Architectural millwork software that keeps the submittal, the field dimension and the cut list together

Architectural millwork is a class of custom joinery built to a drawing for one building: casework, panelling, reception desks, doors and trim, produced to a written grade rather than a catalogue number. The grade and the material are both specified. A public specification will call Custom or Premium grade, and the panels underneath are capped at 0.05 ppm of formaldehyde for hardwood plywood and 0.09 ppm for particleboard. Neurobird holds the submittal, the field dimension, the cut list and the punch item on one job.

Millwork detailer checking a field dimension against a shop drawing beside part built casework in a cabinet shop, used to show the moment the drawing and the measured building have to agree
This is where the drawing and the building have to agree, and where the disagreement gets expensive.
0.05 ppmformaldehyde cap on hardwood plywood
0.11 ppmcap on medium density fibreboard
3 hingesminimum on a door over 48 inches

Neurobird Architectural Millwork in short

  • Hold each submittal revision against the elevation and the room it actually covers
  • Capture field dimensions on site so the shop cuts to a measurement rather than a message
  • Record panel and finish material against the emission standard the specification called
  • 0.05 ppm Formaldehyde emission ceiling for hardwood plywood made with a veneer core or a composite core, tested to the method the rule incorporates. 40 CFR 770.10
  • 0.11 ppm Ceiling for medium density fibreboard, with 0.13 ppm for thin medium density fibreboard and 0.09 ppm for particleboard. 40 CFR 770.10
  • Pricing runs 199 to 1300 US dollars per month across 3 tiers. Early access is free.

What architectural millwork shops actually deal with

A field dimension is taken on site and reaches the shop as a text message.
The approved submittal and the drawing the shop cut from are two different revisions.
Punch items arrive as a photograph with no reference to the elevation they belong to.

Why it stays broken

Millwork sits between a design team that issues revisions and a general contractor that issues dates, and the shop absorbs both. The estimate lives in one tool, the shop drawing in another, and the field dimension lives on a tape measure. Nobody has joined the submittal to the cut list, so a revision landing after material was ordered is discovered at install rather than at approval.

Federal law caps formaldehyde at 0.05 ppm for hardwood plywood, 0.09 ppm for particleboard and 0.11 ppm for medium density fibreboard, for product sold or made on or after June 1, 2018.

Similarly when spaces of a building vary in their architectural detailing, those that are the most elaborate are usually the primary spaces.

National Park Service, identifying primary and secondary interior spaces, source

The shop board, as your project manager would run it

Tick a stage to close it and watch the elevation move from submittal to install with the dimension intact.

neurobird / millwork job board
3 / 5
requirements current
RequirementStatusNext due
Job 2260, laboratory casework, punch list opencurrentin 42d
Job 2247, conference room panelling, revision 3due soonin 9d
Job 2231, nurse station casework, east wingcurrentin 120d
Job 2214, reception desk and back panel, level 2overdue3d late
Job 2231, nurse station casework, east wingcurrentin 64d

Tick a requirement to file evidence against it.

Neurobird Architectural Millwork Operations Platform

One record per job: the submittal and its revision, the field dimensions as taken, the cut list that came out of them, the finish schedule and the punch items against the elevation they belong to.

  • 1Hold each submittal revision against the elevation and the room it actually covers
  • 2Capture field dimensions on site so the shop cuts to a measurement rather than a message
  • 3Record panel and finish material against the emission standard the specification called
  • 4Close punch items against the elevation, with a photograph, rather than against a job number

What changes with Neurobird Architectural Millwork?

The same work, read left to right: how it runs today, and how it runs once the record is in one place.

Architectural millwork: current practice compared with Neurobird Architectural Millwork
TodayWith Neurobird Architectural Millwork
A field dimension is taken on site and reaches the shop as a text messageHold each submittal revision against the elevation and the room it actually covers
The approved submittal and the drawing the shop cut from are two different revisionsCapture field dimensions on site so the shop cuts to a measurement rather than a message
Punch items arrive as a photograph with no reference to the elevation they belong toRecord panel and finish material against the emission standard the specification called

Who is this for?

