How we built this
Obedience is a UK software startup at the invite-only stage: one live product, a clear mission, and a rule that we only ever claim what we can evidence. This page is the story; the policy hub is the proof.
Discovery
Structured, industry-level discovery interviews with practising UK quantity surveyors: how the work actually happens, where the hours go, what should never be automated. Two deep interviews shape the roadmap so far, with more scheduled. The answers were unambiguous: change control hurts most, Excel is the incumbent, and judgement must stay human.
Foundations
Before the first AI feature shipped we built the boring things that protect people: UK data residency, tenant isolation enforced in the database itself, fail-closed access control, encrypted restore-tested backups, and a rule that no capability is called Live until it works end to end.
First product
An NRM2-native Bill of Quantities platform with version history and a live calculation store, released invite-only so every practice gets hands-on onboarding. AI assists throughout, and a named person signs everything that matters.
Next
The sharpest pain from discovery becomes the next MVP: variations as diffs between versions, a live budget, and a rolling final account. Then AI Commercial Search over the whole record.
Precaution by design
The legal position, in one paragraph
There is no authorisation regime for quantity surveying software in the UK: no regulator licenses products like ours. What the law does require, we comply with: UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, PECR, the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, the Companies Act disclosure rules, and honest B2B marketing law. We are an independent company, not endorsed by or affiliated with RICS; where we follow published standards like NRM2, we say exactly what that means. Certifications appear on these pages when they are earned, never before.
