iPad app to replace printed blueprints?

Words: Jon Alberson/Public/News/20120419160000-1.jpg" width="600" height="338" border="0" alt="Plangrid's new iPad app allows users to manipulate plans in the field and share new designs via cloud services or e-mail." />
Plangrid's new iPad app allows users to manipulate plans in the field and share new designs via cloud services or e-mail.
The construction industry has a $4 billion dollar problem - in the endless modifications to expensive printed blueprints, building plans can often swell to nearly half a percent of a project's total budget, making for some extraordinary costs on larger builds.

Not exactly renowned for innovation, the construction industry has been slow to adopt the range of technologies that have transformed so many other sectors. Plangrid, a small Y Combinator startup company, is looking to change all that with an ambitious app for the iPad that looks to replace costly and cumbersome printed designs with a sleek, manageable digital archive of customizable plans.

Plangrid's new iPad app allows users to manipulate plans in the field, quickly flip between blueprint versions, and share new designs via cloud services or e-mail. The intuitive layout balances simplicity and functionality, and the software's ease of use will be surely appreciated by a not-so-tech-savvy sector.

Because plans take so long to move through the modification and reprinting process, many unnecessary rework costs are associated with outdated designs being used in the field - a problem remedied by the immediate availability of Plangrid's instantaneous updates and cloud-storage capabilities. The company offers a three-tiered pricing plan for building professionals, and for smaller projects (less than 50 sheets), the app is free.

With today's announcement of the iPad 3 - boasting a 2048 x 1536-pixel retina display, 5 megapixel camera and LTE capabilities - the incorporation of tablet technology into the construction field is even more irresistible. Whatever the success of Plangrid's app, the industry is sure to move towards digitizing blueprint management for field use in the near future.

You can learn more about Plangrid and download the app at www.plangrid.com.
The Behind-the-Wall Secrets Every Mason Already Knows (But Some Ignore)
March 2026

You’ve been around long enough to know this already: stone doesn’t fail on the face; it fails behind the wall. You can lay the prettiest veneer in the county, but if the prep is junk, that wall’s gonna start telling on you after a couple of winters. Manu

Rob McKay
Technical Talks
Read More
From the Mound to the Mortar: Jon Rauch’s Tall Order in the Masonry Industry
March 2026

In the record books of Major League Baseball, Jon Rauch is a literal giant. At 6 feet, 11 inches, he remains the tallest player to ever step onto a Big League mound. But today, the Olympic Gold Medalist and 11-season MLB veteran isn’t looking for a strike

Robert Melgaard
Industry News
Read More
Case Study: The Scoop
March 2026

Leading UK architecture firm, Corstorphine & Wright, has announced the completion of ‘The Scoop’, a unique concave office building in Southwark, London. The innovative design reuses an existing building and integrates a conical cut-out façade in white gla

Case Study
Read More
Executing Color-Driven Designs Without Compromising Craftsmanship
March 2026

On today’s jobsites, masonry contractors are being asked to do more than install manufactured stone veneer (MSV). They’re being asked to interpret design trends and execute them with precision. Homeowners arrive with curated Pinterest boards. Designers r

Jeff Tew
Technical Talks
Read More