The same casework, three different shops.

Small custom shop

You draw, cut and install

The submittal and the cut list are the same person work. You need the field dimension to reach the saw without a retype.

Commercial millwork

You run several jobs and a finish room

Revisions, finishes and site dates all move independently. You need to see which elevations are approved and which are still open.

Institutional work

You build laboratory and healthcare casework

Grades and panel standards are specified and inspected. You need the material record to match what the specification called for.

What the rules say about millwork

Federal panel emission limits, machine guarding in the shop, and the grades a public specification actually calls.

0.05 ppm

Formaldehyde emission ceiling for hardwood plywood made with a veneer core or a composite core, tested to the method the rule incorporates.

40 CFR 770.10
0.11 ppm

Ceiling for medium density fibreboard, with 0.13 ppm for thin medium density fibreboard and 0.09 ppm for particleboard.

40 CFR 770.10
2018

Those standards have applied since June 1, 2018 to composite wood sold, supplied, offered for sale or manufactured in the United States, whether as a panel, a component part or inside a finished good.

40 CFR 770.10
2016

Year the final formaldehyde rule was published in the Federal Register, written to line up with the California Air Resources Board requirements for the same products.

EPA, formaldehyde emission standards for composite wood products
3 hinges

Minimum on a cabinet door over 48 inches high in a public millwork specification, notched into the door to hold a 1/8 inch reveal tolerance.

City of San Diego, millwork specification section 06200
90 volts

Threshold to ground above which portable electric woodworking machinery must be grounded through a separate ground wire and a polarised plug and receptacle.

29 CFR 1910.213

How does Neurobird Architectural Millwork work?

  1. Take the dimension

    Field dimensions are captured against the elevation on site, so the shop drawing and the cut list start from a measurement with a date and a name on it.

  2. Approve the revision

    Every submittal revision stays on the record with what changed, which stops a shop cutting to a drawing the design team superseded three weeks earlier.

  3. Install and close

    Each elevation closes with its own punch items and photographs, so a retainage conversation is a list rather than an argument.

Architectural millwork software questions, answered

Key terms

What is architectural millwork?
It is custom joinery built to a drawing for one building: casework, panelling, reception desks, doors and trim, produced to a written grade such as Custom or Premium rather than a catalogue number. The panels underneath are federally capped at 0.05 ppm of formaldehyde for hardwood plywood.

Does this replace our drawing or nesting software?

No. Drawing and nesting stay where they are. This holds the submittal revisions, the field dimensions, the material record and the punch list, which is the paperwork half that decides whether the right drawing reached the saw.

How does it handle revisions?

A revision is a dated record against the elevation it changes, with what changed written down. Material already ordered against a superseded revision becomes visible at approval rather than at install.

Can we show what panel material we used?

Yes. The panel product and the emission standard it meets sit on the job, so when a specification calls a grade and a formaldehyde limit you have a record instead of a supplier word for it.

Why we are building this

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Neurobird Team neurobird.com

Where the requirement comes from

Primary sources, straight from the regulators.

How much does Neurobird Architectural Millwork cost?

Priced per shop because the drawings, the grades and the finish room belong to a plant rather than to a seat. Jobs, elevations and revisions are unlimited on every tier.

Small shop
$199
per month
  • Up to 5 users
  • Unlimited jobs
  • Submittal revisions
  • Field dimension capture
Request early access
Shop
$599
per month
  • Unlimited users
  • Cut list from dimensions
  • Finish schedules
  • Punch list by elevation
Request early access
Multi shop
$1,300
per month
  • Multiple plants
  • Material and grade reporting
  • General contractor portals
  • Priority support
Request early access
Opening 10 early access places for millwork shops.

Get free early access

Early access means we model your submittal log, your elevation naming and your punch list before you type anything, and you keep the account free while we do it.

Straight answer on where this is: The software is in development. Nothing is purchasable today. Early access means you shape it and pay nothing while we build.

Prefer email? Write to office@neurobird.com and a person will reply. No autoresponder.