Key takeaways
- The right question for a trades business is not 'what can AI do?' but 'what office paperwork slows down the person who should be running jobs?' Daily reports, client update messages, change order drafts, scheduling messages, and permit document checklists are the five tasks that consistently fit AI drafting at a small construction or trades business.
- In Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai), a Human Review task pauses the workflow after the AI produces a draft and creates a task in the Task Inbox for a named person to approve. Navigate to Tasks in the sidebar. The reviewer reads the draft in the Payload section and clicks Approve, Reject, or Request Changes. Only Admin and Use roles can view the Task Inbox and submit decisions. Sourced from the tasks help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30.
- Safety decisions must never be delegated to AI. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29 U.S.C. 651 et seq. (osha.gov/laws-regs/oshact/completeoshact), places the duty to provide a safe workplace on the employer. An AI agent cannot assess job-site conditions, read a crew's body language, or apply the judgment that comes from years of field experience.
- Pricing stays with a person. A change order price involves material costs, labor hours, subcontractor rates, and margin decisions that depend on the business's current workload and relationships. An AI agent can draft the change order document from the facts the contractor provides, but the contractor sets the price and submits it as a fact.
- A workflow in Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai) must be in active status before it can generate tasks. Three status stages: draft (cannot be instantiated), active (available to spawn instances), archived (retired). Only Admin and Curate roles can create workflows and change their status. Sourced from the workflows help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30.
Five office tasks AI can draft, and two it must never touch
The right question for a trades business is not 'what can AI do?' but 'what office paperwork slows down the person who should be running jobs?' For most small contractors and trades businesses, that answer is the same five tasks. The two hard stops are non-negotiable regardless of which AI tool is used.
The tasks help documentation for Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30) describes the Human Review task as the mechanism that 'bridges the gap between automated execution and human oversight.' For a construction or trades business, that gap is the distance between an AI draft and a client-facing document. Every row in the table below closes that gap with a named human decision before the document leaves the office.
| Task | AI can draft | What the person must supply | Why the person approves before it sends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily job site report | Yes | Crew names, hours, work completed, materials used, weather, issues (submitted at the User Interaction task in Dave by voolama) | The AI cannot observe the job site. The supervisor confirms every fact before the report is filed or sent to the client. FTC Act Section 5 (ftc.gov): a misstatement in a client-facing report is a deceptive practice regardless of whether a person or an AI made it. |
| Client update message | Yes | Project name, what was completed today, what is planned tomorrow, any delay or issue (submitted at the User Interaction task) | FTC Act Section 5 (ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/statutes/federal-trade-commission-act) prohibits deceptive practices. A misstatement in a client update is a deceptive practice regardless of who produced it. The contractor confirms every claim before it sends. |
| Change order draft document | Yes, the document. Not the price. | Original scope item, reason for change, new scope description, materials and labor hours affected, and the price the contractor has already decided (submitted at the User Interaction task) | The contractor confirms the price and scope in the draft match what was submitted. The AI does not set the price. |
| Scheduling message | Yes | Crew member name, job address, start time, what to bring, any site access instructions (submitted at the User Interaction task) | A wrong address or start time costs a crew member a trip. The supervisor confirms every detail before it sends. |
| Permit document checklist | Yes, the missing-items message | Permit type and the list of documents already received (submitted at the User Interaction task); the required-document list maintained by the contractor in the workflow context | The office manager confirms the missing-items list is correct before it goes to the client or subcontractor. The AI cannot access the permit office's system. |
| Safety decisions | No | N/A | The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29 U.S.C. 651 et seq. (osha.gov/laws-regs/oshact/completeoshact), places the duty to provide a safe workplace on the employer. An AI agent cannot assess job-site conditions, read a crew's body language, or apply field judgment. Safety decisions stay with a licensed or experienced person. |
| Pricing | No | N/A | A change order price involves material costs, labor hours, subcontractor rates, and margin decisions that depend on the business's current workload and relationships. The contractor sets the price and submits it as a fact for the AI to include in the document. |
How the Human Review task keeps a person between the AI draft and the client
In Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai), every AI-drafted communication for a construction or trades business goes through a Human Review task before it reaches the client or is filed. The workflow pauses after the AI agent produces the draft, creates a task in the Task Inbox, and waits for an explicit decision before the instance moves forward. The tasks help documentation (DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30) states: 'Without tasks, workflows would either run fully autonomously with no human checkpoint or require out-of-band communication (emails, spreadsheets) to collect decisions, making it impossible to track status or enforce deadlines within the system.'
How to complete a Human Review task for a contractor communication:
- Navigate to Tasks in the sidebar. The Task Inbox shows all pending tasks assigned to your user. Use the status filter dropdown (top-right) to select pending if the list is long.
- Click the task Type link to open the task detail page. The task type for a contractor communication review is human_review.
- Read the Payload section. The Payload contains the AI-drafted communication and the facts submitted at the User Interaction task. Compare every figure, name, address, and date in the draft against the facts in the Payload.
