plain language — what goes where, what to check, and what never to do.

Whoever signs, sends, or submits the work owns it — no matter what tool drafted it.

That's the principle under everything else. AI doesn't move responsibility, and it doesn't excuse an error. Work with a Collage name on it is held to the same standard however it was made.

Step 2 · about 5 minutes

Verify, and know your limits

AI output is a draft — never a finished product. These tools can be confidently, convincingly wrong. They'll hand you a clean number, a code section, or a contract clause that's simply made up, formatted exactly like the real thing.

So check it against the source before you rely on it. Especially:

• Quantities, unit rates, and costs headed for an estimate, bid, or change order. A hard bid number binds Collage the moment it's submitted.
• Code, spec, standard, and contract citations. AI is not an authority on building code, Florida construction law, or what a contract means. Check the actual document.
• Anything client-facing — proposals, letters, RFI responses, scope narratives. You review it before it goes out, and anything that could become contract language gets a second review.
• Anything safety-related. AI output is never the basis for a safety decision, a hazard analysis, or direction on a jobsite.

Use AI only for work you could do yourself

If you couldn't build the schedule, run the calculation, or read the clause without AI, you can't tell whether what it gave you is right. Have someone who can do that work review it before it's used. AI supports your judgment; it doesn't replace it — and it's never used to produce work presented as a licensed design professional's.

Step 3 · about 3 minutes

What counts as AI

It's not just ChatGPT and Claude. The policy covers anything that drafts, summarizes, transcribes, analyzes, or makes recommendations using an AI model — including tools you might not think of as AI:

• Chat assistants — Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot chat
• Microsoft 365 Copilot inside Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams
• AI features in Procore, Bluebeam, and Adobe Acrobat
• AI in estimating, scheduling, or takeoff software
• Meeting transcription and notetakers
• Browser extensions that send what's on your screen to an AI service

The simple test: if it sends your content somewhere to have a model act on it, the policy applies.

Step 4 · about 8 minutes · the core

The traffic light: what you can put in

Every piece of information falls into one lane, and the lane decides which tools it can go into. (In the policy document these are Tier 3, Tier 2, and Tier 1.)

Not sure which lane? Treat it as Yellow — and ask. The short version: project data goes in company tools. Everything else, use judgment.

Step 5 · about 3 minutes

Check the contract first

The contract beats the policy, every time. Some owner contracts, public-agency terms, and federal requirements restrict AI or require you to disclose it — most often on aviation, education, utility, and government work.

The catch: those contracts almost never say "artificial intelligence." The restriction lives in data-handling language written before AI existed — confidentiality clauses, security rules, public-records obligations — usually in Division 01 or in procurement terms incorporated by reference. It applies to AI anyway.

• Check the Restricted Projects list before using AI on any job. It names every project where AI is banned or needs special handling.
• Not on the list doesn't mean cleared. It means no prohibition has been found yet. Confirm with your PM or the Policy Owner before project documents go into any AI tool.
• PMs flag AI restrictions at project kickoff, along with the contract's other special requirements.
• Disclosure: Collage doesn't generally require you to say AI helped — your review and sign-off are the control. Where a contract requires disclosure, the contract wins.

Step 6 · about 3 minutes

Approved tools & your company account

Those are the two approved tools for Yellow and Red information. "Approved" means Collage owns and pays for the account, it's tied to your company login, it can be shut off when someone leaves, and the vendor can't train its models on our data.

A personal account on an approved tool is not an approved tool. Personal Claude, ChatGPT, or Copilot accounts are for Green information only. ChatGPT isn't an approved tool at Collage — work involving project, client, or employee information moves to Claude or Copilot on a company account.

Until your company account is active

Finishing this module puts you in line for one. Until it's active, keep personal accounts to Green. If Yellow or Red work can't wait, ask the Policy Owner. Moving off personal accounts isn't a disciplinary matter — it's the first step in putting the policy into effect.

Want another tool approved? Ask the Policy Owner, with the tool's name, what you'd use it for, and what information it would handle.

Step 7 · about 3 minutes

Meetings & recording

Collage doesn't use AI meeting bots. Otter, Fireflies, Read.ai, and similar tools that join a call as a participant aren't used on Collage-hosted calls.

Recording takes everyone's consent. Florida requires the consent of every person in a conversation before it's recorded — Teams and phone calls included, and in-person conversations too. When Collage records a meeting, all three of these happen:

1. The calendar invite says the meeting will be recorded.
2. Someone announces it at the start: "This meeting is being recorded. If you don't consent, please disconnect now."
3. The on-screen recording indicator stays visible the whole time.

Use native Teams recording only, and only with a business reason. Never record a conversation about a claim, a dispute, a personnel matter, or legal advice.

When someone else is recording

Owners, architects, and subs often record OAC calls. That's allowed — but it changes how you talk. Notice the bot or the banner, and speak the way you would in a document that could be read back to you. If the talk turns to a claim, a dispute, or confidential material, say so and ask them to pause the recording.

Collage doesn't ask other parties for their transcripts. If someone sends you one anyway, file it in the project folder as a record — and don't treat it as accurate. These tools mix up speakers and numbers.

Step 8 · about 2 minutes

Ask first, and own mistakes

Not sure if something's allowed? Ask before you do it. The Policy Owner, , is the person to ask. Asking is always the right call, and no one gets in trouble for asking.

If you put restricted information somewhere it shouldn't go, tell your manager or the Policy Owner the same day you realize it.

Reporting a mistake promptly, in good faith, isn't a disciplinary matter. Hiding one is.

Early notice is often the difference between a problem that's contained and one that has to be reported to a client or an agency.

Almost done · 1 minute

The takeaway

If you remember four things, make it these.

1. Verify before you rely on it. AI output is a draft.
2. Project data goes in company tools — Claude or Copilot on your company account. Public-only information can go in any reasonable tool.
3. Not sure? Treat it as Yellow — and ask.
4. You own what you submit. AI doesn't change that.

The whole policy on one page lives in the quick reference (opens in a new tab). Bookmark it.

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