An engineering project is an argument made in numbers and drawings. The calc package shows why a beam is sized the way it is, the design report explains which code path was taken and why, the CAD revision history shows what changed after the client's comments or the plan reviewer's markups, and the RFI log records what the contractor could not build as drawn. A firm that has been stamping drawings for twenty years has thousands of those arguments on file.
AI developers want exactly that kind of reasoning, and engineering is one of the few niches where a buyer has written a guide just for it. Troveo lists CAD models and drawings, calculations, specifications, change requests and revision history, and test and inspection records. Mechanical and industrial engineers are occupations in OpenAI's GDPval benchmark. Nyne advertises to engineering firms with the line "Your CAD files, paid for. Clients protected."
This hub is for owners and principals of civil, structural, MEP, mechanical and other engineering firms with ten or more staff. It covers which records buyers name, what they say stays out (client-owned designs, export-controlled data, licensed standards), which buyers fit a firm your size, and what to ask first. A sub-page covers architecture firms.
Worth
What a firm's data may be worth
Set for a typical firm, 45 staff and 15 years of records. Move the sliders to match yours. Our estimate, not an offer.
Buyers
Which buyers want this data
Buyers whose own published rules fit engineering firms. We can introduce you to the ones we work with.
Featured partners
micro1
Names professional services and asks for templates, knowledge bases and project histories, which covers a firm's QA/QC procedures and design standards.13,14
- $100K to $2M+, micro1 says9
Watch out for: Says it removes personal details only "when relevant", so ask exactly how.15
Polyshares
Buys design files, Drive and email, and says it excludes data held on behalf of clients, which is the line engineering firms have to draw.16,17
- $100K to $2M+, Polyshares says10
- None, Polyshares says18
- An offer in 1 to 2 weeks, then paid in 30 to 60 days19
Watch out for: Exclusive by default, and every deal it lists is exclusive with no end date.20,21
Everyone else we reviewed
By score, with full reviews. We have no referral agreement with these companies, so we do not link out to them.
Nyne AI
Advertises to engineering firms directly ("Your CAD files, paid for. Clients protected.") and takes firms with 20+ US W-2 staff and 3+ years.22,23
- $100K or more, Nyne says24
Watch out for: Pays only after the dataset is accepted, and publishes no timeline.25
Troveo
Has published an engineering firm guide naming CAD, calculations, specifications, change requests and test records, and says engineering draws a premium.1,2
- Six figures and up for a whole company, Troveo says26
- A share of the revenue; the percentage is not published27
Watch out for: You are paid from a revenue share, so ask what percentage you keep.27
Who wants this
Do buyers want engineering firms?
No buyer publishes prices by industry, but their own intake forms show which industries they rate higher.
- Troveo puts engineering or architecture in its top of four demand tiers: "Buyers pay a premium for data from your industry."28
- Polyshares takes engineering and architecture, without marking it premium.29
- VMS, a broker, gives engineering or architecture standard weight when it estimates value.30
Which buyers take a firm your size
Shown for 45 staff, a typical firm. Ask whether contractors and part-time staff count.
micro1
Polyshares
No headcount rule; the length and texture of the record matter more32
Mode
20+ full-time US office staff (accounting firms 10+, law firms 6+)33
Pewter
20+ staff and 3+ years12
Grepped
No headcount minimum stated34
Ventra
30+ US employees and 3+ years of records35
Mercor
None stated36
Troveo
No minimum stated; its estimator starts at 2037
Nyne
20+ US W-2 employees and 3+ years23
Endless
Roughly 30+ employees38
Supersoniq
50+ employees and 5+ years39
What buyers value
What in a firm's records buyers value
What buyers look for in your records, and what to talk through with your buyer before anything leaves your systems.
| Data | Where it lives | Why a buyer values it | Raise with the buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calculation packages | Excel, Mathcad, analysis software output | Step-by-step engineering reasoning with inputs, assumptions and checks, the clearest written logic a firm produces. | Project names and client identifiers in headers. |
| CAD models, drawings and revision history | AutoCAD, Revit, Civil 3D, SolidWorks | What changed between revisions and why, which Troveo lists as change requests and revision history. | Designs the client owns under the contract. |
| Design reports and specifications | Word, spec writing tools | Code paths chosen and justified in prose for a reviewer. | Standards and code text licensed from a publisher, which Troveo says must come out. |
| RFIs, submittal reviews and plan review comments | Bluebeam, email, project portals | The firm responding to contractors and reviewers, with the reasoning for each answer. | Nothing specific |
| Test, inspection and field reports | Field apps, Word, photos | Observed conditions compared with design intent, and the decision that followed. | Nothing specific |
| QA/QC checklists and design standards | Intranet, shared drive | The firm's own method for checking work, clearly owned and free of client data. | Nothing specific |
Process
How it works with each buyer
In each buyer's own words. Where a buyer publishes nothing, we say so.
micro1
- Internal docs, SOPs and playbooks, knowledge bases, project management workflows, internal comms, templates, CRM and workflow metadata, task histories14
- 30 to 200 employees31
- $100K-$2M+ per data package; over $1M for unique data9
- PII removed "when relevant"15
- The company keeps ownership of its data and reviews samples before release40
- Not published
Polyshares
Nyne AI
Selling or closing
Selling or closing your firm? License its data first
When founding principals retire, an engineering firm may be sold to a larger firm or to its employees. Troveo says many firms start with retired product lines and completed projects, which are also the first records to go quiet after a sale. Before a transaction, ask each licensing company whether completed projects can be licensed separately and how an acquirer's rights in the archive would be affected.3
FAQ
Engineering firms: questions, answered
Troveo lists designs your clients own, standards and code text licensed from a publisher, export-controlled technical data, and anything received under a confidentiality agreement. Names and personal details are replaced with pseudonyms.45
Every business is different, so this one is best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over it with you before anything is signed.
Every business is different, so this one is best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over it with you before anything is signed.
Before you sign
Questions to talk through with your buyer
Every business is different, so these are best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over them with you before anything is signed.
Questions for this kind of business
- Which client contracts assign designs to the client, and how are those projects excluded?
- Who screens files for export-controlled technical data before anything is shared?
- Does licensing sealed drawings raise any question with our professional liability insurer or licensing board?
- Who owns this data: the company, an estate, or someone else?
- Do customer, vendor or platform contracts, NDAs or API terms restrict this?
- Do professional rules apply (AICPA, IRC 7216, HIPAA, ABA Model Rule 1.17, insurance agency contracts, adviser rules, state boards)?
Questions for any buyer
- Is the license exclusive, and for how long?
- Can you sublicense the data, and to whom?
- Which AI labs will receive it, and will you tell us?
- How long do you keep it, and how is it deleted?
- What is your liability cap, and who indemnifies whom?
- Will the contract ban re-identification of people in the data?
- Who removes personal data, by what method, and do we approve it first?
Proof