- Run four checks specific to contractor communications:
- Every figure in the draft (hours, quantities, prices, dates) matches the facts submitted at the User Interaction task.
- The client name and project address are correct.
- The draft contains no safety recommendation, pricing decision, or licensed-work opinion the AI was not given as a fact.
- The tone is appropriate for the client relationship.
- Click Approve (green), Reject (red), or Request Changes (outlined). Add a Comment explaining your decision, especially for Reject or Request Changes. The Comment is recorded in the audit log with your user ID and a timestamp. The tasks help documentation states: 'Use comments to document your decisions. Even a brief note explaining why you rejected or requested changes helps workflow owners and other reviewers understand the history.'
Only Admin and Use roles can view the Task Inbox and submit decisions. A site supervisor or office manager who reviews and approves AI-drafted communications needs the Use role. The person who builds and maintains the workflow needs the Admin or Curate role. Dave by voolama has six default roles: Admin, Create, Curate, Use, Reporting, and Financial. Roles are editable. Sourced from the tasks and workflows help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30.
Where this advice stops: this is not legal, safety, or licensing advice
This article covers five office tasks that fit AI drafting at a small construction or trades business, and the Human Review task pattern in Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai). Three explicit boundaries:
- This is not safety advice. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29 U.S.C. 651 et seq. (osha.gov/laws-regs/oshact/completeoshact), citation is to a publicly available federal document. Whether a specific AI use at a specific job site creates a safety compliance risk requires a qualified safety professional's assessment.
- This article does not name any specific OSHA standard number. OSHA standards for construction (29 CFR Part 1926) and general industry (29 CFR Part 1910) are extensive and job-specific. The article cites only the general duty clause of the OSH Act (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) because that is the provision verifiable from the public text. Specific standard numbers for specific trades require a qualified safety professional's assessment.
- This article does not cover contractor licensing requirements. Contractor licensing is governed by state law and varies by trade and state. Whether a specific AI-assisted communication constitutes the unlicensed practice of a licensed trade requires a qualified attorney's assessment in the relevant state.
Frequently asked questions
Can AI write a daily job site report for a construction crew?
Yes, if the contractor or site supervisor submits the day's facts: crew names, hours worked, work completed, materials used, weather conditions, and any issues. The AI agent drafts the report from those facts. In Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai), a Human Review task lets the supervisor read the draft in the Task Inbox and click Approve before it is filed or sent to the client. The AI cannot observe the job site: it can only use the facts submitted at the User Interaction task. Sourced from the tasks help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30.
What should a small contractor never let AI decide?
Three categories: safety decisions (whether a condition is safe for a crew member to proceed), pricing (what to charge for a change order or a new job), and licensed-work sign-off (any certification, inspection approval, or professional opinion that requires a license). The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29 U.S.C. 651 et seq. (osha.gov), places the duty to provide a safe workplace on the employer, not on an AI tool. An AI agent cannot assess job-site conditions or apply field judgment. Pricing involves margin decisions that depend on the business's current workload and relationships. Both stay with a person.
How does a change order draft workflow work in Dave by voolama?
The contractor submits the change order facts at the User Interaction task: the original scope item being changed, the reason for the change, the new scope description, the materials and labor hours affected, and the price the contractor has already decided. The AI agent drafts the change order document from those facts. A Human Review task creates a task in the Task Inbox for the contractor or project manager to read the draft, confirm every figure matches what was submitted, and click Approve. The AI does not set the price: the contractor submits it as a fact. Sourced from the tasks help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30.
Can AI help a small trades business track which permit documents are still missing?
Yes. A permit document checklist workflow in Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai) uses a User Interaction task where the office manager submits the permit type and the list of documents already received. The AI agent compares the submitted list against the required documents for that permit type (which the contractor has pre-loaded into the workflow context) and drafts a missing-items message for the client or subcontractor. A Human Review task lets the office manager confirm the list before it sends. The AI cannot access the permit office's system: the required-document list must be maintained by the contractor.
Which Dave by voolama role does a site supervisor need to approve AI-drafted reports?
The Use role. In Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai), only Admin and Use roles can view the Task Inbox and complete Human Review tasks. A site supervisor who reviews and approves AI-drafted daily reports or client update messages needs the Use role. The office manager or owner who builds and maintains the workflow needs the Admin or Curate role. Dave by voolama has six default roles: Admin, Create, Curate, Use, Reporting, and Financial. Roles are editable. Sourced from the tasks and workflows help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30.
Sources
- Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29 U.S.C. 651 et seq. (OSHA.gov): employer duty to provide a safe workplace
- Federal Trade Commission Act Section 5: Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices (FTC.gov)
- Build Your First Workflow: Learn Dave Quick-Reference (hellodave.ai)
- COSO Internal Control Integrated Framework: Control Activity principle 10 (COSO.org)
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