Chapter 2. Redline reads it · Step 5 of 15
Every check it runs
Redline isn't one big prompt. It is a sequence of layers, each with one job, run in a fixed order. Two of them are AI. The rest are rules and checks that behave the same way every time, so the things that must never be missed are never left to a model's mood.
In order
Thirteen layers, every contract
- 1
Read the document
CheckPulls the text of every page, so each finding can point back to the exact page and words.
- 2
Clause-by-clause AI review
AIReads the whole contract from your side of the table, with your role, standards, interview answers and confirmed facts in front of it. If the AI pass is ever unavailable, the standards engine below still runs and the report says so.
- 3
Your standing rules
RulesNeeds: Rules in SettingsApplies the redlines you taught it, word for word, every time.
1 finding
- 4
Prime contract flow-down
RulesNeeds: The prime, if you have itReads the owner's contract for what flows down to you. If the subcontract incorporates a prime you weren't given, it says so and drafts the request.
1 finding
- 5
The protection floor
RulesA fixed set of checks that always run and can't be talked down: pay-if-paid, no damages for delay, broad indemnity, uncapped liquidated damages, termination for convenience, notice traps, retainage, payment terms, warranty.
13 findings
- 6
Your fact sheet
CheckThe facts from step 3, with your confirmations and corrections on top. Every layer after this one uses them.
- 7
Proposal against contract
RulesNeeds: Your proposalCompares what you priced and excluded with what the contract requires: scope added back, mobilizations, labor hours, price and payment terms.
5 findings
- 8
The law where the project sits
RulesNeeds: A state with a rule packApplies the rule pack for the project's state, with the authority, effective date and verification date on every rule.
6 findings
- 9
Documents you were never given
RulesFinds documents the contract binds you to by reference (prime, general conditions, schedules, manuals) and drafts the request for each.
1 finding
- 10
Insurance required vs carried
RulesNeeds: Your carried limitsCompares each required limit with the coverage in your workspace and states the dollar gap. With no coverage on file, it asks you to confirm with your broker instead of guessing.
2 findings
- 11
Anchor check
CheckConfirms every quoted passage really appears in the contract. Anything it can't find is marked "Verify: not located" instead of being trusted.
- 12
Second AI pass
AIA skeptical reviewer re-reads the findings and lowers confidence where they look shaky. It can mark a finding for a closer look; it never deletes one.
- 13
Where it came from, and will the GC take it
CheckTags each finding with its source (construction law, the jurisdiction, your standard, this contract, the prime) and how likely a GC is to accept the change.
At full size
What the whole sequence does on a real-length contract
101
pages in the showcase subcontract
3 min
to run every layer, AI included
42
findings, 25 of them high
8
places the contract didn't match the proposal
The showcase is a real, precomputed run on a fictional 101-page subcontract. Open it.
What it does not cover
It tells you what it didn't check
Every review ends with a scope statement, so nobody mistakes an automated pass for a complete legal read. This is the one on the sample:
Scope of this automated pass: payment terms and contingent payment, retainage and its release, setoff/backcharges, delay and liquidated damages, claims-notice traps, indemnity, insurance limits and procurement clauses, termination, warranty, lien waivers, incorporated documents, prime flow-down, your own standards and proposal, and curated state rules where a pack exists. NOT systematically examined: bonds and joint checks, OCIP/CCIP wrap-up mechanics, differing site conditions and hazmat allocation, unit-price and cumulative-impact mechanics, schedule float ownership, and dispute-cost clauses (jury waiver, fee-shifting). Have counsel read those.
